Carrot and Radish Salad

It goes like this... I want to lose weight... I have to lose weight (my lower back reminds me from time to time)... and I don't mind putting the work in... unless we're talking super-bland food. Like carrot and radish salad. Come now... really? Ok, it's not exactly that I'm following a diet so much as just eating how I should eat. In a way that saves me on both fat/calories and money. I'm bringing in my lunch each day (or almost every day) and if I don't bring in my lunch, I get a grilled chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A. My lunch, Monday through Friday is nothing more than a small salad and something extra to go with it. Like today, Spaghetti-O's. Often, when I'm done, I am simply not satisfied. Especially when my salad is reduced to so many carrots and so much radish.

I take my salad out of a bag. I get whatever kind is on sale that week and then I pep it up with a little grated cheese, tomato and add lowfat ranch dressing (measured to fit a serving size according to what's on the bottle). But, today... today I forgot the cheese and there was barely any lettuce left in the bag from which I was taking the salad so I ended up with tons of carrot and tons of the purple stuff. Honestly, I felt like a little kid being forced by mom to eat it. This makes me want to go to the vending machine to get the worst possible choice, almost to punish the raw carrot and raw radish for not being tastier. Sadly, the only one who would actually be punished would be me.

So, it's only one lousy meal, right?

But, isn't this just life? Instead of being willing to wait (though I am proud enough to say that I have so far not buckled today) we want the instant gratification. What's more to the instant gratification is that we want the non-instant gratification results. We want to lose weight without the work... we want the paycheck without actually putting the time in on schooling or just plain effort on the job... we want to be at peace without working out our issues. Isn't this just life?

Yup. And every once in a while you have to deal with a lousy meal in order to get where you want to go.