My 146th Street Lover

My husband jokes that I have a secret lover on 146th street, which is the main road I take into work every morning. Before we bought our house, our apartment was only 3 minutes away from my work. Which was FABULOUS! I could roll out of bed at 7:15 a.m., sometimes even 7:30 a.m. and quickly get ready. Thankfully, I am not one of those girls who takes hours to pamper myself.


When we moved, my drive got become ten times longer…taking me at least 30-45 minutes to get to work – depending on the traffic, weather and construction. So my departure time of 7:50 a.m. – quickly turned into 7:15 a.m. Or earlier.

I would leave earlier, sometimes even as earlier as 7:05 a.m. to meet my lover. I actually have two of them. Ronald and Dunkin. I have a hard time resisting Ronald McDonald’s sausage burritos and the rush that Dunkin Donuts gives me is world-class. (Mr. Starbucks is not on an easy path to work).

Obviously, I am admitting that breakfast fast food and sugary coffee were slowing creeping back in my life. Not to mention, I 100% blame McDonald’s Monopoly for sucking me into the game and fast food addiction. You would think being in marketing I would know better. You would think being in marketing I would understand EVERYONE is only one piece away from a million dollars. But once I won a Redbook DVD rental, I was hooked. I thought this year would different. I think this year I would win it all.

But instead, the only thing I won was 10 extra pounds. No, I do not want fries with that….

So, within a month, my pants were tighter. My shirts were snuggier (yes, I think I made up that word). And my motivation was lower than it’s been in months.

I’ve joked about falling off the wagon before, but this time I fell off a jet plane. And it was long, hard fall to the ground.

So, I decided to take action this week. I’m proud to say I didn’t see my 146th lovers this week. I packed my lunch all week (except today I had a lettuce wrap from Jimmy Johns – only 191 calories!) But I did eat a bagel (and a half -- omg I know sooo bad) today from Panera. So I didn’t really save any carbs or calories with my lettuce wrap...Free bagels at work are the death of me. Anyway, I digress. The fact of the matter is I messed up. But that doesn’t make me a failure. It just means I need to try harder. Harder than ever before. Because now…I have 10 lbs to lose just to get back to my original weight loss for the year. And I’d like to say that in 2011 I lost 25 lbs.

So, today marks a new month. A new beginning. It will be SUPER hard with the holidays coming up. But I am determined to kick butt this month. And turn my lovers into long distance, faded friendships.

Much love,

Ashley