Watch Out for Orange Peels

Every now and then I hear a bit of trivia that captures my imagination.  I read about someone who went over Niagara Falls in a barrel on July 25, 1911.  Having visited Niagara Falls and marveling at the beauty and power of all that water, I can't imagine anyone thinking that going over the Falls would be a good idea, but several individuals have done so and lived to tell the story.  This particular individual was Bobby Leach, the first man (and second person) to go over the Falls.  He used a steel barrel  in his stunt, and although he survived, he broke both kneecaps and his jaw in the plunge.  What fascinated me was learning that years later, while touring in New Zealand, Bobby slipped on an orange peel, injured his leg and died from complications due to gangrene.  He survived Niagara Falls but an orange peel led to his demise.

So what on earth does this have to do with losing weight and getting healthy, you may be asking?

Simply this:  it's often the little things that trip us up - the things that we aren't watching for, the things we're unprepared for.  We may plan and prepare for our food Niagara Falls - the family get-togethers, Super Bowl, Valentine's Day - then hit an orange peel when we encounter some unexpected stress or find ourselves in a situation where we're really hungry and we don't have a Medifast meal.

Thankfully, those "orange peel" situations don't have to be our undoing, if we're prepared.  Those situations, while unexpected, aren't unfamiliar to us, because they are often our food triggers.  As a recovering food addict/emotional eater, I know that stress was a trigger to eat.  When I went on 5&1, I couldn't control when or how the stress would appear, but I could plan ahead for how I would handle it.  Knowing how we've responded to our orange peels in the past is the first step in planning for future situations.  If necessary, write out a typical "orange peel" scenario, then detail how you will handle the next one. 

If your orange peel is a busy lifestyle that sometimes finds you caught without a Medifast meal, keep extra meals in your car, your desk, your purse, etc. so that no matter where you are, if it's time to eat, you're prepared.  I still keep a box of Medifast pretzels in my car, along with several bottles of water.  I always have a couple of crunch bars in my purse and, when I was still working outside my home, I kept several meals in my desk drawer.

Even when we do hit an orange peel, we always have the ability to choose our response.  Our food orange peels don't have to land us on our backside - we can keep standing and keep moving ahead.  We just have to make the decision to get to a healthy weight, plan ahead, then choose wisely :-)