January 22, 2010

My lunchtime dilemma this week…..

For some reason, I have not brought a lunch to work all week. Which, for me, is unheard of. I LOVE spending time the night before making healthy food, planning things out. But, I just haven’t done it this week. Which is kind of like going to work naked for me.

So, that’s put me in a pickle millions of people who don’t bring lunch to work are in.: What should I do for lunch? I’ve actually had a few items that have been in my desk drawer which helped, but not so great health wise. I had a package of ramen noodles one day (boring!), I had a can of Progresso Soup (also boring!) and yesterday I even had a can of spaghettio’s in my drawer that I am pretty sure has been there for a year…and I checked the expiration date, and it still has 2 years to go before it expires!

Even with those lack luster lunches, I STILL didn’t bring a lunch today to work. By 11:00 a.m. I was already starting to get hungry. Now I work in an area where I have LOTS of choices. Subway, Cosi, Red Hen Bread, New Pot (chinese), Starbucks, Jimmy John’s, Erik’s Deli, The Pasta Shoppe, Flat Top Grill, Mancini’s, Puree’s Pizza, 5 guys Burgers, The Cozy Corner, Bar Louie, just to name a few within walking distance of my office!

Now, without planning, for me, I start to rationalize getting something not so good. What I really wanted was french fries to be honest with you! But, I called Red Hen Bread and they had Chicken Enchilada soup which I had once before, so I decided on that.

As I walked over there, the line was BIG! I should mention that I am also a few blocks from the local high school, and apparently its finals week this week, so there were TONS of kids walking around. I didn’t want to wait in line, and just a little further down the block was this:

Now, as you can imagine, Tasty Dog DOES sell french fries, and yummy burgers, and hot dogs….I walked in the door, it smelled amazing. There were only a few people in line BUT every table was bustling with high school kids, it was like being in a school cafeteria. Kids were shouting, laughing, texting, etc… It brought back memories, because I went to the high school which is only a few blocks from my office AND I used to frequent Tasty Dog a lot during my 4 years there. Well, that was 25 years ago though!!

As I waited in line, I scanned the menu….I could get a small chili AND fries. Or I could get the fries and just a diet pop, or just a hot dog. I was justifying all the reasons why I could go off my healthy eating plan. Just as I was about to order, I saw they had a “Chicken Taco” Shredded chicken, lettuce, salsa on a pita. I ordered it before I could change my mind. I asked for NO CHEESE and NO SOUR CREAM.

And you know what? It was really good! And I’m sure the Pita was a few hundred calories, but I could have done ALOT worse, so I was happy I didn’t cave…