So I am not perfect.

I’ve had an off day today. I’ve been wanting food all day. I think it may be because my work day was totally different than normal so I didn’t get to drink the huge amount of water I usually drink in the morning. And I’ve confused hunger with thirst.

It also doesn’t help that I’m tired. Just sleepy. A typical Monday.

But let’s look back on what an old off day used to look like:

Breakfast: a venti 3-pump iced latte and a cranberry orange scone.

Lunch: probably sesame chicken and fried rice. with an egg roll AND a spring roll. Because that’s how much they value health at the hospital.

Snack: Ice cream. The real stuff from Graeter’s that they sell in the gift shop. All 600 calories of it.

Dinner: probably Italian. Lasagna from Carino’s.

Dessert: another trip to Starbucks, probably another Venti 3-pump white mocha.

Before-bed snack: bowl of cereal

If I weren’t so tired, I’d count up those calories. But I’m getting up in 7 hours. Let’s just say “a ridiculous amount of calories.” I’m satisfied with that.

And, honestly, is that an “off” day, or just a normal day that happened twice or so a week? Wow. That’s depressing.

And I consider today an off day? Let’s see…Maybe I didn’t work out. I had just planned on doing arm weights. I’ll make up for that tomorrow for sure. And eating? (Check out today’s photo food journal here.) I was a whole 144 calories over my target. 144. And considering I burned almost 500 calories yesterday, what’s the big deal?

I haven’t been beating myself up at all today over my day. And now I see why. Because it was hardly “bad” at all. It may not have been my plan, but if I would have been realistic about my plan, I would have seen that my planned meals wouldn’t fill me up. I would have been more prepared for snacks.

And I have snacked twice today. But both times, I was genuinely hungry.

Moral of the story? Look at all the facts before you start beating yourself up. Be honest about why today was tough and learn from it. And take what you learned from today and apply it tomorrow.

And pack a piece of fruit.