CrossFit Athletic Group

by, Mrs. Tara

...........

I'm sitting on a godforsaken plane for the first time in 15 months.  At the airport, before boarding my flight, I walked past restaurant after restaurant, all closed.  First thing that came to my mind was "What will I eat?"  The airport does that to me.  I associate food with travel.  Then the realization (and frankly, panic) set in.  "What if I can't eat before getting on the plane?"  "What if my only option is plane food?"  "What is plane food?  I don't even remember?"

One of the few benefits to my last job was that I traveled so much and to mostly far places like Seattle, LA, and Salt Lake (more miles = more rewards) that I get lots and lots of Delta perks, including an upgrade to more comfortable seats, which are totally wasted on me because I'm, well, you know, pint sized.  But still.  That's besides the point and I'll take an upgrade to First Class any day of the week before sitting with peasants in the main cabin.  I've earned this! What have I earned?  Bigger seats because this perk also comes with free food and all the drinks you want (alcohol included).  Of course you need bigger seats.

So the flight attendant comes around once we reach 10k and asks, "Would you like your snack box now?"  This would have been the highlight of my flight on past trips.  But instead, anxiety sort of set in.  "My snack box is my reward for the long work hours and trips away from my family," I tell myself.  It's the snack box that reminds me "When I get home, I'm going to have to work like hell at the Champions Club to erase the snack box calories."  I accepted said snack box, opened the lid to found 2 things that are semi-acceptable within my new eating habits: a tiny meat stick about the size of . . . Nevermind.  Let's just say a middle finger and leave it at that.  And cheese . . . spread, I guess you would call it.  It said "Gouda" on the label so I'm assuming it's trying to imitate cheese, fancy cheese.  So I guess it's not really allowed.  I didn't eat it anyway.   But Tara in March 2021 (and prior) would have and wouldn't have thought twice about it until the cheese spread showed up on the scale.  I also would not have thought twice about the sea salt and vinegar kettle baked potato chips, the gummy bears (well, I wouldn't have thought twice about bringing them home to the kids as their gift for being without me for a few days - I'm not a gummy candy fan afterall), a pack of Oreos, crackers, and a granola bar.  

I'm kinda mad.  Mostly because as someone who hasn't struggled with weight "issues" as much as the average American, I had been dooped.  So many others who don't have the . . . Shit, is it? education or knowledge or common sense to look at the contents of the snack box and think "this probably isn't good for me." don't stand a chance.  Then I thought, "What the actual fuck?"  This is a problem! People don't know better.  Subtracting. Turning down the snack box.  Planning ahead for lack of food at the airport or planning for lack of food options that I am willing to put in my mouth (stop being "that way" this is a professional email).  Why didn't I know?  I'm not dumb.  I ate a fairly normal diet (bad carbs aside) otherwise while at home.  People just don't know better.  I didn't know better.  Or I did, but didn't care because I had the means (and drive) to get rid of the evidence when I returned to normal life.  I thank God for that. 

Anyway, food is reward for so many things.  "Come on our plane for 20 round trips and we'll assure you an upgrade which includes food and drinks."  Food is the center of celebrations.  It's our reason for gatherings and when you don't eat the shit at those gatherings, you are a prude.  

The guy sitting next to me on the plane must have a lot of experience in these trips because let's just say he's not Champions Club material, if ya know what I mean.  He actually asked for 2 snack boxes because there were two different kinds and from what I could see, similar contents in both.  Don't worry, he's now resting easy because he's carb loaded and it's late and we sat at the gate for over an hour waiting to take off.  He's exhausted from unwrapping his dinner from all the packaging. 

OK so I'm not trying to be a snot about this.  I just wish bad food wasn't so tempting and available and at our fingertips and used as rewards for everything.  I'm glad I am where I'm at.  The more I see these things, the more I realize how brainwashed we are with food.  I'm not saying I will never eat these foods again.  Shoot, I've given up bad carbs before and lost 40 lbs doing it.  But this time is different.  It originally was about losing weight.  But now I feel good - not just because of the weight loss.  I'm rarely sore anymore, even after tough workouts.  Workouts that would have made me feel like shit for days following - I'm now recovering without noticable discomfort.  My muscles don't feel tight or puffy.  I owe it to the way I'm eating.  The lifestyle I've chosen.  For good.  

I don't know what my point is in writing this.  Maybe to prove to myself that I've changed my foot mindset, not just because I was able to lose weight and get more fit.  Maybe to remind myself that I can feel content on occasion to eat a bad meal and know it's gonna make feel like garbage for a day or so. But turn around and get right back to feeling great the next day.  Or maybe it's so that if bad habits creep back in, you'll send this email to me as a reminder to stop eating like Chris Farley - "Lay off me, I'm starving!"  Maybe it's so I will motivate myself to help my family realize it's a good thing.  Nah, I'm not there yet.  Maybe I can start with Casey.  

By the way, I did find food at the airport.  Don't worry, I didn't go hungry.  There is a wine bar that I used to frequent and they have great salads.  The bartender, after commenting on how long it had been since she's seen me, asked if I wanted "the usual."  Nope, just the salad this time . . . to go.  The usual would have included wine and cheese and crackers and other charcuterie items that weren't good for me. 
Aaanyway.  That's it.  I don't really know how to wrap this up.  The guy next to me is now snoring.  I was going to take video but I think that's an invasion of his privacy.  Is it worth getting caught?  Probably.