Sometimes, timing works out great. For example:
– You’re super tired, and your early morning flight gets delayed the night prior so you get to sleep in
– Picking the fastest line in traffic/airport security
– Double unders
– You happen to be leading the 197th lap of the Indy 500 when someone crashes into a wall, the caution flag comes out and you get to coast across the bricks to victory

On the other hand, poor timing is notorious for derailing otherwise well-intentioned plans. Like when:
– Getting sick the day before you leave for a big trip
– Letting a full WEEK pass by between writing this line of text and the one above it
– Those days when the traffic fairy just DOES NOT want you to get anywhere on time

Poor timing list item #2 is sad but true. One thing I’ve learned in my albeit short post-college career is that I really like planning things. I’m really good at planning things. I plan things like it’s my job. Maybe that’s why planning things IS my job. I could make a plan for everything and talk it over 14 times until Tuesday. However, life likes to keep me in check and throw me reminders that life isn’t always going to go to plan. One day I’ll eventually believe it. I’m stubborn. Pretty sure that’s a rule for all twenty-somethings.

One of the things heavily emphasized in the intro to the 21 DSD is that it’s easy… if you’re PREPARED. The first week for me was pretty doable. At the beginning of week 2, I came to the realization that I failed to think the timing of the detox through. Today should have been the last day of the detox. Today is also the day I travel home from a weeklong business trip. For those of you who don’t know, remote sports broadcasting is one giant smorgasboard of junk food on demand 24/7.

Also, if you don’t feel like sitting alone in your hotel room every night, you’re going to be heading out to drinks & dinner with coworkers on a consistent basis. No kitchen in the room, just a mini fridge stocked with booze and candy rigged to charge you $18 per M&M if you even look at it the wrong way.

The week before I travel, I also do my best to use up what’s in my fridge that will go bad while I’m away, without replenishing. At this point, I haven’t had a homemade Stan smoothie in 2 weeks. Vegetable intake surely lacked prior to my departure. Either way, I’ve not been in my food element for 2 weeks now. I DON’T LIKE IT. I haven’t slept like I should, I haven’t eaten like I should and I haven’t worked out as much as I should. 4am wakeup calls, 2lb bags of Sour Patch kids that just sit there next to you singing their siren song and a hotel gym setup leaving much to be desired just aren’t what I’m used to.

So… I failed. I went into the 21DSD all gung ho with my plan that I was going to do it and feel all epic awesome after. That did not happen. At all. Things didn’t go according to plan, time to move on.

My timing was off. Sometimes it’s good to fail at something on the first try. Now you know what it takes to stay strong when you dust yourself off and try it again. I now know I need to find 3 weeks in my life without a hectic event schedule so that I can keep myself out of tempting situations and in my element. I mean… look at Tony Kanaan. Took him 12 years to win the Indy 500. Just because you tripped up once doesn’t mean you’re going to trip up forever.

I’m taking a mulligan. 21DSD Part II coming soon to a blog near you.