Treat Yo'Self.

"If I'm going to do this, there's going to be a prize at the end," I said at the beginning of the elimination diet.

"YEAH, YOU'RE GOING TO BE HEALTHIER," Rob said.

"YEAH, BUT I NEED SOMETHING MORE TANGIBLE THAN THAT," I retorted.

I was just sitting here and realized with unbridled excitement that TODAY IS THE DAY.

I'm buying myself a Vera Bradley bag. That was what I decided when I set out on this, and when it got hard and I just wanted to bury my face in the half-gallon of ice cream sitting in the freezer, I said to myself, "BUT BUT BUT, VERA BRADLEY. THINK ABOUT THAT CUTE BAG YOU'LL BE TOTING AROUND WITH YOU THAT WILL CARRY ALL OF YOUR THINGS. ALL OF THEM."

I'm not sure if one of those exists, but if it does, I'm gonna find it.

The best part of this is that it's from Parks and Rec, which is hands down one of my favorite shows ever.

Things like this were what fueled me when I lost 55 pounds for my wedding. The big prize was a new pair of Birkenstocks, but I gave myself something small every 10 pounds (except for pound #50, which I just skipped in favor of losing the last five and getting the big one at the end.).

Things like this also got me through grad school. At the end of every term, no matter what my grades looked like, I'd take myself (and sometimes friends, but usually not) to Biederman's and get myself a balboa and a beer. If I got a 4.0, I'd treat myself to something small. I intend to have a balboa and a beer when I'm licensed, and I intend to do the same when I get published. I always have to have a prize at the end.

I'm sure there's something deeper to look into there, but I'm going to let it go, because it's what gets me through hard times. And, I work hard (as we all do), and I deserve a treat sometimes!

In other news, I had eggs a little bit ago and feel wonky.

I'm in denial about it, so that's all I'm going to say about this right now and go do some work and get my mind off of it. I'm hoping it's just a harder landing than what I was expecting, so I'm going with that for now.