It’s really not as dire as that, I mean, really, my issues are silly compared to some of the worst case scenarios out there!
My eating habits and exercise habits have taken a nose dive. I would like to blame the hot weather, long days at work (staring at numbers all day can sometimes make your brain take a snooze), my crappy sleep habits have come back into play and just random stress that everyone deals with daily but I think it comes down to being lazy.
Each morning before I head out to work I make a bowl of Grape Nuts to go with me. By the time I get there the milk has softened the barley goodness and it fills me to the brim. Since I have never been a big breakfast eater (at least early in the morning) this has been a great habit and I often find myself forgetting to eat lunch or taking it late in the day.
But once I get home I either forget to eat dinner or end up eating a bowl of pasta instead of preparing a more balanced dinner. I also find that the heat zaps me of energy and then I “forget” that even though it is hot outside I have a little gym at my complex that I can use.
Those pounds have packed back on and I start to beat myself up. I need to find the motivation that was there some five years ago that made me walk almost every night. Besides getting healthy; I could then get into some of my other clothes, not feel icky and the added stretchmarks would just be a reminder of what I have done to my body.
My sleep has taken a hit in terms of those days that I used to make a point to hop into bed by 10ish have turned into midnight. Why? I can blame my addiction to Netflix, the internet, books and the complete disregard for time management that I used to so good at doing.
I somehow do manage to get up early and get to the office somewhere between 7:30 and 7:45; although Fridays seem to be the morning that the lack of sleep kicks my rear and I am racing in at 8 on the nose. Which I can’t stand only because I really love to get a jump start when the office is really, really quiet.
But that is life, it knocks you up side the head and reminds you that there are ten million things to do, read and watch. While having tons of distractions while living in Nashville I somehow always managed to have my routine and not vary from it often. In fact, my buddy Greg used that as ammunition to get me out of the apartment a few times. He knew I was just sitting watching tv and surfing the net and called me on it.
And I have to say, I laugh about it now. Why or when perhaps, did I get to be such a routine, you don’t go out on a school night kind of girl? I didn’t care about it in college, especially since Thursday night was always party night at my college. In the early years of my work career I would go out with the girls; when I went out with Bird and her family this past Thursday, I began to get antsy towards the end of dinner. It certainly wasn’t the company causing it; it was that my “lazy” routine for the evening was being tossed aside.
I was speaking with my red wine loving friend Friday night and I was telling her about this issue. There were plenty of times that she or others mentioned going out after work or hitting up this networking event or even a jewelry party being hosted by someone but did I go? Not often, I would come up with all kinds of excuses not to go, to head home and hang with the cat (who by the way is an awesome distraction to get home to!). Even when dating the boy, I would get antsy while sitting at his place, three minutes from my home, while watching tv. Really?
Have I missed out on a whole lot of life? Maybe. While I do love to travel, that home has always been a constant for me since college. Even moving within the complex, I found comfort doing what I wanted, when I wanted and of course bedtime at 10!
But after a weekend of cooking, spending time with the most amazing cat ever and doing my thing, I am going to wipe the slate clean. Tomorrow I am going to work on making sure I have a good dinner, that I get to the exercise room and that I start wrapping up my evening early enough so I am not looking at the clock at midnight stressing about not getting to sleep.
I am also going to start getting my stuff organized. While the apartment has not gotten to the stage that Stacey and her husband saw it shortly before I moved last year (it was bad, sorry about that guys) I do need to declutter, put things up or throw them out. I started at the wee hours of the morning today because I couldn’t sleep. I started with the kitchen. Bleach, bleach everywhere. I did a deep cleaning of my coffee maker, cleaned one cabinet out, emptied the dishwasher and reloaded it and wipe the counters clean. Today I even unloaded the dishwasher (a miracle) and cooked some veggies to have with dinner.
Tomorrow, I think I will deal with the guest bedroom. And that should give me another bag or two to take to Goodwill. I also have a craptastic bed on the floor that needs to be trashed as well as a sad looking put together chest that should find it’s way to the dumpster at some point. More than likely those two items will sit for a few months but getting everything else organized will make me feel better.
So I am getting ready to climb back onto the wagon and hang on for dear life. I am also going to see if I can find some suckers (umm, friends. . . ) who might just want to help me drag things out as I get my collection going. . . anyone, anyone? Oh well, it was worth a shot!
Stumbling Through Life 