Working and eating out

Sep 5 2008 1:00 PM7 commentsAdd comment

[Note: I'm going to display health-related blog posts on the main page of Room for Nuance as well as in the Getting Better section, so if you don't want to have to check both places for new posts, you don't have to. Tanith chapters, however, will still be confined to the Prince Neil of Tanith section.]

My personal trainer and I have broken up. It was actually his suggestion: I expressed some dissatisfaction with the progress I've been making, and he said I might find some sessions with a nutritionist more helpful than further workouts with him. So I've scheduled four appointments with Sam the Nutritionist, and after that I'll get to keep that $250 a month. Which will be VERY NICE.

Workouts this week seemed particularly difficult. My class had a substitute trainer on Wednesday, and he really got into arm muscles while we did our cardio on the treadmill. Then on Thursday, my final session with Jason featured arm work, too, leaving my biceps and shoulders and triceps at a level of sore I've not previously achieved. And in my class this morning we used a new kind of elliptical trainer that kicked. my. ass, so my thigh muscles aren't happy with me, either.

All told, I am TI.RED. and seriously looking forward to the weekend.

Anyway, the exercise front seems to be working out well. Now I have to tackle the food and eating part of healthy living. Here's why.

So far this week, I've consumed:

• at least 120 ounces of Coke
• around 3 dozen fries
• 2 large cookies
• 1 piece of chocolate grocery-store cake with frosting
• 5 glazed donut holes
• a couple handfuls of chocolate-covered pretzels
• 2 burrito bols

...yeah. Not good.

Of the above, more than half was consumed at work. I'll buy a cookie with my salad at Taste of Scandinavia, and I "treat" myself to a Coke every afternoon, something to make me feel better during a stupid day at a job I don't particularly like. And if a coworker shares a goodie with us (cake, donuts, candy), well, who am I to refuse?

Another problem is that neither Jesse and I enjoy preparing meals. Well, that's not quite true: It's that when we get home from work (and, for me, the gym), we're exhausted. We're hungry. We have to go to bed in a few hours. Until lately, it's been hot in the apartment, which doesn't help. It takes too much time and energy to put a meal together, then clean up afterwards, especially when we have other things we want to do. So we go out to eat a lot.

I just haven't yet gotten into the mindset of eating for results and a functioning body rather than for pleasure and habit. I eat sweets when they're available (and as if they're going to disappear tomorrow). I eat as a gift to my brain if I'm not feeling well — or as a celebration if I am feeling well. I eat when I'm bored, when I'm tired, when I'm unhappy. I eat because my brain wants it, not because my body needs it.

So. Some ideas for next week:

• Come up with some kind of other non-food unhappiness-relieving treat: Look at art. Write a brief poem or letter or something. Design a quick website.
• Stop bringing cash and my credit card to work. Just bring our joint credit card for emergencies.
• Make a list of one-pot and/or casserole sorts of meals that I can make and refrigerate over the weekend. Then I can just come home and heat something up.
• Start doing some of the dishwashing. It's easier to make something in a clean kitchen.
• Um...sandwiches?

What's the best way you've found to get something together for dinner? How do you beat brain-based goodie cravings? Tips and suggestions are welcome.