Who will stop the rain?

[days_unfolding]

Well, at work, someone sent a note asking for additional people to join their Weight Watchers program, so I said that I would. Assuming that enough people joined, my first meeting will be on Wednesday. It's been a rough week diet-wise. When I work really late, I crave junk and get it out of the vending machine. (In this case, peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches were my downfall.) I need to find another way to get a jolt of energy when I'm tired. Anyway the other people who will be at the meeting also work at this crazy place for the same company, so maybe they'll have some ideas on how to diet when working overtime.

I want to take the Dale Carnegie course, which starts in the middle of March, so I'm discussing with my teachers if it's possible to move my lessons to make room for it. It sounds like it would be really valuable; well, I hope that it's really valuable because it's expensive as hell. (You could take three semester-length classes at San Jose State for what they're charging.) I'm putting joining Toastmasters on hold until I see what happens with the class.

I've been reading Getting Things Done: the Art of Stress-Free Productivity. I won't really have the full system set up until I process all the piles in my office and condo, which could take months, but it's giving me a lot of ideas. He's right that I keep objects lying around to remind me to take action on them.

I'm also reading a book on constructive thinking. So far, it's been reading like a rather dry textbook (though maybe that's not a constructive thought!) I have a nice series of books lined up for me to read and work with.

I also bought a slow cooker, figuring that it's a type of cooking that I might actually do. I bought ingredients for Beef Stroganoff (for the slow cooker) and Fettuchini in Spinach Cream Sauce (for normal cooking). The problem is that all my recipes really start with "remove boxes from the kitchen...." so I didn't cook this weekend.

Despite all the activity, I've been in a somewhat melancholy mood this weekend. I was out running errands in the rain, and saw the headline about Schwarzenegger wanting to shut down MarriageFest up in the City, and wound up feeling sad about just about everything. (I had a longish essay that I wrote about it in my head, but I don't know when or if I'll ever have the time to write it. I need to be getting much more done at home than I'm getting done.) Add in some brooding about an argument that I got into with a friend, and it was a pretty good recipe for a mild funk. I'm sure that it'll pass.

Comments

[2wanda.livejournal.com]

I took the Dale Carnegie course many years ago. It was fun. I got a lot out of it. I didn't have to pay for it, though. My employer at the time did.

[days-unfolding.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear that you thought it was useful! I was able to rearrange my schedule, so I'm going to register for it.

[lesliesailor.livejournal.com]

Do you have a George Foreman Grill? I highly recommend it because you can cook a chicken breast in 5 minutes, a salmon fillet in about 3 - 4 minutes, and a hamburger patty in about 2 1/2 minutes. (That's how I prepare all of my dinners to take to work.) What we do is, on Sunday evening, wash enough lettuce/veggies for the week for both of us, and get that divided up into rubbermaid containers. Then, I have either chicken, fish, or eggs, for dinner each day, and all I have to do is toss them on the George Foreman grill for a couple of minutes, wrap them up and take them to work. I heat them up in the microwave for a couple of minutes and I have a hot dinner to eat about 4:00 before going home. I also keep cottage cheese and veggies in the refrigerator here at work, so if I get hungry, I don't hit the vending machines or the little store downstairs. It is really easy once you condition yourself to really read the labels on the snack foods. (You leave it alone really fast!) Also, have you checked out www.fitday.com? You can log in all of the food you eat during the day, and the exercise you do, so you can keep track of it. I find that helps, too, because I don't want to see the # of calories and the grams of carbos and fats go up!

[days-unfolding.livejournal.com]

I do have a George Foreman Grill. Thanks for the suggestion!

I do keep some healthy food in the refrigerator at work. The problem is that when I get tired, I crave sweets, and nothing else will do. I'm going to try bringing apples and oranges to work and see if that helps.

I log my food on Weight Watchers' site. It uses their point system, not calories, but it's the same idea. Unfortunately, the food in the machine doesn't have nutrition labels though.

[lesliesailor.livejournal.com]

I think apples and oranges are a great idea. You could try dried fruit, too. (Mangos, papaya, dates, apricots.) I know it is high in calories, but I think it may be more healthy than candy/etc from the vending machine, and a little bit may kill the "sweet cravings".