balance

Back on the bandwagon

Today was the first day in weeks that I fired up my iPhone app to keep track of the day’s eats.

The result? 27 Net Carbs consumed, including the ham and cheese omelet and zucchini spears with blue cheese dressing below.

Other eats included a homemade (read much lower-carb) iced coffee drink, a deviled egg, jicama and blue cheese dressing, sauerkraut and a cheddarwurst, an ounce of almonds and an Atkins bar. Not very exciting, to be sure … but tasty.

Sadly, I seem to have misplaced the power pod for my Ninja blender. I can’t find it anywhere in the kitchen — so I’m relegated to drinking non-frappe beverages until it turns up.

That’s a bummer, because now that NaNoWriMo is over, I won’t be going to Starbucks every day.

On the bright side, I won’t be spending so much money on skinny (but not) Peppermint Mochas (sugar-free syrups, heavy cream). On the other hand, I miss the dedicated writing time already.

Sure, I spent more time in the kitchen, washing dishes and cooking. I even got a little exercise, shoveling snow from the storm we had yesterday … but it came at the expense of accomplishing anything writing-related before work.

That means I still haven’t found that elusive balance. Can anyone tell me where to look?

Not enough hours

Anyone else ever feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done? I can’t be alone here.

With NaNoWriMo in full swing, it takes me about three hours a day to write anywhere from 1600 to 2200 words.

Add that three hours to the eight (or more) hours I spend at the day job and the hour and a half it takes to get there from the Boyfriend’s … That’s 12 1/2 hours of every day, already spent.

No wonder things like blogging and Twitter are falling by the wayside. Unfortunately, things like sleep and meal prep are also out the window.

Today, I ate:
– An Atkins Daybreak bar
– One of those low-carb coffee drinks I need to cut back on
– A stick of cheese
– 5 slices of hard salami
– more cheese
– a serving of almonds
– 4 sugar-free truffles
– a Fresh Express Cobb salad
– Another piece of cheese
– A couple bites of leftover crust less pizza

No wonder I feel like crap. And it’s probably why the scale was up on Tuesday. 2.4 pounds, back where I don’t want them.

I could tell myself the gain was due to a lack of water, but I’d be lying. Back to planning and getting more veggies, ASAP.

A productive day

Two unexpected opportunities arose today.

Here's Bandit on a recent stay at my place.

First, I got a chance to walk with this guy (Bandit) and his mom, my coworker. She sent me a text this morning, asking if I wanted to take a hike in Buffalo Park before I headed into work. Since I didn’t have any other plans — at least not ones that didn’t involve lazing around with the Boyfriend, I said “Sure.”

(We all know I’ve been trying to sneak in more activity — and it doesn’t seem so much like exercise when you’re walking and chatting with a friend.)

Immediately after I said yes, I got another text from one of my writer friends. She’s the president of my local writer’s group, and we often get together when she can steal some writing time from her husband and kids.

That led to opportunity No. 2: Some much-needed writing time. I had a synopsis to rewrite — like yesterday.

So my lazy morning turned into quite the productive day: A little more than an hour of writing time followed by a 45-minute walk (and shower) before work.

Wait a minute … exercise and writing? That sounds suspiciously like that elusive balance I’m constantly seeking. Hmm …

Unfortunately, before I took off, I managed to burn the hamburger and ruin the rice that was the Boyfriend’s lunch. (Mind you, I thought the hamburger still tasted fine … and I wasn’t eating rice, since it has way too many carbs).

I blame it on the stupid electric stove in his apartment. Given a choice, I’d never use electric. I grew up cooking on gas, and the stove at my place now is gas. I know how to cook on gas — and I don’t burn things unless I want them burned. The electric stove is another story. I’ve burned bacon (when I just wanted it crispy) and now hamburger.

Oh well. So I’m not always a great cook. I read enough blogs to know that even the best fail sometimes.