Monday 4 April 2011

iv As long as I post…

Yes, as long as I post it doesn’t need to be especially good. Here is a blow by blow of today.

I woke up ten seconds before my alarm went off from a very tense and stressful dream which about a rather mundane series of events in which my brother and I realised it was too late to order a taxi because it wouldn’t arrive in time to take us to our destination.

The next few hours (and I mean hours) were imbued with the same tenseness and stress, which was really difficult to shake off and quite annoying as I couldn’t really settle down. I started focusing on all the things which are causing me stress:

  • my gradual weight gain (12 pounds since August)
  • the fact that both of the references I have been putting down for jobs have effectively disappeared which means the last four months were a total waste
  • I can’t decide on what to do about my summer holiday
  • my illness last week means I had to skip a week of running
  • I’ve not been studying Spanish/Icelandic/Norwegian hard enough, or focused enough on my German reading list.
  • I’ve not yet applied for my German passport

Eventually though, with the help of Gilmore Girls, I calmed down and then had a nice enough day.

  • I tidied the kitchen instead of procrastinating
  • I read my book (All Quiet on the Western Front) for about an hour
  • I packed my bag well in advance
  • I had a shower
  • I ate healthily, every two hours, and carefully noted down how much I ate of what

In the afternoon I set off, because my brother was taking part in an Elocution competition (basically performance poetry and short scenes from plays) and I was going to watch it with my mother. It was relatively enjoyable even though my brother’s House only came second. A lot of the performances were good, some bad, none dreadful. Wilfred Owen’s ‘A Terre’ was sadly slaughtered, but the Year 13s (last year) were good throughout, including one magnificent rendition of a passage from Truman Capote’s ‘In Cold Blood’. Coincidentally, that guy is going to Oxford next year too so maybe I’ll bump into him around town.

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In the whole day I ate 1535 calories… plus unexpected but very happy-making takeaway from a Himalayan restaurant. So were it not for that well-received surprise I should be very proud of myself.

I don't’ regard calorie-counting as a healthy long-term approach to eating, nor even a successful or healthy short-term approach to weight loss. However, concentrating on calories makes me more aware of my portion sizes. That’s the problem with me; I have a healthy and balanced diet, I just eat too much. I have two healthy breakfasts, not one fry-up. That kind of thing is easier to change (I hope) than changing the foods I eat. So I don’t take calorie-counting too seriously, since I know that if I get obsessive about it I’ll just push myself into depression.

So my approach to ‘weight loss’ (I hate that phrase, since what is important to me is actually fitness, not weight or thigh size) is increased awareness, encouragement and no militancy regarding food; and perseverance and hard work regarding exercise.

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Bloquiry

When is the last time you went out to see a concert, play, recital or other such performance? What was it like?

1 comment:

  1. People clearly underestimate the power of Gilmore Girls. :-)

    ReplyDelete

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