First is the packed lunch. Somehow I managed most of last week to bring packed lunches from home. This happened because my Most Sainted Mum came down from northern Michigan last weekend and cooked some homemade chicken noodle soup for me. She made so much that I divided it up into pints in mason jars and froze them. She also brought some gorgeous bacon from a special little shop up North which I used along with some eggs, cheese and frozen bread I found in the back of my fridge to make breakfast sandwiches, which I also froze.
Each day for lunch I grabbed a sandwich for breakfast and a jar of soup for lunch, along with a helping of the veggies and grapes I'd washed and chopped over the weekend. It was quick, easy, and delicious. It also saved me a ton of money that otherwise would have been wasted eating out. I'm determined to continue with this, so I've been tinkering with using the things in my freezer and root cellar (the cobwebby area under the stairs in the basement where I keep my canned goods) in some sort of menu plan that allows me to make my lunches ahead of time. And those breakfast sandwiches were actually really good at keeping me full until lunch, much better than the toast with avocado that I usually splurge for!
I've also got to plan these meals carefully because I'll be starting the Whole Life Challenge on September 7th, and that will include me giving up sugar and processed foods, along with other things. The planning ahead and preparing ingredients and washing/cutting veggies is going to be integral to my success with this program.
Another great thing about packing my lunch is that I consider it an exercise in loving myself. The effort I can, and sometimes do put into making myself an aesthetically pleasing, delicious, and nutritious lunch is a little gift when I take my midday break at work. I like to cut out my veggies in shapes (when I have time) and arrange things prettily. Then, when I open the container, I can't help but smile because someone put that much care into preparing something for me to enjoy fleetingly. And it's an added special bonus and good for my self-esteem when that person happens to be myself.
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| A couple of days of deliciousness for lunch. And smiles! |
Another strategy that I have been working on this week is what I call "clearing my desk". I have a to-do list on a Post-It next to my keyboard with a few things I need to finish both immediately and long term. Last week I started the arduous task of cleaning and de-cluttering my cubicle to make my workdays more professional and productive, and so what I did yesterday and plan on continuing to do is taking some time after five to get rid of extra papers that have piled up during the day, tick off some things from the to-do list like calling to make doctor's appointments or update my blog (lol), and ticking off QC requirements. I also took the time to track all my spending from the weekend in my YNAB software, and revised my pocket calendar so I can always know where I've got to be instead of trying to remember it all.
Yesterday was a great success and it kinda cascaded down into the rest of my life as well. I took about 30 or 40 minutes after work to post comments in my online classroom, clean up my desk, cross some things off my to-do list, and plan out what I needed to get from the grocery store in order to eat for the rest of the week. Here's what happened as a result:
-Desk is tidy when I came in today.
-Didn't purchase a ton of veggies that would go to waste since I've got 2 dinners out this week and a lunch meeting on Friday.
-Didn't take extra cash out at the grocery store because I took stock of my wallet ahead of time and found a $20 that my mum had given me that I could use for fuel.
-Put gas in my car because the rush at the pump is over at 6:10.
-Missed the major traffic jams! All of them!
-Cooked myself dinner. Actually cooked it. With food I had in the freezer thanks to my few minutes of planning after work.
-Unloaded my laundry from the car instead of letting it sit there, because I felt good about all the stuff I'd already done.
-Pulled steak out of the freezer for tomorrow night's dinner. Holy Moley! Forethought!
-This is an important one: went upstairs and hung out in my room instead of just watching TV. This also connects to the next strategy I've devised.
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| Another example of a beautiful way to have lunch. From Me with Love. |
I call the next change that I've started making "moving my life home". I've noticed that I spend an asinine amount of time in my office. Part of this is because I take my online classes for my Master's through my computer at work, so I devote a lot of time to homework with my buns in my cubicle chair. I also noticed though that I tend to roll into work between 7:30 and 8:00 AM and spend the first 30 minutes or an hour having breakfast and coffee and generally screwing around.
That bothers me for several reasons.
1) 2.5 years ago, when I started working here at the lab, I was coming from a minimum wage job managing a gas station/grocery/deli and generally being very hard-working and no-nonsense about performing my duties. (Even though I thought myself a little over-qualified for the job, I still took pride in doing it well and made a point to not take my luck at actually being employed for granted.) I hate that when I started this job, I was confident and proud of my work ethic, but now it has appeared to have deteriorated. I want to go back to being pleased with my work and standing behind my own performance and values.
2) I already eat lunch and sometimes dinner at the lab because of my school schedule, why do I have to have breakfast here too? I haven't had breakfast at home in years. Perhaps part of the reason I feel like I never spend any time at home or that I don't belong there (I'm renting two rooms in a friend's home) is because I only sleep there (and even that's sporadic at best).
I'm hoping that by getting up in the morning and having breakfast and showering and taking the time to get looking nice for work and greeting the day with preparedness will help me feel more grounded. I worry sometimes that I spend money on things for "home" because I don't feel like I have one. By making my life more home-centric, maybe some of the stress and emptiness that leads me to compulsive book and cooking utensil purchases will be eased.
I am attempting this too because of a compromise I've had to make. Since CrossFit doesn't feel the way it used to, I've decided to rearrange my life a little. I'm no longer getting up at 5 AM, going to the gym and getting gross, then going immediately to work without time to shower or eat before 8 AM finds me at my desk. The reflex for days I wasn't going to the gym was to sleep in till 7 AM and then roll out of the house in whatever clothes were cleanest and lying on the floor nearest the door. This was not a good system either since I still showed up at work un-showered and unfed.
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| Much tidier than usual. I can actually find things! |
My compromise is to get up at 6 AM each day and take the time to get ready, eat breakfast, and even make coffee! I have nice coffee at home, and even a lovely ceramic travel cup... but I was always just drinking the swill at the office!
This morning it worked brilliantly. Bonus benefits:
-Leaving home at 7 means traffic was a breeze.
-I've had time to blog before work.
-I had time to make a sandwich and select a soup from the freezer for lunch.
-I cleaned up the kitchen after cooking so it looks nice for when my roomie wakes up.
-My coffee is delicious.
-I said hello to a nice neighbor who was up taking a walk, which made me smile and feel good.
-I had time to select carefully which items I wanted to carry in my "purse" (actually a tote bag, because I carry ALL THE THINGS usually) and I'm not carrying around stuff I don't need.
In general, I walked into work today feeling like not only was yesterday a good day, but today will be a great day too... and this week is going to be lovely.
Tonight the plan is to go home and cook a nice dinner and then prepare for Wednesday and tidy up. It sounds like a very manageable task to me.
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