Food and unemployment
Thursday, February 14th, 2008 | General
Now that unemployment is coming to a close, I’ve reflected a lot on the opportunity it presented to me and how it all comes down to food.
There was so much I hoped to get done during unemployment (e.g. paint office, organize office, get hardwoods in dining room, spruce up living room, take a day to wander around Edgefield, wine taste during the week, catch a matinee in the theatre, shop up and down Alberta during the day, hike around Forest Park…etc).
So, instead of focusing on what I didn’t get done, it’s more affirming to focus on what I did do (e.g. introduced the new culinary pleasure of free-range poultry, enjoyed going out on a “school night” on more than one occasion, enjoyed some fantastic wine, cooked up some fabulous recipes to share with family, stayed up until 1am every once in awhile, slept in with kitty, took up the violin, started painting a sunflower scene (almost paint by numbers but not quite), exceedingly closer to getting done with MBA, traveled to England, New York, Arizona & Washington.
So, I guess I have been able to enjoy the time even though the extra time made me feel a bit like an Alien. You know that feeling where you just don’t believe that the moment is meant to be. You should be doing something else, you’re needed someplace else? You feel guilty and off because there is something missing.
There are, however, payments to having idle time. FOOD. I love food, I love to cook, bake and I love to eat. I eat when I’m hungry, stressed, anxious and bored. All the makings of trouble. I have to shimmy extra to get into my jeans and there’s a bit of roll when I put on my favorite brown pants. I must face the music, that unemployment simply is not kind to the waistline.
I’ve made extra efforts to hit the gym daily, but the adage goes, “to lose or maintain weight, one must simply burn the calories or more calories than one takes in, in a day”. A pound of fat is a total of 3,500 calories. To lose a pound you basically have to burn that many calories and it’s only safe to lose about 2 lbs, a week if you are going to keep it off. This affirms, I’m simply eating more than my body is burning. ‘Sigh’. I aim to make a change.
So, I’ve enjoyed life and will continue to do so, but at least with more structure in my day, the graham crackers won’t be calling my name every afternoon, or if they do, I won’t be home to hear them.
I’ll be walking a ton more when I start working, which is good. The BIG dilemma will be gym membership. I think I will wait to blog on that later, as it is quite the dilemma.
SO, here’s to a little bit of gluttony that is a natural ensuance to unemployment and here’s to getting back in fighting condition.
No comments yet.