My June “wooden spoon”
Elizabeth June 1st, 2008
Remember that scene from Run Fatboy Run, when Dennis finally begins training for the marathon, and the only reason he doesn’t stop is because Mr. Goshdashtidar is following him on his scooter and hitting him with a spatula?
Well, right now I need a Mr. Goshdashtidar in my life. Somebody to remind me that I am neglecting some important aspects of my life, and to keep the spatula just a few inches from my butt. But since I don’t have a crazy Indian landlord with a scooter and kitchen utensils, I thought I’d write about it here instead.
I’ve decided to embrace the start of a new month by making some positive changes.
The truth is that I’ve been in a bit of a slump for the last couple of months. I’ve been working in my new job for a few months now, and the situation there has become pretty hard to bear. I’m lucky enough to share my role with a girl who has become a good friend, but she’s the one oasis in an otherwise miserable workplace.
Things are going well in other aspects of my life, of course. Tim and I have gone from strength to strength, our little dog has adjusted to his new life really well, and Melbourne is still an incredible place to explore in our free time. We’re slowly making new friends in this city, and I think both of us are now feeling completely at home here. I feel lucky to have so much good stuff happening in my life.
But in many ways this job is ruining me. It’s a job where I really don’t get any personal satisfaction whatsoever. I don’t leave at the end of the day feeling like I have achieved something. I don’t derive any enjoyment from the menial tasks that I do, because they contribute very little and somebody else gets the credit for them anyway. I don’t get to help clients or coworkers in any sort of meaningful way. I don’t have any opportunity to extend myself and grow as a person – every day is exactly the same as the day before.
All this would be bearable if I was making more money, because I could be making better use of my free time. I could focus on saving up for a new computer to replace the one that is breaking, or the hot air balloon ride that I am dying to take someday soon. I could treat myself to a kickass all-day breakfast whenever I felt like it, or buy myself a couple of new shirts for work. The sad reality is that my salary covers my bills – and nothing more. Living month-to-month is just something I have to do right now.
The long-term plan is to use the “experience” that I am gaining to ask more of my next position. When I took this job I had just come out of a long period of self-employment, one that gave me very little to offer in an office environment. I am surviving all of this by reminding myself that it’s not forever – there is more out there and next time I can have it. It’s the short-term plan that has left me stumped, and caused me to neglect myself and the stuff I care about.
So for the last two months I’ve been undoing all the hard work I did at the beginning of the year with my diet and exercise. As you’ve noticed, I’ve badly neglected this blog. I haven’t been writing in my paper journal, haven’t listened to any new music, haven’t sought out or created any art. My workdays just drain me of energy and creativity, and even the desire to take care of myself properly. It really can’t go on.
So I’ve made a few decisions…
Firstly, I’ve decided to use part of my workdays in ways that benefit me personally. I might start by writing in my paper journal in my lunch hour, and using quieter parts of the day to plan/write blog posts. I’m still not comfortable blogging from work, but I can at least email them to myself and publish them from home. I have zero remorse in using work time for personal endeavours, since my workplace provides me with so little. My work will still get done.
Secondly, I want to start making my lunches more often in order to cut out some of the bad stuff I’m eating. I’ve been finding it really hard to eat well with the onset of Winter, but putting it in the “too hard” basket isn’t an option. From now on, Sunday to Thursday is dedicated to eating well – no matter what. That means less bread, rice and potatoes. More salad, maybe with soup. The plan is to eat my biggest meal in the middle of the day, and better plan my meals at night.
Thirdly, I need to get more exercise. It’s dark when I leave for work in the morning, and dark again when I leave the office. I start work at 8am, and it takes me an hour to get there. Exercising in the morning is basically not an option, since I am already getting up at 5:30 just to make it out the door on time. I need to find ways of exercising at night, even though it’s dark and cold and I just want to fall into bed.
Fourthly, I really really need to get stuck back into my 101 Things in 1001 Days list. I’ve actually managed to cross a couple of items off my list in the last couple of months without really trying (I’ll write about these in a later post), but I’ve stopped using it as a tool for keeping me on track with my goals. I’m looking forward to getting that positive momentum back in my life.
And lastly…
This blog has been a really big motivator for me, thanks to the comments and emails that you guys send me from time to time. It certainly wasn’t a deliberate decision that caused me to stop writing here – just a general case of “the blahs” that made it seem too hard. I’d like you guys to think of yourselves as the wooden spoon hovering right near my butt, and giving me a bit of a slap if you notice me falling off the wagon.
With that in mind, I’d appreciate it if you’d leave me a comment with any ideas you have for making these changes. I’m particularly interested in hearing how you eat well in Winter when all you can think about is potatoes and steak and pasta and ohmygod did I mention potatoes?
- 101 in 1001 , Blogging , Health & Fitness , Life
- Comments(11)
LITTLE CUZ!!!!!!!!
re: potatoes. Sweet potato soup. I make mine with sweet spud, pumpkin, cauliflower, peas, broccolini, whatever is in the crisper add bit o’ curry and some yummy home made yoghurt and shes done. The boys don’t know whats in it and they love it, all those veges and we haven’t been sick this year!!
re: work, happy to nag
Much Love.
Dear Ms M’Liz,
It’s been a pleasure being your spatula, mostly in regards to the love you’ve been giving this blog, but happy to extend this to other areas of your life!
I can’t tell you the little *squeee* when I saw a blog post on Scarlet Arts come up on my RSS reader. Sad, that I only saw you yesterday but I get so excited about seeing your written word… but that is probably because I know that the regularity of your posts is often inextricably tied to how you are feeling about life in general. So on that note, I am glad you are ‘back’.
Re eating in winter, I am a massive fan of soup for a few reasons; a) can be cooked in bulk, b) taken to work and microwaved, c) usually packed full of veges and low GI lentils, d) when combined with some Burgen seeds bread is uber good for you and low GI/filling.
Re exercise, I am happy to be your partner… want to run together? Or box together? Nights are best for me too. I will even bring my spatula. I also have another weapon of motivation up my sleeve, that I shall reveal to you on Wednesday….
Re your work, I know exactly how soul destroying this can be and would be for you. I don’t have any advice other than what you’ve suggested, which is using the time you are getting paid to pursue other personal interests to keep you sane. eg, can you do any online courses in a program or hobby you are interested in? Sign up for the newsletters of the blogs you love to read, easier than reading the actual blog at work and oh so satisfying. Ummm, maybe you can be my wedding planner?
Big love to you, welcome back and look forward to smacking your arse this June
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
oh let me know if you want any soup recipes, I have HUNDREDS.
Have you got room to roll out a yoga mat in front of your TV? If so, get a really good yoga workout DVD and do this in the evenings.
In your lunch hour, make a point of getting out of the office and walking at least around the block. Getting out and having the sun shine on your face is important for your state of mind. We need the Vitamin D to prevent depression.
I second the call for soups. Also, have you got a pressure cooker? Making slow cooked meals quickly is great. Make sure every meal you eat includes protein. That means breakfast too! It will keep you feeling fuller and you’ll have fewer carb cravings.
Good luck – I’m going through the same thing in Tasmania. Winter is hard.
I’m not very good with soups but perhaps you could try quinoa in place of some not so friendly grains?
Hey there Elizabeth!
Been missing your posts and glad one has popped up. Sorry you have been having a rough time of it. My job gives me very little satisfaction too and like yours barely covers the bills. One of my new ways of coping is taking long toilet breaks and just sitting for 5 minutes and composing stuff in my head, blog posts, stuff to talk about with friends, menus for the week- anything but work!
As for Winter food, soups are a good option, but I still find that unless they are full of pulses they can leave you with 2.30-itis, even before you hit 3.30-itis let alone 4.30-itis!
Lentils and chickpeas are good, especially made into veggie curries or the like. I’m all for all-in-one cooking at the moment. Today for lunch I have leftover Moroccan Lamb Pilaf- super easy- brown onion in non stick pan, add lamb strips, lots of veggies, tin of Moroccan tomatoes, 2 cups rice, 4 cups of stock, cover and simmer. Makes an absolute mountain of food.
I am planning on joining a gym in the next few weeks. Will have to make sure I go. It will cost money, but I look at it in the way that it will also make me healthier or something and therefore less prone to illness or something.
Whatever you do, keep blogging! I do enjoy your posts!
Trisha: That soup sounds really yummy, but I don’t think I have the patience to make yogurt like you do! Do you make it chunky, or blend everything?
Justine: Couldn’t help but notice the little plug for Bogan Bread – somebody watched a little too much Biggest Loser this year! Would love to grab some of your soup recipes, I prefer stuff that’s simple and hearty.
Thanks for the offer of exercise companionship, but right now I feel like I couldn’t keep up! And besides, I have some news that I’m going to write about here soon…
Stella: The yoga suggestion sounds really tempting, but my main focus for the time being needs to be cardio to shift a bit of weight. I enjoy yoga and pilates so much that I’ll probably let them be my “reward” for doing the exercise I don’t like so much, and benefit from the muscle tone that comes with it. Besides, I can’t really imagine being able to do yoga in front of the TV without my dog licking my face or crawling underneath me!
Love the pressure cooker idea, I’ll keep my eye out for one!
Olivia: I know way more about the health benefits of quinoa than how to actually cook it, or what it works well with! Any ideas?
Fiona: I’m glad I’m not the only one who hides out in the ladies for a few more minutes than I really need! Sometimes it’s good to just get away from the sound of phones and narky people, y’know?
Love love love your recipe suggestion – that’s exactly the sort of Winter food that I crave. The problem isn’t so much that I crave things that are bad for me, I just crave carb-heavy foods every day. In Summer I find it easy to eat a salad or stirfry most nights, but in Winter it Just Doesn’t Cut It.
I’m joining a gym tomorrow, thanks to Tim’s generosity. Good luck finding one yourself, and let me know how you’re going with it! Maybe we can be spatula buddies!
I just cook mine in the rice cooker. Otherwise you can use the absorption method, one part quinoa to two parts liquid. You can use it as a rice subsititute in a stir fry, instead of pasta, in risotto, for porridge, lots of things! There are lots of options at http://www.fatfreevegan.com/search/search.pl?Terms=quinoa I’m not really very familiar with non-vego recipe resources, sorry. It might be a good option for when you really want something carby.
I’m sooo glad you are back! I’m also really sad to hear about the job and know how you feel. A quick, if slightly scary solution to the pay situation (and could also help with the experience) would be temping. The pay is usually great, not so much on the security, it depends on how you feel about this.
More votes for the soup.
Nothing helpful from my end on the exercise
Welcome back.
Who could possibly resist an invitation to spank you?!
One suggestion I can give re the recipes is to get a copy of Good Taste (or whatever the other supermarket’s cheap magazine is) and work through the recipes they have there. Makes the whole deciding what to eat thing easier, and you’ll learn some new things, new ingredients, etc with relatively little effort. Like joining a recipe class, almost.
I’d also recommend drinking some green tea — particularly at work. Get some loose leaf and a little teapot, preferably, rather than tea bags. Much nicer. It’s very good for digestion, metabolism, and lots of other stuff.
R
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