When you realize you're OCD
I'm the kind of guy who can get by on eating practically nothing. I can wake up, do a million things, and realize at about six in the evening I haven't eaten anything. Only when I am around others do my eating habits become more frequent. I remember being on vacation in Utah with my sister about five years ago.
Since then, I've always made it a priority to think about other people's eating schedule, but I still haven't gotten mine up to par. It's great for my grocery bill. On the other hand, I realize that regular eating is an important part of regular sleeping and a well-adjusted attitude. Actually, my habits are not as forlorn as I present them here. The truth is, I do much better with eating healthy frequent amounts today than I did during college. I eat more than the daily recommended allowances. My diet is full of whole grains, fresh fruit, and non-meat proteins. I eat meat as well; I'm just sayin'...it's probably better for me this way.
So, today's struggle ('today' in that cosmic sense) is not as much about eating right as it is about eating perfectly. It's kind of weird, and perhaps a luxury item, but I want to know that I am eating well and I want to make sure I am saving money as I do it. I also want to be enjoying the food I eat. As I was saying, I went to the grocery store today, the Pathmark in East Harlem at 125th street, intent on buying groceries at a decent price. I've actually been in the current apartment since Monday (today is Thursday), but I haven't bought any groceries. So, maybe I didn't do so well with eating this week. It's just that I get distracted during the day, and then at midnight or one in the morning when I am finally hungry the Pathmark is emptied, skeezier in the dark. I'm tired. I forget the Pathmark card I found on the floor of my new bedroom. I go through the aisles and pick up items to purchase. I get to the check out line and realize that it is going to take way too long to purchase these items: only two lines after midnight. Who'd've thought? I return to the apartment hungry, finding some random item to sate my palate before I sweat off to sleep. I did that three times this week. Actually, last night, the last time, I left the store, hopped the express train to 86th street to buy a few items from a deli that I was sure was not also doubling as an illegal narcotics POS.
Today, I went to Pathmark in the late afternoon, which, thought not as early as I had intended, was a major improvement over every other day this week. Now if only I could get to the laundry...
Anyway, I'm attaching the spreadsheet that I put together while I was lazing around in Morgantown (West Virginia). I added a sheet today listing what I bought and the price at which I bought the items. I've also thrown in some notes about how eating will play out. I'm not sure how this will play out, but I'm hopeful. I've put together tons of menus, schedules, and the like in the past in the attempt to eat better, and while they have helped me improve overall, they have not led me to quench my compulsion to know I am eating well on a budget.
Click on the link below to see the spreadsheet I've worked up:
It is a hot day and we are toting around by foot. She stoops over by a sign post, looking drained. She remarks, "Ryan, we need to get some thing to eat."
I reply, "Didn't we just eat?"
Her cool but determined retort rolls out: "That was five hours ago."
"Oh."
Since then, I've always made it a priority to think about other people's eating schedule, but I still haven't gotten mine up to par. It's great for my grocery bill. On the other hand, I realize that regular eating is an important part of regular sleeping and a well-adjusted attitude. Actually, my habits are not as forlorn as I present them here. The truth is, I do much better with eating healthy frequent amounts today than I did during college. I eat more than the daily recommended allowances. My diet is full of whole grains, fresh fruit, and non-meat proteins. I eat meat as well; I'm just sayin'...it's probably better for me this way.
So, today's struggle ('today' in that cosmic sense) is not as much about eating right as it is about eating perfectly. It's kind of weird, and perhaps a luxury item, but I want to know that I am eating well and I want to make sure I am saving money as I do it. I also want to be enjoying the food I eat. As I was saying, I went to the grocery store today, the Pathmark in East Harlem at 125th street, intent on buying groceries at a decent price. I've actually been in the current apartment since Monday (today is Thursday), but I haven't bought any groceries. So, maybe I didn't do so well with eating this week. It's just that I get distracted during the day, and then at midnight or one in the morning when I am finally hungry the Pathmark is emptied, skeezier in the dark. I'm tired. I forget the Pathmark card I found on the floor of my new bedroom. I go through the aisles and pick up items to purchase. I get to the check out line and realize that it is going to take way too long to purchase these items: only two lines after midnight. Who'd've thought? I return to the apartment hungry, finding some random item to sate my palate before I sweat off to sleep. I did that three times this week. Actually, last night, the last time, I left the store, hopped the express train to 86th street to buy a few items from a deli that I was sure was not also doubling as an illegal narcotics POS.
Today, I went to Pathmark in the late afternoon, which, thought not as early as I had intended, was a major improvement over every other day this week. Now if only I could get to the laundry...
Anyway, I'm attaching the spreadsheet that I put together while I was lazing around in Morgantown (West Virginia). I added a sheet today listing what I bought and the price at which I bought the items. I've also thrown in some notes about how eating will play out. I'm not sure how this will play out, but I'm hopeful. I've put together tons of menus, schedules, and the like in the past in the attempt to eat better, and while they have helped me improve overall, they have not led me to quench my compulsion to know I am eating well on a budget.
Click on the link below to see the spreadsheet I've worked up:
It's almost impossible for me to make and keep a weekly schedule. Try as I might, I always end up revising it two days in, then forgetting about it halfway through. I don't see it as a weakness, more of just a reality. Fortunately, I get tons of stuff done--sometimes more than others--because I am always revising my schedule for what can be done sooner faster. Here's to hoping.
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