At work, the diet is king

I work in a large open plan office. It can be difficult at times and if you have ever worked in an office you will know why, I am not going to spell it out here.

One good thing about working in a large office is that there is always someone with a new fad diet to try and company along the arduous journey to thin.

A few months ago, at the start of the year, a few of them got into this skinny tea/coffee phase. I think it was basically a laxative. It worked for some, but not all. One girl looked brilliant after doing it a few weeks, but I think she might have been starving herself too. Problem for me was that it was too expensive. I could not reconcile the cost when I could just eat less and get the same result. So that was a miss.

I thought about going back to weight watchers. It worked for me before and I always said I need someone to be on my case once a week if I am not losing. However, that’s another cost and I am doing my best to be good with my spending.

I have gotten into a smoothie buzz lately. The other half adds protein powder, but it does not agree with me, at all! So my general smoothie is:

Lots of spinach

Water

Banana

Chia seeds

Coconut oil

I have been taking this for breakfast most mornings for about three months now. I have gotten used to the taste, the majority of the time I do not grimace. I think I eat healthier now than I ever did in the past. I need to! I turned 35 this year. I have to look after this old body ;-)

So, the newest diet in the old workplace is the ‘no sugar’ diet. Like literally no sugar. Not even the naturally occurring sugar in fruit. It did interest me. I wanted something to spur me on and be really difficult for a while. One of the ladies at work does it for twelve days at a time.  Yesterday I was bemoaning how my coffee would taste if I did it. I usually take three teaspoons of sugar in my very strong coffee every morning. She told me it would not be too bad. I did not believe her. It wasn’t though. I tried a light coffee this morning without my sugar and it was grand, drinkable. However, I still had a banana in my breakfast smoothie and one before I started writing… so bold! We will see how long I last (not long, I suspect!).

Any takers on this crazy diet? No? Just me? OK then!

Here we go with the NaNo again!

Agh, so it really has been forever since I updated this blog!! I’m going to blame the full time job for everything… Of course, I could have stayed up late after Beth had gone to bed and wrote. I could have used the time when she was at her Dad’s better. I could have (should have?) done so much more, but I became lazy. Well, that and I met someone.

Yes, after many years of non-starter relationships and exhausting online dating, I finally met someone. I was beginning to think I would never find anyone I could put up with on a daily basis (or someone who would put up with me!) or someone I could relax and have fun with. I wasn’t too bothered. I was happy enough on my own with Beth as my shadow and constant companion. However, it wasn’t to be.

We met at my new job last July, but didn’t start dating until October of last year. It’s been a full year and he hasn’t run for the hills screaming, so that’s a plus.

Down side to new relationships is the weight gain! Too many nights having a few drinks, a cozy takeaway, a shared jumbo pack of Dorito’s, it all adds up and it leads me back to where I was six years ago with my weight. Time to swat away the oreos and jellies and get back to healthy living. I have two stone to lose. It’s a long journey ahead, for sure.

The reason I’m back, by the way, is that I have decided to jump head first into NaNoWriMo again. I didn’t even attempt it last year, I was involved in another SONG show. With that, the full time job, being a full time single mammy and a new relationship, I didn’t feel like I needed any extra pressure. However, this year, I am determined to use my time in the evenings for good, not evil (sitting on my butt in front of the telly until I go to bed). So I’m sitting at my kitchen table and hoping after writing this a new story will burst forth. Even if it doesn’t though, I will still have made a start and that’s good enough for the first day.

And just to remind people, no, I’m not writing about you! My stories are purely fictitious.