Busy and Stressed!

Has it really been nearly three weeks since I last posted to this blog? Though I am sure you weren’t crying in your Wheaties because of my prolonged absence it did give me a bit of inspiration. I’ve had a lot going on in my life the last few weeks what with work and outside projects (both of which haven’t been going super smoothly), and I have found that it is easy for me to let “extra” things slip when I’m laser-focused on what is keeping me busy and stressed.

Unfortunately one of the extras that falls off the Darcy Radar is my concern over eating habits. This first became evident to me when I was in my last semester of graduate school and I was eating out of styrofoam trays at my editing station three meals a day. It wasn’t just the need for a quick meal that lowered my health standards, it was the stress. I turned to junk meals as a way to comfort myself when I wanted to pull my hair out because I couldn’t get clearance on the music I wanted for my final montage (and my original cut was perfect!) or when I ran into technical difficulties and things weren’t exporting from Avid to After Effects exactly the way I wanted them to. Let me give you an example: I recall one lunch that consisted of two hot dogs, cheetos, a large chocolate chocolate chip cookie, and a beverage made up of half hot chocolate/half coffee. As Dave Barry would say, I swear I am not making this up. This is the way I ate for most of the last few weeks of my last semester.

Though my comfort foods have changed somewhat since grad school and I am also limited by what I have in the house rather than what the university’s dining common puts within arm’s reach, I still struggle with the use of food as a way to ease stress. Even if I have plenty of time and all the ingredients to cook a full meal I want to go for the quickest, easiest thing. It might not necessarily be unhealthy, but it’s the attitude that concerns me.

Looking back over the last one year plus, though, I definitely mark signs of improvement and I find that encouraging. I am pleased to say that I never once at any meat. To be honest I expected to find the switch to vegetarianism much more difficult than it has turned out to be. After more than six weeks I don’t miss meat at all and I feel terrific.