As a runner, writer, bartender, tutor and friend, time and mental space are constantly in short supply. Though I try to eat well and exercise often, I don't have a lot of time to cook. With Adam in the middle of finals, working shifts at the restaurant and still holding down his day job, neither does he.
The past couple weeks have witnessed a lot of takeout and eating at odd hours. I've managed to throw together a few Crockpot staples and some baked oatmeal for breakfast on the weekdays, but there are a lot more styrofoam containers in the fridge than usual. Don't worry -- I don't like wasting food, so I'll be eating a lot of leftovers during the next few days.
I know it zaps my energy, kills my endurance and wrecks my dreams of fitness, but I work six nights every week. During the day, I'm usually either writing or exercising. Naturally, cooking and cleaning both fall by the wayside.
Adam has helped me learn proper technique for cooking, and I can honestly say that I've gotten absolutely spoiled on food in the last two years. We're the poster kids for time crunches, but he and I take care of each other by cooking, cleaning and leaving notes. Before I met him, I bought and prepared foods that were low or lacking fat. After starting to eat a healthy amount of fat, I (unintentionally) lost weight during a period of little to no exercise.
As Hippocrates said, "Let thy food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." When I'm eating right, I have energy. I want to exercise, to write, run, bartend and live well. I can do all these things and enjoy the prep time that goes into every meal -- well, almost every meal. With seven deadlines fast approaching and five shifts in between now and then, I'll probably be still eating takeout for another ten days.
We will get back to eating well, to fixing almost every meal from scratch and making better fitness decisions, but that time must wait until after my writing load calms down. Until then, I'm going to enjoy my noodle bowls from Surin and takeout barbecue.