Holding On To Summer

I'm not sure why it took me this long. Here we are, August 21, and summer is almost over. The cooler mornings have me thinking toward Fall and also wondering where the time went? Yesterday, I resolved to spending at least a half hour of my lunch break outside, reading, in the park. Soaking in the warmth and sunlight as much as I can and giving myself a much needed break from my computer. My thought is that ultimately, the time spent away from my desk will actually make me more productive. The importance of mental rest should not be underestimated, which - I'd bet - is part of the reason lunch breaks were invented in the first place (along with the need to nourish the body, of course!).

When I first started work, I promised myself two things - 1) I would make sure I used every vacation day allotted to me and 2) I would always take my lunch break. Seven years later, I've failed repeatedly on both accounts. And it hasn't been at all on my own accord.

When did life get so hectic? And when did employers decide to try to cram 10+ hours of work into 8? Or 7 work days into 5? (And I know that my attorney, doctor, and financial advisor friends scoff at the "minimal" hours that I work compared to their jobs.) If I only worked the 7.5 hours/day that I get paid and actually took every vacation day I'm owed (a whopping 36! which I've accrued based on good performance, promotions and time with the organization), I'm not sure how I would ever get anything done. I'm fairly organized, but not even the most organized could produce this amount of work - of high quality - in that amount of time. You'd have to be superhuman (or the woman on Bewitched).

There's something to be said about the European work environment. August off, flexible work hours... so what if we are a richer country? I bet they live longer.

It's a Smart Start

I've been inspired by a Cookthink post on healthy sweet snacking. As they put it, "The three o'clock sweet hour" and I know you all know it well. 3:00 comes around and you decide to wander by your office's front desk to see if there may be any of those m & m's left. Sometimes you get lucky, other times you need to run down to the corner store for a Snickers bar. What is it about 3:00pm?

Cookthink provides a healthy alternative and from reading this post, I've decided to give it a try. For a month. It is inevitable that I need a snack around 3:00 to get me through the rest of the day, but from here on out, I'm going to make it healthy. I'm not trying to lose weight, but I am trying to regain some energy, to feel a little less lethargic by the end of the day, and boost my blood levels of the all of the important things that blood tests check for due to an impending annual doctor's appointment (that I still need to schedule).

Now, I'm not going to lie. With October around the corner and Halloween on the horizon, I'd be kidding everyone if I said I was going to cut chocolate out of my diet completely. Besides, aren't there studied health benefits of chocolate? But, for the most part, I will be replacing my 3:00 sweet fix with more generally accepted, healthier options such as fruit, whole grain crackers, and natural peanut butter. Hopefully just what I'll need to make it through the work day and a short evening work-out at the gym.

I even bought cereal and oatmeal as options to start my day with. As we speak, I'm eating SmartStart (appropriate, huh?) with soy milk and banana.

It is the dawn of a new me.