Thursday, July 15, 2010

Liberty, ME

So you could say that quitting one’s job, moving to a lake in Maine for a month, and planning both a cross country trip and a long distance hiking trip is a pretty significant lifestyle change.

However, over the past week I’ve been instituting a few other life changes. I figure if I am doing so many new things already, what is a few more. Especially if they are things that I probably should have been doing long ago, but was too busy enjoying my DC social life. No regrets there, it was fabulous. But I’ve been feeling like it’s time to try out some new life experiments.

Experiment #1:

Goal: Wake up at 6am every morning and go to bed at a decent time.

Basis: Obviously for those of you who know me, this is not how I am wired. At all. 2am to 3am bedtimes were common occurrences, like, 5 days ago… But, I have heard some good things about early morning rising and figured that while I was at a place where there is basically nothing to do after sunset, I might as well give it a shot.

Findings: Waking up early is actually kinda cool… Now granted, regardless of what time I go to bed at night, getting up by 6am or 7am is still ridiculously hard for me. And I slept in til like 9:30am on Wednesday on the excuse that it was pouring outside. But, it’s actually kind of amazing how long the day seems and how many things you can get done if you have a whole morning added to your day. Now on the down side I am extremely tired and sore half the time because I have been pretty much working that whole time on various camp projects that I’ve been meaning to get done for years. In between the frequent swim breaks of course!!

Conclusions: It’s a keeper. Especially for my time here at camp and on my upcoming trips. The main reason for my being a night owl, besides my internal clock of course, was that I never wanted to go to bed because I didn’t want to miss out of anything. The sports game, the movie premiere, out on the town with friends, etc. But again, when I am someplace that has pretty much nothing going on when it gets dark, having the whole morning to fill is a big bonus. Let’s see if I can keep it up… Maybe I’ll become a morning person. Ha! Not likely.


Experiment #2:

Goal: Eat healthy and on a budget.

Basis: I’m a meat and potatoes kinda guy. And when it’s not that it’s stuffed crust pizza, hot pockets, frosty and fries, cal tor, etc. Oh man, it’s all great!! Generally over the years I have been active enough to thwart the effects of this amazing diet. Besides that high blood pressure of course… But over the last almost two years now I have been recovering from two herniated discs in my back which have proved to be ridiculously stubborn at not healing. As a result I’ve now truly acquired the love handles and gut of my dad when he was in a similar situation. And on a budget because, well, I quit my job and am not planning on getting a legit 9 to 5 career job again until November of 2011!!! Soooo, learning to eat light and healthy is going to be pretty important.

Findings: Thankfully, my lovely girlfriend Sara is amazing and is here to help me. She has been working on eating healthier for as long as I have known her. Also, for as long as I have known her, I have been able to fool her into eating what I eat. I am an awesome influence like that. But, over the last three months or so Sara has made a plan of eating right and running, and she has been keeping up with it too, thanks in no small part, to her blog which you can check out at Running with Teaspoons. So basically what we have done over the last week is broke out the normal 2 to 3 big meals a day that I am used to into 4 or 5 meal/snack times. We planned out the various snacks that we’d eat over the course of the day, sandwiches for lunch, and the yummy dinners that Sara would cook for us each night. Went to the store and spent $100. Which actually was probably a bit higher than what would be normal because it was our first trip to the store, had to pick up some things that should last us longer than a week. Also had to get a few things that Sara needed for her recipes because we are living in an RV, obviously not much in the way of spices, herbs, etc. So a normal day for me this week has been a banana and nutrigrain bar for breakfast, a turkey or PB&J sandwich for lunch, chicken and rice for dinner, with various fruits and veggies for snacks.

Conclusions: Actually it’s been good! Sure I have cravings from time to time, but I think I’ll be able to spread those out over a one meal a week type basis. The eating a bunch of light meals has been good because I never am really hungry and am never really full. It’s kinda nice to be even keeled for a change food wise. And I feel like the food we are eating is pretty good quality compared to the money we’ve put in. Sara has been teaching me a lot about serving sizes, calories, blah blah blah. I’ll get there. Still pretty anti veggies though. Don’t see that one changing for a while. It will be interesting to see over the next couple weeks what we need to change in the diet and what the average costs per week will be.

Experiment #3:

Goal: Limit my addiction Dr. Pepper to once per day.

Basis: When I say I’m addicted, it’s an understatement. As most of you know, if I’m drinking something over the course of the day, the majority of time it is my beloved Dr P. And I know it may not seem like a big thing, but it’s not just about the DP. Basically, I find that I am craving sugar all over the place, which is probably not the best thing.

Findings: Sara again is helping by limiting her Diet Dr. Pepper intake to one per day as well. Even though it’s really not the same thing… So far it’s been good though. It’s kinda been nice to declare at some point during the day that it is now Dr. Pepper time. Just sitting by the lake, relaxing, me and my Dr. P, like old times. And Sara too… The sugar craving hasn’t really subsided much sadly, but the various fruits and whatnot help a bit.

Conclusions: We’ll see what happens. Going to one per day certainly hasn’t stopped my cravings, and getting rid of soda all together from my diet still seems like a ridiculous idea. So for the time being we’ll stick with this plan and see how things go…

Hi. My name is Scott Edmond. I am addicted to Dr. Pepper. It has been 7 hours since my last fix…

4 comments:

  1. You really have been trying to derail my healthy habits for years now, haha. But now that you are unemployed and far away from fast food, I am getting my way! Mwahaha!

    The sugar cravings will subside in time :-) Or, it'll just be your vice forever... :-P

    As hard as it is, I also enjoy waking up early... maybe we can convince each other to be 'morning people'... haha.

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  2. Sara a morning person....don't see it...

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  3. Mom and Grammy have enjoyed reading the blog for the first time over lunch in Florida. Amazing transformation. The getting up in the morning part especially. Of course the builders help with showing up at 7am and starting right in with hammering and sawing!
    Just goes to show that parental nagging and suggestions do no good. You just have to find your own way on your own time.
    Appreciate your keeping us all posted.
    Love Mom and Grammy

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  4. I am only now reading this... and its blowing my mind. No more DP? Waking up early... and on purpose? What's going on!! But seriously, good luck with it all :)

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