Fueling My Body Properly - There was one advantage to having a long commute that I miss now: When it was time to drive home, I could get dinner, eat in the car, and have fully digested before class started two hours later [when I was done driving]. Now I can get home in about 35 minutes most evenings. If I wait to eat before class to the time when I get in my car, I am not done digesting and my belly is not ready when class starts. But I also cannot afford to skip a meal before dance, or I will not have the fuel to get through these 2-3 hour sessions.

But there are several advantages to my new job location: There are so many stores and restaurants in walking distance from my office. Many days, I wander over to a local noodle shop and have veggies and tofu with hot tea, or thai noodles, or curry chicken and veggies -- so many asian noodle dishes or soups to choose from. The portions are extremely generous, and I always order a box-to-go for half the meal. I can eat lunch, take half back to the office, then heat it up about an hour before work ends to eat my dinner before I drive to class.

There are also both a Trader Joe's and a Whole Foods Market within walking distance. Yesterday, I picked out[1] some hot food from the deli bar for my lunch, plus some various grains, greens, proteins, and veggies for my "dinner" an hour before I leave. The oddest adjustment to this much dance must include finding ways to get the proper fuel throughout the day. I love veggies and whole grains, occasional chicken and/or fish, some cheese, and some fruit. I've reduced my diet soda consumption so that it's really a treat when I do drink one, and found that I love to spike my water with either a few Tbsp of orange juice or a little bit of Crystal Light drink mix.

When I arrived at my work parking Monday, I was just exhausted and needed a few moments with my eyes closed before heading up to the office. Today, I felt great when I arrived. I think perhaps I ate correctly yesterday. Go me!

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Today's Blessing That I'm Thankful For: Old friends at my last job: Jeannine. New friends at my new job: Josephine.

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[1] For the extremely curious: Monday's breakfast (6:30AM): 1 banana, 1 egg+cheese muffin, 2 large coffees w/soy creamer and splenda. Monday's hot lunch(12:30PM) included about 1c of curried califlower, 1/2c curried chicken & pineapple, about 5 slices of sweet potato fries, and about 1/2c some large grain & veggies & greens hot salad. Cannot remember what the grains were, other than yummy. (edit, I checked: Wheatberries.) This was paired with about 3/4c beet salad (quite spicy!) plus one of those "green drinks," the fruit one from Naked Juice. Early dinner (4PM): about 3/4c black quinoa and spinach salad (with 2 or 3 cubes of feta cheese), about 1c green beans (a little bit spicy), 1 quinoa patty, 1 spinach with brown rice patty. And over the course of the day, about three refills of my sports bottle (16 oz?) with water and 1/2 packet of crystal light lemonade mix.

So far today, breakfast (6:30AM): 1 egg+cheese muffin, 1.5 large coffees w/creamer and splendar (I spilled half of the second cup, *sad face*). 10:30 AM snack: about 3/4c Cashews, almonds, and cranberries. And I'm finishing my first sports bottle of water.