Thursday 30 April 2009

Fresh Starts

Thank you SO much for the support and encouragement you gave me on last night's post. I'm feeling pretty good about the goals I have set- they feel realistic and achievable at this point. Onwards and upwards!

Today was my first day of my volunteer placement. I LOVED IT! The organisation works with homeless and vulnerable people to help them find accommodation, provides training and helps them back into employment. I am working on the administration side of things- it was a much more fast-paced environment than I was expecting and there was a lot of information to take in and things to learn. After my 3 hours, I was exhausted! In a good way though- I didn't have a single thought about food/weight the entire time which is GREAT and it felt amazing o be doing something worthwhile with my time. The people were all really friendly- it felt SO good to be around people, chatting, socialising, learning again. I've missed interacting with "peers" because that has been seriously lacking since returning to the UK. I was originally to only work one morning a week, but they have started a new project this week and are really overstretched so I am planning on doing 2-3 mornings a week.

In other news, I talked a lot with my mom last night about New York- we decided it's best that I postpone my trip until a bit later this year (October). I am a little disappointed because I was really looking forward to some summer sunshine and getting back to NY sooner, but I think it's for the best to delay things- this way I have a decent chunk of time to get established in a work routine and have a bit more time to improve my own circumstances and get the most out of my trip when I DO go. So although it's not as soon as I hoped, I think time is going to fly by now that I have more structure to my week. Plus this way I have longer to enjoy looking forward to it, right?!

Onto some food...

I started today with some muesli:

Oats, fromage frais, vanilla extract and sweetener- topped with frozen blueberries and left to soak overnight. I usually add almonds to this but had a crazy banana craving this morning...


I was so busy all morning at work that I had zero appetite when I got home- this has been a downfall of mine when I have worked/been in school full-time before. I completely lose my appetite when I am busy or stressed! Anyone else find this? How do you make sure you get adequate nutrition? It just doesn't come naturally to me to make time for food if I am busy doing other things...good thing I planned ahead.

Lunch was a delicious sandwich:

Quorn "ham", laughing cow cheese, tomato relish and spinach on wholewheat bread. This bread is delicious- the slices are small but packed full of seeds/flavour. I am LOVING the quorn "ham" these days! I had never tried laughing cow cheese until recently, but having seen it on so many blogs, wanted to try it. I've been missing out all this time! The creaminess is delicious with the "ham" and the chutney/spinach round out the sandwich perfectly.

I don't have much planned for the rest of the day...catching up on blogs, emails, etc then my support worker is coming by later.

Hope everyone is having a great day!

Whilst I remember, check out Missy's great giveaway!

10 comments:

itsawrap said...

Thanks for the breakfast idea. I love overnight oats so as soon as I buy some blueberries I will give this combo a try!

Cacti Don't Cry said...

Blogspot is giving me issues, too -- it used to let me just click a button to italicize, underline, bold... now I have to input the HTML myself, which is annoying.

I'm glad you're enjoying your volunteer work!! Good call on postponing the trip so that you can enjoy it fully, even if it makes you antsy to wait for it.

As for "forgetting" to eat when busy... yes, that happens all the time. While it's nice to be busy so that you're not focusing on food / eating / not eating all the time, it also means it's likelier to just slip your mind. As much as I hate hate hate hate hate it, it's times like these when "liquid nutrition" can actually serve some sort of purpose. Sigh.

Megan said...

hey! I'm loving your blog too! I'm adding you to my reader =) I actually just switched over to wordpress and I love SO much more than blogger.. maybe you could look into switching too if blogger is still giving you problems? have a great thursday!!

Anonymous said...

I get that problem with blogger too, but mostly only when my post has photos in it. I usually end up going to the HTML tab and sorting it out there. It's probably just a random bug, hopefully blogger will sort it out at some point.
I'm really glad that the volunteer work is going well! It sounds like it'll be really therapeutic for you to get out and socialise a few mornings a week :) I can't wait until I have my own transport so I can arrange some voluntary work too. I lose my appetite when I'm stressed too (usually because stress makes me feel sick, doh), and the only thing I find helps keep me on track is to give up on the idea of eating when I'm hungry and eat at particular times of the day instead. Listening to your body is all very well, but if it's going to tell you not to eat it's probably best to ignore that bit :P

Sarah said...

I'm so glad your volunteer thing went well-it's amazing how hard it can be to get out and do something, and then once you do, it makes SUCH a difference! And I know what you mean about the eating, but I guess that is what the "real" world is like-getting food in whenever you can, however you can...it seems like finding a balance between having something planned so you don't skip eating but also having the flexibility to eat it at different times and places is key-not helpful, sorry, because I know that is easier said than done! Enjoy your down time today!!

Stef (More to Life Than Lettuce) said...

The html tab as Katie says is probably your best shot. Those oats sound so yummy, and I'm really glad that you liked the new volunteer job you took! What a great way to give back to the community, and hopefully you'll make some new friends out of it! I know it can be hard to eat when you're so busy/stressed, but please take the time to make it a priority! Eat so you can go to NYC :)

Missy said...

Thanks for the shout out! Love your blog!

C.G. the Foodie said...

Yum on your breakfast!!!!

Anonymous said...

sorry your trip got postponed, but I think that may even be better because that gives you more time to advance your stage in recovery, so that your trip to NY will be even more enjoyable and ED-free! So work towards that!
I'm so happy and glad that you had a great time volunteering! don't you love doing something meaningful? knocks all sorts of stupid, meaningless ED thoughts off our heads! haha!

curlytop said...

Ellie,

I pull shifts in the Barnes and Noble starbucks and I once dropped an entire tray of cookies in the soapy dishwashing sink... not so fun.

Have a beautiful day sweetie!

With Love,

Emily