July 24th, 2014 A CrAzY DaY

July 24th, 2014 A CrAzY DaY

I knew today would be a challenge and it lived up to my expectations. It wasn't a challenge with food and exercise, it was a challenge in scheduling. This is easily one of our busiest weeks of the year at work. It's the annual Crazy Days celebration, when we have all of our regular on-air and studio commercial production duties, plus multiple location broadcasts scheduled everyday. "Crazy" is a pretty good description. I know the schedule in advance and I can plan accordingly, but today's and tonight's duties proved to be a challenge for even the most well laid plans.

I had a work related road trip tonight, the details of which are confidential. I was more than fairly compensated for this extra duty, so no complaints. If this had been a normal week, It would have been an easy decision to take a day off. But this is Crazy Days week, so taking a day off in the on-air/production department isn't an option. The trip was three and a half hours one way, seven hours drive time total--and with a few stops along the way, total drive time was a little over eight hours. And the trip didn't start until after six pm.

My schedule earlier in the day included my live morning show, production duties and two location broadcasts before passing the baton to a colleague who wrapped the final three hours of the location broadcast schedule. My first broadcast was at a casual dining restaurant from eleven am to one pm. Normally, I could plan, prepare and pack my own food for lunch, but in this case--I couldn't take my own food inside and it wouldn't have been very good form to excuse myself to the broadcast vehicle to eat something other than this restaurant's food. I thought about waiting until my one to two pm break and simply eat at home. That option actually made good sense because I live two blocks from this particular restaurant. It was suggested we eat lunch during the broadcast at the restaurant--but still, I wasn't quick to dismiss my best plan. After carefully scanning the menu, I asked the restaurant owner a key question: Can I order items separately? She said yes, so I placed my lunch order: A small chicken breast and asparagus. The asparagus was some of the best I've had because it was prepared with good olive oil and seasonings. Instead of the typically low calorie count, this well coated and seasoned order "cost" me 158 calories. It was fine, I had the calories to spend. The chicken breast was small, bringing my lunch order to 289 calories. I decided to add some calories as soon as I arrived home for my break. I did a broadcast from a combination furniture/antique/clothing store between two and three pm, then at three I was free to do what I needed to do before departing on the travel mission I accepted.

In hindsight, I probably should have used the time between three and six pm to nap, considering the large amount of driving ahead. But I took a day off from my exercise schedule yesterday and I couldn't accept taking two days off in a row. I haven't had two back to back days off from exercise in over 100 days. I wasn't resisting the workout today, in fact, I was looking forward to it. I took a change of clothes into the Y and made my way to the men's locker room, changed and stepped onto the elliptical for a good sweat. I've been increasing my intensity level of late and it's really making the same old workout feel new and challenging again. I'm overdue for a change-up in the exercise department, but today wasn't the day for something new.

By the time I made it home, I had enough time to shower, change and prepare my dinner for the road trip. I wasn't going to allow myself to get into a food situation where I would have to choose between bad and worse. I wanted some certainty in my food options. I packed a little over 600 calories for the trip. It was plenty for me--and it took me right up to my limit, serving as dinner and my #lastfoodofday.

I enjoyed dinner (on the plate I packed) once I arrived at the destination. I stopped twice on the way home to use the restroom, wash my face and make sure I was alert enough to make it. I had phone conversations with Amber and my mom too. I assured both that if staying awake started to become the slightest issue, I would pull over and sleep. I fell asleep at the wheel when I was seventeen years old, so trust me--I do not drive if my eyes and body start shutting down. That accident twenty-five years ago kept me from injury, in my opinion, by divine intervention because I was completely unconscious and somehow I drove off the road at the only survivable place. Ten seconds later and it would have been a completely different story, a tragic one. I've been so blessed in my life.

I made it home at 2:30am with a full schedule once again starting at 6am. I plan on negotiating a scheduling change with a colleague in order for me to get the sleep I need after my show concludes Friday morning.

My schedule wasn't healthy for me today, I understand this. It was a very rare circumstance, thank goodness. There was no way for me to drop in bed at two thirty or three am and expect to wake up in time for my Friday morning show, and missing the show on this particular Friday isn't an option. I'll sleep after my show. This is totally crazy. But it's one day and my body will make up the deficit between now and Monday. Today's schedule likely didn't do my metabolism any favors either, but again--today was a very rare circumstance.

My meal tweets today:

Heat too high. Still edible! Two cheese omelet (3wht-1whl) w/swiss & mozz. Cantaloupe (235g) & small pear. 383 cal. pic.twitter.com/cSKavvH3IE
— Sean Anderson (@SeanAAnderson) July 24, 2014

Lunch during location broadcast. Small chicken breast and asparagus w/extra virgin olive oil and seasonings. 289 cal. pic.twitter.com/1HPAy3AqVb
— Sean Anderson (@SeanAAnderson) July 24, 2014

Rest of my lunch, at home: Gala apple with one Laughing Cow light French onion wedge. 123 cal. pic.twitter.com/3Sh1GKJkio
— Sean Anderson (@SeanAAnderson) July 24, 2014

93/7 lean grnd beef (7.4oz), swiss, mustard on Joseph's pita, rice chips (28g), watermelon. #lastfoodofday 607 cal. pic.twitter.com/hvep2n1NLR
— Sean Anderson (@SeanAAnderson) July 25, 2014

Thank you for reading,
Strength,
Sean