on the processed goodness that is string cheese

Usually I work from home. Here I have the perfect environment to get a lot of work done, especially as the coffee machine is just over there <------- I used to work from a communal office in the supplement factory, but it drove me bats. I might be on the phone to a customer, going over the nitty gritty of their formulation and a production staff member will wander in without knocking, stand jiggling by my desk while I am trying to concentrate on my phonecall and then let me know that we have an emergency.. something like 'there's no sugar for cups of tea at lunchtime' or 'we need some more small, powderless, latex gloves immediately'. Of course nobody ever remembered taking the last set of gloves or spooning out the last of the sugar. I was always being distracted from my job and began to feel very dissatisfied, as you do when you know you are performing below par. So, I announced that I was moving my office to my home and would come in only when absolutely needed for a specific reason. This works for me and I'm currently a very happy camper, work-wise. Also, and very importantly, the work-related stress stimulus that drove my overeating is minimised down to practically nothing.

As happens in manufacturing, you have lulls and then you have mad frantic activity, where suddenly every customer needs something by the end of next week. During these times, it's all hands on deck and, it so happens, I am a master on the shrinkwrap machine. I've never bonded with the bottling machine, don't know the first thing about the encapsulation machine and don't know how to set up the labelling line, but I can wrap those bottles of CLA or whatever in pairs, triples or even fives or sixes and they will be straight, facing forward and they will not have wrinkles or 'ears'. In short, they will be perfect and look lovely on the shelf. I'm a shrinkwrap snob, and a label critic. In shops I can't help but sneer at labels that are bumpy, or not on straight, and a wrinkly shrinkwrap? .... I'm sure I 'tut' audibly. I also like the job, I hook up to my ipod and get into a nice rhythm which is gently punctuted by the 'hiss' of the machine as it blasts the air that shrinks the wrap. It's sort of meditative... or maybe my brain gets affected by some chemical given off by the plastic. Also, being on my feet and transporting finished boxes of product from factory to warehouse is quite a lot more activity than I usually get during a regular working day and this has got to be good for my new 'get moving' policy and fatloss goals.

Working from home I don't give much pre-thought to snacks and food for the day because I can make what I want and the supermarket is about 2 minutes away. Being needed at the factory means I have to pack my grub and therefore have an excuse to eat my latest convenience food.. string cheese. Two sticks of string cheese and an apple is about 170 calories and makes a perfect protein+carb snack. Ok, tell me.. that was a really longwinded way of getting to the point, wasn't it? The point being working life = packing snacks = stringcheese + apple = conclusion: stringcheese rocks.

Working on Saturday meant I also had to get up and do my HIIT first thing. Sometimes I forget how good that makes me feel. Actually I always forget how good intense exercise makes me feel, until I'm about half way through (or, in the case of HIIT, until I'm finished) and then I remember that incredible feeling that can only be the endorphins kicking in. Suddenly I see things more clearly and without fear, I feel motivated and energised. This happens even if I dragged myself with a sour face and bad attitude onto that bike and is the main reason I don't believe in motivation. Action makes motivation, not the other way around... mmmm.. that's another whole post, maybe next time.