Big Changes

PEOPLE OF THE INTERNET: I RETURN!

It's been over a month since I've posted, and I'd like to apologize for that.  Those of you following on the twitter will have noticed a few messages since my last blog posting, but the rest of you have had reason to be suspicious of my continued existence.  Nothing's wrong, in fact, things are very right, but I've been avoiding posting about them to keep from announcing any news that I couldn't share until things were more finalized.

Those of you who have been with me for awhile know that, since I've been posting, and for the entirety of this year and a good portion of last year, I've been an unemployed engineer.  You also might know that I spent hours of every day applying for jobs, every day since even before I was informed I was to be laid off, more than a year ago.

I am tremendously pleased to let you know that I am preparing to start a new job.  During the time I've been away from you, I've interviewed for and been offered a job in the southeast.  I'm currently in the process of relocating, and will be starting work very soon.

I'd like to note that this is the only interview I was called for in the last year, amongst thousands of jobs for which I applied.  I had assumed that I was not going to get this job, since it had been months since I originally applied for it.  After my interview, I thought I had blown it, so I assumed, still, that I was not going to get it.  Up until the day I received an offer, I still applied for new jobs every day.  In another amusing note, immediately after accepting the offer, I received a call from a corporate recruiter with another company I'd spoken with a year ago asking if I was still looking for work.

Enough about the good news, it's time to move on to the bad/indifferent.  My diet has suffered... profoundly.  Between travel, stress, jubilation, and general malaise at various points, I have been fairly consistently off it since we last spoke.  I hopped back on for a week or two, then went back off.  During that time, I also haven't exercised with anything resembling consistency or frequency.  I haven't gotten weighed in weeks, out of terror for what I've done to myself.

Now, I'm ready to get back to work.  I'm living in a hotel, temporarily, and have my Nutrisystem food with me, along with a microwave and mini fridge, so I'm prepared to act properly.  I picked up some essential extras at the supermarket today, so I should be able to keep myself under control until I get settled into my new place.

I should note I'm thinking about making some changes, now that I'm resuming the diet.  I'm not going to have the time to write morning or lunch entries immediately after meals, as I had been when I was blogging more consistently/without a job.  I'm also not really sure what my schedule is going to be like, so I'm going to call this a very tentative proposed schedule.  I think I'm going to write a morning entry with weigh-in info, and then write evening entries covering exercise and what I eat over the course of the day.  Of course, if I find the time to write more often, I will.

I'm targeting weigh-in resumption for Monday, to keep myself honest once again.  I ate my first Nutrisystem meal in the hotel tonight, and I'm feeling good about getting back on it.

With all this, I have a question for those of you who work and work out:  do you prefer to get up at 5am and work out/eat before work or work out in the evening after work?  When you work out, do you prefer to eat first or work out first (before or after work)?  I'm trying to figure out how to work it into my schedule, and I don't know what is best to try first.  Look forward to responses in the comments or on the twitter.

Lastly, I'd like to thank those of you who are still subscribed, despite my long absence, I look forward to sharing further weight loss success with you.