Monday = A Bad Balance = Glass of Wine

Good morning – day two of the work week. Let me start by saying that day one was a rough one. I knew coming into work that I had a lot to do, but it got way more out of control than I expected.

The day started off really well, with my very first oats in a jar!! I used up all my Peanut Butter & Co. White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter (sadness), so I made some oatmeal with banana and dumped it right into the nearly empty jar.

My first oats in a jar was a success!! How bout you – have you ever made oats in a jar? I feel that I’ve been officially indoctrinated into the food blog world.

My morning flew by and soon it was lunch time. I had some reduced fat Triscuits with some garlic and herb light laughing cow cheese. I also had a side of carrots.

I loved the garlic and herb flavor!! New fave – so good it might show up again later in this post! Next up was my afternoon snacks of Chobani pomegranate yogurt with a mix of granola and Kashi Go Lean. Then a bit later I had some green grapes.

After those snacks I buckled down to finish up some work and then around 4:45 p.m. found out that I needed to do some major work on a big project and it needed to be done and ready for early the next morning. Thoughts of hitting the gym for an easy 3-mile run quickly left my head as the clock ticked away and finally I closed up shop at 8:00 p.m.

I really strive for a healthy work/life balance, but I realize that there are times when emergencies are going to arise and I may have to stay late to get things done. However, I couldn’t get rid of the nagging guilty feeling I had when I left the office because I couldn’t fit my workout in. I know that one day is not a big issue – especially since it was the day after a big race and I could probably use the rest anyway. So I tried to brush the guilt aside and rework my training plan so that I can still build up the appropriate mileage for the week. I’m definitely more lax about working out when I’m not marathon training. But once training starts, I get a little crazy and compulsive.

How do you balance work and life? Do you ever find work encroaching on your personal time? How do you keep things in check and do you feel guilty if the balance is ever a little off?

While I was at work, thankfully I had a few reserve snacks in my arsenal. I grabbed a KIND bar and finished up an apple (that had been in there since last week, so it was probably good that I ate it) to tide me over.

I finished up my work and left the office around 8:00 p.m. and arrived home at 8:45. Thankfully, I had plenty of leftovers from Saturday night’s pre-race dinner, so I heated it up and added some more Garlic and Herb Laughing Cow Cheese (appearance number two). The added cheese really enhanced the flavor of the dish and I was sad that I hadn’t thought to add it on Saturday night – Hubby and Lauren would have enjoyed their meal that much more! Next time I guess.

It’s hard to see in the first photo, but next to my meal is a nice big glass of Cabernet Sauvignon – I needed it. On my commute home, I went back and forth between having more Kombucha or a glass of wine (I didn’t think both would mix well) and obviously the wine won out. I figured after such a long day, I fully deserved it.

I sipped my wine and ate my leftovers while watching the second half of The Bachelor and I have decided that I think Jake is boring – I think he has no personality and he’s kind of a dud. I also constantly feel awkward and uncomfortable when I watch him with the women. I just don’t think there’s much going on behind the scenes, no matter how hard they try to make him seem “thoughtful” and different.

And I finally figured out the girl’s name that I never knew: Jessie. She got some face time this episode…and then got kicked off. At least now I know.

Hopefully my Tuesday is more balanced – I hope you have a nice, balanced Tuesday as well!