Life Update - May 2021
*Note: I actually started writing this in October 2020 but I stopped. I am going to continue where I left off.
Where to begin…
I guess I will start with my living situation. My landlord raised our rent. It set off a totally unforeseeable chain reaction of events. I wish that I could say that it is all OK but it’s not over yet. The last few weeks, I have been so stressed out that I can not even get into the right head-space to ride my CRF. I don’t want to ride when I am sad, frustrated, or angry. I am worried that I will ride too fast or get distracted from the ride because the situation is so terrible.
*Update: It’s over now and although I was put on probation at work due to needing to take a sudden day off from work, it’s OK.
So the update starts here. 2021.
I have been working as much as possible to make sure that I can make ends meet even if we are hit with hard times. I have been working 12 hours a day, 5-6 days a week. Most weeks at the start of the year are 6 day work weeks, 11-12 hours per day. April and May, I have cut down to 5 days a week for the most part but the number of lessons has gone down so I need to switch back to 6 day work weeks.
I will do it but there is a new difficulty. My wife really wants to get in shape. It’s a fantastic idea but the cost of the gym is more than we should spend. For her physical and mental health, she needs to go. She does not like to go to places like that by herself so in order for her to go, I must go too. It means that we go to the gym almost every night after I get home from work. It is cutting into my sleep but there doesn’t seem to be any other option right now.
Here is a typical day:
8:30 am: wake up
9:00 am: leave for work
10:00 am: start work
Between 9:00 - 10:10 pm: leave for home
10:30 pm: arrive at home
11:00 pm: eat dinner
11:50 pm: go to the gym
2:00 am: get back from the gym and go to bed
Then the routine starts all over again. From Tuesday to Sunday. On the weekend, the school closes earlier so on those days I can go home a little earlier.
After I get home, I change my clothes and lay down for a few minutes to decompress. I think that is important. Then I check the computer a bit while my wife makes dinner. We cook at home every day in order to save money and control when we eat more carefully.
After that, we need time for the food to settle before we go to the gym. We eat before we go for a few reasons but the main one is that we often intermittent fast. If we finish dinner at 11:15, then we can start eating again at 3:15. It’s hard because I want some sweet coffee in the morning but that is a major contributing factor to my current weight problem.
When I say my current weight problem, I mean that I weighed 88 kilograms before the pandemic. It was a long hard road to get down to that weight. By the end of 2020, I was back up to 110 kilograms. I am on the road back down now. I know that yo-yo-ing like that is also unhealthy but I want to keep it off for good this time.
I am exhausted but, at least for the time being, this is my life now.
