Today I learned how much I love my personal eating routine, namely because today my routine was completely turned on its head. I had a couple of early appointments: one a rehearsal, and the other a presentation I gave with the investment group I meet with monthly (we meet to discuss principles of managing and investing our money, not actually to invest our money together). The second appointment was significant because, for the first time since I joined the investment group, I led the entire two-hour meeting. This went very well: my wife was there, she enjoyed it, and other people came up to me and said they enjoyed it, and reading the room, it just seemed people were engaged the whole time.
Following the meeting, about ten of us went out to lunch at a nearby restaurant. As it happens, I had not eaten breakfast. Instead, this morning I had a little bit of chicken bone broth—a “food” that I learned about last year when I got into intermittent fasting. I was still on fast in the morning, therefore no real breakfast.
Bone broth may be adequate for a normal morning without food, but this was no normal morning. I find that when performing or leading or speaking, I use a lot of energy. I’m generally more comfortable when I have food to keep charged. So by the end of the two-hour meeting, I was uncomfortably hungry. Also, I was probably a bit dehydrated, despite the two cans of seltzer water I drank.
So at the restaurant I binged: a chocolate milk shake, fish sandwich, and fries. The first thing they served me was the milk shake. I downed that thing (and the accompanying extra in the metal cup they serve as a bonus) completely by the time my food came less than ten minutes later. By then I noticed I felt a little bit weird, after all, I haven’t had a chocolate milk shake in a long time, and that was a lot more sugar than I’m probably used to eating all that once!
I let myself indulge in a sugary meal because I was hungry, hadn’t eaten, and no doubt a bit depleted after an intense morning. The fish sandwich was pretty good, but honestly, I’m somewhat out of the habit of eating bread these days, too. And by then my stomach was a little rumbly from the milk shake, and I had a headache. While I would say my food satisfied my hunger, to be honest it was a strange and slightly uncomfortable experience.
When I got home this afternoon, I created a bowl of yogurt with nuts and berries. I was relieved to get back to my eating routine and restore “balance.” As I started by saying, this experience points out how much I love my own eating routine. I love the sense of control and order and balance I get from “having things my way.”
Next time I lead a meeting, I will pack a snack.