Bad Food = Bad Mood ?
This was my first meal of the day. I was craving diner-style breakfast food and decided to have a “pig out day.” As of late (since the last week of April) I’ve been keeping a pretty good eye on what I eat (and how much) and have been exercising to try finally getting in shape for the first time since I turned forty, so at least in comparison to everything else in the past few weeks, this is way out of line with my usual. I’m not eating like a professional athlete or a hippie or anything, but I’m not eating like this either. By the way, there were two little pancakes out of range of the picture included in the meal.
The day started off not too badly. It’s my day off, I slept in. I’d planned to go for a bike ride, but since it was rainy, I didn’t (I did manage a nice ride last night). I got a couple small errands done. Overall pretty OK.
Then, I went out to eat.
I headed to a neighborhood greasy spoon called “The Bashful Bull.” It’s one of those diners that you see imitated in movies and television shows. Half a star for ambiance, two and a half for the food. I ordered the biscuits and gravy combo, something I have rare opportunity to eat peacefully because if I order this kind of thing when my girlfriend is around I get the loving lecture about how bad a dietary choice it is. “It’s like eating a heart attack” she has said, further telling me she can picture the gravy trying to navigate my arteries. BUT TODAY IS “PIG OUT DAY.”
Starting almost immediately after I left the diner, my mood started deteriorating. All of the sudden, traffic was irritating. Pedestrians seemed to be trying to piss me off by crossing in front of me extra slowly. The rain was getting to me too. I went home.
At home, I laid on my bed, Hulu running on my MacBook, drifting in and out of sleep. My laundry needs done. There are dirty dishes in my sink. I need to get online and renew my nursing license. I did none of it. As the sun started to peak through the clouds around 3pm, I though I should get on my bike and go for a ride… then I thought “Nah, I’ve got a CPR class at 5:30. I’ll rest ’til it’s time to go there.” I stayed on the bed, intermittently snoozing until I left the house at 4:45.
On my way to CPR class (on Mission downtown), I took the route that takes me up and over the hill above the Castro. My intent was to cut over to South Van Ness and follow it to Mission. Somewhere, I took a wrong turn and got mixed up on the one way streets in the Castro. Those who know me understand that I very rarely drive in the city because it’s just too much of a pain in the ass, so I don’t know my way around very well except for major streets and routes I travel all the time. Otherwise, it’s busses, bikes, and cabs (formerly walking too, but I live too far out for that now).
I tried using my iPhone’s map feature to find where I was and plot the course, but to no avail. The GPS kept telling me I was in places I KNEW I wasn’t… not even close. So, I drove ’til I figured it out and then headed on my way, fuming. By the time I reached downtown, it was 5:15. There were cars everywhere and people were driving like they were just figuring it out for the first time. My blood was boiling. I tried to call my girlfriend to vent, but ATT’s suck-ass service wouldn’t place the call. With every tick of the clock, my head thumped faster. At 5:30, the door would be locked and no-one else would be admitted to the classroom. I’d have to reschedule.
At 5:30 on the dot, I found myself in the neighborhood of the classroom… but with no parking options. The nearby garages were marked “full” and all the meters were loading zones or half hour limit zones. No good. I missed the class. $60 in nonrefundable fees down the toilet.
By this time, my day was ruined. I was a wreck. My girlfriend cheered me up somewhat and eventually I got my act together, rescheduled the class, and started feeling a bit better (although there are still the matters of the laundry, the dishes, and the nursing license… but in due time). Then I got to thinking about the fact that I’d not really been able to pinpoint any reason for my shitty mood today. The only thing I could piece together was that my mood changed at the time I at a huge meal laden with fat, salt, processed sugars, and probably loads of MSG.
Not exactly a scientific experiment or anything, but we’ll see if my mood improves after I start eating real food again.
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