Thursday was a weird day. I’m not good at late nights. No, I take that back. I’m great at late nights, but I’m horrible at sleeping in, even when my body needs it. I seem to wake up at 6am no matter what and immediately my mind starts racing (and my stomach starts rumbling). So because I was up late eating rockin’ Indian food the night before, I didn’t get very much sleep. Thus, Thursday was weird because I spent the day in a kind of hazy fog.
Strangely, it was one of my more productive days in terms of work (I’m a freelance writer / math nerd / web geek – don’t worry, it doesn’t make sense to me, either). I had a meeting in the afternoon and some work I wanted to do beforehand. The work kept me awake, as did a very chilly cycle ride through London. Which is a good thing, because I’m about as bad at napping as I am at sleeping in. Here are a few reasons why:
6 Ways to Fail at Napping
- Refuse to turn off your brain and give in to relaxation
- Drink too much tea or coffee right beforehand (though some would argue that this is the key to the perfect power nap)
- Live right across the street from a tire changing place
- Live down the road from a taxi company
- Live across the street from a noisy, drunk lady who’s prone to heated arguments with her daughter
- Fail to buy earplugs
Diary for Thursday, February 12, 2009
Breakfast
Bircher Muesli with Bananas and Yogurt

Sleep or no sleep, Bircher muesli never fails to please me.
1 cup oats
6 prunes
15g raisins
10g chopped apricots
20g almonds
10g flax seeds
1 apple, graded
1 lemon wedge, juiced
Swim
Our shower’s been acting up lately – no hot water. It’s annoying, and yet, it gives me a good excuse to go to the pool. And after semi-successfully attempting to nap in mid-morning, I needed a little water action to a.) wake up and 2.) wash my sleepy self. The swim was more of a 10-minute side trip on the way to the shower, but it woke me up and cleared my head.
I love how versatile swimming is. If I’m wound up, a slow swim relaxes me. If I’m tired, a brisk few hundred meters of freestyle energises me. The only time I don’t like to swim is when I’m hungover, in which case the water just makes nauseous. Luckily that doesn’t happen too much these days.
Lunch
Super Ultimate Tofu Scramble

For lunch I wanted something hot and nourishing with a good dose of protein. A tofu scramble did the trick. But this was like tofu scramble on steroids – I added diced potato, carrots, peas, cauliflower, tomato, parsley. The WORKS. It was delicious, only – how sad – I didn’t cook the potato long enough. Even so, this was great fuel for the fire, for I had a 45-minute cycle ride ahead of me and a long work meeting to get through in the afternoon. This scramble worked famously.
olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
120g potato, diced
1 carrot, diced
120g firm tofu
turmeric
oregano
a splash of Braggs Liquid Aminos
10 small cauliflower florets
1 tomato
a sprinkle of nutritional yeast flakes
1 handful peas
1 handful parsley, chopped
salt
pepper
Cycle
After lunch I was off to Kennington in South London, a 12-mile round trip cycle journey. The ride in was nice and sunny, however, by the time I left, the weather not only turned cold and dark, but it had also begun to snow! So I booked it home, and with barely any red lights along the way, I made it back in record time – about 35 minutes compared to my usual 45-50.
By the end of the ride I was wet but surprisingly warm thanks to the exercise. I was also ravenous and really in the mood for something delicious and comforting. Dinner was on my mind.
Dinner
Black bean taco with salad and guacamole

I brought a bunch of corn tortillas back from California and they are not going to waste. Earlier in the week I cooked up a big ol’ batch of black beans via the soak and boil method. To these I added some sauteed onion, garlic and jalapeno, plus a pinch of cumin and a good dose of salt. I put about half of them through the blender to make a sort of black bean gravy, then finished them off with a squeeze of lime. Man they were good!
I also made some guacamole. Would you believe it’s hard to find white onion in London? There’s only one place I know of which sells them, and I took a special trip the day before. I love me some guacamole. I like to put it on my salad instead of dressing (or sometimes in addition to a light sprinkle of balsamic vinaigrette).
To top off my tacos, I had a little bit of Trader Joe’s Corn and Chile salsa – yet another import from the States. There’s something I love about the combination of avocado with this sweet and spicy corn salsa. A little bit goes a long way.
Mmm tacos. Thanks for reminding me how great swimming is! Tend to forget about it.
Also I’m so good at failing at napping. Hehe. The whole lack-of-sleep haze kind of feels like being drunk.