As a freelancer, gigs come few and far between. I'd worked for fifteen years as a news producer for a Japanese network and though the hours were long and erratic, I knew where I was headed most weekdays. Nowadays, though I get out as often as I can, to spend time with friends and family, to network, I spend alot more time at home than I used to. Self-made projects, seeking out work leads, can only take up so much of your time, and therefore my focus has been on acquiring, consuming and relishing food. Alot of it.
So as I try to keep up on news by perusing the different news sites like the NYT or BBC, new international news programs like Fareed Zakaria GPS or the Amanpour show, or even watching the different evening news broadcasts (never really did that before because I was never home to watch them), I munch on things. Unhealthy, fat and dairy-laden things, usually.
But to counter this self-annihilating habit, I run. Which increases my appetite, and often for healthier items, but I consume more nonetheless. Overeat. Indulge. Satisfy my hunger cravings for food since work is not close at hand.
Yet it's such a vicious cycle. When I had worked at CNN, on stressful night shifts, my best friend was the vending machine. The long walk to the other end of the floor was my only daily exercise. I ate, I snacked nervously as I struggled to keep up with the news, to learn the CNN in-house computer systems, as I sweat about the show's impending deadline hour.
But saggy parts of my body and face tell me what I need to do. Lose the munchies, focus on something promising and most probably glorious ahead, and take care of the body that'll house you hopefully through another couple of decades of loving the news, of hoping for the best.
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