My week in a nutshell: trans fats and alcohol

Last week was one of those work weeks that made a person want to stuff their face with greasy food, chug a beer (or four) then come home and crawl into bed and watch hours of a pathetic reality show (Honey Boo Boo, Hoarders, 16 and Pregnant — all of which have a subconscious effect of cheering most people up because, no matter how bad things get, most people's lives will never be THAT bad).

I am not sure what exactly pushed me over the stress cliff this week, whether it was a accumulation of little things (lack of sleep, bills, my mischievous dog destroying everything in his path) in combination with the overall stress of my job that includes constant deadlines, murderers, lawyers, cops and knowing that if I make a mistake, several thousand people will likely see it.

On top of everything, I hate the month of January and its 31-straight days of post-holiday depression, cold and darkness.

But whatever stressful thing pushed me over the edge last week had a detrimental effect on how well my pants fit as well as my personal hygiene.

On more than one occasion last week, I went to a drive thru and bought french fries for dinner but ate them all by the time I arrived at my house less than a mile away. I would then come home to my freezing house that I can't exactly afford to heat, and curl up in bed.

After five days of doing no favors for my already too-tight jeans, I told myself that Saturday would be different. I was going to wake up early! Be productive! Get a little work done! Laundry! Go on a run! Whiten my teeth! Write a blog post!

While I managed to wake up at 8:30, and go interview a gun shop owner for a story I am working on for Tuesday's paper, I came home and crawled back into bed to take a short, little nap before I attacked the day.

I woke up nearly five hours later at about 4 p.m. flabbergasted I had spent the whole day sleeping, but determined to have a productive evening. With a renewed fervor, I told myself: Laundry! Dinner! Shower!

By 6 p.m. I was exhausted again so I put on a ratty sweatshirt, without bothering to put on a bra, turned on Spice Girls Pandora, and drove to Dairy Queen. I bought ice cream and french fries (the latter of which was almost gone by the time I got home) and then crawled back into bed.

Overall, I know I need a better way to cope with stress, but when it's cold, I'd much rather stay in a warm place (my bed) and eat fat food then go exercise and eat a salad.

Anyway. It's Sunday morning and I am determined to have a productive (and healthy) day. Here's to a trans-fat-free week filled with less-whiney blog posts and lots of exercise!