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Day in the Life + Loneliness

6:45am: Wake up! I’m a person who likes to brush my teeth before I eat breakfast, but this day I woke up REALLY hungry so I was eating breakfast within 5 minutes of rolling out of bed.  Breakfast was oats I soaked overnight in milk & vanilla protein powder.  

I had early clients that day and needed to get out the door quickly, so I threw on work clothes before breakfast.

7:20am: Feed/situate all the dogs.  Out the door.  On the drive to work I was already hungry again, which I figured would happen since my breakfast didn’t have adequate fat.  Snacked on some chocolate covered almonds on the way to work. 

7:45am: See my first client of the day.

9:15am: Head to a women’s group I joined through our church. 

This is where the “loneliness” piece comes in.  In February of this year I had two life changes at the exact same time: opening my private practice (office tour here) and finding out I was pregnant.  The day after I decided to leave the group practice was when I found out I was pregnant.  I’ve been feeling mentally/emotionally different for my entire pregnancy, which I know is to be expected. But it’s been tricky for me to distinguish what are typical pregnancy feels and what are feelings due to being alone all day working on the blog/in private practice. 

I love my job.  But I believe humans are meant to be in community with others and when you don’t have coworkers it’s tough (for me at least) to create that sense of community on a daily basis.  I have friends I care about…but going multiple hours a day without connecting on a personal level with others wasn’t working for me.  I was always kinda bummed when Andrew would have stories to tell about his coworkers and I’d have nothing because NO COWORKERS!  There are so many positives to my job and so many things I am grateful for, but I was having way too much alone time.  Joining this women’s group has helped me a lot. There are women of all ages, which really appeals to me.

10am-noon: Women’s group (we’re going through this book) + enjoyed a latte from the church coffee shop.

noon: That latte was doing an excellent job of keeping me full, so I swung by the pool for a quick swim.

BUMP PHOTO! These bathing suit bottoms used to be high waisted bottoms that went up past my belly button.  They’ve been great for pregnancy! The idea of squeezing the bump into a one piece appeals to me none, especially because one of my favorite parts of swimming is watching the bump in the mirror that is on the pool floor as I move through the water. 

I’ll have an update about Raspberry’s size soon.  She is growing extremely well lol.

12:30ish: shower + head back to office

1pm: Lunch.  I made a version of enchiladas again.  I saw Robyn layer a bunch of enchiladas ingredients into a dish on Sunday on her Stories and I was like yes.  So that’s what I did too.  Paired with an orange.

1:30pm-6pm: Client sessions (some virtual and some in-person) + call therapists/doctors to coordinate care on clients.  Plus I ate the rest of the chocolate covered almonds I had started eating earlier.  

And I had a 30 minute call with my best friend squeezed in here :)

6:30pm: Attended a Houston Eating Disorder Specialists dinner at Maggianos.  The speaker was Dr. Nicole Hawkins, who I adore.  She presented on: Understanding the Pressure on Women to be Thin.  She is the same woman who gave the talk on “healthy” living bloggers.

I started with bread & butter + salad.

Everything for dinner was served family style.  For my entree I went for lasagna + more bread & butter + asparagus.

Dr. Hawkins brought up this ad during her presentation…

She pointed out that this ad is marketed to grown women. It’s like they couldn’t find models skinny enough so they went and found some kids to wear women’s clothing.  I think it perpetuates unrealistic body standards for women.  We shouldn’t be trying to have the body of a 12 year old girl.  Any thoughts on this? 

She also mentioned how Jennifer Aniston was on a magazine cover (this cover) and they HEAVILY photoshopped her (they only kept her head and her hand and put a different body in the photo).  Jennifer Aniston sued the magazine, but lost because (something along the lines of): “the consumer is aware that magazine images are artistic images that are fake/heavily photoshopped.” Really? Is that something the consumer is aware of? Even if you know the image is fake, I still feel like it can have a negative impact on you. This kind of reminds me of how I know scary movies are fake…but they still terrify me and mess with my head to the point that I can’t sleep at night.

8pm: We finished the evening with dessert…some awesome chocolate cake + tiramisu.  I really don’t like many of the tiramisus I try (because hello, mushy lady fingers)…but I always try it because I like things that come in layers lol.  But to my surprise, this tiramisu was AWESOME! I was so impressed.

8:45pm: Home + hangout with Andrew + catch each other up on our days + gave Fletcher a bath because he ended up needing one…it’s a long story, but a bath was necessary lol

10pm: Painted yesterday’s watercolor therapy.  I was waiting for inspiration to strike and it finally did.

11pm-ish: BED.

26 comments

  1. I don’t think I’d be able to work in a job with no coworkers or interaction with people…my coworkers and customers are my absolute favorite part of my job! I need that in my day – so much so that sometimes work even improves my mood, just because of the people I see there!

    • I love my clients, but it’s a different type of relationship than you’d have with friends/coworkers. I think it’s good self-awareness to realize that coworkers/customers improve your mood. I’m still figure that out and what it the right balance for me :)

  2. I can really relate to the loneliness that comes with being a solo entrepreneur – there are SO many benefits to working for yourself but the lack of coworkers/frequent social interaction is definitely a huge negative, especially for an extrovert like me. My co-working space helps a little since I can have random conversations with nice people, but it’s still not the same as having people I’m actively collaborating with. I’m cancelling my co-working space at the end of the month since our baby is due at the end of next month and I don’t want to waste money if she comes early, but I’m a little worried about working from home 100% again. Anyway – if you figure this out, let me know. :) I’m sure it will be especially challenging for both of us as we figure out the balance between work and being new moms! xo

    • And I feel it’s complicated for me because I’m more of an introvert. So there’s this constant feeling of wanting more relationships, but being overwhelmed by them. Still figuring out that balance. But grateful for you and our calls. I’m hoping we get to squeeze one more in before babies come (and that I remember to block off my schedule.)

  3. i work from home but i do have co-workers in another state. i have to be intentional about having lunch with friends and just getting out of the house in general. if i don’t then when Carsten comes home and just wants to be at home, i am raring to go out! joining a women’s group is an inspired idea – however, i suspect you will not be lonely or bored much longer :)

    • I always love when you comment! It’s the same for us when Andrew gets home from work and I’m like “let’s go do anything! I have to get out!!” And you’re totally right about the bored thing…ready to have a mini me :)

  4. I totally feel the loneliness feeling. I’m a grad student so all work is on my own, it’s not easy. But I work from home so I have my cat’s company :) Share tips with us if you figure this out!
    Really about that JA magazine cover? Another thing that I’ve been thinking about is how many women have gone through plastic surgery and we don’t know. It’s their bodies so they do what they please, but still, I get the impression they’re that perfect. And here I’m talking also about friends, colleagues etc – like in reality I’m not the only one with small breasts and a big nose haha

  5. I thought of you last night Kylie. A commercial for a skin care product came on and I heard Debra Messing say “your life will be so much better” or something like that, if you try this product. I said to my husband who was sitting next to me, “will my life really be better? (heavy on the sarcasm).” ? Thanks for helping me to recognize the lies that we are told every day.

  6. Oh my GOSH! I could go on ALL DAY about magazines/photoshopping/diet articles, etc.! Magazines were so influential when I was younger and really perpetuated my eating disorder issues. Personally, I can’t believe it took me until I was in my 30’s to have the revolution (along with same great help) to realize that I’m not SUPPOSED to look like I’m an adolescent anymore, let alone a child. During my certification program, I was introduced to Jean Kilbourne, who does a great speech called Killing Us Softly. I think it’s on Youtube and I highly recommend EVERY woman to watch it! PS. It’s so sad that they clearly even photoshopped this young girl in the photo on your post. One leg is bigger than the other and there’s no way her feet are that big for her age!

  7. YES re the lonliness of private practice/blogging work. That women’s group sounds like a great idea! I have the same feelings about tiramisu and its mushiness, I usually go with ice cream or more substantial cake.

  8. While I do think that more consumers are coming around to the idea that images are photoshopped, that doesn’t mean that those images are not ingrained into our minds and then go onto shape how we see real people and ourselves. It’s not healthy and is pretty unethical in my opinion.
    I totally get the loneliness! I don’t have any other dietitians in my office so I work most the day by myself. I find myself lingering at the nurses’ desk for more talking time in the day!
    Also I love Maggiano’s! It’s one of our fav date night places.

  9. Sounds like such an awesome day! I think it’s great that you have the flexibility to leave your office and go to a women’s group and the pool. It must be so nice to be able to go to presentations/dinners and hear about topics that you are passionate about. 

  10. I’m starting a new job in November (I’m running a foundation that funds extracurricular activities for the public schools since federal $ no longer covers them), and while I’m super excited, I’m also nervous because it’s only me and a part-time assistant. We work in a building with a ton of other people, but they aren’t coworkers who I’ll be interacting with. I’m nervous that I’m going to be lonely since I’m used to working with a big team of people. No more potlucks or Christmas parties or coworker birthday celebrations! Maybe I should join a women’s group of sorts ?

  11. Thoughts on the 12 year old girl body ideal…sigh…I did a photo shoot this past weekend (I am a competitive bodybuilder) and I worked with a very young girl who said she had just been signed on by a modeling agency. She painfully thin–bone thin–I absolutely judge in NO way but it leads me to believe that although there are so many campaigns and such about love your body, the modeling world is still …IDK in it’s own world.

  12. Completely relating to the loneliness thing! I’m an introvert and was never huge on interacting with my coworkers, so I totally thought working for myself would be perfect. But, now that I don’t even have the option to talk to any coworkers, I’m starting to feel the loneliness creep in. I’ve considered investigating a coworking space – or even just going somewhere to work in public so there’s some human interaction! And I think your comparison of magazine covers to scary movies is spot on. Just because we know something isn’t real doesn’t mean our mind won’t play tricks on us!

  13. Maybe you can do a review on that book! I like Max Lucado. I totally get the loneliness thing because I’m the same way, but it’s funny bc now I have the opposite problem where my job has me interacting with people ALL DAY and it’s kind of intense for my introverted self! ;)

  14. those desserts have me drooling at my desk!!! i’ve actually been dying to go into business for myself, or even just have a job where i work remotely everyday, but the people around me keep telling me that i would be bored/lonely, so i can totally see what you’re saying. i think it’s so great that you attend events and have joined that women’s group, that definitely sounds like it helps, but i think it takes a certain type of person to enjoy being completely on their own day in and day out!

  15. The way media portrays the “ideal image” is sickening to me! These images make such an impact on women and how they view their body :(

    So glad you found a women’s group!! Community is so important!!

  16. As a young a me mom, I totally understand! It reallly takes an effort make community when you don’t go to a job everyday!

  17. How disturbing that the magazine says consumers should know that. :( UGH.

  18. Also, Max Lucado is awesome! They always have him on the Christian radio I listen to. I feel like he is now a friend of mine. :)

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