The irony of joblessness

What's worse than a foodie on a diet?

...a foodie on a diet with nothing to do!

Oh ...were you expecting the punch line of a bad joke? Right, so let me make one thing clear - if there's one thing I don't possess in my literary repertoire, it has to be humour.

So, moving on let me answer the obvious question. Yes, I am trying (Note: Keyword - trying, implies not necessarily succeeding) to control my diet. Shouldn't really come as a surprise considering I had major fried stuff cravings yesterday. I've been drinking my 8 glasses of water a day and as far as possible restricting my work-time snacks to fruit. Not to mention attempting at-your-desk exercises every hour or so in the hope of burning calories. Most days I try to limit myself to an early dinner and survive on fruit, juices and water during the day. Of course, the odd day comes in when the office orders manaeesh or fatayer...

Sigh....manaeesh - one of the most versatile breakfasts in the arab world. Warm, freshly baked bread with cheese, zaatar (a blend of oregano, thyme, sesame, olive oil, salt and spices - a topic for a whole new post!), vegetables, meat - any or all of the above! We have a bakery right next to the office, so when we order the manaeesh comes in steamy hot right out of the oven, the bread quite literally melting in your mouth and the fillings quite nearly causing first degree mouth burns - but that's the best way to go! :) And fatayer, the miniature form comes in a plethora of shapes while retaining a similar bread with toppings theme - good for those days when you just cannot decide and want a whole mixed-up plateful of delightfully warm bite-sized snacks to get you through the work day.

I digress...

Work's slow these days, and although technically I don't really have nothing to do (or atleast I shouldn't admit it!) I have some days where I just desperately want some way to pass the time! What is the most natural pasttime of a foodie? Food of course! Days filled with meetings, deadlines or at the very least an addicting error in your code that you just have to fix; they're okay. You can forget about food for a while. Ironically, those busy days get your metabolism up too, and although you could probably get away with snacking, you don't. But days when boredom leaves you no choice but to munch to pass time....brain needs no energy, body needs no energy (you still need to be seen sitting at your desk all day, typing away!) and yet you're feeding yourself. Little wonder the world faces an obesity epidemic...

With those thoughts, I shall return to my water-drinking and fruit-eating and desk-exercising and hope that today I am not seduced by the enticing manaeesh....

Till next time folks!