There’s an experiment going on in my neck of the woods tonight, and it’s called Operation Ten P.M. For the past few weeks I’ve gotten an inadequate amount of sleep, going to bed late and waking up far too early to make sure things get done on time.  They do get done this way, but the thing is: this can’t go on forever.  No one can get by on barely 5 hours of sleep and remain a happy, functioning person forever.  So tonight, I’m going to bed early with no regrets, no last-minute chores, no nothing.  Operation Ten P.M., baby.  It just might change the world.

This morning I got up at 5 and dragged my spandex-clad self over to the gym with my reading.  I propped my work on the cross-ramp and sweat it out for 30 minutes, never mind the dark sky outside.  The work had to be done, so why not wake my body up while doing it?  I did a few ab exercises, then went home to work some more, get ready for the day and have breakfast.

This bowl of oatmeal was almost a little too belly-busting… I finished it, hoping it would hold me over for a longer period throughout the morning, but I didn’t feel so great afterward.

In the mix:

• 1/2 cup oats cooked in 1/2 cup water
• 1 banana
• pumpkin
• 1 tsp ground flax
• 1 HUGE scoop almond butter
• stevia
• cinnamon

It did hold me over for about 3.5 hours, after which I snacked on an apple (but left the orange).

For lunch, I had leftover chickpeas…

… and a HoneyNana Chobani Champion from Ada.  Read my review here!

Lunch held me over really well… must have been all of the fiber in those garbanzos! Beans are champions when it comes to  staying-power and fullness. Around 4, I snacked on some baby carrots.

After work, I ran some errands then headed home to make dinner: Quinoa Risotto with Mushrooms and Thyme. I doubled the mushrooms for a certain mushroom-loving guy…

We had it with a little broccoli.  To be honest, this wasn’t my favorite recipe… it just didn’t have a whole lot of flavor.  Thank goodness for parmesan and salt!  Maybe it’ll taste better in a few days, once it’s hd time to stew a little in the fridge.

We had small glasses of chilled Réserve de Villecours Cabernet Sauvignon that my friend Howard gave us.

For dessert, I had a bowl of Mint Galactica Coconut Bliss Ice Cream with cardamom chocolate sauce and hazelnut butter.  Then I went back for more.  And I did not feel bad about it.

Sometimes, without realizing I’m doing it, I put a lot of pressure on myself to juggle many things at once and just deal with it.  I don’t always acknowledge how stressed out I’m feeling, and before I know it: BOOM! It goes to the bad place.  Sometimes I just need to remind myself that I don’t have to do everything, and I shouldn’t waste my energy feeling guilty when I give myself a break.  So tonight, in honor of Operation Ten P.M., I will not feel guilty.

I will not feel guilty about returning a Netflix movie unopened.

I will not feel guilty about leaving work at work and giving myself time to sleep.

I will not feel guilty about being moody from time to time.

I will not feel guilty that I’m not returning every owed phone call all in one night.

I will not feel guilty about ignoring my Blackberry and e-mails.

I will not feel guilty about leaving my closet in a bit of disorder until tomorrow night.  (Okay, maybe just a little…)

I will not feel guilty about that extra ice cream.

What won’t you feel guilty about today?