Naps: The Good, The Bad, and The Drowsy

As the weekend is coming to an end, you go through your routine to prepare for the work week. Whether you’re doing some grocery shopping or your laundry, by bedtime, you’re not tired. Could it be that you slept in the morning of? Thus, leading to you having more energy than you were hoping. Maybe you just stay up then. But by the time you’re at work, you tell yourself that a nap just sounds so good. So, after work that’s what you end up doing. Problem is, you took too long of a nap and then you’re right back to square one. The vicious cycle that never ends. So, how do you break out of this cycle? Assuming you don’t enjoy it at all.

The Problem

As an unlicensed and self-proclaimed Professor, the reoccurrence of napping is a sign of a health issue. “What is that?” you didn’t ask. Speaking from someone who is currently going through this problem, it means you lack the energy to go about your day. And your tolerance to caffeine has taken on a new level where you may find yourself needing too much of it to make it to the end of the day. What you might be asking though is, “Where is this issue coming from?” For those who don’t already know (or assume), we have to go back to the origin. As you lay there unaware of life, you’re probably sucking on that breast to attain the nutrients needed to survive… okay, that maybe too far back! Fast forward a little bit, from our childhood to adulthood, it’s what we put into our body, food and drink-wise. If it ain’t healthy for you, it’s more than likely going to slow you down in life.

The Solution?

Naps are intended to re-energize us. That’s the simplicity of it. If you had little to no sleep, then it makes sense why a nap was needed. But if this is on-going, then pay attention to what you’re eating and drinking. Consume foods that are good for you with plenty of nutrients and vitamins. You may not know it, but some of them give off natural energy so you don’t have to have one or more energy drinks daily, or an entire pot of coffee to yourself. Exercise is another plus. Whether you’re lifting weights, going for a jog, or taking up a dance class, you’re moving your body and getting that blood flowing through your system. And no excuses! That means me as well. When something like not having the time to exercise or cook a healthier meal is involved, just remember that we all have the same amount of time in the day. That’s not changing in our lifetime.

For those of you who have kids, and even if you don’t, just think back to when you were. Like how you started out having all this energy. There were naps involved, but also probably a lot of sugary foods and drinks as well. Those naps that were taken were probably from the sugar crash after using up the energy received from it momentarily. For you car enthusiast, think of it like NOS, it’s brief, but quite the adrenaline high. The big takeaway from this is that these kids were being incredibly active. Using up their energy each day, tiring themselves out, and more than likely having some of the best sleep ever. Of course, with that they didn’t have responsibilities or many, many adult issues that has to be dealt with.

So just remember, we all have this energy we need to use up each and every day. It’s like the energy bar from The Sims if any of you are familiar with. Other than being able to force your Sim to just sleep, I suppose there are medication for that. But as long as you’re doing it right, naps can be extremely beneficial. Just depends on if it’s better for you or not (or maybe your neighbor got a new dog that they don’t know how to raise correctly, so the barking wakes you up much earlier than you would like when the owners aren’t home).

My Apartment Design

My Inspiration started when I was in high school, not long after upgrading from basic cable. One day I came across HGTV and before I knew it, my life had changed. Just seeing the ideas some of these professionals had, their mindset to create such elegant and beautiful designs within a home. I guess that’s why they have their own television show. Either way, I was hooked! Design On A Dime and House Hunters were one of my favorite shows to watch then. Always loved the concept of designing a place on a budget because that gave me the opportunity to do the same. considering I’m not a baller by any means. So that transpired to me wanting to do that when I had my very own place. It took over a decade but overall I’m happy with how my place turned out.

A short video tour of my current place.

The Sims

Since being introduced to The Sims video game franchise from a good buddy of mine, Vincent, I fell in love with the game. It’s one thing to play the game and see what type of career and lifestyle you give your Sims, but another when it came to building your own home. One of the features on why I enjoy playing the game so much. Along with Fallout 4.(Still haven’t beaten the main storyline) But when they came out with seasons, that’s a wrap! The aesthetics with video games is half the reason I play them. The other is having a good storyline. As time went on, Sims just got more and more technical with its’ build mode option. I didn’t like it at first, but as I adapted to the new games, and familiarized myself, I thought to myself, “It’s not so bad.” I definitely spent hours with the build versus playing the game. But I guess that’s also part of playing the game. Here are some examples of what I’ve done below.

PS3 Build #1
PS3 Build #2(Was still a work-in-progress)
One of my favorite builds on the PS4
Back side
Fallout 4 Starlight Drive
Another view(wasn’t sure how to go about the walls for the rooms)

The Long Wait

I was 21 when I left home moving from one place to another amongst friends. Since leaving home, I moved 8 times in a span of about 12 years. Almost every place I went to I didn’t have the luxury of calling it home. And on top of that, I bounced around from job to job until eventually I had to settle for a little while. It didn’t occur to me until much later that what I needed was to live on my own. I was getting older and I had to keep a steady paycheck to be able to save in order to do so… A long story later, I get my own place and was finally able to design the interior within the confines of my apartment. And that’s pretty much it for how I got inspired when it comes to interior designing. But there’s plenty more than just interiors, I do enjoy doing blueprints, architectural designs as well! Anyway, it wasn’t an easy task for me to get to this point. There’s a much bigger story that I will be telling later throughout my blog and on my YouTube channel. Stay tuned!

500 Calorie Meal In A Hurry

If you’re a fan of Panera Bread, then this article might be for you. Or if you’re just a food person in general. Either way, welcome all! I wanted to broaden my horizons with my cooking skills. I like to think of The Sims as a guide to help me in real life. Like the food that my Sim creates can look very appealing. You really can learn something from video games. Just need to put in the hours.

On To The Meal!

A pastrami sandwich that is simple, yet a little salty, but has a refreshing taste. And if you’re like me, top it off with a dill spear pickle. I’ve had plenty of sandwiches and burgers that dry out my mouth in which the pickle helps wash that down. This isn’t one of those. Maybe it’s got something to do with the spinach and avocado but either way, the pickle was still a delight to have. Toasted buns always seem to give sandwiches that extra kick for looks and style. Although, I may have toasted it too long because when I actually ate the bread, it cut the roof inside my mouth which is still a little tender at the moment. Or maybe I just don’t know how to eat a sandwich.

I wanted to make a healthy meal, despite the high sodium count from the lunch meats and of course, the bacon. But it’s bacon, so you have to. I used salami and pastrami considering when I was grocery shopping, those were on sale at the time(trying to stay on a budget). But you can use just about any sort of meats you desire. Or keep it vegetarian. The options are almost unlimited. And I was able to make this meal around 500 calories only.

Smoothie Time

Just the perfect beverage to compliment a meal on a nice hot day. Cool and healthy. The smoothie that I decided to go with had both fruits and vegetables in it. To keep things simple and easy, I used frozen fruits mostly. Liquid choice, I went with orange juice. You could also use milk, water or any other beverage you like.

So, something that is difficult for me to say. I have a little bit of an eating disorder, so getting the necessary calories I need daily is hard to come by. One method that helps me is being able to drink my calories. The good thing about this recipe is that it comes with plenty of vitamins and nutrients like potassium, calcium and vitamin C. With the orange juice, this only comes out to roughly 200 calories.

Ingredients/Recipe

Total Time: 10-15 minutes

Sandwich: spinach(1oz), avocado(1oz), provolone cheese(1 slice), salami(4-5 slices), pastrami(4-5 slices), bacon(2 slices), and 2 rye bread. Whether or not you decide to toast the bread, I use a little bit of olive oil to help give it that nice golden brown color.

Smoothie: spinach(1-2oz), avocado(1-2oz), frozen fruits(1 cup), and a cup of orange juice. Very quick and easy to make. I pack the spinach in first followed by the liquid and then top it off with the rest and blend to your liking. No need for ice since the fruits are frozen.

And there you have it! A delicious simple meal and drink at roughly 700 calories. Tune in for more updates to see what else I have prepared from my kitchen. I’m David… until next time.(I still haven’t figured out a sign-off catch phrase)