Rookie mistake. Yesterday, I created a plan-for-the-day which helped me move smoothly through the day and stay on task. At the end of the day, though, I was exhausted. I can not emphasis enough how tired I was: worn out, depleted, frazzled, zonked-out. Plus, I've been battling a cold.

As I reviewed the day, however, what became clear is that the numero uno mistake I had made was simple. A rookie mistake. I did not eat well or often enough. I did not drink well or often enough. A nutritionist I saw once, noted that if you start the day out hungry, you will spend the day hungry. That's why breakfast is so crucial.

It's not that I didn't eat yesterday, I did. I just didn't eat well enough to really fuel myself and maintain my fuel throughout the day. I relied on lots of white flour items (bagel, sandwich bread) and sketchy protein (deli turkey). Sugary Chai tea has milk, but also a lot of sugar. I did drink some regular tea, too but not enough to make 8 glasses of water.

I did alright until 4 p.m. when I started to get really hungry. I had a snack (vending machine peanut butter crackers) and that staved off my hunger for a while. However, as I continued to work and power through, I got hungrier and hungrier. I skipped dinner in order to make a 7 p.m. social engagement. By 10 p.m. when I finally sat down for a proper dinner I was stark raving ravenous and so depleted.

(Then, to further exasperate the situation, I was so over-tired that I didn't go to bed until 2 p.m. -- yikes!)

So, today I was more attentive: large bowl of oatmeal with a diced up apple and a sprinkle of walnuts and brown sugar in soy milk for a late breakfast; a pot of citron tea and a biscotti at the coffee shop; a peanut butter sandwich with natural peanut butter and jam for a late lunch. And, tonight, I am going to try my hand at making a new veggies-galore Thai dish.

Half the trick, I am realizing, is to be attentive to my daily routine--as Natalie Goldberg would say, "Make positive effort for the good."