The Next Hundred Pounds

TRAVELOGUE (AKA EATING MY WAY THROUGH SAVANNAH)

2009-11-07T22:28:59-06:00

Hello, everybody. I did not, in fact, fall off the face of the earth --- I've just been so busy with traveling and catching up in the interim that there's been little time to write. Currently, I'm coming to you live from a hotel room in College Station, Texas (where as a University of Texas alumni, called in these parts a "Teasip", I hope not to burst into flames). I'm here to sing the Verdi Requiem with the Brazos Valley Symphony. If you're in the neighborhood on Sunday at 5 p.m., come on by.

Last week, my schedule was this: flew home from New York on Tuesday. Picked Eric up from his trip to France on Wednesday. Flew to Savannah on Thursday. Flew home on Saturday. Drove to College Station today. I'm headed for New York again on Thursday.

Friends, confession is good for the soul, so allow me to improve my soul: I ate my way through Savannah. Becca, my friend's lovely grad assistant, picked me up at the airport and took me for my first sights of this beautiful city. One of our first stops was this ship, docked on the Savannah River, owned and lived upon by a religious group called the Twelve Tribes.

Our second stop was the Savannah Candy Kitchen, which offered lots of free samples, so you can see my diet was doomed from the start. Becca had made reservations at The Olde Pink House, where we had an amazing candlelit dinner and I had to forcibly restrain myself from licking the plate of pecan vanilla butter sweet potatoes like a starving dog. The next day, I valiantly got up and jogged around the hotel and adjacent golf course. It was nice to run in a different environment, and being coastal, the terrain was mostly flat. The weather was nice, a little humid, but not too bad.

Becca and her colleague Caylee picked me up and after acquiring coffee, we wandered the streets of Savannah a little more. I am a fan of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which in those parts is known as The Book. And here is The House:

This is the famous Mercer House, where the famous murder took place. We also walked a few blocks south to the lovely Forsyth Park.

That's the lovely Caylee with me in the photo (right after she got hit on by two very cute young Australian tourists. Becca and I tried to get her to turn on her Southern charm and offer to show them the city, but alas, she was more interested in attending my workshop).

After some sightseeing and shopping, my hosts took me to lunch at Coconut, an incredible Thai place in Statesboro whose strip mall location belied the haute cuisine to be found there. And after all this eating and sightseeing, it was finally time for me to do a little work! When I'm not off singing, I can often be found bossing other singers around via my Business of Singing workshops, and I'd been invited to Georgia Southern University to speak to their voice students about the practical aspects of having a career in music. So, despite evidence to the contrary, I actually did some work on this trip.

For dinner, they took me to Chops, a lovely local steakhouse. The next morning, bright and early, you better believe I was in the hotel gym, pumping away on the elliptical and working up a good sweat. But before I got on the plane I was treated to lunch at Leopold's, a historic ice cream parlor which also serves up terrific soups and sandwiches (I highly recommend the basil tomato soup) in the midst of movie memorabila from the career of the owner, movie producer Stratton Leopold.

It's especially difficult to avoid overeating and overindulging on trips like this. I try to compensate with smaller portions and by eating lighter whenever I can (especially for several days after getting home). I also keep up with the workouts. (Today, I did half an hour on the elliptical and then ran/walked for another half hour --- that's plenty on a day when I have four-plus hours of rehearsal). But it's not enough. I'm well aware that, while for the most part I've maintained my good habits, they've also gotten frayed around the edges. I'll write more about that next time. For now, it's late and I have a performance tomorrow --- must get beauty sleep! But I'll leave you with the November photo, as well as one of my new haircut.

One of my university students told me, "Professor, you look especially nice today!" Yeah, that kid's getting an A ... ;)

And here's the hair. I've said it before, I'll say it again: Jean at Path Salon is a genius!

IT BE PIE.

2009-10-28T16:29:29-05:00

People are so encouraging and supportive. Every time I squawk in alarm over the scale going up, someone is bound to say ,"Well, with all that (running, elliptical, strength training, etc. ) you've been doing, it could just be muscle. You know, muscle weighs more than fat."

As comforting (and appreciated!) as this sentiment is, the fact is that unless one has been doing a GREAT deal of the aforementioned activities, short term weight gain is unlikely to be due to muscle. And in my case, as much as I would like to envision my tushy and thighs getting firmer and shedding cellulite in favor of nice, compact muscle, I fear it's just not the case.

No, today's galling report from the scale do not be muscle. IT BE PIE.

Yes, my friends, pie has been had. Pie has been had and I have not been so very honest with myself about the amount and frequency of pie-having. Not to worry --- everything still buttons that should, and I am not raiding the fridge in the middle of the night. It's just that, once again, I've gotten distracted from doing the work I have to do to maintain a healthy weight. I view this as an ongoing part of the journey, and one that will most likely be revisited regularly, so there is no need to panic or take drastic measures.

That was, of course, my first inclination, but of course that never works out, so instead, I am declaring November to be The Month of Getting Back on Track and extending Boot Camp throughout the month.

What this means, for me:

Going back to weighing every day
Diligence with the food plan
Reading my response cards before every meal or snack, and whenever else needed
Sitting down and planning out my training schedule for the entire month.

November is particularly busy and includes a trip to give a workshop; a short singing gig with homestay (I don't think I'll be able to cook); our anniversary; a slightly longer audition trip than I usually take; rehearsals and performances with my Spotlight cast; and of course, the biggie: Thanksgiving. So I will need to plan carefully and be very diligent about sticking to my plan. NO EXCUSES.

This being said, I don't count Boot Camp as a failure. I did not manage 100% veganism but I did eat much more cleanly a lot of the time; and I kept to my training schedule. Yesterday morning I did my first run in the rain, through Riverside Park. I saw the same old bent-over gentleman out there, plugging away! Good for him.

My plan is to continue to run, do a couple more 5Ks, and start training for a 10K. But I'll need to add something else in, as well. I'm still searching for a good fit.

Last but not least: if you are signed in via TypePad, FaceBook, Twitter, or OpenID, you can now Favorite a post. This allows you to collect your favorite blog posts so you can read, comment or blog about the topic at a later date or share with your Followers. Also, it’s a great way to give me feedback. It allows me to see which topics people are most interested in. There will be a link at the bottom of each post where you can Favorite the ones you especially like.

SUNDAY IN THE PARK

2009-10-25T22:34:17-05:00

Aaaaaahhhh. A relaxing Sunday in Noo Yawk Ciddy.

Even when I'm tired, stayed up too late, and have had a busy day, I rarely can sleep in, and this morning was no exception. So up I got, and out I went for a nice walk. And what a beautiful day for it! I ended up doing a great deal of walking, much of it in Central Park.

The fall color was just gorgeous. We won't get anything like this in Texas; we do get some color, but it doesn't usually come along until late November.

After wandering around in the park for upwards of an hour, I was ready for lunch, and I stumbled out to find that only the brave (or those with reservations) attempt a fashionable brunch spot on Sunday mornings. I ended up at B Cafe, where despite being completely ignored by the waiter once my food was delivered, I had a great meal. Moules frites --- decidedly un-vegan, but oh-so-good. Almost made me wish I drank beer, as the restaurant has an extensive selection of Belgian brews, which I understand to be the connesieur's dream. I was happy with myself for bringing half my meal home, and enjoying it later in the evening with some salad.

So those were my Boot Camp contributions today --- walking a LOT and stopping myself from pigging out.

Tomorrow is a big day --- audition, followed by voice lesson. Send good vibes at 11:50 EST!

PICKING UP STRANGERS AT LIVESTRONG

2009-10-24T23:39:58-05:00

I don't know what possessed me to pick up a strange man* --- literally pick him up off the ground, not pick him up in any salacious sense. (Get your minds out of the gutter)! It must have been the post-race adrenaline rush, which no one warned me about. In my defense, he was part of Team IKEA and they were wearing Viking hats and Jen and I were imitating Valkyries, singing ho-jo-to-ho, and he did sort of jump into my arms and then I just sort of took it one step further. In retrospect, it probably wasn't the greatest idea for someone barely recovered from a back injury. But I'd just finished my first 5K and was filled with love for the universe.

And here's part of the reason why: Philly Jen.

A little history : Jen is the captain of Team Fatty Philadelphia and the culprit who got me to sign up for the Livestrong Challenge. Team Fatty is the fundraising team headed up by Elden, aka the Fat Cyclist, aka Fatty. His cycling blog has quite a readership, and it grew exponentially when his wife, Susan, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Fatty began to blog about her courageous battle, and his followers formed a team to raise money for cancer research via the Livestrong Challenge. Susan passed away in August, but her fans fight on for her, and for all our loved ones.

Jen heard about this blog through the New York Times Well Blog article about my weight loss, and when she learned that I had started running, she challenged me to join Team Fatty and train for the Livestrong 5K here in Austin. This turned out to be a great thing for me on so many levels. For one thing, having a training goal is extremely motivating. Several runner friends told me about the fabulous Couch to 5K plan, which I highly recommend. It's so easy and fun. Jen gave me lots of advice and encouragement, and turned me on to Robert Ullerys' free podcasts, which are pretty much one of the coolest things ever, and helped me immensely with my training.

Jen came to Austin primarily for the Livestrong bike race, but she also volunteered to be my running partner, and it was so much fun! First of all, since I am a total noob and wasn't really sure where to be or what exactly to do, it was great to have an experienced runner to guide me. Secondly, Jen is probably the most charmingly enthusiastic person you will ever meet. She is a natural-born cheerleader. No wonder Team Philly was the top Team Fatty fundraiser.

But I've gotten ahead of myself. So, Thursday was my last and longest training run, and it was glorious. After a night of rain the sky was clear, the sun was shining, a cold front had moved in, and it was perfect weather for a run. The first half was kind of tough, but then I fell into an odd sort of daydream and was in the last minute before I knew it. Of course, the last minute was ALL UPHILL, which is really kinda mean when you think about it, but you can do anything for 60 seconds.

On Friday morning, I picked Jen up bright and early and we had a fabulous breakfast at the original Kerbey Lane Cafe, got to know each other a little, and made arrangements for me to pick her up the following morning. Sometime during the day I realized that my plan for a post-race, pre-plane flight shower at school was destined for failure, due to the fact that the gym doesn't open until noon. The distress call went out on FaceBook, and was swiftly answered by Jennifer, who kindly allowed me to clean up at her place, thus rescuing all the other plane passengers from having to endure my extreme stinkiness.

This morning, I picked Jen up before sunrise, and she gave me a SPI Belt --- yaaaay! --- in hot pink, no less! And we were off. Parking around the Capitol was not as bad as I'd feared. We quickly parked, put on our racing numbers, and walked across the Capitol grounds (stopping at the purple port-a-potties --- purple! Potties!) and joined the throngs of people getting ready to race. There was so much excitement! All the different teams and individuals there, many sporting team shirts or signs in honor or memory of loved ones. Apparently Lance Armstrong and Mia Hamm were there, but I didn't see them. There was Team Scotty, complete with Dachshund mascot (the Dachsie had a totally tricked-out red wagon, in which to ride in style). You know I loved that one. There was a team with a shirt featuring a giant peanut and the legend, "Run 'til you lose a nut". Something tells me they were there to fight testicular cancer. There was a fleet of Pedicabs, ferrying kids from the Dell's Children's Hospital. And of course, there was Team IKEA in their Viking hats (complete with racing stripes). We did not see any other Team Fatty shirts, and sadly mine didn't arrive in time for the race, but I did sport a hot pink bandana in order to show team colors!

Jen was recognized by several of the volunteers, and we spotted a fellow singer who was wearing an "In Honor of Papageno" tag for her baritone friend who has just been diagnosed with something horrible. She recognized me from the David Small birthday concert a couple of weeks ago --- small world!

I'll admit to getting surprisingly teary right from the start. Even though I was raising money for cancer research --- $400, thanks to all of you! --- and even though I was running in honor of my father and two very good friends, up until the moment I joined the crowd, this was really more about a fitness milestone than a cause. But the minute I saw all those people, many of whom were survivors, many of whom were fighting alongside loved ones or perhaps even fighting their own battles, or there to honor loved ones who had lost the battle --- at that minute, my eyes filled with tears and I realized how huge this is. We all know someone who has been affected by cancer. This is an important fight.

I was surprised at how anticlimactic the start of the run was ... there was a starting "chute" rather than a starting line, and it took a what seemed like a really long time to get into a clear enough space to actually run. Walkers, people with strollers and dogs and kids and so on, were supposed to be on the right, runners on the left, but in reality everybody was all over the place. This being Austin, I was surprised not to see anybody running dressed as a giant Lone Star Beer can or an armadillo or something. It's been done.

Pretty soon Jen and I carved a way through the crowd and were well and truly on our way. The run started (and ended) on Congress Avenue, directly in front of the Capitol building, and wended its way through downtown Austin. After training on gravel trails, running on asphalt was SO much easier, and even the hills weren't so bad --- certainly not anything worse than the trail I run close to home. Frankly, it's also SO much easier running with a partner, especially when you're not all that serious and you're chatting the whole time ... which we were. We were just enjoying the day, the event, moving our bodies, with no other goal than to keep going to the end. At one point, Jen pointed out to me that we were not, in fact, being passed right and left (of course, we were at the back of the pack to begin with) and later that most of the folks we were now passing were runners who had turned into walkers. I think we crossed the finish line at 34'44, or something like that.

In the future, I'll have to time myself.

Upon crossing the finish line, we were given water and towels (lots of swag for this gig --- I got t-shirts, water bottles, I don't know what all) and we sort of wandered out of the way of those still coming. It was at this point that we encountered Team IKEA, and Jen just had to try on one of the hats (complete with beard), and then I did, and then I picked up a strange man ... well. Anyway. Perhaps the less said about that, the better. We wandered over to the food booth and got some fruit, grabbed some chalk, and signed a square of sidewalk for Team Fatty.

Other teams had done this all over the parking lots and streets. Jen took some chalk to write encouragements along Sunday's bike race route. Oh, and while we were drawing our masterpiece, this little girl decided to add her own embellishments. She thought she was in hog heaven, getting to write in chalk all over the street! And grown-ups doing it too!

Finally, it was time to go. I needed to clean up and get on a plane, and so I did. I am now in New York, sitting up waaaaay past my bedtime to deliver the tale to you. It was a great experience and I can't wait to do it again. Certainly I want to do Livestrong in the future (maybe we'll have a Team 100 Pounds!) but there are a couple of fun run-type 5Ks coming up in November and December, and I plan to do those.

Then we'll see about maybe training for a 10K. Yeah, guess I'm hooked.

* Photographic evidence of this incident does exist, and is currently in Jen's possession. When I get it, you'll get it!

COMFORT FOOD

2009-10-22T00:00:00-05:00

I wanted a steak sooo bad last night. I took my mom out for her birthday dinner, and they had a New York strip special. Normally I do not miss meat, but it just sounded (and smelled) really good. Still, I knew our meal would have a lot of extra fat, and I wanted dessert, so I decided to go with scallops instead (and I really love scallops, so it wasn't disappointing).

Today, I made a recipe that my friend Suzanne had linked to on her FaceBook. It just looked and sounded so good ... and it was, it was! I'm a big fan of the Fat Free Vegan Kitchen, and this recipe for Quick Bean Picadillo, though it sounds a bit odd, is delicious, healthy, easy, quick, and fabulous. Plus, it makes the house smell amazing. I wished for some cornbread to eat with it. Can't wait for Eric to get home so I can make some for him.

It's been rainy and dreary for the last several days, so I feel like huddling and cooking comfort food. I also made some really good pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, adapted from a recipe on the bag of chips:

1/3 cup canned pumpkin pie mix

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup agave syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup almond milk (soy or skim will do as well)

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup rolled oats

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup vegan chocolate chips

1 cup toasted pecans

Mix the wet ingredients until smooth; add in the dry. Bake on a greased cookie sheet, 350 F, for about 15 minutes. They are goooooood! There's some fat in the chocolate chips and pecans, of course, but that's about it. And you can experiment with using less sweetener. I wanted the maple flavor; otherwise, I normally just use agave.

No exercise for me today. I was lazy, and also I didn't want to blow my run tomorrow by wearing myself out on the elliptical this evening. It was raining, so I didn't even walk. But I figure it's okay to take one day off. Tomorrow I will try for Week 9 of Couch to 5K --- it's my last chance to train before my race on Saturday. Philly Jen will be here, and will be my running partner! People will be watching, so I have to put a good face on it! Yikes!

A GREAT DAY FOR RUNNING!

2009-10-20T16:39:22-05:00

Sun shining, 63 degrees ... despite having lost a contact lens, engaged in a frantic search for my extras, wrangled the computer to set up the web cam (an activity which involved the utterance of many bad words),and having a generally frustrating, late start, I finally got out the door and said to myself, "This is going to be a great run."

And it was. It was the first really good run since coming back from my back injury. It was the first time I did not run like a granny. Furthermore, I ran further and faster than I ever had before, as evidenced by the fact that I started from my driveway (further back than usual) and ended up all the way over the bridge and back on the dirt trail, a distance I've never made even with my longest run before.

The Livestrong 5K is on Saturday! My first race. Now, I don't care a whit about how fast I go; I've never bothered to time myself so I have nothing to compare to. All I care about is doing it. It would be nice not to be the last person over the finish line, but if I am, I don't care. I will still totally rule.

Sadly, I don't think there will be anyone there to take pics for me. Eric is in France and I wouldn't expect any of my friends to come, although I've invited people. Also, thanks to my oh-so-glamorous life, I will not be able to hang out and play afterwards because I will have to quickly shower and change, and head off to the airport. I have an audition on Monday!

Today's lunch menu was roasted eggplant, asparagus, and zucchini with BBQ tempeh --- very healthy and satisfying --- and tonight I'm taking my mom out for her birthday dinner. But I've planned for it! Planning is key!

I want to give a shout out to some of the other Boot Campers who have their own blogs. If you have one you'd like to see mentioned here, let me know in the comments.

Jennifer is one of the assistant stage managers for Austin Lyric Opera. We loves her. Check her out and cheer her on at Therapeutic Journaling.

Monster Soprano is a fellow singer from Toronto, and she is blogging about her weight loss efforts (during pregnancy, with newly diagnosed gestational diabetes, no less!) at Monster Soprano's Weight Loss Journey.

I don't know whether Shiksa is Boot Camping or not, but she's an opera-singing runner who lives in Boston (a city I love and visit whenever possible) and a very funny and entertaining writer, and therefore deserves a mention: Have a Vegetable!

Who did I miss?

GHOST STORY

2009-10-20T00:24:24-05:00

I'm proud of myself today for using my time wisely. Monday is a very long and tiring teaching day, but I do have about an hour and a half between students in the afternoon, and that is just enough time to run to the gym. I did half an hour on the elliptical and had enough time to shower and re-glamorize before my final two students of the day. It would be so much easier if I could show up to my lessons in sweats and dirty hair, but diva that I am, it simply isn't in me. Anyway, now that I know I have the time to pull it off, no more sitting on my behind when I could be getting even a short workout in! It's a matter of keeping that gym bag packed and in the car.

I had a cancellation this afternoon, too, so I used that time to work on my Verdi Requiem music. Speaking of which, if you find yourself in the vicinity, I invite you to attend my upcoming performance on November 8 with the Brazos Valley Symphony. This is a very special and dear work to me and it will be my third time to perform it. The first time, I had the privilege of singing it with one of my dearest friends, tenor Gary Rideout, who passed away in 2007. It was always wonderful to sing with Gary, and especially to sing the Requiem, because the tenor and mezzo soloists do a lot of their singing in duet throughout the work, often in close harmony. I loved blending our voices together. It was the last time we sang together professionally. On my desk, in front of me as we speak, is a photo of Gary and me after that performance. I'm hugging him and he's making a funny face. That was Gary. He could always be counted on to misbehave.

My second performance took place in 2003, very shortly after my father, Robert Sadler, had died. Here's a little Halloween ghost story for you. The performance took place in an auditorium with stadium seating; the stage is at the bottom and the audience is all above the stage. At one point while I was singing, I looked up into the audience and I could swear I saw my dad there. I knew it was him because he wasn't dressed up at all --- he was wearing the old jumpsuit he used to wear around the family farm, and looked comfortable. When I looked again, he was gone. Now, at the moment, this seemed perfectly normal to me and was not at all startling or upsetting. But that isn't the ghost part.

The last movement the mezzo sings is the hardest for her --- the Lux Aeterna, which requires very fine, pianissimo singing at the end of the evening, when one might expect to be a little tired. It's also one of the most beautiful movements. And the words are also very beautiful:

Let everlasting light shine on them, O Lord
with your saints forever:
for Thou art merciful.

Grant them eternal rest, O Lord;
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
With your saints forever
for Thou art merciful.

On my website, the sound clip of the Lux Aeterna is from this very performance. At the time, I felt it was some of the best singing I've ever done. But on with the tale:

After the performance, a chorister who I did not know well came up to me and said, "While you were singing the Lux Aeterna, I saw that you were surrounded by angels. They were hovering all around you. And I saw your father standing next to you, listening. He looked so happy."

Ever since then, I have always looked for my dad at performances. I've never seen him again, but sometimes I know he's there. (He prefers the comedies).

This time around, when I am singing this work which means more to me than any other I've ever performed, I'll be looking out for two people.

***

None of that has much to do with fitness and health,but it's what on my mind this evening, and I thought you might like to hear about it. As for food today, I did pretty darn well. Good choices, stayed vegetarian if not vegan. I have to say, though, I'm starting to crave meat. Tomorrow night I'm taking my mom out for her birthday dinner, so I will probably indulge just a little then.

I don't know if I'm losing weight this Boot Camp, but I certainly am feeling good. And tomorrow is another running day. Can't wait!

YARD CARDIO

2009-10-18T20:46:19-05:00

Today was a beautiful, cool, sunny fall day and I spent most of it outside working in the yard. The front and back both needed mowing, and the rosebushes were threatening to consume the front yard. I spent several hours cutting them back (along with several other bushes and trees) and then cleaning up. Five thirty gallon yard bags later, it all looks less jungle-y, and my poor long-suffering husband will be happy when he gets home. He's an engineer and likes things to be neat and streamlined, neither of which are my strong suits.

Les Saucisses and I went on a brisk little walk, shorter than usual, but I was tired at the end of it, thanks to all the yardwork. Oh, and I also put up our Halloween decorations. So it was a movement-filled day, even if it wasn't a lot of fat-burning cardio.

Tomorrow is my very, very long teaching day, and it has occurred to me that during my break I could probably hit the gym and do a half hour on the elliptical, and still have time to shower and re-glamorize myself before my last two lessons of the day. Monday has been a no-workout day this semester due to the hectic schedule, but it would be great if I could work a little workout in. Somebody commented in yesterday's post that if she takes even one day off, it's hard to get started again. I'm the same way. I'd rather do something very light --- a walk or a short cardio session --- than nothing at all.

As for eating, I ate 100% vegan today (hurrah) and more or less on plan. I made some substitutions due to time/busy-ness issues but it's not like I traded ice cream for salad. I just ate leftover tofu and veggies instead of cooking a new meal.

My lunch and snack are made for tomorrow. I am good to go!

I am so encouraged to see how many people are doing Boot Camp and how hard everyone is working at it. Keep sharing your work and your triumphs! And if you have an issue you're having a hard time with, share that too. The great thing about community is that we can encourage and advise each other.

BAD VEGAN! NO TOFU!

2009-10-17T23:37:30-05:00

My attempt at veganism continues to be foiled by lack of viable options when eating out and, let's face it, a lack of sufficient commitment on my part. It's freakin' hard to be vegan, people! Turns out most of the coffee shops use that icky vanilla soy milk which has a lot of sugar in it. I gave in this morning and had half and half instead. (More fat, less sugar, assuredly not vegan). Then, my lunch plans were dashed at the last moment due to limited time and a huge crowd at the chosen spot. The restaurant we switched to featured a delicious veggie wrap but, alas, the yogurt dip was in my piehole before my friend said, "That's not vegan, is it?".

I have, at least, been managing to be vegetarian and for the most part, very low fat and low sugar. But I will continue to strive for at least 90% vegan! It encourages me to fill up on veggies and skip or cut down on some of the higher calorie foods.

On the workout front, I did well today. My run was first thing in the morning, and I managed the 28 minute/2.75 mile workout, followed by a brisk half hour walk the rest of the way. It was hard. The three sessions I've done since coming back after my ten-day injury-related break have been much harder than they were before; I really lost ground. But I'm back up to 28 minutes and back on Week 8 of the Couch to 5K Plan. My race is next Saturday, so I will have just enough time to finish the program.

I need to find some other training programs --- a strength training routine, a yoga class I like and can stick with, and some other cardio. I'm thinking of trying Pilates. The trick with any workout is it has to be convenient, or you won't do it.

I didn't weigh before starting Boot Camp, but I can tell that I've lost a little. For one thing, I can feel it. I've always been able to feel when I am losing weight --- it's a sort of tingling sensation in my torso, as well as a feeling of lightness. Also, one of the benefits of running is that my abs always feel nice and tight after a training session, and that's a great feeling.

Tomorrow, a new week. I must go write out my food and workout plans! How are things going for you, fellow Boot Campers?

NO OBSTACLES, NO EXCUSES

2009-10-16T21:13:37-05:00

Oof, I am tired today. Teaching seven lessons in a row will do that to you --- rewarding, but also exhausting. And I'd like nothing better than a very large glass of red wine right now, but I shall refrain due to over-carb-ination at dinner time.

Sammy, Lila, and I started the day with a brisk walk through the mist --- it was raining lightly the whole time, but this did not deter us and there was much chasing of squirrels, so I got a little jogging in, too. The key to getting your workout in is to, like the Boy Scouts, be prepared. Actually, that's pretty much the key to success at Boot Camp. Don't give yourself extra obstacles; don't give yourself the opportunity to make excuses.

I have a clothing rack in my bedroom and my workout togs pretty much go straight from the laundry basket onto that rack, organized into complete outfits. All I have to do is grab the appropriate one, put it on, and go. If I am planning to work out in the morning, I put on my workout gear as soon as I get up. Then I am ready to go, no excuses, no delays.

Food prep is the same deal. On days when I teach at school, I prep my lunches while we're prepping dinner. On days like today, when I'm home but very busy, I do the same. No excuses!

So, today my Boot Camp grade is a B. I did not succeed in eating vegan, so this is my one day of the week to go off. Mom and I went to dinner at Kerbey Lane Cafe, which I love, and I planned to try their veggie plate.

Yeeeeeccccccccch. And I don't often say that about KLC. The grilled eggplant was cold, the cauliflower gratin was hardly identifiable as a veggie, the basil risotto was a congealed lump of gooey rice with no discernible basil flavor, and none of it had much taste. I sent it back and got the tomato pie instead. (Highly recommended).

I ended up getting more fat and carbs than I'd intended, and thus the B rating. Otherwise, I did well. I wish I could have gotten in more exercise but on a day when I'm teaching seven voice lessons, there is little energy left over for anything else. But tomorrow, it's another running day. And my togs are ready!

Mom and I had a discussion over dinner. She wants to get to the bottom of why she has yo-yo dieted all her life. She wants to put an end to the cycle. I told her that I think the reason some of us do this is because, quite simply, it's how we're wired, and it takes a great deal of work to change the bad eating habits we drift into, because they are also all tangled up with our emotions. I also think that we have to acknowledge that we will never be completely free of our food-related desires, and that there will always be periods where we have to reign ourselves in and get back on track. It's just the way things are, and it doesn not imply a moral failing on our parts. It's just something we have to do, if we want to be healthy. I believe that if we acknowledge this and accept it, we can let go of some of the frustration and guilt associated with our food relationships, and we can learn to manage them. And that, good management, is my ultimate goal.