The Next Hundred Pounds

HEALTHY AT HOME

Home at last, after being on the road for approximately 63 days out of the last 90. Well, more or less home --- my opera workshop began the evening I landed, and starting Monday I will be at school from 9 a.m. to about 10 p.m. every day for the next three weeks. My schedule has always been pretty hectic, but it's been hectic mostly at home. Hectic traveling is newish, and I am still figuring out how to handle it.

I'm not complaining, mind you! I had a lot of fun at the Princeton Festival, and the show got no fewer than five reviews --- three in major papers --- a lot for a relatively small festival. The last review appeared in no less august a publication than the New York Times. It's not my first or even second mention in the Times, but it's my first review, it was a good one, and I am quite gratified (and grateful).

Meanwhile, back home, I'm trying to organize my kitchen and workout schedule for this crazy time. This first week of the program is slightly less involved than it will be beginning next week, so this is the week to do a little cooking and prep, since I will be taking lunches and dinners with me Monday-Saturday. Also, it's a scorcher of a summer here in Texas, and we're doing our best to keep the electric and water bill down, which means keeping oven use and dish use to a minimum (dishwashers use a lot of water)!

To that end, I've found a couple of lovely, healthy recipes for delicious lunches. Today I made a roasted red pepper chickpea sandwich spread, based on this recipe from Vegetarian Times. I used Tofutti (but if you don't care about it being vegan, you could just as easily use nonfat cream cheese) and added pureed chickpeas for extra protein and to firm it up. If you're making this recipe, be sure to really drain the peppers and let them dry out a little, or it will be too watery for a spread.  I ended up with about 8 ounces of dip (it'll be great with veggies or drizzled on salad!) and then added the chickpeas to the remainder to make a really delicious sandwich spread. It'll be great on crusty bread with some crisp lettuce and cucumber; or if you're restricting carbs,  scooped directly onto salad.

Summer is the time for a beautiful insalate caprese, but often these salads are high in fat because of the cheese and olive oil. At the store this morning, I couldn't resist a basket of colorful pear and cherry tomatoes --- yellow, orange, red, and even purple. My garden is overflowing with basil, so I washed the tomatoes and shredded some fresh basil leaves. They smell divine! Then I sprinkled about 1/8 cup of low-fat, part-skim mozzarella shreds --- just enough to give it flavor. If I were making this for a party, I'd get the tiny bite-sized mozzarella balls (so cute!). Then I drizzled about a teaspoon of Spanish olive oil and seasoned with fresh-ground salt and pepper. It's not fat-free, but it's a lot less than you usually get, and it's very flavorful. Leave it out of the fridge for the best flavor.

Next week, we'll have Boot Camp twice a week during my opera program, and I am looking forward to that though it will be HOT. These may be the only real workouts I get in during the next month; the good thing is I'm running around so much that there isn't time to eat. It's a real temptation to eat a snack when I get home late at night, and I am trying to resist that urge. Since it's so hot, I am craving ice cream all the time, too! Instead, I make a nice thick smoothie with frozen fruit, unsweetened almond milk, and whey or soy protein powder. It's cold and creamy, has a lot less fat and sugar than ice cream, and satisfies that craving. I'd like to try making my own homemade frozen yogurt with fruit and nonfat milk. I love the tart stuff! Who needs all that sugar? I just need to find a good recipe.

I feel like I am constantly walking on a balance beam -- sometimes I'm tilting more towards healthier living, and other times I'm in danger of falling off entirely! It's a daily struggle, but I have embraced the fact that this is my life, and if I want to stay healthy all I can do is keep trying.  In a very real way, the journey IS the destination.

WORKOUTS ON THE RUN

Once again, I've been AWOL for a while. Opening night, a couple of trips to New York for voice lessons and auditions, and packing up for my trip home has been occupying my time. This has been a short run (only two performances, a week apart) but with a long rehearsal period. Today is the final performance, and tomorrow I get to go HOME --- and hit the ground running.

Opening night went really well, and we got some great reviews! I'm impressed simply by the fact that we got so many: the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Star-Ledger, The Princeton Packet, Town Talk.

Now there's a pic I never thought I'd see of myself onstage. And frankly, I'm not 100% happy with it, but it will serve as my new inspiration every time I have to do that cursed Abs Ripper X. ;)

Speaking of which, despite all my good intentions, I've let P90X totally fall by the wayside, 2.5 weeks left to go on the program --- 2.5 weeks which I am determined to finish nevertheless. But I'll admit that I did get bored with the routine, and have instead enjoyed a couple of weeks of breaking it up a little with some workouts on the elliptical, some long bike rides, and a great boot camp in Central Park.

With trails like these and beautiful weather, I couldn't resist substituting hours of cycling for indoor video workouts. And then, on one of my trips to NY, my friends Nicholas and Pablo invited me to do a free bootcamp at David Barton Gym, where I visited once before. Actually, before we went to the funky Astor Place location, and this was the uptown location. The free boot camp is running on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so if you're in NY, check it out! It was great. We met our cute Hungarian trainer, Norbert, at 7 a.m. and he immediately had us running out the door and over to Central Park. Under the curious eyes of a group of construction workers who spent a lot of time standing around watching us, Norbert ran us through drills of plyo, push-ups, resistance training, and cardio. There were just the three of us, so it was especially fun. Afterwards, we ran back to the gym; and after a quick breakfast, we decided to walk home.

The gym is on 85th and Madison; we walked to West 157th. Do the math. I was so sore that evening and for the next two days --- not from the boot camp, but from the walking! But it felt great.

I'm not sure what the next month is going to look like, workout wise. The minute I get off the plane tomorrow, I start my opera workshop. But I'm determined --- somehow I'm going to figure out how to keep working out and also to be much more careful about what I'm eating. This will be another challenge. My life has become a lot busier and there's no immediate signs of it slowing down, so this is the next challenge, figuring out how to keep it healthy on the go.

And speaking of going, I'm off for my final performance of The Rake's Progress, bidding a fond goodbye to my beard ... and the coin bra. I'll miss you guys.

BABA BEFORE AND AFTER

 

Baba, before and after. The first photo is from 2006, when I performed this role for the first time at Des Moines Metro Opera (waves madly to all her friends at DMMO, who are carrying out a fantastic summer season of La Boheme, Don Pasquale, and Dialogues of the Carmelites --- miss you guys! Eat some custard for me!).

The second one is from last night's run-through, our first time in costumes (no wigs or makeup, although I did get to try the beard). I still have a lot of work to do, but the fact that I can even post this photo is evidence that I'm happy with how far I've come. (BTW, this is NOT what I appear on stage in --- there's a coat and headdress over it, so not nearly as much shows. But I wanted to show what was underneath).

I haven't worked out much this week, after Sunday's big bike ride --- I have just been feeling run down and exhausted, and it turns out I'm fighting off a summer cold, right at the beginning of production week. A cold won't necessarily keep a singer from singing, but it can make your life miserable, and nobody needs that during production week, which is already stressful. So I've been taking it easy.

I kind of hate it because I want to eat everything in sight, and I haven't been doing very well. I really need to go back to the basics and remind myself of all the tools I learned and adhered to so strictly when I first started this journey.  No matter how well I think I'm doing at any given time, these periods of relapse always come, and no matter how many times I overcome them, they always fill me with fear. The trick is to not let it become a cycle. You can always stop a destructive behavior in that moment and walk away from it, even if you start it up again later. You may not be able to stop yourself from engaging the behavior, but you can catch yourself and stop it. Some days that just has to be enough.

So, today's plan is to eat lots of veggies and save a little snack for after rehearsal. Late night eating is not good for you but I always seem to crave snacks after rehearsal, so better to plan a little something than to wander around the kitchen opening all the cabinets and ending up eating more than I should. I plan to do a short cardio workout early in the day, just to get the metabolism going and to give plenty of time for recovery if it tires me out. Hi-ho the glamorous life!

SUNDAY RIDE

Once upon a time, I used to dread hills. Dreaded walking or biking up them, because I knew I'd be hot, sweaty, and out of breath when I finally got to the top. And I hated being hot and sweaty and out of breath because, besides being uncomfortable, all of that just emphasized how fat and out of shape I was.

Nowadays, hills don't faze me, and being hot, sweaty, and out of breath is usually a badge of honor. In fact,  my new RoadID bracelet (a lovely, thoughtful birthday gift from my dear friend Kim) is going to feature a quote which reads: "THIS ISN'T SWEAT. IT'S MY FAT CELLS CRYING." (It's not original, but I love it and I'm stealing it, so there).

I mention hills because I did a lot of biking today. It was a day off, and the weather was nice and cool, and I've been wanting to hit the canal trails. It's not like this part of NJ is especially hilly, but there were a few heart-pumping trips over highway overpasses, including one in which I discovered halfway up that the shoulder ended abruptly and the actual bike lane was on the other side of the road. I jumped the concrete center divider, crossed two lanes, and heaved my bike over the guard rail to safety. A few feet down the trail, I came upon a little rabbit who was experiencing my same dilemma --- he found himself on the wrong side of the fence with oncoming traffic and no place to go! Happily for Mr. Bunny, I was not interested in eating him.

  First I rode over to the Mill Pond Park and followed the Lenape Trail, which is only a couple of miles, but a very pleasant sylvan ride. One of the things I love about this area is all the wildlife. Adorable little chipmunks kept dashing across the path, playing chicken with my bike. There were flocks of Canadian geese, and a baby bunny hiding in the grass.

It's been a wildlife-sighting kind of week. This morning coming back from breakfast, we saw a family of geese with some BIG goslings --- almost full-sized but still all downy-fuzzy --- and then a mommy Kildeer with four tiny chicks! And earlier this week, a beautiful red fox crossed the street in front of us, in broad daylight.

There was plenty of gorgeous flora to enjoy, as well. There are orange daylilies everywhere. As I rode today it was an olfactory feast --- the ever-present banks of honeysuckle, the lilies, a fresh herbal scent from something I couldn't identify --- maybe  bee balm? And once, passing a swampy area, there was  very strong aroma of something like cinnamon!

After my ride around the mill pond, I decided to head over to the Delaware-Raritan Canal. Luckily for me, there was a great bike path almost all the way. Princeton is very bike friendly! The canal, which was dug by hand by Irish immigrants, is very beautiful and provides miles of trails for hiking, running, and biking.

All in all, I rode for over three hours, and it was a great way to spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon! The only down side is that I didn't do any of the training I'd actually planned. Well, tomorrow, as they say, is another day.

JOIN THE REVOLUTION AGAINST REVOLTING FOOD

Yesterday was one of those days when it was  just  hard to get off my butt and do anything. That's not to say I didn't do anything, just that it was tough and I didn't get as much done as I would have liked.  Fearing the morning's heat and humidity,  I had  laid out my togs so I could roll out of bed, stretch a little, and go for my run. And so I did. Later, there was some resistance training on the schedule, and I did not get that done ... but I did do my killer abs workout.

Last night, I watched Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. I've only seen it a couple of times, but I like this show. Now, we only get one side of the story --- Jamie's, of course --- but it's rather astounding to see the amount of resistance and open hostility he gets from school boards, parents, and authorities in general. Jamie is passionate, and no one wants to hear that they're doing things  wrong, but the level of hostility some people have to his message and mission seems abnormally high. (I have to wonder if part of it is because he's a furriner comin' over here to tell us ignernt Murcans how we should eat. Hell, we kicked the Brits' ass over two hunnerd years ago; they ain't nothin' they can tell us).

People just do not like it when you start messing with their food, and I suspect that, in the case of individuals, they know they could do better but don't want to,  are embarrassed, or feel that their one easily accessible and affordable pleasure is being taken away. In the case of organizations like the school districts, it's quite obvious that politics and power struggles come into play.

In the latest episode, the LA School Board --- specifically, the superintendant, who defensively insisted that LA schoolkids are getting "proper" food and that feeding kids was not a "bo-teek" operation --- shut down Jamie's attempts to cook for a school and ordered him to quit filming on campus. The school itself wanted him there. The teachers were thrilled both with the healthier food and the change in the students when they were eating it. Oliver was able to cook on a smaller scale and to work with individual classes for a while before the  school board once again shut him down.

I didn't see the whole show, nor do I watch regularly, but tonight's episode was particularly moving. Jamie met with a single father and his two sons who eat fast food between seven and nine times a week. The father simply didn't know what else to do. Neither he nor his sons knew how to cook. The kids were really tired of fast food, and ready to make a change, but they just needed help. Jamie staged a sort of fast food intervention, dramatically showing them how much crap they were putting into their bodies in a month and a year. Then, under his direction, the boys cooked a meal with real food. They were all so happy. It was really moving --- it meant so much to the father to sit down at the table with his kids with food they had cooked. It was really sweet.

Meanwhile, back at the school, Jamie also met with a social studies class and introduced them to a number of people who are living with complications of diabetes and other issue stemming from not having taken care of their health in their youth. There were many tears as the kids made the connection between what had happened to these people and what was happening right then to their own parents and grandparents, and what could happen to them if they didn't start eating better and taking care of themselves. It was a graphic lesson, and one I'm sure none of those kids will forget.

And yet, when Jamie spoke at a school board meeting, the superintendent was openly hostile to him and insisted that he himself visited school cafeterias regularly and that the food was "clean" and "proper".

Out of curiosity, I went to the website of West Adams Preparatory School, where Oliver filmed and worked with students. Their menu for the week features a lot of unusual items for a high school cafeteria. The typical pizza and cheeseburgers are there, but they seem to be healthier versions. There's a vegetarian entree (the same one every day, but there it is), the milk is nonfat or 1%, the breads are whole grain, and desserts are mostly fruit. Nutritional information is available for every food item. I wondered if this is a post-Food Revolution change; but then I visited the LAISD Food Services site and found the menu is district-wide. Here's a list of food items to choose from. IAt a glance, it does seem better than most --- contrast it with this randomly chosen menu from a school in Texas. What's really missing is fresh veggies. And maybe it's just really hard to get kids to eat veggies, but then, that's what educating them about food and nutrition is about.

If we're training kids from a young age to eat processed crap, that's what they're going to like and demand. If they are fed fresh, healthy food and sugary, fat-filled treats are limited, they'll grow up liking healthy food.

We didn't have a lot of money when I was a kid. My mom did her very best to feed us healthfully on a tight budget. She paid attention to what the USDA said was nutritious. So we always had veggies on the table, but they were frozen or out of a can. And let me tell you, it's no wonder kids don't like canned veggies, because they're usually gray and limp, they have no texture, and they taste like shite. Frozen veggies have come a long way since I was a kid and are the next best thing to fresh these days; but back then, they were just as bad as canned. For us, a salad was a head of iceberg lettuce, a tomato, some imitation bacon bits, and a whole lot of Thousand Island dressing. We ate grocery store white bread and margarine. We ate potted meat and Vienna sausages and weenies. We ate "mashed potatoes" from a mix. We kept a big ol' Maryland Club coffee can of bacon grease on the stove top to cook with, and Crisco for baking. When Mom started trying to lose weight, we started getting a lot of diet products filled with artificial flavors and sweeteners, that never were as good as the real thing and never worked very well because we didn't do any better on portion control than we had with the real thing. In fact, because it was "diet", we ate more.

There simply is no substitute for education about real food and real nutrition. There's no substitute for eating right. Cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets, pizza, ice cream, doughnuts, candy --- all that stuff is yummy, and it's fine for an occasional treat, but it should NOT be every day fare. And our schools should be helping educate kids on real nutrition instead of grooming them to be good little consumers of big industry food products. Teach them where food really comes from. Expose them to good food, real food. Teach them the basics of cooking, for heaven's sake!

In other words, you  go, Jamie Oliver. You can come educate this Murcan any day.

A NEW OLD GOAL

What next?

So, I just had a birthday, my fourth since I started this major journey to better fitness and health.I'm big on deadlines and goal-setting, so birthdays have always been good milestones for me.

In June 2008, my goal as to have lost my first 100 pounds by my birthday (thanks to breaking my wrist a month before, I reached the goal a few days later).  In 2009, I was in LA giving a workshop, visiting with a good friend, and still pegging away very hard at eating healthy. Last year, I was singing at Des Moines Metro Opera, and had to work, but my goal at the time was to be in the best shape of my life by the end of the summer ... and I was.

Well, another birthday has rolled around, and it's got me thinking about what my fitness goals for this year should be. In general, I know that I want to continue with P90X and continue running. But I need more specific goals than that. I need to figure out what I can be comfortable with in terms of an eating plan.

I am tired of thinking so much about weight loss. It's on my mind as much as it was when I was fat, and hey, maybe it always will be, but I need a break from it right now. I am not happy with my current weight/size, but I am also frankly exhausted with dealing with it. So I figure that a better course of action is to just stop worrying about it for a while and concentrate really hard on working out.

I'd like to target the two parts of my body I'm least happy with: my belly, and the triceps. Let's face it, these are problem areas for most women, and once you pass a certain age you're going to have arm fat unless you have it surgically removed. Even Madonna, who is famous for her intense, long workouts, has some fat swinging from the backs of those scary-skinny arms. Thanks to my P90X routine, my arms are pretty toned, and I even have a little tricep definition. But I'd like my arms to look leaner, so I need to figure out the right weights and types of exercises to do to get that specific look.

The belly is a bigger problem. I have loose skin, and will always have it, because I will never be able to afford a tummy tuck. I've been faithfully doing Abs Ripper all these weeks, and beyond a certain point I just haven't gotten any better at it; I wonder if I'm doing it wrong, or just need to build up more stamina. Regardless, I'd like to lose some belly fat (which is where most of mine tends to pool) and tone up even more.  I've got some good core strength and some muscle under there, somewhere ... I'd just like more of it to show!

So, for resistance, I'm targeting those two areas, and to get there, I am going to continue with P90X but also do some research.

Still, you know me. I need a big, glamourous goal to work for. And I have one in mind, one I've been thinking about for some time.

I want to run a marathon.

Now, I just started running again after almost a year off, and right now I'm just getting my feet wet again by training for a 10K. I'll look for a couple to do in the fall, maybe when I'm in Kentucky for The Marriage of Figaro. And then I'll need to train for a half. I don't know whether I can get ready to run a marathon in a year, given how slow I am anyway and my crazy schedule, but I would like to try. How awesome would it be to run one on my birthday next year? It's just one of those things on my bucket list.

If I am going to be able to take my mind off weight loss, that means I've got to concentrate really hard on working out, more than I have been doing. Training has to become a big, big priority. To be quite honest, I don't know if I have or can create that mindset. I take a great deal of inspiration from people like my friend Robin Flynn, whose journey into endurance sports has transformed her life (SO proud of her, BTW), but I still don't feel entitled to put myself in her company and call myself an athlete. But I would lik to be.

These are the things that I'll be pondering for the next few days, weeks, months, trying to figure out the best way to go about attaining these goals, and whether there are others I need to add. Of course, nutrition figures large into all of this, and I plan to continue focusing on eating mostly plants and foods that have been altered little from their natural state, minimizing refined carbs and sticking to healthy fats. But I would really like for that to become more habit, less struggle. Don't know if that's possible for me, but that's a goal too.

Goals are a good thing, even if you don't actually attain them. Sometimes the journey itself teaches you what you need to know and shows you where you really ought to be going. So I enter into this new phase of the process with an open mind, hoping to achieve and learn.

What it all boils down to is the same goal, but perhaps a slightly different way of trying to get there. By my next birthday in June 2012, I want to be in the best shape of my life --- better than now, which is already better than last year. I'm open to interpretation as to what that will mean. 

A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Yesterday was my birthday, and despite being far away from my beloved and my family, it was a great day. It started with a nice bike ride to the next town over for breakfast on the porch at the Blue Rooster.

My birthday mocha. Mmmm!

Then I came home and opened the homemade card from my husband (featuring pictures of our dogs lazing on the bed, which is about all they seem to do these days) and a package of goodies from my mom. There were about a million greetings from friends on FaceBook (still trying to answer each one of those personally) which is just cool. I took myself out to see "X-Men: First Class" (yes, huge nerd here --- I love all those movies based on comic books, no matter how silly they are) and then did a little grocery shopping, planning on having a quiet dinner at home and then maybe going for a walk along the canal. But then came the amazing birthday surprise --- my friends, Pablo and Nicholas, called and announced that they were taking the train down from New York to take me to dinner! We ended up going to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse (none of us had ever been) and had an amazing feast and a very good time.

Pablo, ready for dinner!

 

Me with my giant filet ... it was soooo good!

We ended up sharing appetizers, a salad, and two steaks with sides between us. It was still a lot of food! And then there was dessert.

I am giggling my face off in the pic above because Nicholas (all  six foot seven of him) and his gigantic operatic tenor voice were singing "Happy Birthday" to me in Italian, complete with cadenzas and interpolated high notes. I'm pretty sure you could hear him outside and down the street. When he was done, the whole restaurant burst into applause and waitresses began fluttering around.

So, yeah. Great birthday. Yaaay!

The day before, I did m Kenpo in the morning and then, having been let out of rehearsal early for good behavior, had a nice run in the evening. It was a bit harder than the first one. The hips were complaining and it was a little muggy, which always makes it harder. But I still enjoyed it and am so glad to be back to it! I got lost towards the end --- pitch dark in an unfamiliar neighborhood (the affluent are not big on street lights, it seems) and ended up walking for about an extra half hour, and I'd still be out there wandering around if I hadn't called my husband for tech support! Yes, silly as it seems, I had him look up my location on Google Maps so I could figure out how to get home. But hey, it's all good --- a little extra walking never hurt anybody.

I finally made it through Week 9 of P90X, and I am determined to finish the program and do better with these last couple of weeks, sticking to the program as written. There won't be time to work out once my summer opera program starts, but I am trying to coordinate with the athletics department to have a personal trainer come in twice a week and give us a boot camp. Also, I plan to keep up with my running, if I do nothing else. So today, it's Chest-Shoulders-Abs and a run after rehearsal tonight. Hopefully, I will not get lost this time!

STEREOTYPES

When people who are not from the Northeast think about places like New Jersey (if they think about it at all), they tend to think of this:

Or this:

 Or a show called "Real Housewives", which is neither real nor about housewives. They don't usually think about this:

Or this:

Or this:

The above are some of the beauties I saw on my bike ride into downtown Cranbury this morning. Who knew Jersey smelled like honeysuckle  and wild roses instead of exhaust fumes and Axe body spray? (JOKE, people. Before I get the comments about Texas smelling like cow manure, the truth is, large parts of it do. Especially around the stockyards in Fort Worth).

The Princeton area is just gorgeous, and since the day was, too, I took advantage to get a longer bike ride in. Yaaaay for Google Maps, which shows you the best bike route to take, and helped me avoid the busier streets --- although in these parts, people take pedestrians, cyclists, and the speed limit VERY seriously, so even on the busy streets I felt pretty safe over all. The ride wasn't far, but it was very enjoyable, and if the weather holds I plan to cycle over there again on Tuesday and have breakfast as a birthday treat, and then perhaps over to the Delaware-Raritan Canal State Park. I'm a cyclin' fool! Makes me wish I still owned a bike, but I gave mine to my mother after the unfortunate wrist-breaking incident of 2008.

Tomorrow is going to be a long rehearsal day and although I'd like to run, I think I'd better do my Kenpo workout instead. I'd like to finish Week 9 and commit to really doing 10 and 11 the way they're supposed to be done. I can always run if I still have some steam when I get home around 10 p.m.!

What's all the fuss about, you ask? Well, tonight I had a wig/beard fitting, and got to work with my headdress. Here's the first glimpse at Baba the Turk:

Sorry for the poor quality --- the only place with a mirror was the ladies' room, and the light wasn't so good. But this gives you a little idea of what I'll be looking like in this opera. I have a costume fitting tomorrow so I'll try to get another couple of pics.

When he saw this pic, my sweet husband said, "You look like you're losing weight again!" That man always knows the right thing to say! I don't know if it's true or not, but I sure feel great after my bike ride today. I can't wait to do more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE PERFECT LITTLE RUN

Well, I finally got off my ass and went for a run. And it was lovely. The night air was soft, cool enough that someone had lighted their firepit, and the comforting smell of woodsmoke mingled with the sweetness from the banks of wild honeysuckle that grow everywhere. Almost a year gone without running, and I slid back into my pace like an otter into a river. No granny jogging, no fatigue --- I ran my program: a five minute fast warmup, followed by five segments of 4 minutes running and 2 of power walking, and a three minute cooldown. It wasn't all that much running, but it was a nice way to ease back into it. I felt strong and comfortable. By the time it was over, I was just feeling warmed up. My hips and the tendons on top of my feet (anterior tibialis, perhaps?) were sore, but not so bad that I needed to stop. To top off my perfect little run, the podcast ended just as I turned into the driveway of the home where I am staying. I enjoyed a wonderful stretch in the driveway, and just as I went to do my quads, I noticed something.

The code box for the garage door opener was black. It was white when I left the house.

That's when I realized I was flexin' my spandex-covered buttocks in the wrong driveway. At ten o'clock at night. In a wealthy neighborhood.

Well, so the run was perfect except for that.

I also took advantage of the beautiful morning to take a little bike ride around the neighborhood. It's so lush and green, but I miss my trail at home. If I can find a helmet, I plan to take a longer jaunt --- there are some nice trails along the canals. It's also been about two years since I was on a bike, and it felt great.

I wish I could say I did as well eating today as I did with exercise, but that's an ongoing battle.  It wasn't horrible, it wasn't great. I'm making too many excuses and I have to work harder to remind myself that the taste of food is not worth becoming fat again.

But at least I ran!

THE SIREN CALL OF INFERIOR BAKED GOODS

I want to bake so badly right now.

My lovely hostess gave me the run of the house (and kitchen, and larder) and for the past half hour I've been wandering over to the cabinets, opening them, and fingering boxes of cake mix longingly. I dare not touch the cans of frosting. I might tear one open and eat it with a spoon.

Cake mixes are not usually something I'd usually even consider. I've mostly given up baking for the very reason that it is just too tempting, but a couple of days ago some of the cast was coming over  for movie night and among other things, I made a batch of Trader Joe's Truffle Brownies and they were AMAZING. I took the leftovers to rehearsal the next night but the damage was done. Ever since then I have possessed by The God of Cake. (Note: if you're going to click on the link, and you should, then you should also click on this one because it is equally brilliant, and also deals with baked goods).

Anyway, I made the brownies, I ate a few, and now I find myself lurking around the pantry like a drunk outside a liquor store, petting boxes of cake mix. I have resisted baking so far, just as I resisted buying ice cream or a pastry, but in the interests of full disclosure, I did consume almost an entire bag of Trader Joe's popcorn that somebody left over here. Another reason to be grateful there is no Trader Joe's in Austin.

The problem is boredom and loneliness --- those unglamourous bonuses of my career which people rarely talk about. I miss my husband a lot. All my colleagues are in homestays and few have cars, so we are very isolated from one another and it is very difficult to spend time together outside of rehearsal. It's not like there isn't plenty of work to do, outside of rehearsal --- new roles to learn, articles to write, endless piles of tasks for Spotlight on Opera which is coming up right after this gig --- but you can only do so much of that, and of working out. 

I am still fighting my way through Week 9 of P90X -- this is about my third attempt to get through it, since schedule keeps interfering --- and I still haven't gotten back to running yet. Today was gorgeous but otherwise it's just been too hot and muggy to even think of it. I need to stop whining to myself about it and make a PLAN. I need to stand firm in my resolve not to bring sweets into the house.

And I need to get out of the house, and away from the siren call of inferior baked goods.