The Next Hundred Pounds

DANCE STEPS: FORWARD, BACK, FORWARD

I had a bad experience last night.

It'd been a long day, starting with a very early morning --- had to travel quite a distance for a short radio interview, and back again --- followed by a long afternoon of rehearsal. Then there was a break, during which I rested a little and got divafied for an evening concert/publicity event. I knew there would be tempting food, and I had a small snack in the afternoon, so I could enjoy some appetizers at the party. My colleague and left the house in plenty of time to get to the event ...

... and we ended up spending two hours driving around lost in the cornfields, trying to find our way to this place. We got there an hour late, just in time to sing.

Of course, we were both hungry, but there wasn't much food left, and what was left was sweets and cheese. I had way too much of both. I slipped right back into old, old habits, out of frustration and a false sense of "deserving" to eat something good after my tiring and frustrating day. Then, everybody went out to a local restaurant and I ate more, even though at that point I didn't need it.

What a bad idea.

Well, I am not going to sit here beating myself up about it, though I am not happy with myself for doing it. I got up this morning and had a healthy breakfast of yogurt and fruit; and later I will have salad. Friends are coming over tonight and we are going to cook together --- I will keep my contributions healthy and light, using ingredients from the farmer's market. And I will work out. I will remind myself that I DO have different habits now, but I still have to work at them. I so do not want to backtrack and right now the biggest enemy is simply the fear that I will, that somehow I don't have the willpower or discipline to maintain. It does take an enormous amount of both.

Again, the old struggle: where is the balance between being kind to yourself and keeping a firm grip on the truth? When does maintaining a positive outlook become a set of blinders? Another question I feel I will have to answer for myself over and over.

At any rate, all I can do is deal with today, right now. All I can do in this moment is not eat between meals, be careful about what I do eat today, and dedicate myself to my workout.

I started another round of P90X this week --- this time I am doing the version which concentrates on cardio, which I feel I need more than resistance training. I have done two of the workouts --- Core Synergistics, a challenging but fun workout that has a little bit of everything; and a new one, Cardio X, which was shorter but also more concentrated than some of the other workouts. Today is strength training and abs.

On other days, I have been eating relatively healthfully. At last I've had the time and inclination to do a little simple cooking;  I throw together veggie-heavy meals that can be quickly heated.  I will work on continuing this habit when I finally am home for a little while.

One day at a time, right?

BEAUTY FLUFF

A while back, a friend introduced me to a fun website called Influenster. Basically, you can register with them and earn badges in a variety of interest areas, if you are someone who uses social media or blogs a lot. They send boxes of free, full-sized samples based on your badges, with the hopes that you will review products and talk or write about them. So yeah, it's a form of advertising.

Well, it sounded like fun, and you get free stuff. Sign me up. I got my first VoxBox in June, and this is really the first chance I've had to write about it, though I have been using the products. I received the following goodies:

Meaningful Beauty by Cindy Crawford - Complete Skincare Kit
Garden Botanika - Anti-Aging Lip Treatment
Pure Silk - Raspberry Shaving Cream
Montagne Jeunesse - Green Tea Face Mask
Diamancel - Diamond Flexible Nail File
Softsoap - Pampered Hands Foaming Soap

This isn't a beauty blog, but I do occasionally write about fashion and I do occasionally review products, so why not a little foray into beauty? I haven't tried the nail file, but here are my thoughts on the other items.

Softsoap Pampered Hands Foaming Soap -- this is a pleasant, light, raspberry scent. It foams, it cleans your hands, it's in one of those convenient little bottles you can put right next to the sink. What else is there to say? It's a fine product. Me, I buy my cheap handsoap in bulk from Sam's Club and put it in attractive dispensers. It's all about the packaging.

Montagne Jeunesse Green Tea Face Mask --- this is a light gel mask. I prefer clay masks, and this one had an oppressively strong scent. It did peel off easily and left my skin feeling smooth.

Pure Silk Raspberry Shaving Cream --- I don't normally use shaving cream, but I have to admit --- not only does this smell nice, but it really did give me a closer shave and made my legs feel deliciously silky and smooth. Perhaps I should change my mind.

Garden Botanika Anti-Aging Lip Treatment --- At this stage in the game, I'm pretty much a sucker for anything that could slow the march of time across my face. My lips are not one of the problem areas, but I like to put a lil' somethin'-somethin' on them at bedtime. This is a thick, clear, unscented gel which comes in a little pot. It is quite greasy, not unlike Vaseline, but thicker. I think it would be great for winter, and perhaps applied over lipstick with a brush, but it's a little much for summertime. As for its anti-aging properties, honestly, I can't see any difference after using it for several weeks.

Meaningful Beauty by Cindy Crawford ---  these are nice products, all unscented.  The cleanser is mild and does a good job of removing everything except eye makeup, leaving your skin feeling soft and clean. The Antioxidant Day Creme has an SPF of 20 --- I prefer higher --- but is very light and won't leave you feeling goopy. The Anti-Aging Night Creme has almost a whipped consistency, but very creamy without feeling heavy. There's a nice decolletage creme, an eye-lifting cream (which doesn't address my main issue, dark circles, and after several weeks of use, I see no particular change to the eye area), and my favorite, the Wrinkle Smoothing Capsules. I am more of a sagger than a wrinkler, and I mainly like these because of the consistency of the product. It's a powdery gel that goes on very smoothly, similar to my favorite primers, and it just feels good. I see no change to the wrinkles I do have. The kit also includes a nice, light clay mask and a small bottle of "glowing serum" which is just moisturizer infused with light-reflecting particles --- a product of which I am a big fan, as it really does seem to give your skin a glow, but this one comes in a tiny bottle and I think I can do better, price-wise, with my usual Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer, which also has an SPF and can be used as a light base.The kit price isn't bad, either: about $40 plus S&H for all the products; but you have to order them online or through one of her infomercials, and my guess is if you use it all regularly you'd need to reorder once a month.

Conclusion: all pretty nice stuff, especially the Cindy Crawford, nothing that rocks my world. But then I'm sort of a curmudgeon.

Aside from playing with beauty products and going to a costume fitting and rehearsal this evening, I'm enjoying another much-needed very quiet day. Running on adrenaline for so long, you don't realize until you stop how exhausted you really are. So one more day off, and then I plan to start those workouts up again.

The good thing about being 20 miles from stores of any kind is that you don't make any late-night ice cream runs ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This isn't a beauty blog, but I do occasionally write about fashion, so why not a little foray into beauty products? 

 

BACK FROM THE DEAD

With the cast and crew of Carmen

Despite all appearances to the contrary, Spotlight on Opera (my summer opera workshop) did not kill me. It was, however, four weeks of 12 to 15 hour days, into which we packed ten performances and a lot of classes. Yours truly was the Opera Mama, in charge of it all, as well as directing numerous scenes. I am very proud of the project, even though it sucked every moment of my time and every last bit of my energy for four solid weeks, and one of the things I am proudest of is the addition of a fitness boot camp two mornings a week.

Ten a.m. boot camp in the full sun on a Texas July morning is not for the faint of heart, nor the weak of constitution. It was HOT, and there was a lot of running (sometimes up and down hills, with jumping jacks at the top); squats, punt kicks, sit-ups, squat-jumps, jumping jacks and other plyo, and many many push-ups. It was exhausting. I thought I was in reasonably good shape until this boot camp, and indeed, if I hadn't been doing P90x previously, I wouldn't have had a chance. All things considered --- the extreme heat, the extended lack of sleep and of any kind of rest or relaxation, the elevated stress level --- I think I did pretty well. I would have liked to do better.

Running was particularly difficult in the heat. Any of the cardio was tough in the heat. I felt so out of breath and out of shape, especially next to all the twenty-somethings! Plyo, sit-ups,and push-ups were better. My fellow faculty member and I did better at some of those than some of the kids did; we're veteran singers after all, with a lot of core strength. But I could certainly tell that I'd taken a couple of weeks off from P90x and lost some fitness. On the other hand, I don't think I could have done 38 squat-jumps in a minute for the initial fitness test (43 for the final one!) if I hadn't been doing P90X.

As for my eating during these four weeks ... well, some days it was terrible, and some days pretty good. I had very little time to prepare or to eat, and most of the time I made lunches and dinners at home and took them, but there were a few days of eating out and there were too many late night snacks, as invariably I'd be hungry when I got home around 10 or 11 at night.

So let's just say I have some catching up to do.

On Monday, the day after the program ended, I was up early and on a plane to Chicago; and then in a car driving down to Watseka, Il where I am spending two weeks rehearsing and performing with the Sugar Creek Symphony and Song Festival. Yesterday, on four hours' sleep and having just gotten out of the car, I had six hours of rehearsal --- hi-ho the glamourous life --- but today is a day off, and the first I've had in four weeks. Aside from grocery shopping, I haven't done a blessed thing all day. And I have a glorious place in which to do nothing --- a beautiful estate out in the middle of the cornfields. It's quite remote and peaceful, sitting back on a large parcel of land with a private lake (complete with its own flock of Canadian geese!) and woodlands. Despite -- or perhaps because of ---  the slow internet and lack of cell phone service, it's the perfect place to spend a couple of weeks.

And I intend to make good use of it. Finally, I have time to cook some healthy foods; and I have time to get back to regular workouts. Today is a DAY OFF. We'll see how I feel tomorrow; I may need another day of down time. But after that, it's back to work. I plan to restart P90X and this time do the cardio-intensive plan, to jumpstart some weight loss. I'm not happy with my appearance or the way my clothes are fitting right now. And as aware as I am that this is a lifelong struggle for me, it makes me very uncomfortable whenever the scale starts inching up. The only solution is to find some of that determination and start working again.

 

FOURTH FEAST!

Our (mostly) healthy 4th of July spread: nonfat potato salad with scallions, nonfat cole slaw with blood orange vinegar, insalata caprese, blueberry pie, grilled zucchini, yellow squash, and portabello mushrooms, grilled corn on the cob with hickory salt, barbecue seitan "ribs".  The peach frozen yogurt is not pictured. Everything is made from scratch and it was all delicious!

Tomorrow, I look forward to kicking off the day with a very hot Boot Camp. You probably won't be hearing much from me for the next couple of weeks, as the opera program is in full swing and I'm the Opera Mama. But I am determined to pack healthy lunches and dinners and keep snacking to a minimum. Aside from Boot Camp twice a week, there won't be much time for working out, so that means being extra careful with food.

I hope you all had a great Independence Day celebration with your loved ones. Among other things, I celebrated mine by using my state's online jury impaneling system, and am assigned to show up for jury duty the day after I get back from Illinois. Maybe I can have another day off sometime in  October? ;)

FOOD FOR THE FOURTH

Happy 4th of July, everyone! I actually have two days off (Sunday and Monday) before my opera workshop kicks into high gear. It's lovely to have a little bit of domestic time, cooking, tarting up the house with 4th of July decorations, flopping on the floor  twenty times a day to play with the dogs. We're planning a fairly quiet celebration at home, but of course you know there's going to be good --- healthy! ---  food. Here's my menu:

Grilled corn on the cob

Grilled zucchini, yellow squash, sweet onions, portabello mushrooms

Cole slaw (nonfat)!

Insalata caprese with multi-colored pear tomatoes and mini mozzarella balls

Red, White, and Blue Potato Salad (nonfat)!

Homemade Nonfat Peach Frozen Yogurt

Homemade Blueberry Pie (not low fat, due to the crust, but not much sugar)

As I type this, my husband is talking to his parents on Skype, describing our menu (which, as all things do, sounds so much more elegant in French. I can hear my mother-in-law exclaiming, "Ooh-la-la!" in response to the tarte aux bleuets. Yes, French people really do say "ooh-la-la"; however, my favorite exclamation shall always be "Oh, la vache!").

For the corn, I soak the whole cobb (husk and all) in cold water, then peel back the husk, leaving it attached, and rub with a little butter or olive oil mixed with herbes de provence,  plain ol' salt and pepper, or a flavored salt (I have some yummy hickory salt; might try that this year).  Then, just grill it til tender. Most of the husk gets burned off, and it's easy to shuck off what's left. Veggies get sliced , spritzed with olive oil, and salt and pepper before going on the grill. I like to melt just a sprinkling of shredded parmesan or mozzarella cheese on the mushrooms.

The cole slaw couldn't be easier. Mine is based on this recipe from FatFree  Vegan Kitchen.  I skipped the vegan mayo and just used my homemade nonfat Greek yogurt; substituted blood orange vinegar for the apple cider vinegar, and used a pinch of brown sugar instead of agave syrup (because I was out).I also chose dill --- wish I'd had fresh, but dried will do in a pinch. It's a very crunchy, slightly sweet slaw. I made it this afternoon so we'll see what it tastes like tomorrow, after the flavors have had time to marry.

I had hoped to make my Red, White, and Blue Potato Salad, which is always a big hit a 4th of July gatherings. I use fingerling potatoes in the above colors ; but I couldn't find them this year, so I'm just using red, and I'm also basing the recipe off this one from ILovenNapa.com; it sounds so refreshing!

This morning, I made my homemade Greek yogurt, and this evening I will get to work on the peach frozen yogurt. I've been wanting to make my own frozen yogurt for some time, so I can control the ingredients. I'm using this recipe from The Bay Area Bites website and I can't wait to try the peanut butter version --- but one batch at a time.

Eric is in charge of making pie crusts in this household. He makes fantastic pie crust, and I haven't the patience for it, especially when you can buy really good ones (even whole wheat ones!) at the grocery store. Still, his pie crusts are special --- so tender. It's worth the trouble for special occasions (and those are the only times I'd bake a pie, any more). Blueberry pie is one of the easiest things in the world to make. All you need is a lot of fresh or frozen berries, some lemon juice, and a little bit of sugar and corn starch. I'm basing mine off this recipe, which is originally from The Joy of Vegan Baking. I will probably use a little maple syrup instead of the sugar (and less than is called for, since we don't like our pastries to be super-sweet). I do like to sprinkle a little sugar on the top crust of the pie --- it's pretty, and it adds a burst of sweetness when you bite, so you don't need as much in the filling.

Those are the big plans! And Tuesday, after the feast, we kick off Spotlight on Opera Session II with a nice, hot, much-needed boot camp. I can't wait!

Have a great holiday, everyone.