LL Cool J Exercise Plan

Remember the George Clooney Diet? This week I'm all about LL Cool J. I'm not ready to track my food yet, but I am exercising.

Wednesday - 1 hour yoga
Thursday - 40 minute interval walk/run
Friday - 30 minute interval walk/run, 30 minutes of yoga
Saturday - Soccer mom (there is no way to calculate this exercise)

The moral of the story is LL Cool J. As I ran, all I could think was "You're jiggling, baby." Which of course made me think of the song "Jingling, Baby." That made my running happy. The more I jiggle now, the less I'll jiggle later. Thank you, LL.

On a side note, two friends kindly emailed me regarding pilates and Zumba. Rule #1. Be sure to keep good friends by your side, the kind that reach out a hand and encourage you. I also exercised several times with my tweenaged niece. She's lazier than me, but she is a good motivator. Even sent me text messages to let me know what exercising she did on her own. A good kid.

As some of you know I gave up Facebook for Lent. There are always people out there waiting for you to fail. This is a reminder to those people that I need encouragement. Don't wait for me to fail or break my commitments. It makes me feel disappointed in you. Now you owe me an apology. Twitter is not Facebook. (And Facebook emails me updates once a week, so I can see you talking bad about me). Do 50 sit-ups, and I'll challenge you to an arm wrestle on Easter Sunday.

Until then happy eating and happy exercising. Even if you are jingling all the way. Was LL talking about Christmas in that song? What does jingling baby mean anywho? A point to ponder on my next run.

140 Words or Less

(Pregnant me and monsters hiking at Amicalola Falls. I grudgingly got exercise even while gravid. It was What's-his-name's idea.)



Last year, I was about to get back on the exercise bandwagon, then poof! Nothing. A year of silence. Here’s what you missed.

• I got pregnant and had a baby.

• Yesterday, the baby turned 12 weeks old. To celebrate, I started a couch to 5K running program. 20 minutes run/walk intervals on Days 1 and 2.

• I ate a Wheat Free Peanut Butter cookie from Karmic Kookies. Life changing.

• I’ve given up the frivolous internet for Lent. I won’t be on Facebook, but you can still find me here and on Decatur Patch.

• Despite my love of verbosity, edits on my novel will progress better if I limit myself to 140 word diet updates. Kind of like Twitter’s 140 characters only super-sized into a blog about getting skinnier.

Happy Eating and Exercising. Happy Lent!

Gong Xi Fa Cai

I think the holiday season starts on with Halloween in October and ends with Easter in the April. A few weeks ago, I thought the holidays ended on Superbowl Sunday, but then I forgot about Chinese New Year. Then Valentine's Day. Then Lent started. Okay, I'm not Catholic (yet), but I am feeling guilty.

I love an excuse to not officially diet. Halloween, my birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Valentine's Day. I fill my year with days when dieting is taboo. Birthdays, anniversaries. They don't even have to be mine. Anyone's will do as long as there is cake. And winter. All of winter--cold, snowy winter--should be a holiday.

Good News: In all these months of slacking (four months worth!), I've only gained back 3lbs.
Bad News: I've been struggling for weeks to figure out how to get back to keeping a food journal and exercising.
Good News: I really have incorporated increased activity in my daily life. I do a lot of incidental walking to and from work, while at work, and around town. Parking a few extra spaces away really does make a difference.
Bad News: Stress has taken a hold of my life in ways I hadn't anticipated. Right now I am smarter about eating and exercising than I am about controlling stress in my life. Reducing stress will be my big focus over the next few lifetimes. . . I meant to say weeks.

The Extra Good News and The Answer: My blog. I went back and read over some of my thoughts about weight loss and dieting since July. I'm so glad I wrote down what I did. I'm so thankful for this blog. I wasn't writing it for then. I was writing those words for today. A day when I needed it the most. And I wasn't writing it for you (though I do wish you happy health and weight loss and a peaceful life--okay sounds like a Vulcan greeting, but I do meant it). I was and am writing this blog for me. The only motivation you need is yourself. You don't need me. You don't need to know what I think. You need to know your personal motivation and diet needs.

New Year New Goal: Same as before. Lose 10%. I could lose 20% easily, but I'm still trying to do things slowly so the weight stays off and my body learns to be new. Or learns to be its new self. 10% in 2010.

Let me know what you've been doing and what you want to start doing to be healthy. Let's motivate each other. I'm a tiger (Chinese Zodiac-wise) and this is my year. Gong Xi Fa Cai, Happy New Year! Happy Health, Eating, and Exercising. And Peace.

Sari, Charlie

This weekend I got wrapped in nine yards of the most beautiful blue and turquoise silk sari you've ever seen. For those of you who don't know a sari (or saree or shari) is a drape that is wrapped around you and turns into a lovely dress. If Cinderella had been really lucky her fairy godmother would have put her in one of these!


Mitra is the groom's aunt. She helped me get into the sari.

Here are some pictures of me getting dressed and enjoying the wedding reception.

I've been trying to stay focused on eating well and exercising, but I got majorly sidetracked this week with a business trip, volunteer event, and wedding all in the space of 7 days. Unfortunately, I haven't written in my food journal all week, but I did make concerted efforts to exercise daily even when I was away from home.

I love this picture of me and Albertine, the lovely bride in red.

Nicki and Mitra ready to party!

I have to give a special thanks to my friend Meredith for letting me borrow her sari. Meredith is the best!

Nicki Does the Right Thing

• Saturday: Stage Captain at the Decatur Book Festival.
  
• Sunday: Took a walk in Pittsburgh.
  
• Sunday and Monday: Walked to and from the airport terminals instead of taking the train or moving side walks.
• Monday: Walked up the broken escalator to baggage claim in Atlanta. That is a tall escalator. We could have taken the working escalators or elevator.
  
• Monday: Got off a stop early on MARTA and walked two miles to get home. I complained heartily about this, but fortunately my husband is a great motivator. He encouraged me, and he dragged my suitcase for me.
• Future: I have big plans to be back on track starting on Tuesday!

Weird Weight Loss Tips

Volunteer. Work a book festival, an art festival, sort cans at a food bank. Most volunteer activities are physically challenging. Do something nice for your community and get some exercise, too.

Indian Food. Aloo Gobi, Palak Paneer, and other yummy treats. Indian food has lots of vegetables. Depending on the region, some dishes have meat and some are vegetarian. Yogurt is another standard item in Indian cuisine. It help digestion and helps with the spiciness if you don't like it hot. Fennel is cooked in some dishes and might be served at the end of the meal. It sweetens your breath, has fiber, and does other magic stuff. I'm not a huge fan of fennel, but when in Rome . . . I am, though, a huge fan of Indian food. Palak Paneer is my favorite.

Spicy food in general. This could be Jamaican, Korean, Mexican, you name it. I ate way too much food this weekend, but since a lot of the food was spicy I really couldn't overindulge the way my American stomach would like. Spicy food slowed down my eating, allowed me more time to concentrate on flavors, and forced me to drink more water.

Hope you had a happy and safe Labor Day. Remind me to eat and exercise well this week. Namaste! Let me know what you are doing to stay on track.