Day 73: Long Break

Okay, I've taken a long break from this. I'm very bad. Sorry. Well, the commit to fit program has taken a little break for Thanksgiving, but I'm back on track and have lost 3 lbs. That's something during this holiday season. I guess the loss of appetite is good. I haven't been very hungry lately. My stress level has elevated exponentially. And I'm doing so much to curb my appetite and not stress eat. I'm sure I'm burning calories stressing and concentrating.

But I'm doing okay. Four months and three pounds. Talk about massive failure, but in all honesty I have not been very loyal. So there is that.

I do have a wonderful recommendation, however especially for the holidays. I have found a "digestif" or after dinner drink. It's heavy on the liquor, but it numbs the holiday stress and makes your kitchen smell amazing. Also, if you have trouble sleeping, it's a good way to knock yourself out to sleep through the night.

Family Therapy Cranberry Rosemary Digestif (From the Food Network)

1/2 cup water
1 cup cranberries (fresh)
1 cup sugar
3 inch cinnamon stick (whole stick)
or one teaspoon of ground cinnamon
2 sprigs of rosemary
or 2 tablespoons of rosemary
Pinch of salt
1 lemon, zested

Add the water, cranberries, sugar, cinnamon stick, rosemary, salt and lemon zest to a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Lower the heat and simmer until slightly reduced in volume and thickened to a syrup. Remove from the heat and strain through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Discard the solids. Refrigerate until cool, about 30 minutes.

To make a drink:
Put a handful of ice in a drink shaker along with 1 1/2 ounces of whiskey and 1 tablespoon of the cranberry syrup. Shake gently a few times and strain into a glass. Repeat for the remaining drinks and serve.

Day 57: 2 out of 8

Yes, I took a break over the weekend because I was out of town. So shoot me.

But I did go to the gym today and worked my ass off in David's kickboxing class. I couldn't get to the gym fast enough after work to get to spinning, but ah well. Kickboxing burns more calories anyway.

Well, I looked at my Commit to Fit chart and it said I only took two classes last week. Okay -- you (who are reading) know I went to seven classes last week. Puke and all. So I brought this up, by means of the system, they are just slow. Ironic for a gym. So I'm supposed to keep myself accountable. WTF? I thought that was the point of the gym. For them to track myself for me.

But I made it to class number 8 of the Commit to Fit 2009.

Now if I could write or stop eating junk, I may lose weight and gain a book.

And oh yes, the mundane weekly recommendation: The House of Night Books. Okay, yes it's lame. But I'm a little obsessed with them now. If you're a fan of the awesome series of Twilight, you will like The House of Night. It's a vampyre boarding school where kids who are "marked" are sent to learn about the vampyre culture and see if they can take the change into the bloodsucking being.

If you haven't heard of them, I recommend giving Marked a quick read. They're fun, flighty, easy, and quick. When you're read Twilight too many times, pick this up for a change of pace. I recommend.

Day 50: Commit to Fit

My amazing gym has started up this thing. It's called Commit to Fit. I found out I couldn't do the six week nutrition class through the holidays, so now I'm doing this program through the holidays.

So, what happens is the instructor of the class you attend signs a piece of paper, and they take it and document how many times you go to a class. Supposedly, there are prizes at the end, but I thought I'd rock this contest. They try to get you to go a minimum of four times a week.

Well, check this: Core Conditioning is a 30 minute class, and it's offered four times a week. So I figure the new schedule for the week is this.

Monday: Spinning for 60 minutes, Core for 30 minutes
Tuesday: Core for 30 minutes, Strike! for 60 minutes
Wednesday: Total Conditioning for 75 minutes, Kickboxing for 60 minutes
Thursday: Core for 30 minutes, Strike! for 60 minutes
Friday: Strictly Strength for 60 minutes
Saturday: Spinning or Kickboxing for 60 minutes
Sunday: Core for 60 minutes, Pilates for 60 minutes

So, as you can see, it's pretty easy...except for Wednesdays. I will die. But I couldn't even begin to think about doing it if I hadn't done it before. There is a 15 minute break between the two classes, and that is the perfect break. Wednesday will be weights/cardio and then cardio.

I do NOT want to stop taking kickboxing, but I know I'm prepared for TC again. Mondays are now for spinning, and I love spinning.

Anyway, I will die on Wednesdays but feel AWESOME!

And since today is Monday, I will give you a recommendation. LOL. Like you guys care.

My recommendation is Last.fm. It's an online radio that you do not have to pay for. I've been using Pandora, and I'm sure there are many people that listen to Last.fm, but I just found it today, in fact. It's great. You type in an artist and you get what you want. I listened to Frank Sinatra radio and then Christmas Sinatra played. Gotta love the Christmas season.

Yeah, it's lame, but I'll get something better for next week.

Day 43: Spinning

I am in love! On Friday, that awesome weight class I mentioned made me more sore than I have been in months. Well, the instructor, Lindsay, told me about spinning (mainly because I asked). But because of her motivation and her knowing I was going to be there, I went to her spin class today.

Holy crap it was amazing! Who knew sitting on a bike for an hour would be so much fun. My butt hurts, my thighs are killing me, but it was completely worth it. And then there is a thirty minute core conditioning class right after with the same instructor. My abs are KILLING me from Friday still, but it was awesome.

I hurt, but it's a good hurt. I'm also so damn tired, it's 830p and I'm about to fall asleep.

Yay for being re-motivated and kicking serious spinning/core ass! Kiss this!

And yes, it's Monday: Weekly Recommendation time.

I am going to recommend another band this week. I heard this really cool band again on NPR, Pink Martini. They are this fun swing, 1960s flavor of music. I feel like I should have a martini and cigarette with I listen, but it's just fun music that belongs on the Mad Men soundtrack. I recommend them if you're looking for something new but old. Pink Martini.

Day 36: HA!

Yeah, okay. I haven't been to the gym since Wednesday. Galen came in last weekend, so I didn't work out.

I haven't written anything. This is a blog of failure. I can't make my deadlines. No way.

But, it's Monday and I promised a recommendation. Because honestly, why else would anyone be reading this piece of shit blog. I'm a failure. This is crap. I can't lose this weight. I don't know how. This is ridiculous.

But my recommendation for this week is the Moosewood Cookbook. I made this really amazing Greek Lasagna for dinner with my aunt and uncle. It was amazing. I completely recommend it if you have a couple of hours to make a kick ass lasagna. It's not easy, but damn, I was proud of myself.

That's my recommendation. Let's see if I can scrape myself off the floor and get my fat ass to a gym. Probably not because I can't seem to get the motivation to lose this extra weight.

Day 29: Miracle

I could not sleep last night. It was the definition of ridiculous. I was too tired to read, but not too tired to watch Friends. I was too tired to bake, but not to tired to read the internet. And I planned on getting to the gym this morning, but watching the clock tick past 10p, 11p, and then midnight, I knew it was impossible.

So, I must say it was a damn miracle I dragged myself to the gym for the 645p kickboxing class with David. And you know what? I almost left half way through. But I knew I would hate myself if I did. My knee was hurting, I was out of breath. Ridiculous. But I stayed and kicked ass. I made it. And I plan on doing it again tomorrow. And getting to the gym in the morning. That's right, the morning.

Good things have come on the writing front, as well. As soon as I post this blog I am opening my document and going to write. The right people know I'm writing this and, as I said, the pressure is on.

I will start doing a weekly recommendation to help me explore more things whether it be music, cooking, books. This week my recommendation is in the music category.


Bomba Estereo is a Columbian band that mixes live instruments and computerized loops. It's fun music that is good for dancing and writing. I found them via NPR.

Next Monday, I will have another recommendation.

This blog just became something more.