City Girl City Life

A regimen

2011-11-27T16:47:00.001-08:00

That's what I need and gosh darn it I intend to create one. I'm talking about diet and exercise, to be precise. Enough 'diet' so I don't get comfortable in my gradual cushy self, especially after Thanksgiving - the National Feed and Family Fest. So nothing crazy, just maybe I'll bring in lunch more often to ensure healthier options.

As for the exercise, again nothing crazy, but I do have a ski trip planned for the near future and I have to get into shape. I plan to follow a jogging, spinning and yoga regimen and see where that takes me. Tomorrow a.m. let's start the jog. Spin is Wednesday night, so I have to figure how to get 2 yoga sessions into the schedule. I know of one on Sunday at 11 a.m. - I need to find another.

To facilitate the regimen, I've downloaded a selection of Fitness Apps. I have two calorie counting apps, My Net Diary and My Fitness Pal. I hate loading in all the bad things I eat, but then I'm pleasantly surprised when my Lays Potato Chips comes in at only 160 calories. That's only 15 minutes on the treadmill! I can do that! My Net Diary, on the other hand, is an obsessive note taking dieter's dream: Charts, Measurements, Data, and Analysis! Between both of these, I can map out a dream and measure my less-than-perfect effort day to day.

The fun begins with 200 Sit ups which gives you an ever increasing number of classic sit-ups to do daily (15, 18, 15, 15, 18) with big rests in between. Kind of basic but if you want the feeling that you are really delivering, this can do it. And takes 10-15 minutes tops. Easy Abs gives you a series of ab related exercises (I love plank) - and you can set the program for intermediate, beginner or expert - but you need to dedicate more time to these. Just dragging furniture away to lay out a mat is a hassle. The other app I have is IFitness - a complete workout which you can customize and edit. Looks great but takes too much time to set up for me and am I really going to reference each exercise on my iPhone when I'm out at the gym? I think not.

Better than all the apps in the world and always free, is the fear of not fitting into my cute ski pants.
That I think, will do the trick.

Holiday Mania Countdown

2011-11-25T15:34:00.000-08:00

There are actually 29 shopping days till Christmas, so the pressure is on. I know the first thing to do is to buy/make and send holiday cards, though in this age of email is the snail-mailed card headed for irrelevance? So if I choose email, I still need to design a card.

I abhor Black Fridays and any kind of shopping mania where people are trampled and aggression is the rule. I hate sloppy counters and long lines and hassled people. I will shop at small shops in NoHo and Chinatown or happily find obscure objects online.

The Aftermath

2011-11-25T13:14:00.000-08:00

The aftermath of Thanksgiving. I'm feeling unsettled with my love hate relationship with major holidays - except for Halloween - that's major love. The fridge is full of good things like soup, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberry dressing, stuffing and all the extra stuff that I wasn't able to make. The pies, apple and cherry and pumpkin are delicious. Good time to call for Exercise Regimen. Today is a beautiful day. Balmy 62 degree autumn day. Autumn carries the prettiest sunlight.