FatBet Revisited

Golly, life is just going on to such an extent around here that I hardly have time to blog. I took a day off today so I could practice and run errands and generally get my breath.

I'm kind of way ahead in the FatBet!!! AND we were advised by non-idiot people decided to extend the deadline to a reasonable date. We three matronly types would have had to go on a some kind of dangerous fast or liquid diet to lose 10 pounds in five weeks. So the new deadline is May 6th.

This is our weekly average graph:



The reason I'm way ahead is that I switched to low-carb. (Look at the dramatic rise in the blue line at the two-week point where I did that.) It's just so much easier. No obsessing, math and/or diarying, just eating.

I am a little worried about one thing, which is many people who lose weight on low-carb diets find that they gain it back quickly when they reach their goal. Does anyone have any ideas for how to avoid this? Obviously getting my exercise act together is helping and will continue to help. I even thought that on reaching my goal weight, I would revert to Weight Watchers maintenance plan or something.

So now I weigh 135.8--not too far from my Goal 45 - Weigh 130 or less!!!

Saving the Planet, One Concert at a Time

(Can you tell I like to sing?)

I was just sent the most amazing piece about music, and I had to share it with everyone I know.

It is Karl Paulnack's welcome address to the freshman class at Boston Conservatory, which ends thusly:

Frankly, ladies and gentlemen, I expect you not only to master music; I expect you to save the planet. If there is a future wave of wellness on this planet, of harmony, of peace, of an end to war, of mutual understanding, of equality, of fairness, I don’t expect it will come from a government, a military force or a corporation. I no longer even expect it to come from the religions of the world, which together seem to have brought us as much war as they have peace. If there is a future of peace for humankind, if there is to be an understanding of how these invisible, internal things should fit together, I expect it will come from the artists, because that’s what we do.

To understand how he arrives at this conclusion, read the whole thing here: Karl Paulnack's Address to the Freshman Class It is totally worth the time and effort!

Paulnack also relates his own NYC memories of the post-9/11 tragedy. I personally have never felt I provided so much vital service as I did singing for God-knows-how-many funerals in the months that followed. Listening to music is about that only thing that people can bear to do when they're that grief-stricken.

I'm reminded, too, of a passage in William Byrd's (Virginia planter) diary where, in order to make the point that his African slaves were not as intelligent as whites, he offers as evidence the fact that after a hard day of labor, instead of going to bed and sleeping and getting their rest, they danced and sang around the fire, further wearing themselves out. I always thought that this proved just the opposite: that the slaves knew perfectly well what was good for them and that Byrd was a dumbass.

Anyway, I love what I do, and I agree that it's vitally important to the planet. Here's another concert picture: ScottieDog giving me a reward for a job well done!

(P.S. Obviously these are really old pictures, from back when I had my Hillary Clinton hairdo.)

[ADDENDUM] One of my ensembles did a school event just this morning (3/17), and during a Q&A session a kid asked "How do you keep your voices so crispy?" (We had him repeat the question several times, so we knew for sure that was the adjective he was using.) My friend Stephen said afterward that he wanted so bad to answer "We have to get fried on a regular basis," but he wisely refrained.

FatBet Week Two

Most peculiarly, all the divas are now exactly tied in the race to lose ten pounds. All of us have lost 1.8--we have quite a task ahead of us if we're to make our goal by April 1!

I wasn't doing well on Weight Watchers this time--it just gets so obsessive, thinking about every little thing you put in your mouth. So I switched to low carb. It's so much easier, and immediately I started losing.

I have now broken into the 130s!!!! I'm so excited. I feel like my long-term goal (Number 45) is within reach very soon! Ta da!!

Also, I found myself with an unexpected opportunity to knock off one of my other goals: #51--Try green tea. I was on my way home from a rehearsal with a friend, rather a long drive, and we stopped because she wanted tea time. I wasn't sure what I wanted exactly--I didn't want regular tea--and then I noticed they had green tea. At Dunkin' Donuts! Who knew? So I had some. It's great!!! It has only a slightly different flavor from regular tea, and now I think I'm a green tea drinker! I'm going to try some more brands.

So my friend took my picture to record the event.

(It doesn't look very green, does it?)

Poem for Early March

"I wonder if the sap is stirring yet,
If wintry birds are dreaming of a mate,
If frozen snowdrops feel as yet the sun
And crocus fires are kindling one by one:
Sing robin, sing:
I still am sore in doubt concerning Spring."- Christina Rossetti


I'm not a big Christina Rossetti fan, but this poem sure hits the spot for me right now...

The Rocky Road to Success

Well, as you can see from the graph, the Three Divas are experiencing the vicissitudes of competitive dieting. (BTW, the Three "Less" Divas title is a play on 3 Mo' Divas, which one of our friends is in--AND whom we're trying to involve in the bet--she's been dieting, but is a little shy about betting. But she's on the mailing list.)

I know the day I shot back up over starting weight (I'm the blue line), I had been kind of dumb the day before. But even so, with the WW point system, that's supposed to be okay as long as you don't go over your extra points for the week. Since then I've been real good, and I still gained .2 pound yesterday. Gaahh!

However, and I've said this before, working out feverishly tends to make me heavier, I think because the muscles inflame just a little bit and retain fluid. Or something. Anybody else have this issue??? I'm not going to stop working out, however.

MizFit will be glad to know I broke out the Latin Rhythms Core workout DVDs that I won over on her site! What a hoot! I've only done the Quick Workout so far, and boy do I look dumb in the mirror when I do it. I'm going to have to move the mirror. MizFit is right, it's a fun core activity, and I'm glad I won it!

Everybody else had a "bad day" yesterday, too, thank heavens. At some point maybe we'll decide not to be such eager beavers and stop weighing ourselves every day, but we all feel we need the daily scrutiny or we'll slide into entropy and death. Or maybe we should do the daily weigh-in but the weekly average.

Encouraging comments welcome!!!! :-P