Forced Hiatus

Working on my swelfies (L: in between rehearsals, full tech makeup/hair; C:about to take off after all the working out; R: inaugural swelfie)

Apologies for the extended hiatus from posting (two weeks, as of today). I was (and, honestly, still am) insanely busy. I was talking to a friend Saturday night about how excited I was to have Sunday off, and when he checked in with me last night to see how I'd spent my day, I told him that I'd taught, worked out, food prepped for the week, and just finished up with rehearsal. He was confused, saying he'd thought I'd had a day off, and I explained that, to me, that WAS a day off... So yeah. The last real "day off" I had (where I had zero obligations for an entire day) was Easter, 3/27, over a month ago. And, looking ahead, I don't foresee another one of those until after The Tempest finishes up.

So yeah, apologies for not blogging, but I have had really good reasons!

I'm back in FiDi temping for the week, after 10 days of double-rehearsals, teaching, performing, and lots and lots and lots of memorizing. Today is technically the off-book day for Tempest (HA!), but I've been given another week to nail down this Prospero business... Good news, though, I am mostly off-book for Act I and more than halfway through memorizing Act V (the two acts with all my major speeches. The other three are mostly just dialogue with one or two speeches thrown in for good measure). This week, sitting at a desk all day, most of my time will be spent on script work and memorization. I think it'll be good for me. I'll be getting paid to sit somewhere, to work on something else I'm getting paid to do (double bonus!). I think I like this plan.

It helps that it's supposed to be pretty nasty out all week. Last week was fairly nice, so I enjoyed doing my memorization in Central Park, but it's dipped down to the 40's in the last few days and is all rainy and dreary, so I'm good getting paid to work on lines in an office, instead of spending money to sit in a coffee shop and memorize. I have a focus problem at home, so I find that subway rides, coffee shops, and parks are my best memorization options (emphasis on subway rides, of which there have been MANY in the last week).

This week looks like this: 545--wake up, wash up; 6--yoga; 7--21 Day Fix Extreme workout; 730--shower and get ready for work; 820--leave for subway; 9--arrive at work; 1--lunch/memorize; 6--leave for rehearsal; 11--leave for home; 12--sleep; lather, rinse, repeat. The one exception is today, where, since I teach tonight, I got to sleep in until 745, head home to do my workout after work, and then go to my class. It's the only night I should be home before 11pm all week, the only night I get to go home between work and the next obligation, AND the only morning I get to sleep in. Trust me, I relished those extra hours.

Needless to say, by the time Dad, Pam, Kathy, and Plump get here on Friday, I will most likely be dead to the world. But yay! Family!

Plus, with this whole 21DFX nutrition program, I have to pack all of my meals with me to eat throughout the day. And, to be honest, I am STRUGGLING to eat the amount of food I am supposed to. You figure out how many calories to consume based on: your goal (lose weight, tighten and tone, get ready for a competition), and your lifestyle (sedentary, slightly active, moderately active, or athletic), and then, based on your weight and gender, it calculates the ideal amount of calories you should consume on a daily basis. Well, since I'm not trying to lose weight, just gain muscle, and live a very active (I won't call it athletic, but it falls into that category according to beachbody), I need to consume a whole lot of calories. AND IT'S REALLY, REALLY, REALLY HARD TO DO.

It's just so much food! Seriously, there has been exactly ONE DAY (out of the 12 days I've been doing this) where I have eaten the amount of food I am supposed to. And I woke up at 5am that day, and had packed food for the whole day the night before. So, yeah. Compared to other diets I've done, I'm seriously struggling to eat the amount of food that I'm supposed to per day. And I'm CONSTANTLY grocery shopping. I mean, I haven't eaten out since I started (that's a good thing), so I think I am ultimately saving money, but it seems like everytime I hit up my grocery store I'm spending $10-$20 more than I'm used to on a typical trip, and I'm there 2-3 times a week stocking up (instead of my usual 1-2).

I KNOW it's good for me (90% of what I'm purchasing is produce), but produce is expensive (not to mention heavy). It's like, I only hit the periphery of the store, too: produce, meats, eggs, and dairy. Nothing in the center. Nothing canned or bagged. It's pretty funny. Going to attempt to hit up the farmer's market again after teaching on Saturday (I did that two weeks ago and was able to get local 95% lean ground turkey for a reasonable price, along with lots of fresh local produce), and until then, I'm just hoping I purchased enough food at the grocery store yesterday to get through the week! Cross your fingers for me!

In other news, I already feel stronger and more flexible. Much more comfortable using weights (I even taught with them in my class on Saturday), and adding a half-hour/40 minute workout onto my hour-a-day yoga practice is proving to be easier than I initially thought it would be. The only thing I'm not completely sold on is Shakeology. I know it's a great AM kick of protein and other nutrients (I usually have it for breakfast anyway), but it's expensive, and, since I don't have a blender, there's only so much I can do with it (really only one thing: one scoop of the powder, 8-12oz of water, stick it in the freezer at night, pull it out in the am, add more water, shake to melt ice, and drink. It's pretty flavorless, a bit powdery, and bland, but it does seem to be a good meal replacement option). Honestly, I might start keeping it in the freezer for longer, bringing it with me to work, and then dumping coffee into it to get my jolt of caffeine with my protein--note to self: try this tomorrow--all at once.