"Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each." - Henry David Thoreau

Hey everyone!

It’s been a few days since I’ve last blogged – things have been so hectic with me the past week, I haven’t had a chance to breathe.  Here’s the gist of it.

Wednesday, 11/03 – My company’s dress rehearsal for the Autumn Performance Series.  I worked all day, then watched the rehearsal at 7:30.  Left the office at 9:00pm, caught the 9:46 train and made it home around 10:30.  No exercise that day.

Thursday, 11/04 – Opening of the Autumn Performance.  Didn’t get into work until about 12:30, but when I attempted to wake up at 8:00 that morning to do my workout, I was exhausted.  So I slammed the snooze button on my alarm like 2 or 3 times.  Stressful work environment always yields stress eating (for me, anyway), and I think I ate pizza for lunch.  BBQ chicken pizza from City View is really slammin’.  It tastes even better when you dip it in ranch dressing.  I’m sure my arteries thanked me for that one.  By the way, that little habit of dipping pizza in ranch dressing stems from my days at Bloomsburg.  I always used to eat the buffalo chicken pizza from the pizza kitchen on campus, and I ate it with ranch.  Guess old habits die hard.

Friday, 11/05 – Closing performance at work, plus an after party.  I worked about 12 hours that day.  Party ended about 11:30, but I worked in the office until 2:00 that morning, finishing up the programs for the touring engagement they had this past Sunday. Lucky for me, my coworker Judy was drinking wine and chatting with me while I completed my work. (That’s something else I’ll miss about this job when I leave – being able to “drink” on the job. It’s really only a glass or two of wine, but hey – where else is it legal to do that?”

Saturday, 11/06 – Awoke at 8:30am and made it to Office Max by 9:00 to photocopy the programs and deliver them back to the studio by 10:00.  Headed to Bloomingdale’s where to buy some Spanx for my cousin Tara’s wedding that evening.  Wedding ceremony and reception lasted from 5:00-10:30.  Lots of food and alcohol.  Left the reception with friends of mine, Ashley and Bob (who also got married 3 weeks ago), and met my college roommate at a bar around the corner.  More drinking.

Sunday, 11/07 – Woke up around 8:30 with a massive hangover. Popped 4 Advil and ate leftover wedding cake.  I realized that the bracelets I wore to the wedding were so heavy, that when I was dancing around they actually left BRUISES on my wrist and hand! War wounds definitely prove how awesome I was at cutting a rug lol.  Ash and Bob left around 9:30.  I ran around and did some light food shopping, went to my grandparents’ and my aunt Stacey’s house to pick up a package.

So, now that you’re caught up to date, I can get down to the details of this post:  Transitions!  The first call was last night.  There are three other women on the Sunday night call with me, along with my trainer.  Last night was just an introductory call.  We were assigned to write our commitment statements and our relationships with food.  A part of this exercise was to also state what we expect to gain from the program and challenges we may face, as well as plans to overcome those challenges.  Here are some of mine written below.

“I, Rachel Iannotti, promise to read the entire Transitions Daily Journal and put forth my best efforts to follow all components of the Transitions Lifestyle System.  My date for starting the program to become healthier and leaner is November 7, 2010.”  And I wrote my signature.

Write down why it is important for you to lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle.

It is important for me to lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle for lots of health reasons.  I have symptoms of hypoglycemia/low blood sugar.  By following Transitions, I will be able to manage healthy glucose levels.

Make a list of all the challenges you may face and how you will overcome them.

Potential Challenge – Plans to Overcome

Over-eating at home – No eating past 8:00pm

Getting caught off guard – Plan meals ahead of time

Feeling guilty for cheating – Do not berate myself

Today is also day 8 of the 21 Days Before Thanksgiving challenge.  Since I did not exercise for the past 5 days of the challenge, I’m just going to follow the program for the next 2 weeks and make up for the missed days during the week of Thanksgiving.  Today was a great start for me.  I power walked and jogged 4 miles!  I used one of Leslie Sansone’s workout DVDs and it took me about an hour to complete.  That’s 60 minutes of cardio!  I also used a resistance band for one of the miles as well.  What a great start to my week!

Before I sign off, I have a bit of an issue that I’m hoping you might give me advice with.  Everyone knows how important it is to drink at least 64oz. of water each day, but I find that as the temperature drops, it becomes harder for me to remember to drink water every hour or so.  Does anyone else have this challenge?  If so, what is your idea to drink more water?  I’ve been drinking a lot of hot tea lately, which is essentially just flavored hot water.  Any other thoughts?

Goodnight folks!  Until next time.

Shalom,

Rae