All is Calm

End of a looooong work day. Usually I write this before the day starts, but today was a slow start. Had dinner last night w/the gang at fancy french restaurant: 1 martini, couple glasses of wine, foie gras app (i know, its pure evil) and ribeye w/salad for dinner. For desert the table shared an awesome cheese plate. Beautiful place, half empty as usual in Beijing. Feel like these restaurants that opened in a flurry right before Olympics are probably going to start closing down one by one. No run this morning, which falls into my "friday off" pattern...and also happened to work in nicely with my extreme tiredness and slight headache. Happy to sleep in :-). Yeah its Friday, I'm completely knackered, as the brits say.

Start your Day with Stand Up

Here's something I heard this morning, from standup comedian Demetri Martin. "The worst time to have amnesia would be during Halloween. You'd be dazed and confused, and somebody would say 'what's your name'? and you'd look around and say 'I don't know, but I guess I'm a hobo. Who loves candy?''" Chuckle.

Run went fine this morning, but last night? Not so good. I missed lunch yesterday because of back to back meetings, and in a fit of desperate hunger, ate almost a whole jar of sunflower seeds. Felt like a stuffed bird all the way home, vaguely nauseous. Got home late but right in time for the rebroadcast of the Oscars, yeah. And in my excitement, had too many beers, too much popcorn and nothing nothing healthy. And I'm really mad because they cut out parts of the acceptance speeches for Dustin Black and Sean Penn (as well as others), and dammit this country just pisses me off sometimes....

That's why its good to start your day with stand up.

Eat Drink Be Merry

Its a crazy work week, but I'm holding steady on the running. Actually this morning my eyeballs woke up at 4:45, and after tossing and turning, read more of this AWESOME biography of Marvin Gaye....Divided Soul - see Link on right...

...and then finally got up at 5:45 for a run. Went close to 40' this morning, which surprised me because I expanded my usual route, but tried to run faster during the straightaways (there are a lot of those). I don't carry a watch, so I thought I was adding addl 15 mins, but it was only 10, so maybe I'm getting a tad faster.

On the eating side? Well its OK, not great, but I'm still down a size in pants, so that's good :-). BUT I predict more evil things in the future - tomorrow night is dinner @ fancy French restaurant, and Saturday night is pizza and beer - a bunch of us are going out for dinner before heading to a Chicago Improv show. Woo hoo!!! As maestro Dave Glick says, gotta focus on the inputs (eating + exercise) so I can get the right ouputs (feeling better, losing weight).

As Usual, Spending Monday in Penance

The weekends are a bit more challenging - its generally no problem get a run and bike ride in, its the eating that usually goes south. Highlights of the lowlights: Tony bought a big chocolate bar at Ikea, which I ran across at a dark moment on Saturday night, goodbye chocolate bar. Sunday had the munchies, finished 1/2 bag of Pretzel Goldfish before you could say "wow, look at the carbs listed on the side of this cute little bag with fish wearing sunglasses". Sunday night had friends over, had 3 pieces of pepperoni pizza, more than enough wine, and a generous helping of desert they brought over (spaghetti with toffee? from a children's cookbook - it was odd, but hey it was sugar).

Ah well, still managed to wake up this morning, go for a run. Not kicking myself too hard. The coming couple of weeks will definitely present some challenges - US visitors in town at work means dinners out, and since Jim Wood is here, we'll probably go for the gold. This Thursday a few of us are planning on hitting up Maison Boulud, a Daniel Boulud restaurant recently opened in this fabulous location, which is a restored part of the old "legation quarter" where all foreign countries were confined through the turn of the century. Ooh la la, looking forward to it...

http://www.legationquarter.com/

Meanwhile, snacks for today are almonds, grapes and oranges, in penance for my sins :-).

Farewell to the Early Years

Turned the alarm off this morning - seriously considered getting up, but my back was aching for some reason so I talked myself into giving my body a break :-). I have an older friend Helen who is going through a debilitating back/neck pain problem...and I have visions that at 45 years old, need to take care of the old bod so I can hang in there w/out a wheelchair when I'm 60. I don't stretch, for example, ever, and I'm wondering if I should get into yoga, or core strength training more. Looking back, my routine in my early years was to eat, drink, smoke without abandon....then wake up and run a 10K no prob. Clearly that phase of my life is passed, au revoir.

Last night had a couple of gardenburgers w/out buns, and popcorn. Strange combo, but wasn't up for making a salad, which is lame. Tonight Tony and I are having dinner together, will get some proteins and veggies in fo sho.

Snow White

Two inches of snow overnight, yippee. Another other-wordly run this morning. I keep running past this guy in the morning who is bundled up in a parka w/yoga mat, assume he is heading to health club. Tony went for drinks with the guys last night, and it turns out it is our friend Steve, so tomorrow I may try to scare him if I see him in the dark :-).

Not much to report on the eating side - missed lunch yesterday so had a delivery of soup w/dumplings and a side order of vegetables around 5:30 pm. Not the healthiest, but probably works out okay since I missed lunch. Did have a beer last night when I got home, need to remember to get some wine instead :-). And one cookie - Tony's been making cookies with the kids a lot, dammit. Its alright, need to figure out how to just say no sometimes - that's a new process for me w/food.

A Cold Run in the Snow

Woke up at 5:00 am, not sure why, but after finishing Three Cups of Tea (I resisted that book for awhile because I thought it was some sort of self-help book, I'm a dork, but it was really powerful and inspiring), I headed out for a rare 45 min morning run instead of 30'. There was about an inch of snow on the ground and it was still snowing and dark. Whenever I see snow swirling around lampposts in the dark, I think of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, when he first pushes the back of the wardrobe and stumbles into another world. That was magical. That's a bit how I felt this morning - the guards walking slowly in their long coats & earmuffs were reminiscent of an earlier era, there was barely a sound out except for crunching snow and almost all houses were completely dark. Anyway, to break into such reverie, this morning I heard Terry Gross interview Don Rickles. Talk about a contrast.

Yesterday the team went to lunch and I was happy to have a good Chinese spread w/lots of meats and fish and vegetables. It was delicious. And last night Monsieur le Chef Tony made chili, which was great too. And I'm completely obsesed with Dave Glick's observation that if you run a bunch of miles in a week (25 or more?), you can stop obsessing on diet as much. So I'm trying to compute this, and also thinking maybe I should shoot for a goal, like a half marathon. He's heading for the rock'n'roll in SD in June...hmm.........

Cold and Windy with Chance of Snow

This morning's run started out sloooow and cold -- hard to get out of bed, hard to get out the door, hard to loosen up. But the story ends well - I warmed up pretty quickly, got a burst of energy, and watched a few stray snowflakes fall into the slumbering compound. Now, a few hours later, I'm feeling pretty relaxed and mellow. I really like running early in the morning, not just because its quiet and I'm half asleep, also because its just nice to get it over with and not worry about it the rest of the day.

Checking out carbs last night on box labels, kind of frightening. But as I read on the intranet, the real key is to burn more calories than you eat - and in fact it says that over the course of the year, a low carb diet and a low fat diet end up about even. But for a quick jolt and better results early on, low carb appears to win. I'd say I'm on a semi-low-carb diet, semi-successfully, but the bigger issue for me is just plain eating healthier (cutting down on processed foods, adding fruit & veg) and just plan eating less.

And on the good news front, this morning reached for the wrong pants, but decided to try them on anyway as a test...and they fit. They were one size down from other pants. THAT is encouraging news and makes it all worth it, at least this morning :-). Gonna keep going for another day...

C+ for the Weekend

Although I got a 45 min run in on Saturday, and a 1/2 hour on the exercise bike on Sunday, I would not characterize this as a super impressive effort all around. Had my usual Saturday lunch date with the little guy, and got into trouble at a super delish middle eastern restaurant. The whole thing - hummous, pita bread, falafel, olives, lamb kebabs, chicken. It was fantastico, but over the top. Saturday night, Tony and I had a V-Day Foot Massage appointment, followed by a pretty light dinner at an Italian place - just salads plus a glass of champagne. But I bought a bottle of red wine for home...signs of trouble brewing perhaps. Sunday, had a couple of bowls of cereal throughout the day, some yogurt. but the real downfall was making the kids super-carbolicious mac'n'cheese on Sunday - and eating some - and then drinking red wine after the kids went to sleep, and running across some v-day chocolate, and cookies - and eating some. And if that was not enough...slept through this morning and didn't go for a run.

There, I did it, I admitted everything. I'm feeling guilty - that's a good sign I guess - and ready to get back on track, let's see.

As a sidenote, Tony and I watched Gran Torino on Friday night at home...that Clint, he's the man. He looked great, which is oddly inspiring - not that I want to grab a gun or anything, but wouldn't mind having that car...

Sleeping In

Another Friday morning skipped run, maybe this will be my Day of Rest. Makes sense if I can commit to a longer run on Saturday - let's see. On the nutrition side, feel like I'm holding back from any major catastrophes, but can't say that I've got a strategy together either. I guess I'm kind of on a lo-carb vibe here, but being too lazy to do some full-on research...I'm really just trying to eat less in general. My friend Dave's great blog (linked on sidebar) has a nice weight target graph - I've never owned a scale, but thinking I may have to invest to have some sort of objective measurement besides "pants feel a tad bit looser".

I did buy an exercise ball that I've started using as a chair - and I can feel myself using my back and stomach more to keep balanced. Only made it about 1/2 hour yesterday before I rolled it away and swapped back for the comfort of the solid black leather thing on wheels. I'll see if I can keep it up longer today...maybe that can be my fancy graph?

John Updike

A good podcast and you don't even know your running (sort of)...

I'm a Fresh Air-aholic. Terry Gross is such an impressive and skillful interviewer, which I'm sure is much harder than it appears. She lets the subject actually talk, and then lets the responses lead down a natural and unpredictable path. A lot of interesting discoveries along the way. And her interviews always enrich the subject immensely for me - whether the subject is the person being interviewed or a specific topic. The podcast I heard today was actually excerpts from 3 different interviews with John Updike, in honor of his death of lung cancer a few weeks ago at 76. Here is what I learned by hearing his voice for the first time, rather than reading his words:

* His voice is much richer and deeper than I imagined, he sounded like a thoughtful New England minister or teacher
* So incredibly articulate, very inspiring to observe his thought process and listen as he constructs these beautiful responses, so effortlessly...its like watching a poet's brain in motion
* Artists are skilled observers of the world, but are often shy or self-conscious participants in the world - this was echoed in her recent interview with Bruce Springsteen as well. I guess I feel some affinity w/this :-)
* Note to self: remember this inspiration - inspiration to not only keep running, but to keep feeling healthier, and keep oberving the world

Running Amok

Run this morning was good, but for the first time crossed my mind "maybe should be longer". But I think I'll start with pushing for a harder 30 mins. Also want to look into exercises at home for abs, butt, legs, arms, brain, hair follicles, etc :-).

On the nutrition side, fixed a big salad for dinner, still hungry, then had a big bowl of plain, pre-packaged oatmeal. Is that a bad carb? Not sure, but it filled me up. I'm missing protein now, so may start stealing some of Tony's turkey slices for kids sandwiches. Need to step back and do some meal planning and get a better grocery list. I'm going to try to stay away from the processed stuff for awhile too, my body will probably rebel again - the idea of an actual, unadulterated food item entering my system has probably sparked a lot of interal questions - "what was that??? hmmm, send it this way for closer inspection, we don't recognize a plain carrot...".

Body Rebelling?

Not sure what's going on, but I am getting a cold right now, and I somewhat suspect that it may be due to this get healthy kick. I should be getting more vitamins (I've certainly eaten more than my share of veggies & fruit recently), but on the other hand, what a shock to the system, right? Me, the master of Chips & Salsa, or Burgers & Fries, or Pizza and Beer. Or all of those in one day...and what's this crappy carrot stick (I imagine my body saying). Give us the good stuff, or we're rebelling.

On a total sidenote, was out to dinner last night and saw this amazing huge fire at a high rise in Beijing, the result of insane fireworks insanity, that's all I can say...and BTW, fireworks are "illegal" again as of last midnight, until next CNY:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123419045021563711.html?mod=article-outset-box

Skyrockets at Night

Monday AM, I'm writing this, we're in the run-up to the last "celebration" day of Chinese New Year, the Lantern Festival, and the firecrackers were killing it all weekend. Its 8:00 am in Beijing and their going crazy even now...

Weekend was pretty good, got in one long-ish run (40 mins) + a bike workout + ate pretty well. Couple lapses around social events - the family had dinner Sat. night w/old college buddy Eric Emerson, who now lives two blocks away - had this yummy bread/feta thing and some wine, came home and had the proverbial "one more beer" and popcorn. That doesn't sound so healthy. Managed to get back to my favorite new restaurant with Henry also, he's a great lunch partner, we always have a lot of fun. Got the hummous again, he had quesadillas, we laughed, we sang songs, he talked a lot, as usual :-).

Ran this morning, listening to interview with Bill Paxson about Big Love, now I want to get it, I'm sure its pirated version is here, haven't looked before. We're backed up on DVD's now, I've been too tired recently in the evenings to get through a movie. Tonight having dinner with Beth, one of our neighbors who is getting degree in interior design and may help us w/our living room...

Luxury: Morning Off

Gave myself a break this morning: 3 running days in a row + planning two long runs Sat & Sun = Friday morning sleep-in. Alarm went off at 6:35, felt like vacation. Now I have to keep to my promise of long runs, but not worried because I love long weekend runs. The thing I miss most about my previous long weekend runs in Seattle & Japan was ending at Starbucks and rewarding myself w/nonfat latte. Not possible here, unfortunately, no Bucks close to my house. Plus, as a result of the dairy scare that swept China in the fall, Starbucks dropped nonfat milk altogether, replaced with cardboard-tasking soy milk. Blech.

On the eating front, yesterday at lunch I ran over to the crappy 7-Eleven-like clone, grabbed Diet Coke, bag of almonds and two strawberry/banana yogurts. China sidenote: the refrigerator display case was weirdly standing about 6 feet from the wall, lights were off, but contents still seemed cold. No one blinked an eye. As usual, the Diet Cokes were lined up on the dry goods shelf, warm. I've actually gotten used to warm DC's. Almonds covered my afternoon hunger pretty well, although ended up with a cranking headache. My body is probably wondering what the hell is up, where's our french fries.

Last night had nice dinner with Helen, picked a new restaurant that's garnered some nice press, primarily for fresh & organic ingredients. We shared a great hummus starter, lots of veggies, and a coupla pita slices. Entree was a big Bleu Cheese/Apple salad that was delizioso. Seems very rare to find a nice real green salad. Also shared a bottle of white wine, which we didn't finish (this may be the first time in my adult life). I took home leftovers, including the wine...and as an added benefit brought the veggies & hummus to work today for lunch. Yummm.

Its a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Sun's coming up like a big bald head (this is a quote from Laurie Anderson). Woke up at 5:59, got outta bed, dragged a comb across my head (Beatles). The run this morning was a little tough, maybe 3rd day in a row is hard until I'm in more consistent shape, but the songs are running through my head this fine morning, and I'm feeling a little chipper. Had a banana, glass of water and a vitamin. On the nutrition side of things, I'm probably ranked down near the very very bottom, and until I can get a handle on a more balanced approach, seems like a good multi-vitamin makes sense. I need to look out for calcium too I think.

Yesterday I had lunch with Hanhua and had four rather large, rather unhealthy-looking but super delicious dumplings. And a bottle of green tea, unfortunately sweetened. After I got home and helped bathe, read and put the kiddos to sleep, I had a big green salad and more water. So far nothing too indulgent, but tonight will be a fair test, having dinner with Helen Nelson. I picked a purposefully healthy dinner spot I've read about that's known for its salads, a rarity in Beijing. We'll see...

Another list:
* Still looking for some natural fruit and veg juices to supplement intake of vitamins
* Not successful in finding low-fat breakfast bars - everything here seems coated in chocolate or filled with mystery ingredients, keeping on with my noble search
* Almonds
* Low-fat yogurt
* Download newer podcasts, still can't get This American Life for some reason
* Research at-home weight training exercises for evenings
* Pencil out some menu ideas for next week - tunafish? chicken?
* May experiment in the kitchen this weekend, if I can find it

Peaceful Run

Woke up a tad late (6:03 am) but hauled myself outside for Day 2 Run (its about 25 degrees, not too horrible). Despite the ongoing internal fight around wanting to stay in warm bed vs. walking out into cold darkness, I tend to remember that I always feel so much better afterwards. And this is true today, getting into work before everyone else, I love that my legs feel a bit tired and my brain feels a bit peaceful.

From my last attempts at this running thing last Fall, I developed a bit of a routine - basically get out the door before I really wake up and realize what I'm doing; tune into Fresh Air and run my predictable route around the compound; get back, have a glass of cold water and check the headlines on the computer before jumping in the shower. I used to loathe routine, felt like it was the death knell of getting old, but its starting to feel comforting to me. After all, I am 45 now...

Who Can Resist

End of day one. Came home, Tony made his awesome lasagna...so who can resist. But on the portion control side, had about 1/2 of my regular serving, and I'm drinking water, not Diet Coke or beer. woo hoo (small letters). Searched around for some fruit & veg to accompany, not much here. So next task is to develop a grocery list. Here goes:

• Salad fixin's and if possible a low-fat dressing (good luck)
• Apples, bananas and grapes
• some sort of diet bars to tide me over during the day
• Almonds - a nod to the MUFA craze ("flat belly diet" seems to be sweeping the US)
• Stock up on good Japanese fruit/veg drinks, these are the best in the world: http://www.kagome.us/ - although this site says they are stopping distribution in US, bad news! Luckily they are in the 7 Eleven's here...

On the exercise side...my plan is to keep up the slow morning run for 2 weeks, and then look at picking up the pace/adding some sprints. Throw in at least one long run on the weekend. Once I get there...think about adding some variations.

day by day...

Today is the Day...

OK, my first blog...why not? My friend Dave challenged me to "blog" my thoughts here so that we could compare notes on our shared quest to lose weight. OK, mine is more to "get healthy" - which I'm saying because not only do I want to lose weight, I want to reduce my dependency on the Mighty French Fry to get me by...and I want to throw in a challenge to myself to exercise more. And drink less beer. And sleep more.

So...to sum up my wish list:

* Learn more about healthy nutrition, start to apply concepts
* Run at least 5 days a week, and add a supplemental weight training exercise 1-2 days/week
* Beer 2-3 times week if possible: believe me, this is a reduction - I wish they had light beer in Beijing!
* Sleep more

Today's so far...

6:00 am - ran 1/2 hour, listening to podcast of Fresh Air. Learned about the fascinating man who wrote a book about growing up in the religious right, stirring up the culture wars on abortion...and then taking it all back: (see link on right in books)
7:15 am - cup of coffee on way to work
10:00 am - 5 Ryvita sesame crackers - like an obsessed crazy person, I was suddenly wracked with hunger all of a sudden...luckily, avoided anything dangerous.
10:30 am - handful of dried cranberries - but belatedly saw on the label they have sugar, bummer.
12:30 am - lunch with Alan Gao, had a chicken wrap, which included bacon, and side salad. Little greasy, not sure it was very healthy...let's see what happens this afternoon...