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4 Books, 10 Episodes, a Musical, a Movie and 1 Trip.

I ought to have mentioned that besides eating some delicious stuff this past weekend it was a culturally infused weekend as well. I finished reading a short story, listened to 2 recorded books, I went to the theater, to the movies and watched an entire season of a TV show.

I finished reading “Diary of a Mad Man” by Nikolai Gogol; it’s a part of a collection of short stories but I don’t think I’ll finish the rest. Gogol was a genius and it’s said that the rest of the colossuses of Russian literature came from under his “Overcoat.” However, it takes a special frame of mind to enjoy his works. One needs to entirely disconnect from the present and step into the world of the sarcastic and surreal.

On my way to the Cape I finished listening to “Death on the Nile” by Agatha Christie and started “Death in Venice” by Thomas Mann which I finished on my way back to NY and started “The Renaissance: a short history” by Paul Johnson. I found it an interesting coincident that both books’ titles start with death and how different they are.

Death on the Nile, allegedly the author’s favorite, was very engaging and unfortunately intuition made me guess who the murderer was in almost the very beginning. Death in Venice, by contrast, was a bit over my head. With a special and exclusive introduction written and read by Michael Cunningham, this book automatically appeared as a highly regarded work of art. Although translated from German, the narrative flows very passionately and creates vivid images. It’s is a very dramatic story. I would say that as much as I enjoyed listening to it, it’s a book to be read as well.

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I got to Joan’s house on Friday, around 8:00pm, and we started watching the first season of “True Blood.” We were immediately hooked. I got up at 8:00am on Saturday and went for an oil change at the dealership and after that to the Cape Cod Nutrition Corner. Regretfully, the service at the dealership and the prices at the nutrition store weren’t as good as I remembered them. I made a solid breakfast upon my return and we continued watching True blood.

Saturday evening we hit Dunkin Donuts for Iced coffee and drove to Boston to see Rent, the musical. I had seen the movie a couple of years ago but wasn’t prepared for the awesomeness of the play. When Tom Collins sang after Angel’s death I was bawling my eyes out. We drove straight home after the play and watch the remaining 2 episodes of True Blood.

Sunday was Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince day; the official reason for my visit to Hyannis this time. I, of course, enjoyed the movie; I’m a fan after all. We got up had coffee and met up with Kate for breakfast. After the movies we hung out for a short while but nowhere near enough, Kate!

4th of July Madness 2009

I was able to complete a 2 week ripped phase under the Muscle Chow plan. Combined with strength training and the previous lean diet I achieved the desired fat loss and muscle retention. I felt good about accomplishing this year’s 4th-of-July-madness objective.

Interestingly, I was stuck at 184lbs for over a month, despite the visible loss of fat. However, when I came back from my vacation on Cape Cod I was 175lbs, meaning that to appear lean I have to be around 175lbs. The good news is that once you get into healthy, lean eating and you see the results it’s not that easy to give it up. While on vacation I consciously broke my diet, I ate pizza, ice cream, fried fish and French fries, cookies and fudge but continued the good stuff too – I snacked on yogurt, whey protein, fruit, and egg whites as well as veggies. Again, the key is not to let yourself get too hungry and never to revert to just the delicious comfort foods, something I did this weekend and feel terribly guilty about.

I let myself go this weekend; I ate chips and dips, crackers and cheeses, desserts etc. The more I snacked on these things the more insatiable I became. Since I was visiting a friend and our general tradition is to indulge in snacks I went overboard. I didn’t eat as much as I used to but was horrified to find out how easy it is to go back to the worst of eating habits.

I don’t regret enjoying some junk food and have a solution for next time. If I stack Joan’s fridge with some yogurt, hardboiled eggs, fruit, nuts and veggies ready to be eaten I’ll be safe. Also, we tend to delude ourselves that we just snaked a little and it wasn’t all that much food – not a good practice!
Ideally, I should eat the pillar meals – breakfast, lunch and dinner – on time and healthy, snack on something healthy if I need and enjoy a little of the delicious but fattening stuff. My point being, it is better for me to have a meal and then eat something bad than to stay hungry and dine on the bad stuff. This also spells better planning and communication.