Sharing is Caring

Just wanted to share a new addition to the blogroll...Seth Weinstein at SethWeinstein.com. He's a friend of mine whom I live vicariously through when it comes to travel. I have to say that his Travel Logs are some of my favorite things to read, and make me feel that I was there right along side him on his travels.

This weekend is the Maestro's BBQ Bday Party...we'll be grillin' and soakin' in the sun with 50 of our closest friends...lol...it'll be lovely, AND I get to show off our "new" apartment.

Have a great weekend!
-Bex

Skinny Jeans

Woohoo, I broke through another barrier, I'm almost at the 20 lbs. lost mark...AND I got into my skinny jeans (skinny as in smaller size, not as in narrow legged...blech). How'd I do it? Perseverance my friends, per -se-ver-ance! Was I perfect this whole time?...NO...but I made good choices MOST of the time and got my @$$ to the gym on a regular basis. I think having the Women's Health Challenge keeping me accountable for my work-outs has helped. I also LOVE the pedometer feature on my little cell phone...it really makes me go for those 10 thousand steps a day, such a fun daily challenge.

In NaFOS Transformation Challenge news: Several people on the NaFOS Plan are doing really great! One of our participants has lost 30 lbs. in the past 2 months, and has a new love for yoga...WOW! And another participant has also lost close to 20 lbs. and she too has gotten into the Yoga trend. I have to say our yoga instructor Kristen has been amazing with our singers...YAY Kristen!!! I also have to give kudos to my girls who are going slow and steady with their progress, and have found a new love for the gym and working-out...this will truly help them to keep it off in the long run. As we all know, slow and steady wins the race!

Have a great day!
-Bex

Moving and Shaking

Ahhhh, the Memorial Day Weekend....a very productive weekend indeed. I personally love to use long weekends as an excuse to either get away, OR for getting things done around the house. I chose the latter this weekend and we accomplished much. With the help of the Maestro, my Cousin Philip, and my girl Chelle, we renovated our apartment. The renovations included taking everything out of storage, and the off-set rooms and doing a large purge of the situation. Once things were purged, we painted the areas that desperately needed it and then moved and reorganized all the rooms by rearranging furniture, books, appliances, etc. Once that was done (which took most of the 3 days) we did the little things like replacing light fixtures and bulbs, new batteries in smoke alarms and remotes, grooming the plants, and we even added a new toilet seat to the mix (so nice, new, and stain resistant!)

It feels so good to have everything done (ok, not everything...I want to go through all my kitchen utensils and dishes and purge as well), but it does feel like we live in a new place. How very calming it is to have everything in its place and how peaceful it is to have our space open and usable...I'm a happy person. I'm also a sore person...this was such a physical undertaking that I definitely know I got a good work-out from all the hard work...Mopping alone was quite the task, so you can only imagine how I feel after all the cleaning, purging, painting, etc....whew, I'm beat.

Overall a good and productive weekend...Next weekend...PARTY!!!

Breaking Through

It seems that I've finally broken through my latest plateau! My girl KS is this week's Guerilla Cardio buddy, and I'm incorporating my first solo weight training session back into my routine. It's been awhile since I've hit the weights solo, without a dvd, or trainer guiding me through a workout and I feel a little lost as to where to begin. So I shall revisit my old work-out logs, and surf the Internet before I hit the gym. I want to go with a plan so that there's no procrastination and no excuses (hey, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail). Feel free to hit me up with your comments if you have a great weight training program that I can do in 30-45 minute sets. I'm thinking different muscle groups on different days? Like lower body & Abs? Chest, Back & Biceps? Please do share.

I remember the intimidation my very first time at the gym...feeling soooo lost when it came to weight machines and free weights. I was completely clueless. Luckily I had lovely friends that did have experience and that were happy to start guiding me along on my quest. Then I did the Body-for-Life thing, and that just increased my knowledge with exercise. And now I find myself back to where I began...ok, not really. I know how to weight train, I know proper form and I know what my limit is...I just have to start slow and work my way back to a regular practice.

On the singing front, I sang my audition for Dicapo Opera yesterday afternoon, and I felt it went really well. I have satisfaction that I sang a successful audition and I'm satisfied with that...getting roles for next season would just be icing on the cake. The General Manager even commented on my vocal growth since last year...awesome! So things are going swimmingly in that department.

As for NaFOS The Transformation, its now time to get the participants on the road of serious fitness, now that their eating seems to be on a good path. We're finishing up our proposal for gym sponsorship and I need to do everything in my power to make sure our participants are working out at least 3 times a week. I really want to help them in their journey...so now I need to make some calls and set up this week's fitness classes.

Have a great day!

-Bex

Getting it Together

Allergies are soooo kicking my butt. I've got major drainage and a sore throat from it. My throat was so irritated last night, that I kept waking up every hour throughout the night...ugh...I really hate that. I'm not too tired today, but I do have a long day ahead of me and may make some homemade ginger tea to help soothe the throat and open up the sinuses....I'll have to settle for sugar-free Ricola until then.

I received two new Jillian Michael's DVDs (Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism and No More Trouble Zones) in the mail yesterday and I'm pumped about trying them out. We'll see how these new DVD's stack up to my favorite The 30 Day Shred...they received higher ratings on Amazon.com than my lovely Shred, and they're 30 minutes longer in the duration...so who knows, I may end up a pile of mush afterwards (which I love). I won't be able to try them until next week, but I'll let you know how it goes.

I also received two new cookbooks in the mail Hungry Girl: Recipes & Survival Strategies for Guilt Free Eating (whew) and Hungry Girl: 200 Under 200. I'm interested about adding these into my ever-growing archive of recipes and regularly usable foods. I already use and love her spinach artichoke dip recipe (which I used to make stuffed mushrooms) and adore the Kale Chips...I can't wait what else she has instore for me in her bag of tricks. Yay Hungry Girl!...and she also has a great site to check out.

Also, after this weekend is over, I should be able to cook more regular meals instead of relying on string cheese, nuts, yogurt, eggs and salad...I've gotta get more foods into my diet, and thankfully I've got more time to do that very soon. Plus the Maestro needs prepared food so he can eat well during his 12 hour work days.

Last night I began the reorganization plan for my apartment. I totally emptied my bedroom of clothing and started making "donate" and "keep" piles. Once that's organized then I will do the same to books, shoes, jewelry and other miscellaneous things such as paperwork (big undertaking.) I am such a pack rat and have got to learn to let go. I'm also on the hunt for a cheap wardrobe/closet to utilize in my bedroom, and a tall cabinet with a door for the hall to keep linens and towels in. This should open up closet space even more and make for a more functional home. I'm tired of putting linens and towels in suitcases and boxes under the bed...I need to get to them easily for usage...and so does everyone else in the apartment. I plan to have the sorting of all things done by this weekend, and then the rest of the reorganization completed by the end of May. I think that's a reasonable goal.

Other than that, I submitted my first NaFOS article to MizFit Magazine...I hope Miz has a successful launch, she deserves it.

Have a great day!

-Bex

The Crazy Life of an Opera Singer

Yep, the crazy life of an Opera Singer / Artistic Director / Producer / Program Director / Hair & Make-up Mistress / Health & Fitness Advocate / Administrative Assistant / Student / Girlfriend / Friend / all around well-rounded Human being? I have found that I currently wear many hats and juggle many things. No wonder I'm exhausted most of the time, and find other things in my life suffering due to my other priorities. For example my home is a complete wreck, I can hardly remember to water the plants much less keep an open and immaculate apartment. You've surely heard " cluttered home, cluttered mind" but which came first the chicken or the egg? On top of the clutter, is the lack of space that NYC apartments have. YOU come to NYC and try downsizing from Texas-sized living to teeny tiny New York apartment...ugh...and I've been here for 8 years already! I keep getting rid of stuff but somehow it's never enough and there's never enough space. I need help clearing the clutter...I need to reorganize...I need my home to be an oasis that I can escape to, not from! But you know me; I have a plan. Yep...a reorganization plan. Once my last gig at Dicapo is up after this weekend, I'm going to redo the apartment. I'm going to Spring clean like there's no tomorrow. I'm going to rearrange furniture, purchase extra storage (i.e. a closet/wardrobe), and purge all unnecessary articles of clothing (and gulp...shoes), books, furniture, etc. That should do it! My main objective in this is to have some good open space at home so that every time I want to work-out I don't have to move the sofa (Yeah, we actually, physically move the couch in order to work-out...hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.) I think the rest of my life will be a little less stressed if my home life is in better order.

As for NaFOS: The Challenge, my singers are doing very well and we have a great bunch of participants that are ready to be physically challenged now that they're getting their eating under control. I can't wait for you to check out our article in the new MizFit Magazine that launches soon.

On the opera singer front: I've been studying with a new voice teacher, famed soprano Diana Soviero. She's the real thing folks...I've been making such wonderful progress in a few short months and I can't wait to see where I am in a year. Not only is she an amazing teacher, but she's also an amazing human being...how did I get so lucky? I honestly have my friend Kristin to thank for that, she's the one that originally introduced me to her (and honestly, the way my friend Kristin sings is the reason I wanted to study with Ms. Soviero...Kristin's voice is amazing, one of the most beautiful instruments of our time if you ask me, and given enough time, she'll be a household name within the next five years). I'm also getting ready for my upcoming Audition for Dicapo Opera's 2009-2010 season next week and I'm very excited. It promises to be an amazing season with my favorite Tobias Picker Opera "Emmeline" on the roster, and two of my other favorite opera's "Rigoletto" and "Madama Butterfly" to play next year as well. I would be thrilled if I got a role in those operas (oh how I long to play Sophie & Gilda), but they're doing some new and unknown pieces as well this coming season that would be cool to participate in. I just hope I can show my new vocal growth in my auditions (surprise, Bex is not just a little coloratura anymore). Dicapo's the only C house in NYC and City Opera has been having some questionable problems opening back up, so needless to say, competition is stiff for the jobs at Dicapo.

On the Not a Fat side of this blog, I have been pretty good about my fitness and nutrition, and have just joined The Women's Challenge (see the link on the right side of this blog.) Thanks to MizFit, I've got a new 8 week challenge in which to work on certain areas in my life, I even joined her Team MizFit so that she can harrang me about keeping up wid'it.

Alright, I'm totally typed out, but please feel free to visit MizFitOnline.com to find out about the challenge if you are so inclined.

Have a great day!
-Bex