Another Opportunity Discovered

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I started parking in a new garage this week now that I have an ID badge. With the new garage comes new challenges. It's layout is not as user friendly as the other garage that I was parking in. This new one has a lot of twists and turns and sidestreets etc. It's almost like driving in Boston, but without all the traffic. The first day I parked in this new garage, it took me about 10 minutes to figure out how to get out. I kept going around and around the same spots over and over again. It was really annoying. And then yesterday morning, I got really excited because I got a great parking spot right by the elevator and on a direct route to the garage exit. I was in fatman heaven. I walked through the door from the garage to the elevator only to realize that I was walking right into the staircase entrance. Not wanting to look confused and out of place, to the person behind me, I decided to take the stairs up to the first floor. And it turned out to be a pretty easy walk up. So now that I know where those stairs are, I'm going to take them every morning to the main floor instead of the elevator. This now makes two elevator rides that I've been able to eliminate from my life. I think the parking garage at the movie theater will be next. No deadline has been set for coffee though. I'm still working on that one.

Softball Success

So last night was my second game with my new softball team/co-workers and it was a lot better than the last game we played. We took an early lead after the first inning and then slumped for a bit but then rallied to score 8 runs in one inning. Ultimately defeating our opponents 15-10. It was a great game. Especially since we won. And yours truly went 3 for 3 with two runs scored and an RBI so that was cool. I got to do a lot of running as you can tell. And like last game, I walked to and from the field in order to get a bit more exercise in. So all told it was a pretty great way to get a workout in.

I'm still continuing to eat better as well. Yesterday started with two cups of light yogurt and a 1/4 cup of almonds. For lunch I had a sandwich with light turkey and some light Laughing Cow cheese. I can't believe they still make that stuff. Takes me back to my childhood. I used to eat that cheese like it was going out of style. If only I knew then that it wasn't going away, I would have saved myself from some serious cheese comas. Oh well. You live, you learn. Mid-day snack was another green apple and light string cheese. And for dinner we had rotisserie chicken and broccoli. So not a bad way to end the day if you ask me. But then again, I've always loved broccoli. It looks like mini trees and makes me feel like a giant.

Ho Ho Ho Green Giant.

A New ID Badge By Way of New York

Finally got my new ID badge at work so now I'm all official. The best part is I got to take a nice leisurely stroll down a busy New York street to get to the office where the badges are handed out. Can't really ask for a better way to spend a Monday than that. Okay so I wasn't actually in New York City. For those of you who have never been to LA and done a studio tour, let me fill you in on a little Hollywood secret. Every lot has a section that they call New York street. It's exactly that, a street that looks like a non-descript section of New York City or Chicago or Boston etc. And they use it to save money on traveling back east and shooting on location. You'd be surprised how many times you've watched a show in NYC that was actually shot right here in LA. The most recent one I think of is Heroes. They shot pretty much all of their New York scenes either on a lot or in downtown LA. Tadaaa! Magic. Anyways, the ID badge office was on the other side of our New York street and they were busy getting it ready to shoot some scenes from a primetime television show. So me being the production junky that I am, I had a great time just watching them put the whole thing together. So much so that I got lost and couldn't figure out where the heck the building I was looking for was. So I made a lot of circles around various parts of the lot. Which was actually cool because I got to see of lot of it. No pun intended. Plus it helped get my step count up which is cool. Yesterday I ended up doing about 7400 steps. Which is roughly 4 miles according to my counter. So that was cool. I can't think of a better way to get exercise than to take a stroll through New York City. Can you?

Not Much To Report

So as the title says, I don't have a lot to write about today. The only new thing is that I started wearing this little step counter/calorie counter/lots of other stuff device that my parents sent me. I've been avoiding for awhile now for no particular reason. It just didn't seem like something I would do. I tested it out and it seems like it's accurate in counting my steps. It takes me apparently about 550 steps to get from my car to my workstation if I take the stairs. And yesterday I did 3400 steps. I know it's not a lot, but it's not terrible considering I have a sedentary job.

As far as food goes I had cereal again in the morning for breakfast. I'm really trying to polish it off. I had two handfuls or so of carrots for a morning snack. For lunch I finished the cabbage stir fry which was about a cup's worth of food. So to finish lunch I had a cup of vegetable and Italian sausage soup. It was really good. It came from one of the work commissaries. Afternoon snack was a green apple and two things of light string cheese. And for dinner we had turkey burgers with extra lean turkey patties, onions, tomatoes, light provolone cheese, roasted peppers, and a little avocado. Instead of a bun we used lettuce leaves. It was really good. I enjoyed that a lot.

Well that's about it. First week of the new job wraps up today. Which is cool. I'm looking forward to the weekend.

Softball, Soreness and More

So Wednesday night was my first softball game with my new team. It felt great to be out there playing again. It's a lot of fun. Even if your team doesn't win, which we didn't. But that's okay. I still got a chance to go out there and run around and sweat a lot. I don't know if that was from playing softball or because it was muggy out. Probably a good combination of both. The field where we play is about a half mile from my apartment, so to increase my workout, I drove home after work and got changed for the game and then walked to the field and back. Not only did I get an extra mile of walking in, I also didn't have to do deal with the crappy parking at the park. So it was a win win despite the loss. As for yours truly, I went 2 for 2 both base hits and I scored twice. So I did get a lot of running in. I sort of pulled my groin a bit when my foot slipped stopping at 3rd. So that made me a bit sore. But other than that I'm good.

I also started implementing my stair taking regimen. Granted I don't leave my workstation much and if I do, it's not to go downstairs. But when I am down there, I take the stairs up and down. Just another little thing I can do to help myself out.

As far as food goes, I had a small bowl of cheerios for breakfast with nonfat milk. Again, I'm just trying to finish some stuff off rather than throw it away. For lunch I had a make it yourself salad from one of our great commissaries here. It was a mix of spring greens and spinach with carrots, cucumbers, mushrooms, red onions, roasted peppers & zucchinis, chicken and a hardboiled egg. I made the salad a little big and made part of it my afternoon snack as well. For dinner we had rotisserie chicken from the market and some broccoli. So far so good. I'm looking forward to wrapping up my first project and week at the new job. My goal for next week will be to start getting myself back into the gym after work. Slowly, but surely.

Second Day of Work, But No Workout

So Tuesday was day 2 of the new job. Everything is going well. I feel like I'm starting to settle in a bit more. I'm still missing a phone at my workstation. It's not a desk. Desks are for desk jockeys and management. Editors have workstations. Like I said before, everyone here seems really cool. I'm still adjusting to the whole having to get up in the morning thing. Even when I was working at my other job, I didn't have to be in until 4, so this is going to take me some time to physically adjust. That being said, I didn't make it to the gym yesterday after work. I just didn't have it in me. There is a gym on the lot here somewhere, but I've heard it's impossible to get in. My other option is to come in a little later and do my workout in the morning before work. So that's a possibility. But I do get a chance to walk around a lot because my building is huge and I have a bit of a stroll to get from the garage to my work station. I'm also going to start taking the stairs instead of the elevator. I figure since I'm only on the 3rd floor, it's the least I could do.

As far as food goes, I'm still keeping it going. For breakfast I had two cups of yogurt, a quarter cup of raw almonds and a banana. For lunch I had some more cabbage stir fry leftovers and a Diet Coke. And for dinner we had pork chops with low salt worcestershire sauce, peppers, onions and grilled (well frozen) eggplant and zucchini and a glass of orange juice. The juice was partly because I was jonesing for it and part to finish it off. I have been drinking some coffee too throughout the day as well. The paper cup I have is small, so the whole total of coffee is probably about two and a half mugs full. So not too bad. I am going to try to wean myself off as soon as I get more used to getting up in the morning. I hope I don't turn into a morning person.

JUNE-NE+LY=A Better Month!

So I know it's been forever since I've posted something. Once again, I'm sorry to all you Chubby Chasers (which is what I've decided to call my fans) out there that check this blog regularly hoping for something new.

I've been working out regularly- working on getting in shape as opposed to training for time. However, I did do a run/walk day for the heck of it to see if I could do it. And low and behold, I was able to do a run/walk like I hadn't stopped. It really made me happy to know that I could still do it. In fact, I went back two days later and did it again to prove it wasn't a fluke. And again I was able to do it no problem. It's great to know that while I may not be as slim as I'd like to be right now, my cardiovascular health seems to be improving.

In an effort to help get myself in shape, I'm starting to focus a lot more on food. Not just the quantity of calories that I eat, but what calories I'm eating. This new plan started officially this weekend. I'm not at 100% just yet because I'm opposed to throwing out all the food in my kitchen, but I'm at 75% right now. That being said, I'm going to start talking more about my food intake during this and future blogs. So today started out with an egg white scramble with spinach, bell peppers, onions, mushrooms and a sprinkling of light cheddar cheese and a slice of dry whole wheat toast. I have the pre-made egg whites and the peppers and onions are frozen. That helped cut my cooking time down greatly. All told, it took me about 10 minutes to make everything for my wife and I. For lunch, I had leftover stir-fry from last night. It's a cabbage, bean sprouts, carrots, onions and extra lean ground turkey stir-fry. Typically my wife uses it to make eggrolls, but we cut the eggroll wrap and the frying. For a mid-day snack, I had a green apple and 2 light string cheeses. For dinner, we're having turkey bolognese, but served over broccoli instead of pasta. So as you can see it's a relatively low carb menu, but it's not carb-less and it's not as few as South Beach either. It's fairly similar to what I was eating during Passover, except the toast. So I'll keep you all posted and let you know how week one goes.

And speaking of new beginnings, I finally got a job! I know- I probably buried my lead. Anyway, for those of you who haven't heard yet, I got a new editing/shooting/sometimes producing/whatever else they need me to do type position. I'm really excited about the new job. It really sounds like a great opportunity to expand my skills and the people all seem really cool. And they have a softball team like my old job! My first game will be Wednesday night. I'll have a full report on how that goes after the game.

I'm sorry this post is sooooo long, but it has been awhile since I've written so there was a lot to catch up on and so much has happened since my last post. I have to say that it really feels like things are looking up and I'm really pulling myself out of the June Gloom I was in before. Let's hope the rest of the month goes really well and I believe it will. August can only be even better.

Hit me up with comments about how you're all doing and suggestions for nicknames for all you readers out there.

Back in LA

So I haven't written anything for a while now and that's mostly because I've been out of town a lot since my last post. And the person I was staying with while I was up in Oregon does not have internet access. I know, weird right? Who doesn't have internet these days. So I was back in the gym yesterday after a bit of a hiatus while I was out of town. As usual it was hard to get myself motivated to go, but my wife was going so naturally I joined her. I hopped right onto the elliptical and did a brisk half hour. It felt great to be working out again. Plus I was glad that I was able to just jump right in and do my normal workout without having to hold back at all. The only thing that sucked was that I was in the back of the gym where the airflow is the worst, so the whole workout felt like I was doing cardio inside a steam room. It was hot as hell back there. But I got through it just the same. Does anyone that reads this ever do spinning? I'm curious about trying it, but it just sounds like a lot of crappy music and verbal abuse from where I am in the gym.

On a side note, I actually had a second workout yesterday as well. I played a quick 9 holes of par 3 golf with my buddy since it was his day off. And shot my best round to date, a 36 and had my first ever legit birdie. So that was really cool. Don't worry I still spent the majority of my day looking around for work and talking to friends that are working. Looks like there may be a few opportunities that are coming up in the near future. I'll keep you all posted.