Four weeks ago, my friend Susan posted in her Facebook group, “The Truth About Exercise”, that she had lost 25 lbs since New Years. While working out had been one of her main focuses, she recently adopted a vegan diet and that catapulted her weight loss.

Up until four weeks ago, I have not been focusing on my diet in this triathlon journey.  I would justify going out to eat and eating what I’d like after finishing 2-3 hr workouts.

After reading Susan’s post, and realizing I had four short weeks until leaving for Kona, I decided to give no meat, and no dairy a try.  And while I was at it, no caffeine either.  A co-worker recommended the book Skinny Bitch,  and after reading it, I was convinced.  Since veggies and fruits have been disproportionately absent from my diet in recent years, I thought over-exaggerating them for at least four weeks wouldn’t hurt.

The first week, I got headaches from the lack of my tea with milk & sugar in the morning. I wanted to prove that I didn’t need to depend on anything to wake up in the morning.  I am in control of my body.

In the past four weeks, we’ve built an amazing vegetable garden in our backyard that my girls enjoy working in every day. Chris built a cedar six foot fence to border it and we’ve already harvested lettuce and fresh broccoli.

My yearbook students have taken notice of my new dietary regime as well. They  threw a surprise vegan luncheon for me, each attempting to bring in appropriate food (the gal who brought in the Oreos must not have gotten the memo).

Here’s what I’ve been eating:

Breakfast:  Organic Oatmeal; Ezekiel English Muffin with Hazelnut Almond Butter

Snack: Banana

Lunch: Black bean soup with tortilla chips; Salad with slivered almonds & sliced avocado; lentils; leftovers from last night’s dinner

Snack: Trail mix; apples with peanut butter; carrots with hummus; guacamole with tortilla chips

Dinner: Veggie burgers; Salads; Pasta; Eggplant Parm with out the Parm; Quinoa Cowboy Chili; Lettuce wraps with water chesnuts, corn, peas & ramen noodles with a splash of orange juice and teriyaki.

No caffeine. No added sugar. No meat. No Dairy.

Results?  Down a total of 23 lbs from when I went to the doctor’s office December 28th.  And I feel great!  I notice my skin has cleared up, and I feel energized to work out each day.

This initially was an experiment – to prove to myself that I could do it. But I don’t see myself stopping now.

Now, I need to expand my vegan recipe repertoire and find more kid-friendly recipes so I’m not always cooking two meals during dinner. Suggestions?

One month until Kona, signifying the half-way point of my CNN Fit Nation journey. What have I accomplished?  What do I still need to tackle?

Successes:

1. I’ve gone from sporadic walking on the treadmill to working out six days a week including three days of two hour + workouts.  I’ve completed my first two 5Ks. I’ve gone from not being able to complete one length of freestyle to being able to breathe every five strokes doing four length of freestyle without stopping.  Our family swims together three days a week.

2. My journalism students traded junk food laden deadline nights for fruit kabobs and salads (mostly).

3. Instead of going home to Buffalo over spring break and enjoying pizza and wings and mom’s chicken paprikash, I joined my sister at the gym for spinning.

4.     I’ve lost 15 lbs.

5. I worked out in Central Park with my students and attended Sanjay Gupta’s book release party in NYC.

Challenges: 

1. I’m scared of my bike and have a lot of practice ahead of me to successfully ride around my neighborhood clipped in. Spinning bikes are not the equivalent of a racing bike. Not even close.
2. I need to get strict with my eating habits. I’ve let myself rationalize my eating choices. “I just worked out for 2.5 hours, of course I can eat whatever I want for dinner.” Our dinners are still rushed, as now we are fitting in two swims during the week and Pilates while juggling Girl Scouts, soccer 3x a week, and piano lessons. I think we eat at Panera at least three times a week, plus we visit Ledos, the local pizzeria, Wednesday nights after swimming because it’s convenient. After watching Sanjay’s 60 Minute segment on how addictive sugar is, I realize I’m way too lenient on what I let my six-year-old girls consume.
3. Round one of wedding dress shopping was a diaster. I didn’t feel good in anything I tried on and couldn’t even tell the consultant what I liked or didn’t like. It ended with tears in the dressing room.  Everyone keeps telling me I MUST find a dress by the end of April or resign myself to “getting one from the rack” at some later date.

What I’m going to accomplish by May 12^th, our departure date for Kona:

 1.    I’m going to learn how to ride my bike.  Not an option – gotta be ready for the 20 mile ride on Queen K Highway.

 2.    I’m going to make vegetables the main focus of lunch and dinner while cutting out red meat, dairy, and sugar as much as possible.  I’m going to meal plan for the week ahead and will eat out no more than once a week.  I’m going to write down what I eat and email it to my trainer. I’m going to get rid of all the sugary, processed foods in our cupboards and only offer my girls healthy snack options.

3.    I’m going to write down each day what I’m grateful for. It’s easy to take this amazing experience for granted, as now it’s a seamless part of my life. I want to savor every last moment of the next six months.

 4.    I’m going to create and design my wedding invites with my girls, and I’m going to mail them before I get on the plane for Kona (early, I know, but the resort has another wedding the night before and will sell out of rooms soon). I’m going to focus on enjoying the process of planning for our wedding weekend rather than worry about superficialities. The dress doesn’t matter. Enjoying the weekend with our family and friends and the process of getting there does.

One month. Four measurable action items.  Totally doable (?).

For the past five years I have spent the second week in March in NYC with my high school journalism students attending the Columbia Scholastic Press Association Convention.  This year, I went up a few hours earlier than my students to attend a CNN reception to celebrate Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s release of his first novel, Monday Mornings.

The highlight of Sanjay’s book release party was when I met his parents.  They were so genuinely happy, smiling in the corner of the room as celebrity after celebrity came up to them congratulating them on their son’s novel. Soledad O’Brien, Ashleigh Banfield, Alina Cho, Dr. Oz.   At one point, Katie Couric tapped Chris and asked him to find the photographer so she could get a picture with them.  They were stars in their own right.  Before we left, I mustered up the courage to go over to them to introduce myself. But before I could, Sanjay’s mother said, “I know who you are.  I’ve seen you on TV with my son,” putting me completely at ease.

Around 7:20, a CNN heavyweight took the mic to thank everyone for coming out and shared that Sanjay has indeed tested at genius level.  Was there ever any doubt? Sanjay came to the microphone to express his gratitude to the room full of celebrities for coming out and to his parents. It was funny to see folks taking out their phones to capture the moment.

We finally got to give our regards to man of the hour and talk to him about his novel, which we both read on our train ride to NYC.  We were the only two schleps who walked in to the reception with two books. As we were walking from 44^th to 38^th to the hotel, we were trying to decide to whom we wanted to have the books dedicated to.  I had decided a signed copy would be the perfect graduation gift to my yearbook editor-in-chief, Keely, as she wants to be a vet and has been a part of my journey from the start. But, we soon realized that signing books was not on the night’s agenda and we hid them on a table in the corner of the room (not to be confused with the six other piles of books around the room free to take).   I would after all, be spending a week with the author in Kona in just over 50 days, so I would have my chance then.

Someone mentioned I should remind Sanjay who I was when I went up to him since he’s been on a media whirlwind promoting his book.  As soon as I got up to him, he said “Adrienne! What are you doing in town?” He then turned to Chris said, “I’ve heard so much about you (referencing our hike down Stone Mountain where I spilled everything from how we met to all the boring wedding details).“ He asked how my training was going and how I was enjoying New York.  I told him how I started crying on the train reading his novel and asked him if any of the characters in it represented him.  He smiled and said no, they were all compilations of people he has encountered over the years.  I smiled and asked if he was sure he wasn’t Ty, the zen-like all-star neurosurgeon.  He smiled and said no.  Chris asked to get a picture with him, and Sanjay obliged, putting me in between him and Chris.  After the picture, I said, “Thank you, Dr. Gupta.” To which he said, “Adrienne – it’s Sanjay.” And with that, it was about ten minutes to eight, so we left.

As we were leaving, we noticed some security personnel in the lobby with secret-service type ear pieces. As we walked out of the hotel, we noticed a black Escalade parked outside, but thought nothing of it. That is until I saw Sanjay tweet later that evening a picture with him and President Bill Clinton! That’s right. One decision to leave led to one missed opportunity to meet a President.  No big deal. I just spent the past two hours in a room filled with journalism royalty – this journalism teacher’s dream come true.

Next up : Lessons from Anderson.

It’s OK to 5k 5K

                                                                                              Total
    Place    Name                                                Bib No  Age   Overall         Time        Pace
       1    Lindsay Parks                                           346   15        7       23:05.40      7:27/M
       2    Rachel Zellman                                          343   16        8       23:05.85      7:27/M
       3    Doan Lavinia                                            347   16       14       24:34.25      7:55/M
       4    Elizabeth Allison                                       332   15       18       25:29.90      8:13/M
       5    Katlyn Permenter                                        303   14       19       26:22.50      8:30/M
       6    Madison Hobson                                          267   14       20       26:22.85      8:30/M
       7    Jenna Hakun                                             264   15       24       28:18.20      9:08/M
       8    Molly Feguson                                           250   16       27       29:17.30      9:27/M
       9    Kaylee Kennedy                                          276   17       28       29:17.40      9:27/M
      10    Annika Lindstrom                                        289   16       29       29:27.30      9:30/M
      11    Madison Fredericks                                      257   15       30       29:27.80      9:30/M
      12    Kaitlyn Hynes                                           274   15       31       29:28.10      9:30/M
      13    Kiana Brown                                             234   16       33       29:48.40      9:37/M
      14    Carly Cummings                                          244   16       34       29:48.80      9:37/M
      15    Alex Brown                                              233   14       36       29:58.90      9:40/M
      16    Kellcey Brady                                           228   17       39       30:49.65      9:56/M
      17    Alaena Gadwill                                          258   17       40       30:51.80      9:57/M
      18    Nicki Pate                                              302   15       41       30:52.90      9:57/M
      19    Bridget Baker                                           215   18       42       30:55.90      9:58/M
      20    Lauren Nisson                                           345   15       44       32:56.45     10:37/M
      21    Janelle Lindstrom                                       290   12       45       33:25.70     10:47/M
      22    Tara Truitt                                             318   16       46       33:36.10     10:50/M
      23    Garlyn Henderson                                        265   14       47       33:40.65     10:52/M
      24    Karly Klem                                              280   15       49       34:19.90     11:04/M
      25    Rebecca Schneider                                       313   15       53       34:51.50     11:15/M
      26    Kylee Collins                                           344   15       54       35:05.15     11:19/M
      27    Nichole Vandenbosse                                     319    0       57       35:23.75     11:25/M
      28    Jordan Brien                                            231   16       62       36:24.05     11:45/M
      29    Brittany Blackistone                                    220   15       63       36:24.70     11:45/M
      30    Brianna Zych                                            328   14       65       37:36.45     12:08/M
      31    Rachel Dillon                                           245   14       66       37:37.50     12:08/M
      32    Rachel Vandernboshe                                     320    0       67       37:45.20     12:11/M
      33    Amanda Holson                                           271   18       68       37:47.30     12:11/M
      34    Majkaelah Knowles                                       283   14       69       37:49.50     12:12/M
      35    Samantha Wood                                           327   14       70       38:01.15     12:16/M
      36    Vallen King                                             278   14       71       38:08.00     12:18/M
      37    Karyn Owens                                             301   18       72       38:18.10     12:21/M
      38    Shaylah Sullivan                                        340   15       74       38:26.10     12:24/M
      39    Jody Figueiras                                          254   15       75       38:31.55     12:25/M
      40    Logan Beyer                                             219   14       78       43:25.90     14:00/M
      41    Lauren Granville                                        259   14       79       43:25.95     14:00/M
      42    Caitriona Knowles                                       282   12       81       47:48.20     15:25/M
      43    Marti Booros                                            227    0       84       50:00.20     16:08/M

                                                                                              Total
    Place    Name                                                Bib No  Age   Overall         Time        Pace
       1    Jonathan Ryder                                          337   17        1       19:22.15      6:15/M
       2    Justin Cerrito                                          338   16        2       19:22.45      6:15/M
       3    Luke Staver                                             209   15        5       21:18.15      6:52/M
       4    Dru A Daubon                                            336   16        6       22:27.50      7:15/M
       5    sam Collins                                             351   17       11       23:27.55      7:34/M
       6    Hayden Treinter                                         341   14       17       25:25.50      8:12/M
       7    Michael Krahling                                        286   18       21       26:40.60      8:36/M
       8    Jack Hillman                                            348   14       22       26:51.85      8:40/M
       9    Jessi Beck                                              216    0       23       27:18.70      8:48/M
      10    Kyle Hurley                                             273   12       25       28:40.00      9:15/M
      11    Quame Holland                                           268   13       26       28:54.10      9:19/M
      12    Zach Staver                                             211   10       51       34:41.25     11:11/M
      13    Michael Drury                                           247   13       82       49:25.55     15:56/M
      14    Tommy Munley                                            299   12       85       52:13.80     16:51/M

                                                                                              Total
    Place    Name                                                Bib No  Age   Overall         Time        Pace
       1    Kimberleigh Booros                                      226   29       15       25:05.00      8:05/M
       2    Jamie Harrell                                           355   21       50       34:26.00     11:06/M
       3    Megan Staver                                            210   19       52       34:42.20     11:12/M

                                                                                              Total
    Place    Name                                                Bib No  Age   Overall         Time        Pace
       1    Josh Dawson                                             212   26        3       19:27.55      6:16/M
       2    Chris Murphy                                            339   23        4       21:12.30      6:50/M
       3    Blaise Canfield                                         236   26       38       30:27.35      9:49/M
       4    Chris Blackistone                                       221   21       60       36:02.55     11:37/M
       5    Charlie Widman                                          323   19       90       55:35.20     17:56/M

                                                                                              Total
    Place    Name                                                Bib No  Age   Overall         Time        Pace
       1    ANGELIQUE LUNDBERG                                      213   37       61       36:21.65     11:44/M
       2    Adrienne LaGier                                         287   32       76       38:33.80     12:26/M
       3    Jessica Lund                                            202   37       89       55:04.60     17:46/M

                                                                                              Total
    Place    Name                                                Bib No  Age   Overall         Time        Pace
       1    Christopher Forgette                                    256   37       32       29:44.25      9:35/M
       2    Tommy Sanders                                           312   39       58       35:44.00     11:32/M
       3    John Saint Amour                                        214   39       77       40:49.85     13:10/M
       4    Mike Dahl                                               352   34       80       43:32.90     14:03/M

                                                                                              Total
    Place    Name                                                Bib No  Age   Overall         Time        Pace
       1    Manon Lindstrom                                         330   45       43       32:31.55     10:29/M
       2    Jen Hillman                                             349   49       48       33:48.50     10:54/M
       3    Robin Drury                                             248   40       55       35:08.05     11:20/M
       4    Kathy Joseph                                            275   48       56       35:10.90     11:21/M
       5    Susan Owens                                             205   45       73       38:19.20     12:22/M
       6    Judy Branson                                            230   43       83       50:00.00     16:08/M
       7    Suzanne Drury                                           249   46       86       52:28.70     16:55/M
       8    Patty Zych                                              329   49       87       52:29.40     16:56/M
       9    Christy Munley                                          298   41       88       53:08.65     17:08/M

                                                                                              Total
    Place    Name                                                Bib No  Age   Overall         Time        Pace
       1    Daniel Lund                                             203   41       10       23:09.40      7:28/M
       2    Wayne Hurley                                            272   44       12       23:29.10      7:35/M
       3    Louis Tomsic                                            334   47       13       24:17.90      7:50/M
       4    Dru Daubon                                              335   44       16       25:12.10      8:08/M

                                                                                              Total
    Place    Name                                                Bib No  Age   Overall         Time        Pace
       1    Janet Moody                                             342   50       37       30:20.90      9:47/M
       2    Susan Allison                                           333   50       59       36:00.50     11:37/M

                                                                                              Total
    Place    Name                                                Bib No  Age   Overall         Time        Pace
       1    Dave Walser                                             207   53        9       23:06.20      7:27/M
       2    Michael Knowles                                         284   51       64       36:38.80     11:49/M
       3    Jeff Drury                                              246   52       91       55:51.55     18:01/M

                                                                                              Total
    Place    Name                                                Bib No  Age   Overall         Time        Pace
       1    George Sisson                                           208   64       35       29:51.70      9:38/M

One of my goals in completing this challenge is to create a new healthy lifestyle for myself, Chris, and the girls. Making exercise a priority is only half of the equation.

The other half is food.

How does this high school teacher/busy mom of busy twins/aspiring triathlete lose weight, resist temptation, and provide healthy meals for the family?

I’ll start by taking some advice from CNN Fit Nation Triathlete alum, Nina Lovel.

While being treated like rock stars in the Hawks suite, I had a chance to chat with Nina about food.  She had brought me a bunch of her workout clothes from last year that no longer fit (thank you Nina!), and walked me through her weight loss journey. She lost 5 lbs right away (and so have I!), but then didn’t lose any for awhile, even with long constant workouts.  Her coach suggested she write down everything she ate, and once they analyzed the results, Nina got shocking news:  She wasn’t eating enough! Her coach told her if she wanted to lose weight, she was going to have to eat! Her body was in shut down mode. She started purposefully eating, and started dropping the pounds.

Nina Lesson #1 ? Don’t be afraid of food – eat intentionally.

Ilana Katz, a nutritionist we met with during Kick Off Weekend, helped me realize that the carbs I’ve told myself for years are off limits (bagels, baked potatoes), can actually be my friend as I begin harder workouts. I need to consciously eat to fuel my workouts. Pick solids over liquids, replenish my salt supply, hydrate.

Ilana and Nina Lesson #2 : Eat every 3 hours

This will help stabilize my blood sugar and not make me want to stop at McDonald’s on the way home from school. Or to make a plate of nachos before the girls get off the bus.  So far, I’ve tried an Ezekiel English Muffins with chocolate almond butter, apple slices with peanut butter, Greek yogurt, and the ultimate snack : a banana. These all seem to help curb my hunger and help me feel healthy and satisfied (and ready to work out!).

Lesson #4: The workout is the reward, not the food.

Friday night of Kick Off Weekend we went to Flip Burger for dinner.  I obsessed over the menu in the week prior to the trip and rationalized that I “deserved” to drink the Liquid Nitrogen Nutella & Burnt Marshmallow Shake as an appetizer with no guilt.  I got to the hotel that night and regretted that shake a lot more than I thought I would. My body just didn’t feel right.  Saturday night, as we walked into the Hawks arena, all I could smell was wings, roasted peanuts, and nachos. I thought for sure that’s what we’d be having in our private suite. When I opened the door and saw a fruit platter, salad, and grilled chicken instead, I had the physical reaction that I can only imagine an addict goes through. All I could think about was chicken wings. Where were they and how could I get them? Thank heavens for Nina.  She doesn’t know it, but she talked me down off the ledge. Clearly, I still need to work on this.  I need to remember how I felt Friday after that shake and remind myself – it’s not worth it.

Lesson #3:  My students won’t hate me if I start bringing in healthy food to deadline nights

The words “Deadline Night” in my journalism room brings about visions of Chinese feasts, McDonalds’ Happy Meals, chips galore, and tons of chocolate. In other words, comfort food.  It’s the extra motivation teenagers need to stick around through the long haul; their “reward” for spending over 13 hrs at school.  Or so I’ve thought.  But after reading CNN Producer Matt Sloane’s comments about why I was chosen, I realize I need to make better choices on the behalf of my students and think twice before I buy a ton of junk food as a “reward” for hard work.   So, on February 23rd, we are having a healthy food centered deadline night, with everyone bringing in their favorite health conscious food.  I’m going to make Kale potato chips and we have big plans for spinach smoothies. Stay tuned.

Lessons Still Need to be Learned…

How to get my girls eating foods other than chicken nuggets, pizza, and cereal while not fighting me on every new food I try to introduce to them.  While walking down Stone Mountain, Dr. Gupta told me his girls eat chicken nuggets too (man did that make me feel better).  I love them for their ease — if we are trying to get out the door to piano lessons and we have 15 min to eat, 2 min in the microwave and we’re done.

Any suggestions on healthier, yet just as fast, alternatives to chicken nuggets?

On Friday January 20, Chris and I got to meet with my awesome amazing triathlon coach, Ron Bowman. This guy is the man.  He’s a chiseled, 62-yr-old Naval Academy alum & NASA retiree, and, oh yeah, has completed 105 triathlons. Chris has already dubbed him “Master Ron” impressed by his Mr. Miyagi swagger. He was sporting his  Maryland State Advisory Council on Physical Fitness fleece vest along with his Ironman shirt but was so down to earth and gracious that I couldn’t help but feel at ease.

He spent two and a half hours figuring out where I was at in each of the three sports, giving me beginner guidelines for my first workouts. The goal right now will be to run/walk three days a week (building up to an hr), bike two days (45 min-1 hr), and swim three days (30-45min), alternating between endurance and speed training. He recommended Joe Friel’s triathlon log to manually record all of my workouts, how many hours of sleep I get, and how I feel before and after each workout. By Saturday, he already emailed me my monthly training schedule which I plan on annotating on my blog as I complete each workout for accountability.

One of the more fascinating parts of our meeting was when he started talking about heart rates. Now, I’ve seen the little “cardio zones” and “fat-burning zones” on exercise equipment in the gym, but that’s about my extent of knowledge regarding heart rates. I’ve learned a little bit more as I continue to read Iron War by Mark Fitzgerald, a book chronicling the 1989 Ironman race between triathlon legends David Scott and Mark Allen.  Mark Allen knew he couldn’t go above 155 or he’d be “burning matches”, or pushing himself beyond his limits, in the race.

Ron shared he takes his resting heart rate each morning before he gets out of bed and records it. If it’s four beats higher than normal, he knows he is getting sick.  How amazing is that?? He shared that athletes like Lance Armstrong and David Scott can get the same accomplished in 34 heartbeats that it takes a normal person more than 60 to do. Makes sense, right? Our heart is seriously the most important muscle in our body. Paying attention to it daily and keeping track of its efficiency can’t hurt.

When I get my heart monitor during Kick Off Weekend in Atlanta in two weeks, I’m going to be all over it. Apparently, once I figure out what my resting heart rate is and I figure out what my maximum heart rate is (through threshold testing), then I”ll be able to calculate my 70-80% heart rate range that I’ll want to shoot for during my workouts.  And one day, I might be as cool as Master Ron and be able to predict when I’m getting sick by my heart rate.

Another one of the questions on the CNN Fit Nation Athlete Questionnaire centered around our fears. I’ve decided to make a list, hoping nearly all of them will be proved to be unfounded by the end of the process.

My set of probably totally irrational fears include …

1) Not looking drastically different after 9 months of training.  I want to lose 60 lbs in this process and hope that my trainer will help me accomplish this. I’ve come across of bunch of triathletes in the past few weeks online who are my size now who only ended up losing 15-20 lbs after all their training. Not gonna be this gal.

2) Riding a bike on Rt 4. Those of you who live in Southern Maryland know that Rt 4 is a serious highway. Commuters drive into DC more than an hour each day and Rt 4 is the only way to get them there. There are mysterious bike lanes in random parts of Rt 4 that disappear and reappear without reason. Where is one to go when the bike lane ends? Merge with 70 mph traffic? I don’t think so.  I grew up in Buffalo, the land of the sidewalks. Whoever was the urban planner in Southern Maryland clearly had not experienced the wondrous functionality of these strips of concrete.

3) Falling off the bike. I had no absolute clue before reading the blogs of last year’s members that bikes actually came WITHOUT PEDALS! What the heck??  Clearly, I know nothing about racing bikes. And supposedly you are clipped in to them? From what I’ve read initially, some have serious wipeouts when they forget to unclip. Poor Kendrick last year had a crash in Kona that required a few stitches.  I have an extreme fear of needles and hope to keep the word injury out of my vocabulary the next nine months.

3) Swimming with fish. Sharks specifically, but really any fish that have teeth. Or sting. Or nibble.

4) Swimming in the Chesapeake Bay. We’ve had a bunch of friends contract strange viruses and infections from just wading into the bay. Maybe a wet suit will help cut down on that possibility… but swimming in murky water frightens me. I live two miles from Long Beach, so it would be a shame for me to not take advantage of the open water swim opportunities in my own backyard.

Okay.. there they are.  I’m sure there are more, but those are the major ones. Time to start proving to myself that there’s nothing to fear except fear itself.

One of our first assignments as part of the Lucky 7 was to fill out an Athlete questionnaire that the CNN folks use, I assume, as baseline info to give to our trainers. One of the questions was, “When can you fit in time to train?” which really made me take a hard look at my daily schedule.  Here’s what I came up with.

5:01 am: Alarm goes off. Juliette’s alarm simultaneously goes off and we head to the bathroom and fight for the shower. Curling hair and putting on make-up ensues.

5:28 am: Turn on computer, check email, Facebook, Twitter, play a quick move on Words with Friends. Eat a bowl of cereal, make breakfast for the girls, make sure they have their homework/folders, make sure their clothes match, that they have their library books, their lunch boxes.

5:45 am: Grab my lunch (usually Greek yogurt & dinner leftovers), make my morning cup of travel Red Rose tea with Splenda and milk, search for my ID & keys.

6 am: Jump in the Matrix and for the 30 minute drive to work, listening to 99.5 and 101.1 along the way.

6:30 am : Arrive at work, fill up my water bottle, write objectives on the board, make copies, turn on my computer and get ready for the day.

7:10 am:  First students start rolling in. My editor-in-chief, Keely, stops in for a morning check in to go over what needs to get accomplished in class today (she’s in charge:). Random students stop by to use the Macs in my room to print out papers for class, to show me a poem they just wrote, or to stash their lunches in my cupboards.

7:25 am: Senior college-level English class begins. Essay writing, sharing, and peer-editing   ensues.

8:10 am: Enter electronic attendance.

8:16 am: Head out to the hallway for hourly hall-duty. Try to sneak in a run to the bathroom.

8:20 am : Yearbook/ InDesign CS 5.5/Photoshop/Photography/Business Management/Group Therapy begins.

9:06 am: More hall duty

9:10 am: Second batch of seniors roll in. Daily battle with senioritis begins.

10:05 am: Planning period : aka time to eat my lunch, grade 100 essays, and plan for the day (or periods) ahead.

10:50 am: One hour lunch begins. My room turns into a lunchroom to 25 + students occupying all of the computers and desks in my room. Some days it’s spent watching the latest YouTube video sensation, some days the 30+ junior class council members come in to plan fundraisers and prom, some days I’m off to a department meeting. Hall passes written = 10-20.

11:46 am More hall duty

11:50 am: Capturing the lives of 1600 students through copy, pictures, and design.

12:45 pm: 26 eager freshmen honor students arrive. Teach MLA documentation, parenthetical referencing, Shakespeare.

1:40 pm: 27 more freshmen to end the day with. Fun with SAT vocabulary, Holocaust literature, and Poetry Out Loud.

2:40 pm: Begin the 30 min drive home or stay to work on yearbook deadlines.

3:15- 4 pm: Try to get in errands like heading to the grocery store, the post office, the bank & a fill at the nail salon every now and again. Come home starved, somedays downing multigrain tostidos and guacamole (okay somedays like today).

4:05 pm: Get the girls off the bus.  Hear who got on yellow that day, the latest about their teachers, and how hungry they are.

4:30 pm: on Mondays – head to Piano lessons

5- 8 pm: Figure out what to make for dinner, help with homework, head to swim lessons, girl scouts, or soccer. Nightly game of family dominoes.

8-9 pm: Grade papers, feel guilty about how not clean the house is, ponder on where the heck all that laundry came from.

9:30 pm: Head to bed.

Notice there is no mention of exercising in the above scenario.  Time to change that. As I await word on who my trainer will be, the CNN Athletic director, April, told all of us to focus on our food habits — to work on “rotating in good eating habits and replacing some of the bad.” Where to begin??