Day 34

Well today was quite turbulent. Among losing my cell phone and being up at the crack of dawn to study for a test, It was needless to say difficult to follow my plan today. But thats okay, day 35 is tommorrow and I think its gonna be perfect. My left side is still giving me some problems after my upper body workout on tuesday. If the aches and pains dont go away by the weekend, ill be sure to have a doc check me out. Here's what I had today:

1. Chicken Breast
2. 2 pieces of wheat toast
3. several graham cracker sheets
4. spinich and mushroom salad
5. turkey wrap w/lettuce, tomato and cream cheese (ouch)
6. 1 orange
7. 1 granola bar
8. orange juice
9. water

No excersize today, still re-couping from my workout on tuesday. I need to go a bit slower I think, I really pushed myself on tuesday.

Day 33

Today I had a busy day so I needed to plan ahead with my meals. Here's what I packed for my meals;

1. Bannana
2. NonFat Yoplait Yogurt
3. 2 Apples
4. Carrots
5. Turkey Sandwich on Wheat w/Lettuce
6. 3 Graham Cracker Sheets
For my main meal I had:
Chicken Sandwich on pita bread w/lettuce and tomato
I had a small amount of reg. chicken w/skin
7. Kashi Granola Bar
8. Water
9. Orange Juice

No excersize today, still re-couping from the weight training that has left me burned out a bit (OUCH!)

Tommorrow, I have an exam in the morning, followed by music history, followed by lots of practicing, followed by my lesson
So Ill have to work out in the evening when I return to campus.

What a month of music this has been. After the monk competition, things have just been getting better. Last night, I sat in at guitar night with Pisano in the tribute to Ted Greene. What a great night of guitar playing, such a fun hang. Then tomorrow, its John Clayton w/Frank Potenza and the friday, Jim Hall w/ Scott Colley! But it doesn't end there, cause on Wednesday of next week, Im participating in a clinic with Terence Blanchard in ASI. Then thursday, its big band, and friday, guitar quartet performance and then Ramsey Lewis! Holy Cow! Be sure to check my website for more information.

Day 32

Today, I had a great day of meal planning coupled with new excersize. This really begins the next phase in my training:

1. Orange
2. Graham Crackers
3. Orange Juice
4. Low Fat Cottage Cheese
5. Non Fat Yoplait Yogurt
6. Turkey Sandwich on Wheat w/Lettuce
7. Apple
8. 2 Kashi Granola Bars
9. 2 rice cakes with peanut butter
10. Swordfish w/aparagus, carrot, and steamed spinich w/three mini baked potatoes
11. 1 ice tea
12. 2 16oz glasses of sprite
13. Lots of water

Excersize: Weights, upper body, dumbell press, incline, seated and standing. Weight from 12.5-30lbs. 50 reps each, 45 minutes

Im going to be very sore in the morning

Day 31

Today I wrapped up my first month of wellness. Today, I had a very hearty portion of food, not too much though, and unfortunetly due to lightning, the pool was closed early so I couldn't finish my laps.

1. Nutri Grain Bar
2. Apple
3. 6 california rolls (sushi)
4. cabbage
5. miso soup
6. pineapple chicken
7. white rice
8. steamed vegitables

I wish they had offered brown instead of white rice at cafe 84, but I still think it was a good choice. Tommorrow, im going grocery shopping in the morning and I am going to pack two meals for me in the afternoon.

Excersize: 400 meters swimming (the pool was shut down due to thunder, I had intended on getting to 1500 meters)

Day 30

What a way to celebrate my month of wellness than to get a book about wellness! I just purchased "Body for Life" by Bill Philips, and wow, what a great text for people like me who are on a crusade to change things. Here we go!

I haven't nearly been talking about music enough on my blog, so here it goes! Man this record I just checked out, Bill Frisell and Petra Haden is wonderful! Petra has such a great voice, and Bill has such an incredible vibe. For those of you who are looking for new vibe inspiration, then check out this great recording! Their rendition of "Ive got a crush on you" is marvelous.

As for my food choices here's what I had today:

1. Nutri Grain Bar
2. Nature Valley Graham Crackers
3. Odwalla Protein Bar (chocolate peanut butter)
4. Apple
5. Plain Bagel
6. chicken caesar salad
7. 3 dinner rolls
8. water water water

Excersize: 1500 meter freestyle swim

Day 29

Wow! Yet another great night of music with the Pat Metheny Trio! Maaaan, september is the month of my life for good music!

Here's what I had today:

1. foot long turkey sub on wheat w/lettuce, tomato, pickle and mustard
2. cheese and crackers
3. fruit
4. 4 jumbo shrimp
5. 2 crab legs
6. 4 crab cakes
7. way to many peanuts
8. sprite, lemonade, and water

well I guess the soda thing I have taken a big gauge into, but whatever. Ill be back on it tommorrow. Unfortunetly I didn't excersize today, but Im preparing for a week of workout mayhem starting tommorrow. We'll see how this goes!

Day 28

Today I was tired from the week, and my food choices reflected. Not the food itself, but the fact I ate only twice I think really hurt me.

1. Chicken Breast
2. Salad w/spinich, mushroom, bleu cheese
3. odwalla protein bar
4. arroz con pollo (I figured when I ordered it that it would be just chicken and rice but it came with all this saucy stuff Im sure I shouldn't have had)
5. lots of water
6. bagel
7. lemon poppy seed muffin

I really need to go grocery shopping so I can start cooking for myself.

Excersize: 1500 meters freestyle swimming

This next week I am going to try 5 days swimming and three of those days doing another cardio workout in the same day like biking or walking. We'll see if I have time.

Day 27- update!

Well I have been off of my blog for a few days because of my travels to Washington DC for the Monk Institute Guitar Competition. Wow! What a fun time I had! The parites were ridiculous at the hotel and some of the attendees were Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, George Benson, Pat Martino, Chris Potter, and the list goes on! While I may have broken my diet for a few days, it was most definetly worth it. Even though I didn't win the competition it was such a blast to go and participate. So here I go again with my diet and excersize! Now that I am done preparing for the competition, I think I am going to start lifting again. I want to star slow and work my way up. Today, Ill go swimming. Im still around my ideal weight for being 27 days into this adventure. Hopefully by the 40th day Ill be really on target and back to speed! Ill be sure to add a post tonight on my food choices for the day.

Day 19

1. Bagel Sandwich w/cheese, tomato, scrambled egg
2. turkey sandwich w/lettuce, tomato, mustard
3. fruit salad
4. chicken w/lemon, rice, and steamed vegitables
5. Carrots, Celery, Zuccinni, et al
6. lemonade
7. water

excersize: 11.5 miles

I may be off from my blogging until next week, but ill still try to keep track of what I eat. Here we go Monk!!

Day 18

1. Cobb Salad
2. Banana Berry Jamba Juice
3. Chicken Sandwich w/lettuce and tomato

exercise: 11.5 miles biking

I gotta do better than that. Today I relalized I have to do what I have done so far 5 and 1/2 times more if I want to get to my goal. Oh well, there's plenty of time to get there I guess.

Day 17

1. 2 Egg Beaters, scrambled (lower cholesterol eggs)
2. 1 apple
3. foot long turkey sub @ subway on wheat w/american cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, mustard
4. lemonade
5. lots of water

I was tempted to get a 6" sandwich but i figured it would be my lunch and dinner because i had class late this evening. I really want to get down the 5 meal a day thing but right now its just a bit hectic for me to do that. i guess I could have done with out the cheese on my sandwich but I felt like I needed the fat in my diet. The lemonade was only 5 calories so that was a pretty good choice.

excersize: biked 11 miles (i kept the machine on avg 100 RPM w/ avg speed of 22 MPH!) yeah, i was cookin'

I want to get back into the swimming thing, but Im trying to take it easy on my right ear right now which is giving me some trouble.

ONLY 3 Days before I leave for DC!!!!

Day 16

1. 2 scrambled eggs
2. chicken sandwich w/tomato and lettuce
3. ceasar salad
4. graham crackers
5. water crackers
6. lots of water

excersize: biked 11 miles

I should probably be eating more with this kind of exersize so ill try to be aware of that tommorrow.

Day 15

1. Egg white omlette w/chicken and mushrooms
2. banana, apple, strawberry, blueberry fruit salad
3. 3 pieces of wheat toast
4. 1 chicken breast
5. rice
6. steamed vegitables
7. one lemonade
8. lots of water

excersize: bike 10.5 miles

I think I have really proven to myself that I can commit to having good health. So long as I count every day after another and keep working toward more challenging excersize goals, I think I can hit my target. While it may be several months out, I know that I can make it so long as I keep my eyes on the prize.

With the monk competition coming up this next weekend, I have been trying get ready by practicing and thinking about the performance. It sure is going to be fun to get to play with Chris Potter!

Im going to try and update my blog with the CD of the week soon, sorry I got off track with that one.

Day 14

Today I hit rock bottom. Here's what I had

1. Chicken w/Artichokes
2. French Bread - 2 pieces
3. side of penne pasta w/marinara
4. 2 turkey sandwiches w/focaccia bread
5. 1 1/2 chocolate chip cookies
6. a few potato chips
7. half a can of Bargs root beer

Excersize: 1150 meters swimming (i got out of the pool cause there was this cute girl who wanted to use my single lane)

Well life goes on and so will my diet and excersize. Here's to me being human!!

Day 13

I had a bit more fat in my diet today, but a very small portion:

1. bagel sandwich w/cheddar cheese, bacon, scrambled egg
2. graham crackers
3. spinich salad w/iceburg lettuce, mushroom and bleu cheese
4. 1 chicken breast
5. water

I needed the protien this morning, it was tough to get to my American History discussion section, so i figured I should get something quick like this breakfast sandwich. While it was high in carbs and fat, I think the protein it gave me justified me getting it. Im not eating very much right now, and surprisingly Im not that hungry.

Excersize: 1250 meters

I am now totally out of the fins, and I am getting closer to being able to do freestyle 25 laps. Now, I just need to work on my breathing and my consistancy. My goal is to do at least 2000 in one session sometime during this year. I just don't want to push it too much so im going to slowly work my way up to it.

Well things are sure crazy for me right now, with the Monk competition a week away im starting to get very excited about the prospect of actually going. With this diet being my 24 hour task as well as school, it has been tough to get everything done. But Its all going to work out im sure. Ill keep you posted.

Day 12

1. 2 scrambled eggs
2. nutri grain bar
3. turkey sandwich
4. some watermelon, cantelope, strawberry, and blueberries
5. ceasar salad
6. half of some shrimp fettachini

excersize: 1250 meters of swimming

and the beat goes on . . .

Day 11

Today I started to realze that eating frequently is tough. And do you count eating a snack as a meal? Like one nutri-grain bar? Its a tough decsion. I had a "lunch" today, but no dinner. Im not really hungry, but I wish I could be eating more regular amounts more frequently throughout the day. Regardless, I am eating healthier and it is showing! Here's what I had today:

1. 3 Nutri-grain bars
2. several water crackers
3. 8 sushi rolls
4. side salad
5. miso soup
6. water

my exersize:

1500 meters swimming. Ill go for 2000 tommorrow. We'll see!

Day 10

Today I was back on track:

1. 3 nutrigrain bars
2. 3 water crackers
3. spinich salad w/bleu cheese, mushrooms, carrots
4. 1 chicken breast
5. half a taco salad- rice, beans, chicken, lettuce, tomato, salsa, guacamole, a couple little bites of the taco shell
6. lots of water

excersize: 1250 meters of swimming - at 6:00am!!!@#!

Day 9 - Labor Day

Uh oh, I splurged today. Oh well, it wasn't that big. Here's what I had:

1. Half a turkey sub
2. 2 Clif Bars
3. Gatorade
4. Vegetarian Tostada
5. Carne Asada - I didn't have any of the rice or the tortillas, just the pork
6. deep fried banana w/vanilla ice cream
7. Tortilla Soup
8. Lots of water
9. about 5 tortilla chips

So I could have done without the dessert, but I thought to myself, I hadn't had something like that in 10 days, so why not. Unfortunetly I didn't get to go to the pool today, but I did go on a long walk up hill. Its funny, what I had today would have consisted of a lighter meal last year. Now it is a big one, so in terms of my portion control, I think Ive really made some improvements! Well we'll see how everything goes this week. Starting tommorrow, im back on it! Day 10 here I come!!!!

Day 8

1. Nutri Grain Bar
2. water crackers
3. spinich salad w/chicken
4. chicken sandwich

no excersize today

Day 7

1. Graham Crackers
2. Nutri Grain Bar
3. Chicken w/artichokes in usanza mushrooms
4. side of pasta w/tomato sauce
3. 2 small rolls
4. half a cobb salad
5. lemonade
6. water

no excersize today

Day 6

Well I just finished watching the NBC Hurricane Relief Telethon and it has inspried me to help, im going to donate some of my old clothes I don't wear anymore just as soon as I can find a red cross drop site.

As inappropriate as it may seem, I am going to keep blogging my progress with my eating habits. Life has to go on after something like this and since I have the capacity to move on, here I go:

1. Graham Crackers
2. Spinich Salad w/chicken
3. Chicken Sandwich w/leaf lettuce, tomato, italian bread
4. 3 small pieces of focaccia bread
5. lemonade
6. lots of water

Excersize:

1500 meters swimming

Day 5

Today I ate a bit more hearty than the past few. Here's what I had:

1. 1 Bannana
2. Graham Crackers
3. Nutri Grain Bar
4. Bagel
5. 8 Sushi Rolls
6. Miso Soup
7. 1 hamburger patty
8. a side of onion, tomato and lettuce
9. Lots of water

Not so sure how good the soup was for me, but at least it was lite. I wanted some meat, hadn't had that all week so I had a plain hamburger patty. You may think I am starving on this kind of diet, but the truth is I have been going through the day not being hungry! I have been eating frequent meals so that helps to keep the fire burning.

Ive been thinking a lot about the katrina victims today, it sure puts life into perspective when these sorts of events happen. No matter how bad I think that things can get, there is always someone else out there hurting even more. In this case, there's hundreds of thousands of people. Im going to look into donating blood tommorrow or donating some cash to the hurricane relief fund. I hope you will do the same, we are all in this together.