Late Blog

The end of the year has created a mess of my schedule and lack of blogging.

I havent been working out regularly, but haven't stopped completely. I have been trying to eat semihealthy.

My weigh in today is 190.0

Hope all is well!

OoO I was Tagged by Sierra!

Dilligent
Often Laughing
Never Frowning
Approachable
Loud
Determined (sometimes)

The Break ends (when did it begin?)

Well, this is Good Friday, Lindsay's Birthday, and the end of spring break. Tomorrow the dorms will begin to fill with peabodians, class work will crowd my sleepy head, and time will again seem to be in high demand.


My To do list for the rest of the semester currently:
Classes
Theory
Ear training
Acting for Opera
Singing in Italian
Music History I
Music History III
French
Orchestral Management
Keyboarding II
Juries
April Gala Perf.
Camerata Perf.
Recital Perf. (someone elses)
Chorus Perf.
Church
RAing
Dave's Recording

The fun stress:
Summer Plans
OASIS
Peabody Improv

It all doesnt seem so bad written down, but in the hustle and bustle of the day I feel my anxiety raise and fall a lot. I'm not the most organized perosn, and my mind is REALLY unorganized so I choose to freak out (in my way which, if you know me, isn't really freaking out) at random moments.

One day at a time. One moment at a time. One minute per minute. Its so hard to think like that.

Love and laughter
-James

Friday Reflexion

For some reason I was in the shower and as the water poured over my body I felt a great humility pour on me too. I let it wash my body, allow me to think of all the amazing things that have been given to me and how I haven't deserved any of them; how others need them, want them, pray for them, and yet I haven't taken the time to actually realize all that they are.

Perhaps this bath of humility was brought on by the books I have been reading, or a comment I heard in passing, or even the simple time I spent with my amazing girlfriend today, but at any rate it is a welcome realization that I felt needed to be noted.

Just a few blessings:
I am blessed with two loving and supportive parents. Sometimes I may wish them away, but I would never have gotten this far in life without them, and no matter what will always be thankful for them.

I am blessed with health. This is brought on by my recent read through of Musicophilia. A fascinating book by Oliver Sacks that deals with music and the brain. Sacks discusses various maladies and how music affects them. I realize that all around me there is so much pain that I am spared from every day, and I am blessed with the ability to help others cope with such pain through my gifts.

I am blessed with music. It is impossible to imagine a world without music. It is impossible for me to imagine a world where I cannot make music, and yet for some this ability has been taken away. I am so thankful to be able to make my goal in life to make music for a living.

I am blessed with endless support. This came with a particularly hot patch of water. I realized that no matter where I am I feel like I have at least one life line available, and many people willing to talk about whatever. I have parents confused, annoyed, excited, and extremely supportive of my life's path. I have a girlfriend who is willing to let me ramble about nonsense, and let me try to make sense of it for the purely tantalizing feeling of abstract thought. (We honestly sat and discussed what a thought was for over an hour!) I have friends that encourage and participate in various other activities that many people aren't fortunate enough to have. I have mentors who encourage my endless questions when they should be telling me to shut up. This truly is a blessing.

Finally, I am blessed with the ability to understand that I am blessed, to realize and accept my own humility, to be a blessing to others, and overall to realize, encourage, and share the love that should fill every room in every place in the world.

This is beyond a blessing, this is a lifestyle, and one I hope I can live.

Laugh and love!
-James Parks

Tuesday Weigh In

Well with the opera and all I have dropped the ball on this program, but my lovely lovely has reminded me constantly as I have asked. So I got up and weighed myself this morning.


Official weigh in....... 187.8
Not bad I guess. We can hope its a good sign.

Not to much has been going on. The opera. It takes gobs of my time, but has allowed me to read a lot. I havent had a good exercise in a while though.


Hope all is well!
-James

Monday Weigh in!

Well I fell off the wagon with last week. It should have been easier with no classes, but I didn't really feel all that relaxed at all... I did get to read a lot though.

I worked out a few times, started to increase the intensity of the work out, still lifting weights regularly.

Eating goes up & down. However I have been very good about not eating chocolate covered pretzels :)

OK... enough stalling... the weigh in.

Today I weigh... 188.8 Lbs

Well at least I'm not gaining right?
And if I'm building muscle that adds a little weight right?
Focus James. Focus.

Hope everything is going well with you!
-James

Late Weigh in

I admit I am a day late, but here was my weight this morning:

188.2 :(

Little by little I guess.

I just worked out.

Update on friday.

Friday Post WOOT!

Well, this week was stressful. I have a slew of teachers who give us a sylabus with all the assignments on it at the beginning of the semester and don't remind us of assignments. Unfortunately I forget, and don't look at the sylabi and in turn don't do the work! Its piling up and I feel like I took on more than I should have (class wise.) I keep telling myself it will pay off, but in the meantime I feel like no break is sufficient.

In other news, I have been reading and practicing a lot more steadily. I think I use both to justify not doing other type of work. It was interesting, in my Orchestral Management class (this class is not a stresser) we were asked to list things we enjoyed doing and at the very top of my list I put reading! I used to HATE, DETEST, ABHOR reading and now its the first things that comes to my mind! Crazy world. I still hate asparagus and brussell sprouts.

I also have recently written two short stories. One that might remind a reader of the movie The Waitress (and I'll admit the main character in my mind was the main character in The Waitress,) but all in all it is a different story I hope. The other... well its a little darker, a cynical, almost pessimistic view on some of society... I think... I will probably post them onto my poetry/prose site: amante.deviantart.com if you are interested in reading them or any of my other writing.

As for exercise and diet, well its a crap shoot, really. When I decide to exercise I do. If there is anything else at hand, I don't. I have uped the poundage on the weights and hope to see some growth in strength. As for diet, I have not failed on my anti-chocolate pretzels, although me and the lady took a late night trip to Baskin Robbins, and that was anti-loose weight if there ever was such a thing.

The lady is wonderful as always, and just about the only thing that keeps me motivated.

On that note, I will end with a quote that I have put out in the lounge from a source I just discovered, which is wikipedia's quote(s) of the day. This quote was Feb. 6th's I believe and its by the great Babe Ruth, "Its hard to beat a person who never gives up."

Thanks Babe, but what if the person beats themselves?

Love and Laughter
-James Parks

4th Weigh in!

Ok, I weighed myself at noon, wrote it down, but didn't have time to write about it at the time. So I am posting now!


Official weigh in...>>>> 186.0!!!

I saw my sister on sunday and one of the first thing she says to me is, "You've lost some weight."
:) Coming from her that means something.

As far as eating habits, I haven't been eating a lot, but I also haven't been particularly picky about what I've been eating. I fight this temptation in the cafeteria: chocolate covered pretzels! SO I am giving them up for lent.

I had one really good work out this week, I need to get myself to do that atleast 3 times a week though. Its really hard to accomplish everything I want to do though. I get on these motivated boosts but only about one thing at a time. Recently its been dropping working out and homework.

I have used the elevator very little :) and Lindsay and I took a lovely walk to hopkins today to enjoy the nice weather. Speaking of Lindsay, we are doing wonderfully and I couldn't ask for a more supportful partner.

Ok I hope all is well for everyone else. I WILL POST ON FRIDAY!
I WILL!

Love and laughter
-James

3rd Weigh In

Howdy Everyone.
I didn't quite realize ow difficult it is to keep blogging, even just two times a week! I am sorry about no update on Friday, but I do have the official weigh in for today!

Today I weigh: 187.4
:)
Now I must admit this is a little of a surprise because I don't feel I was as careful about what I ate but at the same time there was no gorging. I have continued to take the stairs everywhere, and have started getting skinny lattes when I go to star bucks. They don't make skinny's at the Peabody cafe yet so I just get tea.

School is going well. I do get overwhelmed at times, but I try to take it a step at a time. I would really like to get into a summer program, but am have started looking far to late and adding stress on myself that way.

I hope all is well with everyone out there!
Love to everyone
-James

2nd Weigh In...

I'm supposed to do this on Mondays, but Monday came and went and I didn't get to it. I hope no one minds, but this weeks weigh in comes a few days late.

And I weigh in at...: 189.0 Lbs

Well that wasn't exactly what we wanted to see. That's a gain of .2 lbs. Not a lot, but not loosing any. That's alright. I will continue my program and hopefully this initial gain is additional muscle or something...

Post on Friday!
-James

Friday Session

Hello all!

In this blog I hope to at least give an update on Friday's of how everything is going. So here's the first one!

This week has been good. The RA position hasn't been too stressful; I have had plenty of homework but have stayed on top of it; I have taken time to read; I have spent time with myself and my love; I have lifted the weights a little every day; I have taken the elevator only twice that I can remember; and I have stayed away from most junk food.

My eating pattern has been pretty consistent. I have a cereal bar (currently south beach living) in the morning, followed occasionally by a fruit. Then for lunch I try to have some protein and fruit, then dinner I try to have fruit, veggies, and some protein. Snacks include: carrots, pita & hummus, cottage cheese & Doritos (my one bad snack), and sharp cheddar cheese.

I haven't gotten into these Idiot's guides, but I will do the first exercise below:

-How many times a day do you thing about your weight?
Anytime I see myself in the mirror, or sitting in a way that extenuates my rolls.
-How often do you step on a scale?
Well, now, only once a week, used to do it more often.
-How much time do you spend thinking about which foods are 'ok'?
Not that much, although I do get in modes where i research like crazy...
-How much time do you spend figuring out how to dress in ways that hide your size?
I only think about it, when a shirt has become too tight to wear.
-How often do you feel guilty for eating a particular food?
Clearly not enough.
-How many times have you wondered what others thought about your size?
Constantly.
-How many hours in your lifetime have you stood looking in the mirror examining your hips and thighs?
Uh.... not very many. I don't like looking at them haha.
-Do you think someone who as naturally thin habits spends his or her time doing these things?
If they don't like the way they look, I guess they would.
-What would you rather be doing with your time & energy?
Laughing, Singing, performing, reading, spending time with others.

Hmm... any questions stun you? These don't seem to be really great questions, but it made me think for a little while about myself in a big picture kind of a way.

Well, I guess that's all for today folks!
Have a good weekend!
-James

Official Weigh In

So, after consulting my schedule, it seems that the weekly weigh-ins will be on Mondays around noon. This being the first one...

And I weigh in at: 188.8
BMI: 29.6 (Officially Overweight; Bordering Obese)

Now I have calculated my BMI by using a formula found in Healthy Weight Loss for Idiots. Formula being: Multiply your weight in Lbs by 704.5 then divide that by your height in inches, and divide it again by your height in inches. I'm using 5'7" or 67" as my height.

I have been really good about not taking elevators and using the stairs. I have begun to do a little lifting of the free weights in my room daily. I have continued to monitor my food intake and make sure I eat breakfast when I wake up. I am going to try to regulate my sleep, but that is a whole other battle in and of itself.

I plan to post on Friday about how the first week of school went mentally and physically. Me and the love will celebrate our Four-month on Wednesday :)

Thanks for all your support!
-James

Break is edning...

Well, my winter break was great! I got to go to SC and visit grandparents, uncles, an aunt, and cousins. Then I went to Cali to visit with my love and her family. Also over the break I was offered the position of an RA on campus. While this is a very exciting position it will also come with its fair share of stress and I will need even more support to get through healthy.

On to the Resolution...

I haven't really started doing to much yet. With all the traveling, and now moving and training for the RA position, I figured it would be easiest to start my resolution when I got settled in here at the Peabs.

So, what have I done?
I have been conscious about what I've been eating; trying to eat good portion sizes, mixtures of protein, veggies, and fruits. I purchased some free weights to have in my room. They aren't for building muscle necessarily but just to have some weights staring at me and begging me to be used. I have decided to not use any elevator unless I am carrying something heavy. Hopefully this is a good start and will help me along into the beginning of the real resolution.

While I was out walking today I say Red Emma's had a sign posted that said, "Start a new year's reVolution." Well, if this goes successfully, I hope it will lead to a turning point in my life style and will be the revolution I need.

If you feel comfortable please leave a comment so I know who all is here to help me :) I hope everyone's breaks were fantastic! Good luck with the new year!

-James Parks