Tuesday, August 7, 2012

The Dog Days of Summer…

…are upon us and I’m sorting thru the attic of my mind to see which of the more recent acquisitions are worth sharing.

MY TOE: is much better. Last week I began biking (with a sandal on my left foot) – a 9-miler followed by a short (for me) 4-mile Nordic-walk with no ill effects. Did it 5 days; sort of like I’m doing of a mini-triathlon (is there such thing as a biathlon??). This week, I’m trying it with my New Balance instead of the sandal; so far, so good. Despite the progress, I’ve decided to forego the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk this September; bummer, as I love the challenge, but probably a wise decision.

HCwH: Last week, we began post-production on Episode #1 with a couple of run-thru’s to get a sense of what was captured during the shoot. Truth be told, I expected my initial reaction to be replete with cringes of embarrassment; instead, I was surprised, bordering upon “shocked” to see how good it was. Yes, I hold myself to unrealistic expectations (nothing new about that!!) and yes, I need to insert more ‘palaver’ while I’m engaged in doing the cooking and to relax and smile more. But my main take-away from the viewings was: “This guy looks like he knows what he’s doing and is comfortable in the process”. Couldn’t be happier, especially for the 1st time before a camera. Episode #2 is already in the planning stage. It will be shot during either the last week in August or the 1st week in September on a date to be determined.

DIETING VS EXERCISE FOR WEIGHT LOSS: An interesting piece about a couple of studies addressing this dichotomy in the NYT, last week. Bottom line, calorie for calorie, it’s easier to lose weight by dieting than by exercise: people are more likely to stay with a diet than with an exercise regimen; metabolic rates drop as we lose weight so, we burn fewer calories with the exercise. But, as I’ve posted in The Groups: What I Learned: Pts. 1 & 2, exercise and activity are important in their own right. If you want to be healthy and fit, especially as you age, you gotta do both…and you don’t get the endorphin boost with diets!

And speaking of dogs, my daughter Ali was in from Columbus, OH for a visit last month with her 2 Border Collies – Tobey, age 4 and Chance, 2 – whom she rescued and have, under her guidance, matured into reasonably well-behaved animals with really good character and singular personalities. Tobey’s the smart one, Chance has the looks (its ok, they can’t read…yet). It was fascinating to observe them interact with us, each other and behave in a public stetting (we took them to Bertucci’s outdoor cafĂ© in Lexington Center). Here's some photos: