Training is still going extremely well - I was the only one in my training class who was willing to get on the phone and talk with customers today. I let our trainer handle the keyboard while I talked with the customer - I can handle the phone script (I am an actor, after all!) and the computer stuff will come to me as I do it, and I have full faith and confidence that it won't take long for me to pick it up. I did really well with the customers, and I was content with not having embarrassed myself. The trick will be being able to do all of this in French!

We also found out today that we'll be training all next week, too, which is great since that gives me more time to be completely capable on the phones and also to give myself a weekend to adjust to the night schedule. I am heading to San Diego this weekend (so won't be blogging again until at least Sunday night or maybe even Monday) to visit my uncle and a couple of friends. I haven't been down there for months and months, so this will be a fun little trip.

Diet-wise, I'm cleaning up my act little by little - I get major headaches when I detox too fast, and I AM detoxing now. Today I was good about not eating junk food, and I haven't had wheat in several days now. I'm staying away from the major avoids now, and working my way towards the other avoids little by little.

You'd think after nearly six years of the BTD that I'd have this down pat, but with starting a new job and still coming off the holiday good frenzy, clearly I don't! I know I'll never be perfect at this, and I think it's important not to beat oneself up about slip-ups or the inabiity to find appropriate food when one is caught unprepared. I was overly controlling about my food for a long time, and I do try to stay 98% compliant, but I can't expect myself to do anything but the best I can do at THAT moment. And sometimes that just means that I'm having coffee cake or a chocolate chip cookie!

At some point I think I will have to be extremely vigilant about my diet to continue to clear up my food allergies, but I'll do it when I'm ready. I've never paid much attention to the portion sizes or frequency of servings, and I'm working on increasing the amount of fruit and vegetables I eat, and that is improving. I'm still learning what a portion size of fruit, veggies, meat, etc., really looks like, but I'm working on it.

One person contacted me and asked how to find out one's secretor status, and I thought I would mention it here so that others can find out, too. Dr. D'Adamo has a secretor test available through NAP, and it is a really easy spit test that you send off in the mail and you get your results in about 10 days or so. It's a factor in the BTD, but don't feel compelled to get a secretor test if you don't feel like it or feel like you can't afford it. About 80% of the population are secretors, so odds are high you are a secretor.

I got to sleep about 2am last night, and it's already 12:30 tonight. Knowing that I have to get up again at 7am and be functional is not a comforting thought. My diet is getting stricter because avoids make me very tired, so right now I'm on salads, smoothies, pumpkin seeds and trail mix during the day. Tomorrow I'm having dinner with Mike (new neighbor, B+, which CHICKEN and CORN PUFFS in his fridge right now!) before I head down to San Diego for the weekend. Things are getting interesting in that department, and I'll report more as things progress or change. Let's just say that as complicated as he seems to make things, I'm liking him more as time goes on. But that also still pursuing, uh, other options! I have a date on Sunday night, and some other things in the works. We'll see how it goes!

The training for my new job is not terribly exciting, but I am enjoying it nonetheless. It's been a great review for me on several topics, and the people in the class, both the trainer and the other students, are terrific people.

I got a massive headache bordering on a migraine last night, and I have to wonder if it was the pizza I ate Sunday night or the storm front that was moving in here. I had a headache again tonight, but it wasn't as bad as last night's, and my best friend, Anne, worked on some accupressure points and helped work out lots of it, and yoga class relieved the rest of it. Last night I was in bed by 10:30, and tossed and turned until after midnight from the pain of the headache. Drank a ton of water, hit a few pressure points, and did everything else I could think of to get rid of it. Finally I put on my meditation CD and eventually drifted off to sleep.

After the pizza Sunday night, I've been eating REALLY well. Did have a Coke yesterday, but resisted the siren's call today, and ate my blueberries and drank water throughout the afternoon. I took some rooibos (Type O) tea with me in a thermos, and sipped on that, too. Breakfast today was another banana/pineapple juice/egg protein powder smoothie, and that thing really does get me through the morning - lunchtime comes and I don't even know it. I took blueberries and cherries for snacks today, and also had a few Ghirardelli double chocolate chocolate chips, but decided I preferred the blueberries. For lunch I cut up a chicken pesto sausage over a big green salad with some pumpkin seeds, aduki beans, curried pecans, and ginger dressing on it. Yummy. Dinner was very light tonight - I ate cherries and the last two bites of my salad that I just couldn't eat at lunch, and I'm considering eating a mango now.

Tomorrow is another long day - work all day, acting seminar in the evening. My bed is calling to me....

I am so exhausted after my first day of work today that I just want to crawl into bed until 8am tomorrow. It's HARD to go back to work after six lovely months off! Instead of being able to relax, though, I have to go to an acting seminar tonight. This will be my life from now on - still making things happen for me in Hollywood, and paying the bills doing this customer service job. Well, doing this customer service job for the moment, anyway!

I did pretty well diet-wise today considering I 'hit the wall' after lunch and was about ready to fall over from fatigue. I gave in to a Vanilla Coke and sipped on it throughout the afternoon to stay awake. Only drank about half of it, and poured the rest down the drain when I finished my day. I had lamb and green beans for lunch, and a banana/pineapple juice/egg protein powder smoothie for breakfast, along with my B vitamins and other assorted supplements. I even took more B vitamins later in the day, but was still just zonked. Hopefully tonight I'll be able to get to bed at a reasonably hour even with going to the seminar.

Watched the Golden Globes with my neighbor Mike last night - we never mentioned the whole 'kiss' incident (or should I say 'non-kiss' incident!), and just enjoyed hanging out as friends. We'll see how this goes. He's an actor, too, and he's also going to this seminar tonight. Mike ordered pizza last night, and I succumbed to the temptation and had two slices. How is an O supposed to turn down a steaming pie? I never order it, but if it's there in front of me, no will-power in the world helps. Fortunately, they aren't often in front of me! I'm sure it was a factor in my fatigue today!

More lamb and green beans for dinner tonight. And I've got to prepare lunch and snacks for tomorrow.

Aack. So my neighbor, who I'll call Mike, and I went to see Master and Commander last night. I enjoyed it - great sailing scenes, military strategy, and battles. Not my favorite kind of movie, but I lived on a sailboat for a few months, and used to hear ALL about the old sailing ships from my ex-BF. Anyway, Mike and I enjoyed the movie, and then we decided to get a bite to eat at the deli across the street. By this time it's nearly 10pm, and I'm tired, but having fun, and I wasn't ready to call it a night yet. This was my downfall. I should have just said that I was tired, and come home to go to sleep, but NOOOOOO, this oh-so-social O just had to go have some more fun for the evening.

We had a good time at the deli, and I gave in to the avoids - french fries and IBC rootbeer. Mike ordered banana cheese blintzes, and our orders were HUGE, so we shared fries and blintzes. I had half a blintz, and stopped, even though that cream cheese and sour cream was SOOOOO good! We had a nice discussion, and Mike wanted to stop in the bakery before we left the deli, so he got a bunch of yummies, and I behaved and didn't get ANYTHING, not even a flourless rocky road cookie. Then we headed back to the apartment building. Mike got one dessert that I wanted to have a bite of, so he came in and we kept talking. Then as I was telling the story about my last first date and how I didn't want to kiss my date that night, Mike said he wanted to kiss me.

Now, I know I can be oblivious to this sort of thing, but this really floored me. I thought we were well on our way to being friends and neighbors, and ONLY friends and neighbors. Evidently, I was mistaken! Mike said that he did not want to mess up our friendship and the candor that we have in talking with each other, and I said that I didn't want to mess it up either, and that I'd rather not get involved romantically at this time. I do very much enjoy his company, but jeez, it's kind of like "When Harry Met Sally", only I'm Harry. Mike has to know every detail about everything he's doing, and even ordering banana cheese blintzes is a major ordeal, yet I'm the one who has food allergies and is on a specialized diet (most of the time) and it takes me two seconds to order. I don't mind dealing with that with a friend, but in a romantic relationship that would drive this fast-thinking, fast-moving, fast-talking, less-than-totally-patient-O absolutely bonkers.

I think it is perfectly natural when single men and women are friends to think that a romantic relationship is the next step to move to, but I also don't think it is the ONLY step. Mike is a great guy, and would make a great husband - for another woman! So I want him in my life, and would love to meet his friends (and maybe go out with them!) and I would love to fix him up with some of my friends. In effect, I want to keep this on the 'friendship' level, and not hurt him by keeping it at that level. What we ended with last night was that we can always take it to the 'romantic' level in the future, but let's keep it friends for now.

Aack. I don't need this right now!

On other levels, I'm regretting the half a blintz and the fries from last night - when I'm tired I just shouldn't even TRY to eat because I invariably make poor choices. Woke up with a scratchy throat and tons of mucous and just couldn't drag myself out of bed, even after hitting the alarm several times. My friend Pele (she's from Nigeria) called, and we went for about a 1.2 mile walk around the park near my apartment building, and Mike called me to ask me to come over and have cheesecake for breakfast. I declined the cheesecake, and will see him tomorrow night because we have plans to go to an acting seminar together.

By the time we got back from our walk, I was starving and my ears and throat were cold, so I made Pele and me some tea and heated up the last of my yummy turkey soup. I've got to cook something else today for lunch for the next couple of days - I have plans every night this week, so today I have to be as ready for work as I can get for the rest of the week. I think I'll get some chicken pesto sausage from Trader Joe's and a big bag of salad. That will feed me for lunch, even if it does get a little boring during the week. I'll pick up a bunch of blueberries and pumpkin seeds for snacks and some lamb or shrimp for dinners, and maybe I'll throw some shrimp into my salads, too.

I try to throw a little bit of everything beneficial into salads, so I'll pick up some black-eyed peas or adzuki beans, some walnuts, onions, and whatever else sounds good to throw in there. I've got eggs for breakfast, but need fruit for smoothies. Time to make a list and get going!

I've been running around most of the day - woke up at 9am, as planned, and slowly got moving and headed out to the post office and to the mall to run some errands. Since I've been working out, the way my clothes fit is changing, and I had to replace a couple items that just do NOT work on my body anymore. I'm sure it will continue to change, so I'm not buying a lot of stuff, but I still need something to wear that fits while my body changes shape.

I'm really tired today, so I am not working out today - just getting done what I need to do, and relaxing. I got back from the mall and cooked some ground lamb and some green beans, and while that cooked I had a glass of pineapple juice. Yummy dinner!

My neighbor and I are heading to the movies shortly to see "Master and Commander" or possibly another movie, depending on what our moods are. Whatever we decide on, I need to make sure that I take a snack and something to drink because when I'm as tired as I am now, I am MUCH more likely to make poor food choices, and a Coke is sounding really good right now!

Tomorrow the goal is to get up at 8am, so we'll see how early I can get to bed tonight! I've got to make sure that I get a workout in tomorrow, and get some groceries so I can prepare lunch for work Monday, and get my clothes and bag ready. I also have to babysit for a couple hours (4-6) so I have to get things done earlier in the day so I can cook tomorrow evening and get to bed by 10 or so.

I heard that this year is the year of the golden monkey, and since I was born in a year of the monkey, I wondered if that had any extra significance for me, but the only thing I've come up with so far is the following:

"The Entertaining Monkey - The "Merry Mercurial"

While a lively year of good times, good friends, and lack of boredom, only rarely are your own Monkey years constructive and capable of permanent development. Monkeys have difficulty staying on a straight and narrow course, tempted to take detours and short-cuts for the pure pleasure of discovery and novelty. However, you do find the year's prevalent upheaval amusing, and will have a strong desire for travel."

This was from this website: http://www.chineseastrology.com/wu/monkeyyear.html

Anyway, today has been busy - I dragged myself out of bed about 10 this morning, and made some phone calls and headed out the door to meet my friend for coffee at noon. We had a lovely conversation and she had to head home to pack to go to Long Island to see her family for the coming week, so we cut our normally 3 hour coffee date to two hours today. I then headed to the mall to try to find some pants to wear to work for my new job. My old pants just don't fit like they used to because I'd gained weight from breaking the leg, and now I've lost some of it, but have been working out, so I had the joy of discovering that I am now the same SIZE I was before I broke my leg even though I WEIGH 10 pounds more than I did basically this exact date last year. So yippee, muscle DOES weigh more than fat, AND it takes up less room! I found one lovely pair of grey slacks that were majorly on sale (good thing until I get my first paycheck!) and they were even a little on the 'loose' side even at this size. Way cool.

By the time I was done shopping, I was starving - realized I'd flown out the door for my coffee date having eaten only half a container of soy yogurt and then a chai at Starbucks, so I hit my door, dropped my stuff, and made some eggs with chicken/turkey sausage and spinach in them and some yeast-free wheat-free rye toast, and practically inhaled the plate.

I've been sorting papers and trying to get my office area cleaned up this afternoon so that when I get all my tax info sent to me that I'll have the rest of it together and can then present it to my accountant in order and as prepared as I can get it. I've also been trying to clean out in general, and the office area is a great place to start. I've realized that when something in my apartment has a home, it goes back to it regularly, but if it doesn't have a home it ends up all over the table, or desk, or bed, or chair. In a 400 square foot studio apartment, that amounts to a sizable mess rather rapidly! So right now all my papers are on the floor behind the desk, and there are two black cats sprawled across the papers. They are so funny about sleeping on paper, aren't they? Cracks me up.

I've been cleaning out stuff from the time I moved into this place, and I've learned how little we really need to live well. Last year I took multiple car loads of stuff to the Goodwill and Salvation Army, and every time I do, I think I'm done. Then I get tired of stuff being all over the place, and I start loading up the car again. I took another load in the other day, and now I'm considering emptying everything off my office shelves, and only putting back what I need or want to keep. Most of it is papers, so it will just get tossed or shredded depending on what it is.

I may also empty out my closet again and clean out everything that doesn't fit anymore, is stretched out, doesn't look good, that I don't FEEL good in, or that I wouldn't buy today. But that won't be happening in the next week or two. I'm booked all this weekend, have plans so far for every night next week, am working during the day, and next weekend I already have two sets of tentative plans. Then I start working nights!

I also bought a book today about self-sabotage. I know I'm guilty of doing it, in lots of areas of my life. I've been aware of this for some time, and have made progress in not sabotaging myself in some areas, but I needed more help., I found a book at Barnes and Noble today in the bargain books section about self-sabotage and steps one can take to allow oneself to succeed. The great part is that it was only TWO dollars! So I'll be posting about my progress through the book, and my successes in life as I put it all into action.

Off to make some phone calls and do some yoga. I'll head to the gym late morning tomorrow, and then I'm getting a massage - looking forward to both!

At 10 pm last night, I was wide awake and full of energy, so I headed to the gym to try to wear myself out so I could get to sleep at a reasonable hour. I did my weight circuit, and then spent 45 minutes on the elliptical machine, and worked out as hard as I could for as long as I could. Higher and higher levels of incline and higher levels of resistance, all while maintaining more revolutions per minute. By the time I was done, I could barely push open the door to leave! It felt really good, though, and every time I push myself I learn more and more what my limits are. What barely makes me breathe hard now is far beyond what my maximum ability was a couple months ago, and I keep surprising myself with what I can do. Fabulous stuff, as long as I continue to pay attention to my body and back off if I am doing too much.

In spite of this challenging workout, I was still up until 3 am last night, and didn't even hear my alarm go off at 9am. And it went off for an hour without me ever waking up. I finally got up about noon today, when a friend of mine called to meet me for coffee. Since I don't drink coffee, I had chai tea latte with soy milk, and an incredibly decadent cake called "Molten Lava". Yes, it had wheat in it, and sugar, and whipped cream on top, and it was incredibly delicious, and I won't do it again for a LOOOONG time. Sometimes it is well worth the 'pain' of the allergic reaction. And my friend and I did share it, so I didn't eat the whole thing, and I've been eating so well otherwise that I don't think I'll have any cravings, and if I do, I won't be giving in to them.

I am really tired tonight, so I may actually get to sleep at a reasonable hour. And I will take melatonin tonight to help me get to sleep. I now start work on Monday, so I have a few days to shift my clock and get up early. I'm going to set a couple of alarms tonight and get up by 9am tomorrow, even if I don't get a lot of sleep tonight.

I worked out two days in a row, and I've still got sinus drainage and a scratchy throat (which my little cake today didn't help!) so I think I'll do yoga today and get to the gym in the morning before I go meet another friend for coffee (chai or green tea!) tomorrow in the early afternoon. Then I've got acting class tomorrow night and a self-written monologue to finish preparing for class. Lots to do!

Either that or there is some major detox going on here. I basically FEEL okay, but my nose is running like a faucet, my ears are a little plugged up, and I have a slightly sore throat and very little energy. As well as I've been eating, I hope I'm just clearing stuff out, but since my best friend (I'll call her Anne for the purpose of the blog!) has been sick and now has a sinus infection, I'm not sure what I'm dealing with.

I fell asleep after 5 this morning, and woke up at 11, and in general I'm taking it easy, and will only do what I feel up to doing. Anne called me about 11am and asked if I had eggs. Yes. Do you have bread? Yes (wheat-free, yeast-free rye.) Can I come up for breakfast? Come on. So I made eggs and toast and we ate. And now she's asleep in my La-Z Boy again, curled up under an afghan, and looks so cute!

Last night I tried to go to bed at 3:30, and by 4:15 I got up and dried and put away the dishes, ate a small bowl of cereal (rice puffs or something with soy milk and blueberries), and then I felt tired enough to go to bed.

I was supposed to meet with a personal trainer at the gym today, but I just called and cancelled since I'm supposed to be there in about 30 minutes and I'm not even out of my jammies yet. I'm enjoying these last few days of freedom before I start work (possibly Friday!). I think I'll take a walk today and go to Starbucks and maybe go to the gym for a LIGHT workout later. I need to do something to get myself tired enough to get to bed at a reasonable hour for this upcoming week of training - I need to be able to get up in the mornings! If a whole lot of walking and other exercise doesn't do it, I may have to resort to melatonin. At least I won't have much trouble staying up all night once that shift starts!

Monday has a whole new meaning knowing that I'll be getting back to work soon. I've been thoroughly lazy so far today, which I think I need to do since I still have a sore throat. Otherwise I feel fine, but I don't want to get sick, so I'm taking easy and eating as well as I can. I've been wanting fruit and fish, so I cooked some salmon last night with parsnips, carrots, and ginger in olive oil and water (with a dash of salt) and that was dinner. I also headed to the farmer's market near me and bought more cherries, blueberries, bananas, a mango, a pineapple, and two pomegranates. I ate the mango last night and breakfast today is pecans, cherries, blueberries, and soy yogurt all mixed together. Yummy.

Had weird dreams last night, including one about a friend of mine who moved down here last year from San Fransisco and wants to get into radio. She hasn't returned my last couple of calls, and I am wondering if she has returned to SF. I dreamt that she had moved back in with her mother and I was disappointed with her for not following her dreams. I need to try to call her again and see if she IS still around. I hope so.

Since I have a little more energy today, I'm going to get a few errands done and try to wrap up the things that I needed to get done on Saturday. The gym is even on the list of things to do - I'll see if I can burn this crud out of me. Maybe I'll actually get this place cleaned up, too.

My best friend is recovering from her crud, and showed up at my door at 10:30 this morning with a glass of freshly made pineapple juice. God bless her! We sat and talked for about a half an hour, and then we both napped, her curled up on my La-Z Boy, and me in my bed, and both cats in assorted places. We woke up when my phone rang at ONE pm. Must've both needed it, though, and the weather here is chilly (which here means 50s) and threatening rain, so it is a good day for napping. We both have sore throats now, too, and I've got a sinus headache today. She's also an O+, and sort of eats right for her type, but eats lots of wheat and dairy, even though she'd figured out a long time ago that it isn't good for her. When she's sick, she usually wants me to get her macaroni and cheese from Whole Foods (soy cheese, but still!).

She went back downstairs, and I puttered a little bit - took a bath, got dressed, and called her to ask if she'd eaten. She hadn't, so I took my wild rice down there, and she contributed roast turkey and a salad, so we had a nice lunch, and talked more, and hung out for a little while and then I came back up here to make myself some green tea with lemon and honey and to use my neti pot to try to get rid of this sinus crud and sore throat. I'd planned to walk today, but it's chilly, and I'm not exactly full of energy, so I'm hanging out here and doing as little as possible.

My new neighbor and I were going to catch a movie tonight, but I was really grateful when he called and asked if we could reschedule. I'm just not up for it tonight, even if it is only half a mile from here and I'd be sitting all evening. I won't have my tea or blankets, and I'll be much happier here watching DVDs from the comfort of my own couch.

I am really not surprised that I feel like this now - after all the wheat and dairy I ate over the holidays, some degree of detox was necessary, and the added stress of 6 months of unemployment and now starting a new job, I think it was almost inevitable that I would be feeling less than my best. I'm sure that in a couple of days I'll be 100% again, just in time to start my new job.

I'm just wiped out today. Went to the Post Office and was going to run some errands and go to the gym, and I just came home and plan to be flopped out on the couch and curled up with a cat shortly, reading something intriguing enough to keep me interested, but not so intriguing as to prevent me from napping.

This 'feels' as though it is related to my dietary clean-up this week, but it also feels like more than that. Things are shifting dramatically in my life, and I think my being emotional the other day (and I still am, actually) as well as my sleep issues this week and my total lack of energy today is all tied together, and doesn't just have physical causes.

So I'm going to give myself the day off, do whatever I feel up to doing, and relax.

I had to take my best friend to the doctor yesterday for her flu, which is not the flu per se, but is a virus of some sort anyway. Cell phones aren't allowed in the doctor's office, so I stepped outside to check my messages, and the recruiter had called to tell me I got the job! We've been playing phone tag ever since to get all the details sorted out, but at least I know now!

I did manage to have a hypoglycemic thing happen to me yesterday - you'd think that after nearly six years on the BTD that I'd've learned how to avoid them altogether! When I took my best friend to the doctor's office, I was sipping on an iced soy chai tea latte from Starbucks. Heaven in a cup, and I've been treating myself to them too often lately! Generally, they are a between meal thing, and I try to eat some protein within a couple of hours of having one, but yesterday it became a meal, and then I was stuck at the doctor's for 2 hours and then I had to run to acting class. On the way to class I grabbed some sushi thinking that the protein would help, but I think the rice put me over the edge. I felt loopy and shaky and not at all grounded in class, and it showed in my work. I drank my water in class, and ate all the pumpkin seeds I brought for a snack, and ate the rest of my goat cheese brie (yum!) once I got home. It's so rare for me to get shaky at all anymore - I can go for hours and hours now without eating, and have no problems (other than a growling tummy). I think I just went too long without protein and had too much sugar.

This morning my best friend called me at 7am (after I fell asleep at 5am, of course) and she'd had a reaction to the medication they gave her and needed some help, so I went downstairs to do what I could to help her through it and make her more comfortable. Fell asleep on her bed (she couldn't get up from the floor at that point!) and slept until about 10. So four hours of sleep, and I made myself get up and I'm staying up today and will get to bed early tonight. I think I'll just have to wear myself out today to make sure I'll sleep tonight. A walk is in order even though the ankle is still a little achy on the lateral side.

Still haven't heard about the job I applied for. Today I'm going to call a couple of temp agencies that I'm registered with and let them know that I'm available for work. I need to be doing SOMETHING. This staying up late and sleeping late is nice, but I don't think it's doing much for my mental health, let alone my physical health. Couldn't fall asleep last night, and was up until about 5am. And then was up again by 10:45 because the phone rang. I have GOT to start getting to bed earlier.

I did manage to get about a 2 mile walk in yesterday, which was great. My ankle is a little tweaked, but I seem to have only pulled a muscle on the lateral side of it, so unless I step funny while I'm walking, it isn't an issue.

I must be having one of those days - nothing in my fridge is appealing to me, and not much in general is appealing to me. Lack of sleep is probably the reason, and some good food would probably help me deal with it. I've finished the cherries (breakfast today) and I'm considering an egg scramble with a bunch of veggies in it - spinach, tomato, carrot, onion, etc. Still doesn't sound good, but I need to eat something.

Gotta check on my best friend and see if she's getting over her flu.

Yesterday afternoon as my neighbor and I were moving the futon down to his place, I twisted my ankle. I was reaching for my stereo to turn the volume down, inadvertently stepped on wheel support to my office chair, and I went down. My poor neighbor tried to catch me, and I knew I'd twisted my ankle, but didn't know how bad it might be. This is the ankle that I have broken twice, three places each time, and sometimes when I'm walking it just gives out on me (not often, fortunately!). So I sat on the floor and took off my shoe and did a mini-examination. There were definitely some tender spots, but nothing seemed seriously injured. We even finished moving the futon, and then I iced it and babied it the rest of the night. I did NOT go to yoga - figured that would be pushing my luck

Today it seems mostly okay - minimal swelling, if any, and only a couple of sore muscles (and not just in my ankle!) I may even take a short walk today and see how it does. If it continues to ache then I may have to take it easy for a few days, but since it's taken me nearly six years of being on the BTD to finally get a great exercise routine in place (and be consistent about it!) I do NOT want to stop now!

I did notice that as soon as I twisted it my first response was that I wanted chocolate, and plenty of it. I had to go to Whole Foods last night to get a few things for my best friend (also an O+) who has the flu. I got what she wanted, and since I was stressed and (slightly) injured I felt like I deserved to eat what I wanted, so I bought a small flourless chocolate cake. I really wanted chocolate chip cookies (major comfort food!) but I did at least stick to my agreement to myself to NOT eat wheat. Now that the Christmas cookies are gone, I want to clean up my diet again and lose the rest of this weight I gained from breaking my leg last year. There WAS dairy and lots of sugar in the cake, and it was VERY rich. I didn't eat all of it last night, but have finished it today, and the good thing is that it was SO rich that I don't think I'll want ANY junk for a while.

The next step in cleaning up my diet will be to make sure that I am getting enough servings of everything I should be getting. I'm pretty good about eating enough fruit - I often do a fruit smoothie for breakfast and use only HB fruits, protein powder (and/or almond butter) and a dash of flaxseed oil, as well as throwing in my ARA-6 and B vitamins, etc. I also generally eat enough protein, which given my activity level and probably lower absorption rates due to my allergies adds up to quite a bit of protein. I don't eat enough FISH, but I eat tons of meat and eggs, and that shouldn't be hard to rebalance a little bit. Vegetables is another thing. I am good about making sure that I throw them into eggs (spinach, tomato, and feta omellettes ROCK), and I eat salads several times a week, but I could live on lamb and eggs and would only occasionally miss veggies. So I really should put most of my effort into getting veggies into me two meals a day and maybe even for snacks, too.

I did get out for my walk yesterday, ran my errands, and bought some vegetables. They didn't have any reasonably priced artichokes, so I passed on them, and bough spinach and replaced the sad looking parsnips and carrots that I'd had in the fridge. They also had cherries - gorgeous, fat cherries, and I bought a package of them in spite of the price. Cherries are my FAVORITE, and to find such nice ones this time of year was heaven. So those are in a bowl on the counter now, and every time I pass by it I grab a couple to much on.

I still haven't heard anything about the job I interviewed for. I did leave a message for the recruiter yesterday reiterating my interest in the position, and then she left me a message saying that she'd let me know as soon as they know, but that they have to recruit for some other positions, too, and can't let anyone know what the results are until all the positions have been recruited. So I am trying to be patient and keep applying for other positions. I REALLY do want this one, though - it would be PERFECT for me to be able to keep working on my acting career and have a full-time income as well.

Time to head out and see if I can manage a short walk with this ankle.

I'm trying to calm down and be patient as I wait for my phone to ring, hopefully telling me that I have the job I interviewed for yesterday. It's already rung three times today, meaning that I leap over furniture and cats and try not to spill breakfast or my water glass trying to get to it in time. No luck. Twice it was my new neighbor needing to talk about stuff related to the futon or other 'just moved in' kinds of things.

The other call was my singing coach asking me if I'd like to take part in a workshop and showcase that will start in late February. Assuming that I can come up with the money for it, I'd like to do it. But aack, that means that I'll have to sing in public, too, the thought of which just terrifies me. However, if I've learned anything in this life, I've learned that when it comes to being afraid of things like this, the more afraid I am of it, the more I should do it. Since I was filled with panic at the thought of doing it, I told my singing coach that if I get this job, I'll do it.

So now I am waiting for the phone to ring, and trying not to stuff my face with all the dark chocolate I have in my apartment. I'm usually pretty good about managing my stress in ways other than eating, but today the chocolate urge is rearing its ugly side.

I do need to get out of the apartment and go run some errands, and since it is a gorgeous SoCal kind of day out there (70s and sunny) I think I'll walk. I realized a few weeks ago that I haven't been eating enough vegetables, so I'm trying to get more into my diet, so I need to get some today because all I have in the fridge right now is two very sad looking carrots, a couple of parsnips, one onion, and a handful of salad greens. I want artichokes, spinach, kale, okra, green beans - SOMETHING GREEN! I also have a Christmas gift to exchange at the mall, and walking these two errands is only about 2 miles round trip, so that's a good start on some exercise today.

Never did exercise yesterday - by the time I got done with my interview and talking with my neighbor for the futon, it was 12:30 am, and then I had stuff to do around here, so it was about 3am when I finally got to sleep.

By the way, my interview yesterday was VERY informal, and nearly three hours. We just chatted about darn near everything - adoption, her dog, my cats, her brothers, her parents, my brother, losing weight, my broken leg, working out at the gym we both go to, and a little bit about the job. It was the oddest interview I'd ever had, but also the most enjoyable.

Woke up when my cell phone rang this morning and I leaped over a cat and out of bed to get it before it went to voice mail. It was a jarring way to wake up, but I was VERY glad I did. It was the woman from HR at the company I interviewed with on Friday confirming my second interview for later today. So now I'm up and dressed and getting ready to run errands before I come home to get ready for this interview. I REALLY want this position! It's perfect for me to be able to work on my acting career AND have a full-time job that pays the bills, too. What will be a challenge, but that I also consider an asset to the position is that the hours are from midnight to 8:30 in the morning. I do think it will be a challenge to get enough sleep and continue my workout routine and manage to eat right while working these hours, but if it means that I have time to audition during the day, I'm up for it!

I'm also a bit puffy today, probably from the cookies I ate yesterday. My best friend's 91 year old grandmother gave me some of her fabulous cookies for Christmas, and of course I'm eating them! They are almost gone now, and soon my kitchen will be compliant once again. In general, I'm working my way back to being as close to 100% compliant as possible because things got pretty lax around here over the holidays. I did manage not to gain any weight because I was (and still am) working out really heavily. I didn't LOSE any weight, though, and I still have about 15 pounds to lose from when I broke my leg last year and wasn't allowed to do any weight bearing exercise for about 9 months. I was eating everything in sight during that time, and it sure wasn't BTD compliant! I gained about 25 pounds in total, and I've lost 10, but I still have a ways to go.

Today's going to be a busy day - I've got to get to my PO Box to pick up my mail and to (FINALLY!) mail my mother's Christmas presents, run a few more errands, get back home by 4pm to de-fur my futon to sell it to my new neighbor and then help him move it down the hall to his place, then get ready for my interview and get over there by 8pm. I think the new neighbor wants to go out with me. Not sure how I feel about that - we'll see what happens!

Shoot. I just realized I won't be able to go to yoga class tonight at 8:30 because I'll be in my interview. I'll just have to do a DVD at home tonight. And I think I can squeeze in a long walk before dark and between getting the futon down the hall and dressing for my interview.

It's time for food now - I'm thinking a buffalo burger and a salad for lunch.

Just got back from the PO and a friend of mine (who I only met last month when I was visiting my uncle in Texas) is a big fat sweetie and sent me an initial purse 'just 'cuz' and enclosed the nicest note about enjoying the time we spent together and wanting to get to know me better. She knew I'd been thinking about getting one of those purses, and she happened to find one, so she sent it to me! Very thoughtful.