I feel the weather changing today. We’ve had some lovely, sunny Indian summer days these past couple of weeks. The weather report says showers start tomorrow. And the sky is looking like it this evening. The thermometer says 65 degrees out, but I am needing to wear a sweatshirt.

I’ve been trying hard to keep up with my fall change prescription. I’m still only drinking the lesser amount of coffee in the morning. And I can count on just one hand the days I’ve cheated and drank a bit of S*Bucks drip in the afternoon. I’ve been careful to only drink half a short cup. That’s all I seem to need. I don’t know why I love that little coffee jolt. Green tea will perk me up as well as coffee in the afternoon. It does it in an unobtrusive, mellow way. And I’ve been enjoying the new NAP formulation of the B Sip Right tea. It has green tea in it now. I had a cup of that this afternoon, and I’m quite alert. I guess as with giving up all my other favorite avoids, this will be a day to day process.

The last two weekends have been singing ones. Two weeks ago we traveled out of town for a three-day regional workshop. As usual, it was tremendous. We learn so much at these workshops. This time we had a master director who had a lot of Broadway and theater training. We worked on showmanship for most of the weekend. At one point there were about 200 of us on the risers with tears streaming down faces, and we couldn’t stop. We were digging deep to try to communicate the emotion of the song we were working on. Talk about intense!

This past Saturday we put on two shows at one of the local casinos. It was about a twelve-hour day. Lots of standing and singing and changing costumes. It’s always fun and exhausting and takes a couple of days to recuperate.

I stayed pretty close to the diet those two weekends. I think a little bread sneaked in there, and a little more coffee than usual. But the weight has been steady. I, of course, am always hoping some more will come off. That’s the plan, anyway.

Exercise has been a hit and miss sort of affair this month. I was gone on my trip back east, and then my Pilates instructor went on vacation. I’ve been trying to fill in with walks. I’ve played several rounds of golf. I could have been doing more home stretching and Pilates. The lazy factor comes in quite a bit. October should be better. I have no trips or special weekends planned.

Onward and upward.

I think autumn began as soon as the calendar flipped over to September. It has been unseasonably cool. Today I tried to play golf. There was a women’s tournament. It had to be stopped in the middle due to thunderstorms. It was too bad, because my partner and I were doing well.

The new season coming on is giving me impetus to pull in the reigns on some of the sloppy eating habits I’ve slipped into. The first thing I’ve done is cut my coffee consumption in half. I was drinking a large mug every morning. Occasionally in the afternoon I would indulge in a small cup. This week, in the mornings, I took a smaller cup, filled it one third full of hot 1% milk and then filled it up with coffee. I figure I’ve gone from a 12 oz mug to 6 oz of coffee. I would eventually like to wean myself completely. It is an avoid, and there is something wrong with starting the day out with an avoid food. When I first started the BTD, and found out I was a nonnie, I stopped the coffee right away. But a couple years later hubby and I went to a weekend conference somewhere, and I slipped and drank coffee all weekend and haven't stopped since. That was three years ago. I think it’s time to quit again. (I must like coffee. I have written the word six times in this paragraph.)

I’m also going to try to be diligent about getting my aerobic exercise in. I didn’t play golf nearly as much as usual this summer, and those walks have traditionally helped keep my weight down. I’m up a couple pounds due to lack of consistent aerobic exercise and those trips to far off places I took.

So, fall will be my renewal time. I don’t think I’ve tasked myself with too many changes. It’s doable.