Getting Back on Track – Food, Exercise, Music
September 17th, 2013 by Katherine Moller
I hope that you all enjoyed your summer. I perhaps enjoyed mine a little too much! I relaxed a bit and enjoyed some time off from my usual routine. I ate whatever I wanted, did not do any of my exercises, and did not practice my technique on the fiddle/violin. By the end of the summer I could start to feel all of this. So, now we are into the fall, and I am getting back into a routine.
As those of you who have been reading my blog for a while know, I started a weight-loss/health kick journey back in 2010. It seems like I go in two-year cycles, with the first year being really good, and then the second year being not so good. As I mentioned, I enjoyed my food this past summer. I ate lots of lovely food, did no exercising, and over the course of the summer managed to put on a few pounds. I am not currently where I was at the beginning of the year for sure! Part of my struggle is that when I am at home with no regular schedule, I seem to migrate towards the kitchen a little more often that I should! The good news is that my clothes all still fit, although I can notice that they are tighter.
I have always enjoyed the fall, not only because of the change in the weather, but also because it is almost like a second new year. To me, this is a second chance to start all over again! I am revisiting my goals from the beginning of the year, taking stock of where I am, and moving on. With that in mind, here is what I had said I wanted to do back in January:
Goat #1: Improve my health (does this sound familiar?)
Ok, so far, not doing so well! However, in the past week, since school has started, I have returned to eating better (and less), started exercising regularly (just a 5-10 minute session each morning) and have started walking 30 minutes to an hour a day. Even though I have only been back at it for a couple of weeks, I already notice a difference in how I feel.
Goal #2: Work on getting some of my music placed in movies/TV
This has been completely ignored so far this year, and may get pushed back to next year. It was supposed to be a summer project, but summer ended up being for relaxing instead.
Goal #3: Publish a fiddle tune book
I have entered more of my fiddle tunes into finale. I will be producing a book of tunes to accompany my Christmas CD, which takes us to goal 4…
Goal #4: Record CD number 4
I recorded the fiddle tracks in the summer and have now heard the bass tracks for a couple of the pieces. So far it sounds great, and we are on track to release in November/December 2013.
Goal #5: RCM Grade 6 cello exam
In the end, I decided not to do this. I started to prepare for it, but couldn’t really justify spending the money to do the exam. I may do this in the future. I have however, over the last two weeks, been practicing the cello regularly.
Goal #6: Read two books a month
I am off and on again with this goal. There are months during which I have read several books, and months where I have read none. If we average it out, I think that I am pretty close to reaching my goal.
All in all, I am pretty please with the way life is going. I think it is important to take some time off during the summer to relax and really don’t feel guilty that I did not accomplish more. Now that I am back into a schedule of teaching I have been practicing more, eating better, exercising, and cleaning the house regularly… Life is pretty good!
