Write, write, write

Last year I wrote 60,000 words in one month.  Unfortunately, I didn't write much more for the other eleven months.  The reason for my productivity was the National Novel Writing Month program - or NaNoWriMo - that takes place each November to encourage the lazy writers around the world, such as I am, to jumpstart their creativity. 

I am very creative - in my head.  Translating it to the page, or to the computer screen, is the problem.

I do very well when placed in a classroom situation with deadlines or in a writers' group, to which I belonged for several years in the 90's.  That was great.  I had a small group of like-minded friends who encouraged each other to write, share and meet regularly.  Knowing that I'd face my circle of writing friends once a month gave me motivation to produce something to share.  I guess I'm a social writer.  I want to write for myself, however, other than in journals and on the occasional blog.

I have stories to tell and time is getting shorter by the day.  That is why I persist in joining writing classes and NaNoWriMo.  Maybe some day I'll either get motivated to write everyday in a more organized way, or find another writing group that I love as much as I did the last one.  Until then, I've set my goal of 50,000 words for November, joined a linked class at the local college and bought my shiny new pens and flash drive. 

Wish me luck.  I'll let you know how it's going.

Inverse proportion to fat?

The older I get, the more I'm convinced that there is a calculation out there in the mathematical cosmos that proves that fat increases with age and that efforts to remove that fat become inversely harder.  I am living proof.  I got back from a wonderful vacation in Scotland recently where I indulged - just a little too much - in the Scottish heritage.  By that I mean going to the great pubs and drinking a lot of ale and wine and whiskey.

This was me on my last day trying to get in the final pint of Old Speckled Hen.  I already look bleary eyed and it was only lunchtime.

Anyway, once I got home I was surprised to see that I had only gained about 4 pounds but I immediately set about making up the difference.  In Scotland I walked miles and miles each day but once back in Montana, I only walked about an hour a day - my normal exercise - and still ate and drank like I was on holiday.  Hey, my body got used to a certain lifestyle and didn't want to quit.  I decided that it was time to pull out the big guns.  I started using livestrong.com again.  It had worked a couple of years ago when I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes and helped me drop about 30 pounds. 

The catch is that I have to write down everything I eat.  Everything.  The website uses My Plate calculations and reminds you how much you still are allowed to eat for the day.  BONUS!  If you exercise, My Plate adds calories to your day and YOU CAN EAT MORE.  Yay!  So, after about a week and a half, I am a couple of pounds lighter and I feel better already...OK, I feel smug and virtuous...but seeing all the junk you eat in black and white really does make you think about what you're putting in your mouth.

Of course, I still have a glass of wine in the evening - carefully calculated - and I can't say that I've faced much hardship holding my caloric intake to 1750 calories, especially if I burn a few hundred calories in exercising each day.  The problem that I see in the future is Old Man Winter and his curtailment of my outdoor activities.  Guess that's why I keep the gym membership even though I rarely use it in nice weather.