Forward Motion

Again, it has been far too long since my last post. Time is flying by. I can't believe we are already into November and in 7 weeks I will be home and finished with my first semester of graduate school. So far, things has been going well. I am swamped with work Swamped. Tons of reading and papers every week. I feel like I am always carrying around some book with me, to get in a little work whenever I have extra time. But, the great thing is that I really love what I am doing right now. Everything I am reading and all the discussions I am having in class excite me and so it doesn't seem like such a burden to have to work so hard.

Keith is coming up on Monday, which I can't wait for. Hopefully we will get good weather and we can go do some tourist sight-seeing and such. I haven't done a crazy lot of that, so I look forward to seeing yet another side of the city.

Crossfit is going well. I got a handle on my eating and have lost about 6 pounds since I have been here....or at least since I starting caring again. It is hard to eat well here, but not impossible. I just need to be more deliberate with my choices and plan a little more accordingly. I am starting to feel like I am in control again, which is really nice. I am enjoying working out with the crew at Crossfit Gotham. It is a different vibe than Central, but that is to be expected. It is just fun to get to experience another affiliate and I think it is really comforting that there is that common thread I share with such a great community. Like anywhere I go, there is a build in network that I just have to contact. I will get a pull up, sold push ups and double-unders. I will.

I will try to get better about posting, but all in all, life is not that crazy. I feel comfortable in the city and I have found a routine. Well, as much of a routine as I can hope for right now. I just have to continue making forward motion. That is the name of the game.

Some Observations

Some things I have thus far observed about New York City:

1. You cannot dress for the weather. You will always be cold in the shade and hot in the sun. The rain boots and tights you rocked in the morning will look ridiculous by the time you get out of class and the sun has dried up every indication of rain.

2. There are police everywhere.

3. If you are a female and you pass a male standing/sitting on the side of the street, there is a 95% chance he will make some sort of comment to you. Regardless of what you are wearing or look like. There is an even greater chance this comment will make no sense, but you will undoubtedly know what is intended.

4. Even though New York is very fast paced, you have to have a lot of patience to live here.

5. As long as a car is more than 10 feet away, it is perfectly acceptable to walk in front of it. Even if they have a green light and are a speeding trash truck.

6. When you get onto a crowded subway car, you will know who the locals are. They are the ones complaining how they don't have any room or how your bag is touching them. You would think they would be used to it.

7. Do not, under any circumstances, get into the black cabs with no clear identification.

8. There is a fortunate lack of blonds here.

9. You need cash, and a lot of it. Get out as much as possible whenever you can.

10. If you are a germaphobe, agoraphobe, xenophobe, or claustrophobic, you will not do well here.

NYC and Me

A little more about where I am...

I am starting my Masters at Teachers College, Columbia in Comparative Education. More on that latter. But for the next year, I will be living in this city known as NYC. I am about 2 blocks from campus which is just south of Harlem proper, but still very much Manhattan. There is so much street culture here, it is amazing. Everywhere I walk, and I do walk a lot, has such wonderful sights and sounds and smells. Ok, not all of the smells are great. This place is definitely an assault on the nose. But you get the idea. Wonderful flower shops and markets and bookstores and bakeries.

Ahhh...the bakeries. The food in general here is amazing. There are endless local restaurants and it is so refreshing to be in a place that doesn't have fast food and big chairs on every corner. This is indeed a blessing and a curse. Great to have such a variety. Bad because it makes you want to eat out all the time. Everything is expensive here, which is to be expected. So you can really go through a lot of money pretty fast if you are not careful. Plus, there are the usual pitfalls of eating out.

I have had a difficult time adjusting my eating here. My situation now is that I do not have kitchen or a refrigerator. Hopefully I will get a fridge soon, but the kitchen situation is no going to change. The dining hall here is fairly nice, and I have gotten in the habit of eating 2 of my 3 meals a day there. Breakfast is easy. 2 eggs and some fruit or toast. Then lunch and/or dinner I try to have some grilled protein and veggies or a big salad. For the first week or so I was fairly out of control. My schedule was all messed up and I was just grabbing whatever was most convenient. I can feel the effects of that. My clothes are all much tighter and my body in general does not feel in top form. So for the past few days I have really tried to get things into perspective. No, I cannot be as hardcore about being paleo or zoning here as I could at home. But that doesn't mean I cannot make smart choices. If I eat a piece of toast with my eggs in the morning, ok. As long as that is not followed with a bag of chips at lunch and a big cookie for dinner. It is going to take me a while to work out all the details, but I am proud of myself for trying my best to figure this out.

What about workouts, you ask?

Well, i contacted a crossfit gym here, so i am just waiting to hear back from them. Like I have said before, i am not sure how much time and money I am going to have to workout at a box, but I really want to try to make it work. For the first week, didn't do any workouts. Yes, I was walking 6 miles a day, but I don't count that. So on Tuesday a friend of mine and I went to Riverside Park, which is right across the street from me, and ran a good 3 miles or so. In between, we did some sit ups, burpees, and plank. It was really fun to be outside in a new environment doing all the movements we do int he gym. Then this morning, I went for about a mile run, and did 100 sit ups, 50 push ups, and 25 burpees. The weather here is so great that I really have no excuse not to be outside enjoying it while I can.

So I am going to try to get in a good run 2 times a week, a real WOD 3 times, and then just play around with other movements when I get the chance. I know it is a slippery slope to undoing all the hard work I have done thus far. I certainly am not going to let that happen. It is going to be a difficult transition into being healthy and fit in my new home, away from all my routines, familiarities, comfort, and support. But I am determined to make it happen. This ear I will better my mind and body, with a little bit of soul searching too.