Delicate Flower (Whole40 Results)

While my results from the Whole40 are nothing dramatic, I'm still pleased with myself for completing the 40 days, and I did lose weight. 

Because I forgot to weigh in on Day One (after my trip to Puerto Vallarta, where I'm sure I gained a lot of weight), I'm going off of my weight on July 20th (almost two months ago); since then I've lost 11.3 lbs, most of that likely water and "temporary" weight from the junk food.

However, I am only 1 lb under my weight from the Whole65 (which ended on my birthday). So, I did lose actual weight, albeit not very much. I also lost an inch off my waist, two inches off of my hips (where I carry the majority of my extra pudge), and a half inch off my thighs.

I'm glad to be headed in the right direction, however slowly. It does encourage me to not go overboard during this time off (I actually have a couple of weeks, what with the Paris (I leave on Wednesday...holy cats) and then the Ashland trip at the beginning of October. When I start my next one I don't want to have dug myself a junk food pit to climb out of...although I do look forward to a couple of treats. Tonight, in particular, I'll be enjoying a Sangria Swirl with some friends after we close Love's Labour's Lost.

So much has been going on - LLL is coming to an end; I've started workshop rehearsals for Matthew Briar; the Paris trip is fast approaching, and unfortunately, Panda is very sick. I've been paranoid and militant about not getting sick and not getting germs on me, which unfortunately has caused some upset in the house, which of course causes stress, which is supposed to encourage cold germs to knock you on your ass...I'm trying very hard to breathe and get through this without getting sick.

I've worked myself from 0 to 13.1 miles. I'm going to France for the first time in twelve years, and seeing a friend whom I *never* get to see. I've lost one hundred and thirteen pounds to get to where I am now.

I. Am. Not. Getting. Sick. Not right now. Not this time, universe.

You hear that, stomach? You hear that, throat and chest? I'm going to stay healthy if it fucking kills me!

Which means that I have yet another reason to not go overboard on the treats (especially the alcohol): NO GETTING SICK. Not before international travel and my first half-marathon ever.

In other happier news, I worked a parade with the Shakespeare folks yesterday morning, and it was really fun (although it was both the shortest and the fastest parade in which I've ever participated.) We dressed up in some pretty pseudo-Renaissance fairy-looking costumes and handed out flyers for next year's season and had a great time watching all the other groups and floats. And when I saw the photos that my friends had taken, I actually kind of liked them. We all look really happy and pretty. Including me. This doesn't usually happen (I can't take a photo to save my life, not only am I unhappy with my weight but I have trouble making natural nice-looking faces in photos). But I'm happy to see pictures in which I like seeing myself, especially when I'm smiling.

Angie is so much better at selfies than I am (I'm in the passenger seat)

Flower Girls! I'm second from the left

Happy smiles!

As my summer with Shakespeare in the Park wraps up tonight, I am a little blue and will miss the fun people I got to work with on LLL. It didn't move my heart as profoundly as Julius Caesar did, but I'm still really thankful I got to be on the team and dance around to 90s music while reciting some beautiful poetry with some brilliant people.

Today, Love's Labour's Lost. In three days, Paris. After that, Matthew Briar (with a little Ashland thrown in for flavor), the November trip to Disneyland, A Christmas Carol, The Country House, and then Filmapalooza, which we've just heard is going to be in Seattle in March! We're bringing Stonewood (best picture of San Jose in 2016, WHUT) and it's going to be a fun fun time at the film festival.

There's an absolute ton of things going on. And I'm exhausted and feeling delicate and paranoid (can't get sick can't get sick) and excited and nervous and then more excited, and seriously sincerely grateful. 

The depression and rage still come and go sometimes, although since cleaning up my diet they're not nearly as crazy as they used to be. 2016 has been one crazy bipolar motherf$#%er of a year. But I am really thankful to have had some wonderful, happy, funny, and profound experiences to give me perspective. I'm holding on to the good memories as hard as I can. 

I'm calling summer 2016 my Purple Summer. It started from the design perspective of Portia and Princess (and was happily alliterative with their names) but it has more meaning than that, too. So much more has happened this crazy summer.

Purple Summer ends on Wednesday when I leave the US and autumn begins on Thursday when I arrive in France. I'm excited to see what adventures the rest of 2016 has in store for me.

In One Week (Whole40, Day 37)

Four more days (including today) of this Whole40, and then I'll have some time off for treats again, which I'm very excited about. I made more spicy tuna cakes this week and they're really yummy. I don't make them as often as I should since they're time-consuming and the good tuna is expensive, but...omg they're good.

And a week from today I'll be on a plane, to Seattle and from thence to Paris. I'll be visiting France for the first time in over ten years, and seeing Disneyland Paris for the first time ever.

On Saturday the 24th I'll be running a 5K through Disneyland Paris.
And on Sunday the 25th I'll be running the inaugral Disneyland Paris Half Marathon.

Oh. Holy. Cats.

Looking at it seriously, I don't think it's really quite hit me that I will actually be doing this. On the day that I completed my first Couch to 5K run/walk workout, Ashley emailed me out of the blue to ask me to run the Half in Disneyland Paris with her and I laughed out loud. I honestly didn't think (sometimes I still don't think) I would be able to run 13.1 miles in a row, on purpose.

I was supposed to "complete" the 13.1 training by running the entire Half Marathon length on Sunday, but I pushed my long run to Tuesday because of the insanity that Love's Labour's Lost has been (people have fallen through the stage, set pieces have come crashing down, suffice to say I will not miss the San Mateo venue whatsoever, only the people in the cast and crew.). On Tuesday night I ran through the park and got to about 8.7 miles when a cop, with his lights flashing, drove through the entirety of Central Park and informed me in a bored-sounding voice that the park closed at sundown.

Does it really? People are there after dark all the time. Lame. Oh well.

So...just under nine miles is good, but not great. Hopefully at some point this week I can carve out time to cross-train on the elliptical at the gym, and then maybe this weekend I'll do a test 13.1-mile run. As exciting as it would be to run my very first actual half marathon, AT the actual event, I'd feel a little more confident if I knew I could make it all the way without passing out or getting sick.

I'm excited and terrified. But it'll be great to see Ashley again. And, my friend Jen (not blogger Jen but another theatre Jen, who runs every event I can think of) will be there with her family, too! We're going to try and meet up to bash around Disneyland Paris for a bit.

Despite running more than I ever have (literally) and sticking to the Whole30-style eating plan, I don't feel any lighter and I don't know that I've lost any more weight. This is disappointing, even though I know that technically Whole30 isn't a weight loss diet (I fully admit I adopted it to lose weight, even more so than to improve my health). Running long distance is supposed to be very helpful for weight loss.

But the truth is, I haven't been this small (relatively small, not small in general) in easily ten years. So I have no idea how fast weight loss will occur at this point, even with regular running and a strict diet. And, my body really REALLY wants to gain this weight back, I've seen that pattern when I measure and weigh myself after only a few days off-plan. It grabs ahold of whatever it can and tries to store it for the nuclear winter it thinks is coming. :-( We're ok, body. I don't need this much fat on me for hibernation. I promise I'll always find food.

Tonight is my first rehearsal for Matthew Briar and the Age of Resurrection. I have no idea what to expect, but I'm excited about the project.

Oh, and the film I was in for San Francisco's 48-Hour Film Project is online now. I play (of all things) a jogger. :-)

So much excitement and activity lately. Holy cats.

Coming Up, on "Dana Sucks at Calendars"... (Whole40, Day 29)

Well, tomorrow I will have completed another 30 days of Whole30-style eating. I'll still have 10 more days in this stretch but I think it'll feel nice to have another 30 under my belt.

I've noticed I'm a lot hungrier and a lot more "snacky" lately. It may have to do with running more, or it may have to do with not drinking enough water... or it may have to do with boredom. Who knows. This morning I ate a massive breakfast and brought extra food along for the day and evening (this commute between South San Jose and San Mateo is going to SUCK.) Over the long weekend I got a ton of things done, including buying more groceries and cooking up some lunches and dinners for this week (although I still have more cooking to do...I kept running out of time over the weekend!).

In the last five days, I have:

• Closed Julius Caesar. My heart is heavy. I loved that show SO MUCH.
• Washed massive amounts of laundry
• Cleaned out, disinfected, and organized my show makeup kit
• Washed all my makeup brushes (why do I have so many...?)
• Cleaned out and organized my show backpack
• Cleaned and polished my Dr. Martens (Sanborn park is so dusty and dirty they were like a cartoon)
• Made chili and red pepper chicken for lunches and dinners this week
• Struck props, cleaned the trailers, and hauled a ton of concessions items in my car as the Shakespeare troupe cleaned out of the home park for another fall/ winter
• Kept up with my training program for 13.1 - on Sunday I ran 8 miles and yesterday I got over 10K steps even though it was a rest day!
• Began tech rehearsals for the two-week remount of Love's Labour's Lost

And I was also cast in Matthew Briar and the Age of Resurrection (extremely limited one-weekend run in October, an incredible show I had the privilege of seeing in its first incarnation and which I am massively excited to join); and, I'll be returning in 2016 to A Christmas Carol with Northside. I'll be playing The Ghost of Christmas Past and a host of other characters I've never played before. I'm really, really excited about that. I've never worked with the director before but he seems truly awesome and fun, and his spin on the play is much ghostier and scarier, which I love.

I am truly happy and stoked to be involved in so many theatre things this summer/ fall/ winter. However, it means my schedule is chock full of nuts. It includes:

September:

• Tech Week 2.0 for Love's Labour's Lost
• Love's Labour's Lost performances (two weekends)
• Rehearsals for Matthew Briar and the Age of Resurrection
• Marching in the Saratoga Parade with Silicon Valley Shakespeare
• Disneyland Paris Half Marathon (holy shit)
• Star Wars Day (Giants Baseball Game)

October:

• More rehearsals for Matthew Briar and the Age of Resurrection
• Ashland Trip II (driving up with Jen and seeing the rest of OSF's magnificent season)
• Walking the ArtsWalk 5K to benefit Silicon Valley Shakespeare
• Matthew Briar and the Age of Resurrection performances (one weekend)

November:

• Rehearsals for A Christmas Carol
• Disneyland Superheroes Half Marathon (holy shit...again?)
• Rehearsals for The Country House
• I think Thanksgiving?

December:

• More rehearsals for The Country House
• A Christmas Carol performances (three weekends including a special matinee on Christmas Eve)
• Hopefully a trip to see my dad in Portland
• At this point I'm pretty sure my brain is going to be a fried pancake
• Christmas?
• ...New Year's Eve?

January:

• More rehearsals for The Country House
• Hot Chocolate 15K (seriously, Dana?)
• Auditions for SVS's summer 2017 season
• The Country House performances (four weekends)

*big flourish* AND A PARTRIDGE IN A PEEEEEAAAAARRR TREEEEEEEEEEE