November 26, 2010-present weight loss




2012 weight loss



Friday, October 28, 2011

Hip Hop Hooray!

I thought that I sweat broke my iPod at the gym two days ago, but it came back to life for yesterday's workout.  I celebrated by listening to The Notorious B.I.G. followed by Naughty By Nature.  The music certainly kept me more motivated to move than watching the news does (which is what I frequently do), but it came at a cost.  I felt completely dirty.  I hate the lyrics, hate how women are portrayed, hate the N word, hate the violence, hate the vile references to sex, hate all of it!  Other than the beats, I just can't do it.  My issue is that most of my music is jazz, Bruce, Sting and music that is, well, not at all naughty by nature and not at all helpful to a workout.  So I am on the hunt for new music.  A girlfriend of mine is a marathon runner and has a ton of music with a strong beat.  I am going to see if she will hook me up with good gym music!
  
Kenny and I had dinner with a colleague and this colleague's wife last night.  The couple recently moved to London, so we thought it would be nice to give them some American love for the evening.  It seems that they are having a bit of difficulty adjusting to life over here, but that is to be expected.  It is a huge cultural change- I remember how out of sorts Kenny and I felt when we started out in London.  Anyway, we had such a tasty meal that I would be remiss if I didn't describe it for the foodies out there.  I wanted to take pictures to post but couldn't really do that when out to dinner with business people.  I started with spiced lobster tail served over a port-poached fig and sauteed duck foie gras.  It was just heavenly.  Kenny had the crab lasagna with shellfish foam, which was equally yummy.  Our mains were delicious as well- sea bass with blue cheese gnocchi for me and slow coked belly of pork with seared scallops for him.  I didn't eat all of the main, but I did inhale my chocolate mousse with raspberry jelly and mango sorbet.  The fact that the scale is down this morning is a complete fluke (but I will take it where I can).  It frequently takes two days for the scale to notch upwards after a bad meal, so I will probably see a disappointing number tomorrow morning:(
  
Minus last night's slide into the land of the chocolate mousse, I have been eating very, very well.  I don't eat breakfast most days but have leftover fish and veg for lunch.  I cook another fish and veg dinner every evening and wind up having a little snack as needed between lunch and dinner- along with about a 1/2 cup of apple juice mixed with fiber powder after my workout.  I am a bit concerned how I will make out this weekend.  English friends are having us to their home for dinner tomorrow night, so I fear that we will be eating a roast of some sort.  The following evening Italian friends are hosting us for an evening of pumpkin risotto... tasty but so NOT good for my weight or my waist! 
  
To the gym I will go to combat the effects of this food frenzy!
  
Happy Friday!

8 comments:

speck said...

Now when you talk about the gym, I got the visual that you are really listening to DIRTY music! lol I think it's funny.

I too have to have very motivating music. This is probably to old for you(lol) but I like Old School Music like The Gap Band(I can hear the gasp now and then young people saying WHO?) and the song Fantastic Voyage. rof(I think that's right)

Man, maybe you've just motivated me a little bit to go to the gym.(I'll keep you posted on that. lol)

Have a good day Nora.

Amanda said...

Good Morning Nora! I missed your last blog but I will go back and read it today!

I feel the same about rap or hip hop! Don't love the lyrics but I like the up beat in a work out!

I've got an idea for a blog post and I need your help on it! Do you mind me mentioning and using you in some posts? We'll get Kenny some new followers for you maybe! (ha) email me and I'll let you know my idea!

A.J. said...

I am with Speck-- Get yourself into some Old School Soul and Funk-- That's what most of the rap songs were sampled off of anyway.

I totally understand you on the hating everything but the beat. I never listen to rap music except when I am working out. I need that heavy beat too!!

Ivy said...

If you like hip-hop beats, I can make a couple suggestions of some artists that you might like that have the fun beats, but are a little lower on the misogony and n-word abuse (I worked in hip-hop for years, and as a woman in this area can understand fully your issue). There is an artist named K'naan who you might like. The album I like by him is Troubadour. His songs have a better message, and even address some of your issues with the music and you might even recognize his song "Just like a waving flag" from the world cup adverts. Also, Gnarls Barkley (not quite hip-hop, but similar beats) is another good duo. The album St. Elsewhere is packed full of good work out songs. I agree with Speck, I like listening to The Gap Band and Eddy Grant for some fun old school motivation. Actually making this comment has got me wanting to go walk! Lunchtime walk here I come! NYC is FREEZING today! 37 degrees! Hopefully the music will move me to get outside and walk still!

Andrea said...

Yeah why do so many of the songs with good beats have those kind of lyrics! Let us know if you find some good alternatives!

MandaPanda said...

It all sounds so delicious though!

trishajo said...

that meal sounds DELISH! Caroline over at Cronicles always talks about her love for fois gras. It sounds so gross but must be SO good!! What extravagant meals - I am jealous!

And congrats on the loss!!

Cat said...

I swear, if my iPod broke or were missing I wouldn't be able to work out. Eeek! I also have my chick bad on my iPod now, totally dirty lyrics.

Also I nominated you for a blog award. Stop by my blog to claim it!