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As I was wrapping up my first article for the December issue of Classical Singer and beginning my new cross-training regimen (switching from hiking to biking and adding Pilates), I was also heading into a month-long run of Footloose (my first Broadway crossover show since high school). My wife, Dixie, had just broken her wrist when alighting from her bike after a shaky stop (she fainted twice; there was an ambulance involved). Regardless of a hectic show schedule and the fact that I would now be biking alone, I set out for a good, long morning ride up the hill and winding through the surrounding neighborhoods. It was a great ride. I enjoyed the brisk fall air and some beautiful views of Utah Lake. However, I think that was the last straw. The next day I was sick.
Sick, with a capitol S. It seems like I haven’t been sick for a couple of years. In fact, I had even bragged to my director that “I never get sick.” Opening weekend was behind me but, with no understudy, there was nothing to do but go on with the show. I won’t go into details, but this cold gave me the works from the bottom of my lungs to the tippy-top of my head and everything in between. My voice was a pale imitation of its normal self but, luckily, this was a musical and not an opera. I even had some cast members remark on the increased emotion and vulnerability in my delivery. If that isn’t frustrating to a primarily classical singer who is trying his best to not erupt into a fit of coughing mid-song, I don’t know what is.
I took a week off from my new exercise regimen to recover, but continued to follow my eating plan. I had been experiencing a plateau for a couple of weeks. I believe this was caused by my switch from hours-long intensive hiking to relatively low-impact biking for shorter periods of time. I was being very careful about what I ate and not eating a lot, but I wasn’t keeping track, so I could easily have been overdoing it. It was time to bite the bullet and start keeping a journal of what I eat.
The Food Journal
I’ve tried food journaling several times before, pen and notebook at the table, looking up calories in a pocket calorie counter for each food. Honestly, I have never made it more than a few days. It is so tedious to me. So, I needed to approach it differently this time. I searched online for a free Internet tool to help me keep track of things. I found www.myfitnesspal.com and made it my homepage. The site has an extensive database of foods already entered in by its users and allows you to track your exercise as well.
Almost immediately, the weight began to come off again. The only conscious decision I made was to keep track of what I ate—but by just being aware of how much I was taking in, I jumpstarted my weight loss again. I also began to notice some of the patterns that promote loss and just how many calories make the difference between loss, maintenance, and gain. If I eat between 1600-2100 calories in a day, I will lose weight. If I eat a little more than that, I’m in maintenance.
Hunger continues to be a non-issue. This has more to do with the types of food I am eating rather than the calorie count. I eat nuts daily. A handful of nuts has only about 160 calories (depending on the nut) and lasts me two to three hours. I eat omega-3 eggs almost every day. They are similarly satiating. I eat lots of organic fruits and veggies (you can eat as many of these as you like), and have a big, green, leafy salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar most days. At dinner, I may have tilapia, mahi mahi, salmon burgers, chicken or, occasionally, tacos or meatloaf (made with oats). My diet is low on grains, mainly because the body can process bread/cereal so quickly, and then it is hungry again. I do eat oatmeal, though, which lasts well and has a great nutrient breakdown.
My Sweet Tooth and Holidays
I avoid sugar and artificial sweeteners (enough has been written on the adverse effects of either of these to fill libraries). That doesn’t mean I never have sweets, though. I have been baking experimentally with seeds, nuts, dates, and other whole foods, and have come up with a rather delectable, 5-ingredient, dark chocolate brownie that is full of nutrient-rich goodness and makes a great, long-lasting snack in between meals. Occasionally, I use agave nectar to sweeten herbal tea or oatmeal. The point is, there is plenty of great, whole food out there, and hunger doesn’t need to be an issue. It is all in the choices.
Choices? Well, for the family Halloween party that we host each year, I chose to have a holiday. It may have set me back half a week, but I learned a couple of things. First, sugar really isn’t that great, especially after you’ve been off it for a while. I seriously count myself as a sugar addict—but after about two weeks of sugar abstinence, the cravings diminish and then finally go away. The second thing I learned is that you can have a holiday (at which point you’ll wonder why you wanted one), as long as you go right back to eating healthy the next day. I may take another holiday on thanksgiving, but I’m seriously considering bringing some of my own baked goods to that family gathering, just so I’ll feel better physically the next day.
Cross-Training Progress
After taking a week off to, quite literally, get back on my feet, I began my cross-training again. I was grateful to have a stationary bike so I could do my biking indoors and continue to recover from my cold (this was one of the worst I’ve had in many years, and I am still feeling its after-effects). I didn’t feel I could trust my lungs to the increasingly frigid outdoor air while I was struggling to sing three to five performances a week.
My biking guide, Ride Your Way Lean by Selene Yeager, recommends at least an hour of biking a day, six days a week, at different levels of difficulty. Based on this, I decided to upgrademy goal from biking every other day with Pilates on alternating days to biking every day with Pilates three times a week.
In one month, my Pilates progress has been greater than I had originally hoped for. A couple of the exercises were particularly difficult at the outset. For example, “rolling up”—where you do something like a sit-up, except with your legs flat on the ground—gave me a hard time with my weight distribution. Still, I’ve become fairly comfortable with the beginner’s routine from The Complete Book of Pilates for Men by Daniel Lyon and have added a couple of the exercises from the intermediate workout as well. The routine takes only about 10 minutes (one of the reasons I decided to add more days of biking), but I can see and feel my progress.
I’ve missed a few days, yes—but if you miss a day, you just start up again the next day as if nothing had happened. No sense in getting upset—just go on.
Mental Hurdles
What has been difficult this month, with so much going on (including a family tragedy and a myriad of other things I won’t touch on in this article) has been to stay focused and remember that my health is my first priority. Without my health, I can’t be there for my wife or family. Without my health, I can’t give my best as a performing artist or creator. Without my health, I can’t serve the community I so wish to serve. When life events press in, it is hard to keep that focus—but it is absolutely essential to doing the work we want and need to do.
