The Ulitmate Drop Zone

Wow I've been MIA for a lil' bit. Work, working out, all that stuff. Marcus recently went to Montreal to visit a friend and he had a good time. This past Sunday, my sisters and I headed to Times Square to check out the King Tut exhibit. Apparently, once the run is over, the exhibit is heading back to Egypt forever. It's pretty interesting...a CT scan and bone biopsy were performed on the mummy to determine the cause of his death and to determine who King Tut's father was. I especially loved these gorgeous jars that contained mummified internal organs...I kinda like that idea of mummifying individual organs...but I do want to be cremated...Before the exhibit, we met up at Pershing Square Restaurant. Jennifer had an eclair, Caroline had a crab cake and a margarita, and I had lapsang souchong tea...I love that stuff...it's this really smokey black tea. Anyway, Marcus recently found this skydiving opportunity that he thought I'd love...and I do! One day, I'd love to do it...you skydive off of Mt. Everest! That's incredible...now only if I could afford it...

Why I'm Sayin' No

So I'm on this campaign against high fructose corn syrup...and the reason for myself, at least, is because I recently found out from my doctor that I am technically considered a "pre-diabetic" based on bloodwork results. This scared the hell outta me, because diabetes runs in my family, and because as many of you know, I'm a chocoholic and inhaling a jar on Nutella on a daily basis isn't something I put past myself. So in the past few weeks I've drastically reduced my chocolate intake (very sadly so, by the way) and I've cut down on carb intake. I'm also working on reducing my orange juice consumption. I will say---recently I've noticed a difference in myself and I've lost some weight. My trainer even commented on it, and I've been training with her for 8 months and this is the first time she's said this to me. She has always told me that I have to watch what I eat to really see results, and I believe it. Speaking of eating, Marcus and I went to dinner at Maze, the restaurant in the London Hotel. It's a Gordon Ramsey joint. I thought the food was good, and we agreed we'd go back again. P.S.: Marcus and friends' new product line has launched! Check it out and spread the word!

Again, Say NO to Fructose and Sucrose (which is partially made of fructose)

Marcus sent me a link to a lecture given by an MD out of UC San Francisco. If you have any interest in why Americans are facing an obesity epidemic, why high fructose corn syrup is really bad, and why little kids---even infants are having problems with obesity...then check out this lecture. It was pretty interesting. It broke down the reason why the US is having this problem now---it all started with Nixon, the Japanese scientist who invented high fructose corn syrup, and the early 80's movement to cut down on fat to prevent cardiovascular disease. Then the guy breaks down exactly why fructose is bad. I highly recommend this lecture. It's over an hour, but very interesting and very important. Check it out, it was a lecture presented to the public, as part of the UC school system's Lifelong Learning Program. Just FYI, here's a list of foods highest in fructose content...I need to cut down on my fruit juice intake. On a happier note, this weekend was fun. Marcus and I brunched in SoHo yesterday, and then last night I went to Film Forum with Stephen and we watched the original "House of Wax" starring Vincent Price in 3-D. It was GREAT FUN! I'm really happy we watched it. Today is a rainy, lazy day...I worked out, did some housework, and chilled with Gustaf. P.S...quick fructose factoids: it doesn’t suppress ghrelin (the hunger hormone), fructose ingestion doesn’t trigger insulin, therefore doesn’t trigger leptin (the satiety hormone), therefore your brain doesn’t know you ate anything and tells you you're still hungry! Fructose contributes to Metabolic Syndrome (obesity, type II diabetes, lipid problems, hypertension, cardiovascular disease)...therefore fructose, high fructose corn syrup, and sucrose are the roots of all dietary evil! AAAHHHH!

A Long Weekend

This week I have a long weekend (my schedule changes week by week), so I was thrilled! Yesterday Marcus took the day off and we went to Long Beach. It was a good, quick getaway. The waves were fairly strong, and the water wasn't the warmest (but still refreshing), so we were in and out of the water. Then we went to Lord and Taylor because there was a crazy sale, and I needed more work clothes. So that got taken care of. At home we watched an excellent movie: "The Ghost Writer". At first the dialogue reminded me of David Mamet, but I was surprised to find out Roman Polanski actually directed it. Today I worked out and was happily reminded of what's on my iPod...well the iPod is on my iPhone. I listened to some Findley Quaye, James Brown, Glasvegas (a new love of mine), hip hop, and other good stuff. But I want to upload some more music. Tonight we're heading to Alphabet City to eat dinner with Terry-a and Steve at Back Forty.