Friday Fermata – Temptation at the witching hour

Well, right now, in the throws of the performance season, I’m holding steadfast to my diet and exercise regime and I can’t say that it has been easy, but it’s getting easier.  Today at my office, there was a new employee starting, which means dunkin’ dunuts for all, spread out in the kitchen for all to partake.  I was diligently making my afternoon snack, which is my sword to fight the demon of the 3PM, ”food witching hour.”  The time when I’m the most vulnerable to all things chocolate and sugar.  When, in the past, my utter exhaustion met up with my sweet tooth, as they conspired to bring me down. 

So, with my homemade yogurt, granola and fruit bowl in hand, I opened the box and sniffed the donuts.  People, I sniffed them   I took a huge whiff and took in the aroma of yum and then felt an incredible amount of power at being able to control myself with them literarly right in front of my nose.  I also found out something very surprising – you can get a lot of satisfaction from sniffing the food and not eating it.  Who knew?  Now, let’s not misunderstand.  I don’t deprive myself but I choose my indulgences carefully.   I do eat chocolate every once in a while.  Just this week, I took a Godiva coupon for three free 3 truffles and then decided that I would stretch them out over 3 days just to see if I could do it.  I did.  So, I sniffed the donuts while the receptionist looked at me and told me how weird I was.  There is a fine line between being diligent and being obsessive and I’m right on the edge, but on the right side.   I’ve watched enough Biggest Loser to know that if you want results, you need to change your habits.

I’ve managed to buy only 2 meals when I had rehearsals during the weekend where I couldn’t store my food.  For me, that’s a huge success, and definitely a change for the better.  I’m at 10 pounds and holding steady so I’m going to be kicking it up a notch with the treadmill training once my heart monitor comes in the mail so I can shed the remaining.

What does this have to do with singing?  Well, with another huge round of auditions around the corner, I hope that I will feel (and look) better than before and that it will help.   But the other thing, the really important thing, is that my attitude is changing.  If I have some control over this, I can control my reactions to the many auditions (and the rejections decisions made that are not in my favor and out of my control) that come with them.  Let’s hope this will translate into a more confident and energetic singer and that they pick up on that.  But, it’s mostly just for me.

A singer's memorizing is never done.