They're baaaaaack!!

Just when I was getting used to the fact that I could roam around campus in my snazzy little electric cart without having to utter the continual mantra of "Excuse me, pardon me" - they came back.

Just as I was getting used to be able to film all over campus - including classrooms and lecture halls - even in the middle of the day - they came back.

And just I was oh so used to not having to wade through countless bodies when going to get lunch at the cafeterias or in the food court - they came back.

Yes, you guessed it - THE STUDENTS! OK, yes, I do realize that USC IS an institution of higher learning and that, in and of itself, would lend one to assume that students would be part of the equation, but I gotta tell ya, it certainly was nice to have such a slow-paced, quiet campus the last few months.

And another thing - do these kids' parents know that their youngsters are hanging out on the campus of USC?? I look at these kids - especially the freshmen - and wonder is it just me getting older or do these kids just look younger and younger each year? They are babies!! But, looking at them does take me back to my first year of college. How exciting was that?? A first foray into real independence. And that sense of hopefulness and idealism that only an 18 year old can experience.

So, even though these kids are no doubt going to have wonderful and life-changing experiences while at USC, I do miss the sleepy campus. But maybe I should look upon the now-highly populated campus as an opportunity to hop in my little electric cart and practice some slalom maneuvers through the quad!!

Metabolism is Stupid

OK, yes, perhaps having a metabolism can be helpful at times - what with that need to break down food for energy and all. But, it just seems that the older I become, the more I hear the catch phrase "Oh, your metabolism is just slowing down" as the answer to why, all of a sudden, my bathroom scale seems to be irreparably stuck in the "up" position!

After trying a low carb diet (which worked great only a few years ago BEFORE I hit the "your metabolism is slowing down" era of my life), only to find that it was no longer a successful option, I decided to go to my doctor with the odd hope that he would tell me that my thyroid was out of whack and that THAT was the reason for the sudden weight gain.

He gave me good news and not-so-good news. The good news was that my thyroid was just fine. The not-so-good news was... that my thyroid was just fine. Damn. Back to the metabolism theory.

He told me that if I wanted to stick with a low carb diet, then I had to make it a low fat diet as well. So... in other words I would be looking at a delicious culinary selection of water and lettuce! Ugh. He did however go on to tell me that "at my age" (another catch phrase that I just LOVE!) one of the best ways to increase my metabolism was to eat 6 small meals a day and work out more. He suggested that I change my evil ways of not eating breakfast and eating dinner late, and to keep each of the 6 small meals/snacks to around 200 calories each - for a total of 1200 calories a day.

Since I am not very good at writing down my caloric intake every time I eat, I decided to take the advice of a friend who had tried Jenny Craig's pre-packaged, pre-measured, pre-calorie-counted foods and had really good luck with them. I decided to give it a shot. I must say that this has certainly made me aware that, despite the fact I have always eaten fairly healthy food (although you do not want to get between me and chocolate cake!), I was eating way too large a portion of it. Even the salad bar can totally rack up the calorie counter if you put enough "stuff" on it! So, I decided to try a diet that is partially made up of Jenny Craig food and partially my own food in an effort to really understand the concept of portion reduction and be able to put it into practice right away with my own food. So far, pretty good. I was shooting for losing 8-10 lbs a month but only dropped 7 lbs this first month. No complaints, mind you. I am at least going in the right direction.

Well, I gotta go... need to take my stupid metabolism to the gym!