Day 63: Jumping!

I did my jump rope today while watching last night's episode of Mad Men. I adore this show. I'm not much of a TV person but my love for Mad Men knows few bounds. So it was a good incentive for getting my jump rope done: a new episode! I haven't jumped rope in front of the TV before, and I don't think I'm going to make it a regular habit. Everything went fine but I think I prefer my music, especially when I'm going to do a full workout. But for today's jumps, it was fun.

I ate my lunch while I finished watching the episode, once again marveling at the copious amounts of alcohol everybody takes in. I read an interesting article recently which proposed that one of the reasons Mad Men is so popular is that we love watching people live such flagrantly unhealthy lives -- smoking, drinking, rich food, unprotected sex -- while we all work out and eat right and quit smoking and drink our nightly glass of red wine because of the antioxidants, not because we like it. It's an intriguing idea. It does seem like office life was a lot more fun in those days -- especially last night's episode, the Christmas party where there was an un-ironic conga line around the office and cartons of Lucky Strikes were handed out as party favors. But the show doesn't shy away from showing the dark side of this kind of life, as people stumble into the office the next day with a headache, keep Maalox in their desk drawer, and make some really bad decisions.

I don't want to live in that world -- I just want fabulous clothes and a beautiful martini now and then.

And I might like to look like this, please:


(An interesting aside: I read somewhere that the actresses on this show love their jobs because they don't have to be super-skinny like on other TV shows. Joan Holloway here might not be in Peak Condition, but there is a certain amount of health that she exhibits that you don't see in anorexic starlets. And you don't see Joan getting wasted at the office party, either.)

I can hardly believe the time is passing so quickly -- we're in the last few weeks! The salt & sugar cravings are dissipating, or else I'm feeling stronger about resisting them. I'm resolved to make these last weeks really strong and get the most I can out of this time. I can eat well and exercise anytime but it's not often that I have this kind of amazing support to make those changes. Looking forward to new diet & exercise later today...