Swimming into the New Year

        For the first month of 2016, I am making a deliberate attempt to reduce my weight to whatever amount possible while continuing my commitment to balance and good health practice. When you have such little control of the quality and ingredients of the meals that I am consuming it is difficult.

       While I am not walking as much, I swim, as in constant motion,  for 90 minutes three times a week and do yoga for swimmers another 3 hrs.    In our last swimming lesson, we practiced going under water, pushing off, the side of the pool and kicking until out of breath.   We are at the beginning of breathing so we can continue to practice the kick.  It is not the kicking that is my issue; it is using my hands to get my head out to inhale.  Once that milestone is achieved, we can scurry ahead.  I am amazed at what I can do.

       The Saturday lesson was how dense the water is both from the perspective of pushing through the water wall by reshaping our body like Superman and how much it will hold me up.  I am the water.  The Zen or fish school of swimming is a combination of immersion, Alexander, and teacher Fred’s teachers and coaches.   The first month has been working to get out of survival mode that is debilitating.   I swim and swim and move my body half way across the pool on one breath underwater and I am not tired nor panicked.  The more I stabilize my core, and keep a head to toe balance, the easier it gets.   I love it.   I have even given up my formal QiKong class so I will reach my goal – only 2% of the swimmers can swim 1000 meters. I hope to join that group March 1.

       So as a reward for the first month and as New Years gift to me, I gave myself a day off from light eating but continue to do the intermittent fast by eating for only 8 hrs. a day and fasting for 16 hrs.  It is quite easy once you start and I am not hungry even swimming before I eat.  I would like to get more protein and would prefer grass fed beef to the soy chemical products of Asia. That is part of the travel dilemma.

     So for New Year’s Day, I went to a brunch at a very high-end restaurant that I will suggest to the Rochester travelers.  I came as a blue band “other” and most of the guest wore a yellow band indicating they were part of the expat group.  I found that I could join as a “snow bird” but I don’t think I have much in common with most of the group.  There are two ways of looking at that, you don’t fit, or you are unique.   I prefer the later.

There were several long lines of food as well as an egg station where I got a benedict florentine

Last year Nadia's friend Margaret came with her to Thailand.  The woman in yellow looked so much like her from a distance that I left my plate to get a better look.

The woman in the dress in front of one of the food tables is Nancy the Expat Club President.  She has lived here for eight years and was from Ann Arbor... I did not ask,  but my guess an English Prof.