Thai Dinner

Had dinner with friends last night at the Watt Buddhametta (Tucson Buddhist Meditation Center - http://tucsonbuddhistcenter.org. The center hosts a Thai dinner about once each month as a fund raiser; for $10, one can eat great Thai food cooked by locals. Typical Asian food - pad thai, egg rolls, lots of coconut dishes:), and plenty of vegetarian options. The green curry soup with tofu was my favorite, just the right amount of spice/heat for my palate:)

Spring

It is definitely spring here in Tucson! Most days are in the 70s, although this week it looks like mid-80s, and the nights rarely dip below 50; ideal weather in my book:) Swimming outdoors is such a treat in this kind of weather so I try to get in the water 5-6 days/week.

Nine days remain before my departure April 1st  Would like to experience April in Tucson; locals tell me it isn't too hot (yet) and the desert is in bloom!

Book Review - Sophie’s Choice by William Styron

Wow! Tried to read this book years ago but couldn’t get through it; too sad. Not sure why, but this time around I was able to read the entire book rather quickly. I was struck by the large vocabulary of the author. Fortunately, the book is on my Kindle so it was easy to look up words:); don’t think I’ve ever had to look up so many words.  The author chooses his words carefully such that they never seem superfluous. Styron is an amazing storyteller and a joy to read; however, the subject matter is very sad. One of the better novels I've ever read.

Swim Update

Had my second to last lesson in Tucson today. I'm going to miss Coach Geoff; he has helped me understand the technical and mental aspects of swimming. He's also taught me enough to work on while in Maryland and another reason to return to Tucson:); highly recommend him (http://www.dolphinsofthedesert.com).

My lower back has been hurting me the last two days; don't know whether it is related to swimming but I only swam 4x this week (I try to swim at least 5 days/week between weekly lessons). I was unsure my back would hold up today but we took it easy; hopefully it will allow me to do my technical session tomorrow:

• 10x25s - warm up
• 16x50s - interval freestyle

Geoff knows I want to improve my endurance (i.e., swim longer distances) so today he taught me about interval training. The "interval" is the total time it takes to swim 50 yards plus any rest time before starting the next 50. Based on my speed, he calculated my interval to be 1 minute 55 seconds.

We also discussed my kick; Geoff says I'm current doing 5-6 kicks per stroke and might want to cut back to 4 to use less energy. This means I would kick 2x for the left arm extension and 2x for the right arm for a total of 4. I tried it out; it will take getting used to but should help reduce my energy expenditure and give me the kicking structure I'm currently lacking - sometimes I kick fast, sometimes not so fast because I didn't know what I was doing. In general, I've always felt that a lot of my energy was going to my kicking without much reward; looking forward to this change.

Nutrition Update

Since January 26th I’ve closely tracked my nutritional intake for 48 days; eating at home, carefully weighing portions on my digital scale, and relying on food labels for nutritional data. Excluding three days I ate at restaurants, the 48-day average, minimum, and maximum (through 3/16/15) intake for 9 nutrition factors (see table below) generally appear in line with recommendations; however, I should probably consume 400-600 more calories/day (hence the recent 10 pound weight loss). I’ve focused on increasing my protein and calcium intake while minimizing added sugar and total fat intake; I could probably stand to consume more good fat (ice cream?:) 

Measuring/weighing portions becomes a habit after awhile and I find it interesting to track the nutrients entering my body. My diet is pretty simple and I tend to eat the same meals each day; makes it easier to shop, prepare meals, and track intake. Tracking takes time, however, and makes me reluctant to eat out; all positive outcomes in my view:)

	Calories (kcal/day)	Calories from Fat (g)	Total Fat (g)	Protein (g)	Added Sugar (g)	Sodium (mg)	Dietary Fiber (g)	Total Carbs (g)	Calcium (mg)
Average	1950	400	45	100	17	1393	57	302	1340
Min	1542	230	25	74	3	697	37	227	890
Max	2339	668	76	144	40	2485	88	413	2450
Recommended Values from Two Sources for Active 58 Year Old 145 pound Male
http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/fnic/interactiveDRI/	2634	-	59-102	53	-	1300-2300	30	296-428	1000
http://nutritiondata.self.com/tools/calories-burned	2636	-	73-102	53	-	-	30	296-428	1200

Intake recommendations vary widely depending on the source; some sources provide minimum value’s, while others recommend specific values, minimums, or maximums based on nutrition calculators that consider gender, age, and weights.

Fiber: the two sources in my table recommend at least 30g but WebMD recommends a minimum of 38g/day for men.

Carbohydrates: the two sources in my table recommend 45-65% of total calorie intake as carbs; since carbs provide 4 calories/gram, the 296-428 range is derived by dividing the product by 4.

Fat: The USDA source recommends 20-35% of total calories for fat; since fat provides 9 calories/gram; the 59-102 range is derived by dividing the product by 9. The nutritiondata.self.com source recommends 25-35%.

Book Review: 8 Mindful Steps to Happiness, Walking the Buddha’s Path by Bhante Gunaratana

I decided to read this book based on the writing style of the author’s previous book - Mindfulness in Plain English. I read the latter book last month and really appreciated his clear and concise writing style.

I’d been wanting to learn more about the Buddha’s 8 step path to happiness and this book provided a useful narrative beyond just listing the steps as some other books do. It provides practical explanations of each step yet is generally easy to understand. I stopped after each section to absorb content so it took me awhile to finish; will probably reread as my practice progresses. At the end of each chapter (i.e., step) the author lists the main points in bullet fashion; I found this very helpful. Despite the easy read and useful nature of this book, I feel the need for a teacher and/or retreat to put into practice what I’ve learned. Like other things, it is difficult to learn something new at the highest level through books alone:) 

Move to MD

Getting excited about my upcoming move to Maryland! It represents a big change in my life. There is much to do before I move so I'm focused now on staying centered and methodically chipping away at the long list of "to dos".