Fashion - Jeans

Time and again, I have attempted a return to writing. Not necessarily because I have something to say but I like writing. A long time ago, a friend advised me on the value of writing excercises, and the kind and helpful soul that he is, even tried to give me something to write about. That didnt work out since silly me took his suggestion too literally, found myself stumped and stopped. Now eons have passed and the itch to write has resurfaced. All that is lacking is a Subject and Discipline. Hope to tackle both. I'm going to try and pick a topic and write 7 posts on it. ( 7 posts in 7 days would be an apt name if I had more faith in myself) Anyway, the first Topic is Fashion. Fashion?, you sputter out, trying to suppress giggles. Yes, I may be known for many things but being fashionable is not one of them. My lack of style could have been a point of ridicule . But my credentials are: Before the trend of long tops for girls/women, I proudly wore my long t-shirts NOT tucked in. And that, you fashion snobs, makes me a trend setter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anyway, i have a small plea: Bring Back the Bootleg jeans! Sure, i laughed at the leggings (how are they different from the "tights"/"slacks" of the 90s?). Called them a copout when a loong version of the leggings was used to pass off as a churidar (whatever happened to suffering for one's style?). Watched in alarm as they crossbred with jeans to form Jeggings (in the branjelina-era, could they be named anything else?) And then horror of horrors, they mutated to become the dominant species of Jeans - Skinny Jeans. First it was the girls. Ahh, kids these days. Then it was the boys. That was ok too as it went with their androgynous hairstyles and was perhaps more suited to skateboarding than the earlier baggy jeans. Then it progressed to women. Eh oh. Some could pull it off, some could not (iterally and figuratively). Then the affliction moved to Men. Sure people like Mick Jagger could pull it off. But the general population, NO. I dont think I can quite recover from seeing an older male relative in skinny jeans. And so hoping to spare other people, i put out this plea to the Fashion Gods that be - Bring back the bootleg. Sure you can have your crazy, creative outfits for the runways and red carpets. But for the stores, for normal people PLEASE bring back the normal jeans.

0 to 5 K in 13 days

No, the title is not an answer to "How much time does a snail take to travel 5 km?"
I have lapsed into what is politely referred to as sedentary lifestyle. But as the first step to solving a problem is admitting you have one. I am just going to say it. "I am a couch potato." As part of a new year resolution, I went to the gym on 1st January. I began, full of hope and enthusiasm. But when I started panting at my erstwhile warm-up speed of 4 mph, no amount of peppy or even angry music could make me continue past the 1 mile mark. I crawled to the couch in shame. And stayed there. In an effort to motivate myself, I registered for a 5 km run 3 months down the line. Here we are 2 1/2 months later. With me still on the couch. Except today I've decided will be different. Now I'm tying up my laces and determined not to waste that registration money. The t-shirt just isn't enough to justify the expense. I want my experience.
I have finished a couple of 5 km races before. The 1st time I finished in 39 mins and the 2nd time in 31 mins. If I were to plot a graph of these past times and the next one, i know its going to be two hill peaks with a valley in between (and maybe I could draw the sun rising tween the 2) but, oh well.
I am going to document my progress every day. To discipline myself (and no doubt embarrass myself in the process). But in a couple of months, I hope to look back at the data and sing Fatboy Slim's (pun not intended) song "we've come a long way, baby"

I know 13 days is an unlucky number but I will be unluckier still if i wait for another day. So today it is.
I will update this post with the time taken and distance walked. Today, I start on the treadmill as its a little easier on the knees as well as to monitor speed.
But by the end of this week, I hope to graduate to the Outside with fresh air and sunshine keeping me company. Along with the right mix of peppy/angry music to keep me moving, of course.

UPDATE:-

Completed 2 miles in less than 40 minutes. The vague time is because I took too long to re-tie my shoe and the treadmill reset itself so I lost all timing information.
Did a mixture of walking (mostly at 4 mph) and slow jogging (at 4.6 mph) Its not much compared to my modest glory days. But it is a start.
Lesson learnt:
1) Track time by watch too.
2) Radio is an unpredictable gym companion. There can be slow, depressing songs. (The sublime "Someone Like you" by Adele invokes many, many emotions but a desire to jog faster is not one of them) There are the loooong commercial breaks and, worse, the RJs talk a LOT. I need to get a playlist going or Pandora.
Any recommendations for songs?

To click or not to click

I remember an older, simpler time when taking a photograph was a Big Deal. The strap had to be carefully worn around the neck. The "focus square" was centered on The Object (or is Subject?) of the photograph. If the subject included people, a countdown was begun "Smile..Ready.. 3.. 2..1" Press the button half down and then completely. The counter would increase by 1. And you would have to wait for days to see if it came out OK. And by then there was no going back. So you had to get it right the first time. Because camera film was expensive and printing the pictures to see them was more expensive.
But now thanks to technology, we have these little point and shoot wonders. We can take pictures without worrying about the cost. We can take LOTS of pictures (no heart sinking when the counter has reached 31) We get instant feedback on how it turned out and can take another, better one accordingly. But Technology Is A Double Edged Sword (Its not for nothing that this is a favourite debate topic)
I love taking pictures but I hate sorting through them. As i usually have 5 variations of the same Subject with different degrees of blurriness from different angles.
Now the dilemma I face when I'm in the moment - is to take the pic or enjoy the moment. Taking pictures is being on the outside looking in. There's a tradeoff between participating in the moment and being able to look back and share that moment in the years to come.
This started with visiting my nephew. At that time, I was determined to spend as much time just being with my nephew. Pictures be damned. If he was doing something cute, i didn't want to see it through a digicam screen. I wanted to see it happening right in front of me. Of course I enjoyed. And on the last day, in the hour before I would have to leave for the airport I would scramble to the camera to take some standard pictures. So all I have of those times are some standard poses where he is either drowsy or cranky. I have nothing to show for the first time I saw him or the first time he saw me and let me carry him or the time he fed me or the "tataaa" routine with his dad. I have memories and they'll have to do. He is growing up and new stories are created and i need to hang on to the old ones to keep from losing them. Here is when pictures/videos would be nice. To trigger buried memories.
I started dwelling on the "To click or not to click" again when I went through the ridiculous number of pictures from Hawaii and, in particular, the sunrise at Haleakala. It is a beautiful experience. And I regret spending so much time behind the camera. Watching it from the little 2" X 2" screen to take pictures. When i should have been seeing it through the naked eye (well, naked eye plus contact lenses). The pictures I've taken are not bad - my camera is a decent one. But even now if I type "sunrise at haleakala" on google images, i find pictures far, far prettier than the ones I took. I could so easily link to them in my album (giving them credit) Of course, I could not print their pics but honestly none of the pics I've taken are print-worthy anyway. Its going to be a long time before i get to experience the sunrise above the clouds again (if ever) and I wish I had not squandered the opportunity to experience it for the sake of a few pictures that would, at most, get a few "likes"

Calories is a zero sum game.

As part of the annual ritual of resolving to lose weight, I have been taking baby steps on the treadmill.
Now every article about losing weight successfully essentially boils down to "Eat Less. Exercise More."
For the most part I have always found the latter easier than the former and so I would go ahead and exercise and eat to my heart's content. Sometime last year, I stopped going for a walk ( I forget why exactly but it was probably my Laziness rearing its ugly head and speaking in its dulcet tones about how its so much nicer on the couch watching TV than it is to go outside) But I continued eating to my heart's content, relying on what i thought were my skinny genes(pun NOT intended) Alas! It was the daily exercise from ballooning into, well, a balloon. I was not a naturally thin person ( I too join the chorus of the unfairness of it all now)
Now the eating less part is for the most part under control except when it comes to sweets. I love sweets. I have sweet teeth.
Resisting sweets is incredibly hard and I usually succumb to the temptation. But now I believe I have found a way to suppress the instinctive grab the hand makes for sweets. And I am going to share it with you FOR FREE because well if you're still reading this, you deserve *some*thing.
So, getting back to The Secret to Suppressing Diet Dangers :-
Make the sweet yourself. Or read the recipe for your favourite sweet. See how much of sugar goes into that.
(Yes, yes there are healthy alternatives to the recipes. But when you try the healthier version, you realize its a mere shadow of the real thing. A compromise that neither satisfies the sugar craving nor helps with the caloric intake for the day.
The real thing is delicious but it is the forbidden fondue. (Fruits are healthy and hey the sugar is natural!)
The amount of SUGAR and/or butter that goes into that tiny little dessert ruins the appetite.

And so when you are faced with temptation - a sinful dessert, judge it on the ingredients that go into it and the time on the treadmill required to zero it out. And the hand will reach out for water instead.