It’s looking kind of gray and gloomy outside here in Orlando, but luckily I’m a 100% indoor exerciser so it doesn’t matter.

I’ve been a bit ambivalent about the whole diet and fitness thing this week due to the events in New Orleans. Having gone through three hurricanes in Florida last year, I know how a natural disaster can throw the nice, orderly dance of daily life into chaos, and how one’s views of what is truly important can shift. I felt that way last year, and all I suffered were 12 hours without power, one very scary night of screeching winds and pounding rain as Charley ripped through Orlando, a few blocked roads on my way to work just 2 miles away, and five extremely boring days at my ex-boyfriend’s apartment waiting out Francis. I didn’t even miss a workout or an on-plan meal during my hurricane ordeal because I had enough warning to finish off most of my perishable foods and kept a decent stockpile of meal replacement bars, shakes, and cooking-optional meals around.

Kyra and Meg have both posted their thoughts about the disaster and their shifts in perspective on their fitness goals in response to the plight of those in Louisiana and Mississippi.

This falls in line with some of my thoughts from recent weeks. All of the long-@$$ LISS cardio sessions of the past month have given me plenty of time to reflect on how silly some of the things I do in the name of not jiggling when I run in a bikini really are. I am very fortunate indeed that I have a career that pays well enough to support my fitness habit on top of my living expenses and retirement savings, and that I have the leisure time (for at least 3 non-crunch period months a year) to indulge in 45 minute cardio sessions.

I’m not scrabbling just to survive when everything around me is lost.

I’m still going to continue with my personal fitness goals, but now when I’m tempted to have a brownie or a bit of ice cream, I’m going to remind myself that many others would be happy just to have the (six!) basic meals I get to eat each day.

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Nutrition: BFL/SGX Training Day Menu
(SGX nutrition details omitted by request of trainer)

1: 1 scoop whey, 1 pear
2: 1.5 oz. TVP stir fry, 1 pear
3: 1.5 oz. TVP stir fry, 1/3 c. oatmeal
4: SGX Meal
5: SGX Meal
6: SGX Meal

Daily Supplements: multivitamin with iron, calcium 500 + D, 1 T. flaxseed oil or natural peanut butter, 1 t. GNC Creastack
Water: 16 cups minimum

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Workout:
12:00 PM HIIT Cardio - Run (4.5-9 mph / 0% incline / 20 minutes)

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The Awful Truth:
1. Still need to file away a huge pile of papers on my drafting table, argh.

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Brownie Points:
1. Picked up new nerd glasses.
2. Made deposit at bank.
3. Sent out Experian credit report correction request.
4. Revised cardio workout schedule.

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Short-term Goals:
1. Do one chapter of character modeling book.
2. Read two chapters of NASM book.
3. Re-order multivitamins.
4. Send out FSA direct deposit form so I won’t have to keep going to the bank!
5. Send care package to sister in Boston.
6. Tidy apartment.