Regularity (no, the other kind)

Lawrence Toppman

One thing I have learned while writing this blog is that habits matter. I can lose weight and keep it off as long as I have a regular pattern of eating and exercise (and self-denial, but that's another story).

Right now, with Opera Carolina's "Il Trovatore" opening tonight, my schedule has been thrown into chaos: I come home buzzed and excited, have to take my second shower of the day (because the costumes feel like they were last cleaned during the Spanish-American War) and sit around the house waiting to relax enough to go to sleep. Then I sleep late, get up and go straight to work without exercising.

I may not be gaining weight, partly because I sweat so much every night under the layers of wool that make up this oppressive series of rags on my back. (And fleas probably suck out a few milliliters of blood, too.) But I'm not exercising, and I may pay a price for that change the next time I step on the scale.

I'm waiting to do that until normal conditions get restored next week and I can get back on the treadmill. And to speak frankly, the OTHER kind of regularity is -- oops, I'm out of space this week.