Toni On New York!

Have I become a fanatic? That’s what many around me are saying. Everyone wants to give me advice about letting my body rest and not overdoing it. I guess they didn’t get the memo that I already have Lisa and Ray; both of whom I have learned to listen to. It gets a bit irritating at times -already overdid it, suffered, learned my lesson and moved on.

I’m learning that a lot of what Lisa has taught me about making fitness and diet a part of my everyday lifestyle no matter what the situation is not embraced by most of the world –or maybe it’s just the people that I know. I learned this when I started asking some of my carnival friends about working out while on vacation. You would have thought that I had suggested that they sell their firstborn. I got answers like “The only workout I’m doing is a glass to my lips and the movements of my hips” (I did find this one cute) and “What? On vacation? Geeze Natasha, relax”. Mind you, these answers didn’t come from couch potatoes. The subjects are reasonably fit people who work out pretty regularly.

The next surprise came when I broached the subject of sticking to diets at the height of the carnival season. Let me explain –most visitors arrive on the island at least a week before the two main days of carnival; the two days when you parade city streets wearing nothing but a bikini and some feathers (feathers not at all positioned to make the outfit more forgiving). During that week (or more for some of us) we attend these all inclusive parties at which there is a smorgasbord of delicious but fattening foods -all you can eat and just about every alcoholic drink, premium or otherwise -all you can drink. So that means that in a week, the months of hard work that one put in to look decent in said bikini and feathers can go straight down the tube.

I suggested to some friends that we eat healthy meals before going to each of these parties, drink plenty of water while there and limit ourselves to one alcoholic drink if any. I got cursed out. It was worse than if I had suggested the sale of firstborn.

What all this has taught me is that outside of the Bootcamp Mamas, I’m pretty much on my own. Most of the people in my circle are not going to deprive themselves the way I plan to. They will never see sticking to a workout schedule during a vacation as any sort of accomplishment. They will think I’m a crazy fanatic. I am ok with that. My gene pool, as wonderful as it is, says I’ll lean towards overweight for the rest of my lifespan and I’ll probably battle high blood pressure and heart disease at some point. This brand of crazy I’ve embraced will most likely help me to conquer those flaws in my genes. For that I’ll be crazy for the rest of my life.

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