Sunday, March 24, 2013

What I wondered about today

Botticelli

This morning, the first day of spring break for my chilluns', I chose to stay in my bed for a couple of hours and leaf through the stack of magazines that I subscribe to and am reluctant to stop. I love glossy pages, you see. Oliver sat next to me on the floor, on top of all the pillows that I'd thrown there, and played with his iPod Touch. The Husband was puttering around the kitchen as he is wont, and Sophie was humming in her room. Henry slept. I read a profile of an interior decorator who is nationally famous but who lives here in Los  Angeles. I've actually seen her about town before, because one of her sons is the same age as mine and plays sports in our local park.  In any case, the interior designer is fabulously chic and hip and beautiful. It's hard not to stare at her. She looks a little like Botticelli's Venus, except that she's thin. I read about her daily regime which consisted of this:


  1. Rise and go to Barry's Bootcamp at 5:30 am SEVEN DAYS A WEEK
  2. Stop at the local juicery and juice
  3. Juice for lunch and maybe later that day
  4. A "normal" dinner of grilled chicken and vegetables or a salad

That was IT. Every single day. Exercise and juicing and one meal. The interior designer reported incredible well-being and energy and rarely deviates from this regime. 

I have no desire to do Barry's BootCamp every single day or even one single day, as I understand it to be grueling and I'm not into gruel. I also have no interest in juicing all day and grilled chicken with salad at night. However, I wonder if I worked out that hard every single day and then juiced would I feel full of well-being and energy? I am not being judgmental here or snarky or even snide. I also wondered if the interior designer had my life, would she go to Barry's BootCamp and juice every day and would that help her to cope and do the job well?

Which comes first, Reader? The chicken or the egg?

Titian

18 comments:

  1. Back in the day, alcoholics were referred to as "juicers." I have a hard time getting past this.
    Okay. I would say more but it would involve a lot of profanity.
    There is life and there is real life and there is...uh, something else.
    Love you, darling.
    M

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  2. I am not sure if I was supposed to laugh at this, but that's what I did, laughed out loud and with great delight. I love you so. And if I kept her regimen I doubt I would be bursting with well being, most likely my mood would be rather foul. And really, you are more beautiful that Venus any day, by which I mean you are more beautiful than she is and so much more fascinating. That is all.

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  3. And also, I love the image of you leafing through magazines while your Oliver sat atop pillows thrown willy nilly, playing on his iTouch while the husband cooked. This could not have arisen if you had been at boot camp.

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  4. Angella, I am so happy that you laughed at this because that's what I have done, too -- every single time I think about "juicing" as a verb and just the whole thing.

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  5. She lives a charmed freaking life if you ask me. She may look lovely on the outside but I like people with a little more grit.

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  6. 3All I know is that for a brief moment sitting in front of a home decorating tv show with a jar of Nutella and spoon makes all right in the world.

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  7. she must have few encumbrances in order to keep to this schedule. Few of us have that luxury, especially a mother of three, with a special needs child.

    I suppose I could do it now, unfettered as I am. But boot camp just sounds so damned awful.

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  8. I feel like she's being all smug to report her habits like that. Nothing worse than smug.

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  9. In a word, no. Sweet Jo

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  10. "Juice" is a verb? "To juice"? That's a new one on me. Must be a California thing.

    I can't help but think that most doctors would frown on a regimen of juice and salad with an occasional chicken breast thrown in.

    (Does red wine count as "juice"?)

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  11. This blog is the juice. I never miss a day!

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  12. The chicken or the egg indeed. I avoid gruel whenever possible as well.

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  13. oh please. boot camp is for boots.
    magazines in bed...there's the life!
    i guess you can never be too rich, too thin, or too juiced...
    jeeze louise.

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  14. you come first, and what makes you feel good (not better) with the life you have. easy, isn't it? :)

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  15. Had a boyfriend once who was really into fitness who told me that body builders who use steriods were called "juicers"

    Me...I much prefer a life filled with alot of spice rather than juice.

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  16. I enjoy food way too much to limit myself to one meal per day that never varies. What about all of those great new restaurants that have "small bite" plates so you can try lots of different things? What about fooling around in the kitchen to make something for breakfast out of what exists in the fridge? What about having friends over for dinner or lunch?

    And 5:30? I only get up that early if I'm headed somewhere positively divine - like Hawaii. And boot camp sounds painful and punishing. I know some people love that kind of regimen and it really works for them, but I would be insufferable if I held myself to that every day. Ugh. I much prefer your approach to the day.

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  17. I bet she dies at forty by boring herself to death.

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  18. Funny, cuz I just had a thought earlier this morning about our faily and we eat like Hobbits do. I have a friend coming to visit from calif in a couple of weeks - she's more like an elf - I'll make lots of salad to go with our big hobbit meals :)

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