Self-Improvment Spree, Body and Mind

In light of my current "employment intermission," I decided a while back to take this opportunity of ample free time to improve my quality of life. I was determined not to spend this time eating junk food and watching the entire Netflix library.

The first thing to tackle was my health. After spending two months living with my in-laws, I gained a not-inconsequential amount of weight. Prior to the move, I was already unhappy with my weight, and adding the summer gain, I saw a number on the scale I'd never seen before. I knew I would never have this much time and so few excuses not to exercise again, so I have been counting my calories and exercising daily.

My current favorite fitness tools and tricks are:

• Myfitnesspal.com calorie counter, both the iPhone App and the website. It just plain works. If you are accurately recording your calorie intake and exercise, you cannot possibly fail.
• Zumba Fitness Core for the Wii. It burns a ton of calories and I am never bored. The game has 40 different dances and classes  that are 20, 40, or 60 minutes long. Just scroll through the classes and do a different combination of dances every day. You can even design your own classes if you want. I am super-excited for the next Zumba game coming in November!
• This beginner yoga video on YouTube. I took yoga a looooong time ago, and I want to get back into it on my cardio rest days.
• Skinnymom.com for the recipes. I'm not planning on being a mom anytime soon, but I love the easy and healthy meals and snacks on this site.

I'm also determined to read more, the reasons being twofold: to broadening my mind and keeping my ass away from the TV.

Recent reads include:

• "River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze" by Peter Hessler; a memoir of a young man teaching English Literature in China. It was recommended by David Sedaris during his 2011 tour. I bought it at the reading and never cracked it until now. I learned more about recent Chinese history than I ever assumed I would, and the story is touching.
• "Such a Pretty Fat" by Jen Lancaster; a re-read for me, but just as fun the second time around. It provided some inspiration and comic relief for my own fitness journey.
• "Tough Sh*t" by Kevin Smith; yes, Silent Bob. Corey has a man-crush on Kevin Smith and bought his book a few months ago. He wanted me to read it so we could talk about it. It was actually very inspirational, though all the jokes were ruined by Corey telling me them first.

Currently I'm reading a novel for the first time in a while. (Note the above trend of memoirs.) I'm reading "Mrs Queen Takes the Train" by William Kuhn. The book was a gift, and I'm finally giving it a try. I have to say, a novel about Queen Elizabeth II taking an Audrey Hepburn-esque holiday is better than I expected.

I'm enjoying reading more than I have in a long time, however, it's not totally keeping the remote out of my hands. I still make time every week for Once Upon a Time, Revenge, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. I'm also catching up on Pretty Little Liars online. I apologize for nothing.