What a horrible blogger I have become... It has been far too long since I have taken the time to write anything... There are two reasons for this. One: I feel like the days go by with a blink of an eye! I mean, I have so many friends living in the city and I barely have time to even see them...it is so strange. One would think having a school schedule from 9:00 AM to 4:15 PM would be perfect... plenty of time for other activities... I only work twice a week 5 PM to 9 PM (teaching pilates)...so where in gods name does the time go?? Everything takes longer living in the city, just getting to the grocery store take me motivating myself for the walk there, the crowds, and carrying everything back home...This brings me to my second reason I have been slacking...I wrote about "finding my swagger" in the last blog, and it has taken me much longer than expected...therefore, I think I have been a bit embarrassed to write anything. I want to write about positive movements and talk about how I have progressed and found my swagger. I have been afraid to fail in front of my few, but cherished readers.
As a trainer, teacher and now somewhat of a blogger, I believe it is my duty to be honest. I never want to tell my personal training clients or Pilates clients how "easy" it is to lose 10 pounds by just doing xyz or "just stop eating sugar" and you will see a change, etc... It isn't easy! And here I am struggling and I want to make sure I write about it. I promise positivity will come into my blogs, and this is not an anti positive post...it is just a realist post about how someone, as in love with fitness and health as I am, can struggle finding a happy medium while in culinary school and in a city with SO much to try!
New York City has been amazing so far. I wish I had more time to do REAL New York type things (Broadway shows, big brunches, rooftops and wine, music), however, school has really taken on most of my time. I must talk about my first night working in a kitchen.
Friday Night Dinners (FND)
FND is part of my program. We must work a minimum of 2 shifts in our schools kitchen/restaurant. Every Friday, our school transforms into a restaurant. People from New York and others pile into The Natural Gourmet restaurant to enjoy a three course meal prepared by either chefs from the school, or students of the school (our final project is to put on a dinner from start to finish). I have many friends in the culinary world, and it was very hard for me to comprehend why they worked in restaurants for next to nothing... I mean, cooks in New York make like 8-10 dollars an hour....and it is sooo much work! I never got it. Well, my first shift in the kitchen I finally got it. The energy in the kitchen is hard to explain.... from starting prep at 1:30 PM in the afternoon, till the final plate is cleaned and dried (around 10PM), one can't even imagine how time flies. It is the energy of a diverse group of people that don't even know each other well, coming together and working their asses off, never sitting down for a rest... and we have it easy (this I know). I get so into mincing 100 cloves of garlic, cleaning 100 carrots, chopping buckets of dandelions... I can't believe how quickly the nights go by. I see everything from the food being brought in from our vendors, to the prep, to these beautiful dishes getting sent out. It is so cool to see things come together and we all are a part of it. Tensions can get high, but I don't take anything personal... there is no time to be sensitive in the kitchen. The kitchen is a place where you have your eyes and ears open at all time, and your brain must be ON....or big mistakes can be made. Finishing my first FND was the most rewarding feeling... Sure, I don't get paid for it...and it is extremely hard work and LOTS of cleaning (grunt work)...but the reward is having that feeling of a successful last two days of prep (We start Thursday right after class go till 10, then Friday 1:30 - 10), and going out for a drink to unwind, then crashing. So nice to have such a feeling of accomplishment. A true hard days work. No one can be lazy in the kitchen (if you are a chef or student, "laziness" just isn't part of your makeup). Having these crazy 12-13 hour days on my feet have prepared me for so much more than just cooking. This type of work teaches people how to be assertive, working quickly under a heavy amount of stress, juggling 10 things at once, think on your toes, work with others, and deal with lots and lots of interesting personalities. These skills are needed no matter what line of work you are in. It is awesome.
SWAG, Where are you?
I have really been trying to get my self back in the shape I was prior to moving here ( I have put on a few lbs). But how can I when I want to try EVERY restaurant and I am in CULINARY school? Granted, my school is geared toward health supportive ingredients and dishes, but my entire eating cycle is all messed up right now. I refuse to be that person in class that won't try anything because I am afraid of gaining weight... I paid far too much for school, and tasting is extremely important. If you are not tasting, you are no cook or chef....sorry. It is just tough to eat breakfast, then taste things, then lunch, then taste, then come home (late, if I am working), and have dinner. So I have been challenging myself (started last Sunday), to Pilates every morning before class, and spin or run after class about 4-5 days a week. I feel a touch better this week...although, doesn't help that this past week was pastry, ice cream, and flour-less dessert week... I mean come ONNNN. Ugh, I am not saying I NEVER eat sweets, of course I do, but tasting things like this throughout the day, all week is just so tough. Even though we use health supportive ingredients, sugar is sugar...and sugar just isn't healthy in large amounts. Our instructors warned us we would be going through ups and downs due to all the crazy weeks of rice and beans, bread, cakes, etc. But things will temper out. I have to remind myself this is temporary and this is learning.
I am so happy that I am teaching again as well. I really miss my Austin clients, but have found some great clients here, and again, I love helping others get to their goals in a realistic way. So between teaching and getting back into my regular workouts, I am not feeling back to my old self, but I am getting there... I found that planning my workouts, just like they are appointments, is what I need. It is too difficult to hear an alarm in the morning, and figure out what workout I want to do... it is too easy for me to talk myself out of it. I love how I have now planned my Pilates workouts in the morning to jump-start my day. It is much easier than making it to a treadmill at a gym that is not convenient at 6:30 AM. I have to make my workout convenient and enjoyable if I am going to be able to commit to it. So my words of advice for folks that struggle with that swagger, or struggle finding motivation in the morning would be to PLAN. I make my breakfast and lunch in the morning, I write down my workout plan and the time, and that is that. No getting out of it. I lay my workout clothes out, pack my bag for school and everything is ready for the morning... No excuses.
Now I will really try to commit more time in the blog. I have written down topics, so I promise to promote more time to this. I truly love writing about my time in NYC, my life change, and struggles, but I want to be helpful to my readers as well. Happy Saturday to you! I will come back with some amazing recipes, my internship (I am applying now to work in a NYC restaurant), and will talk about my start of my Friday Night Dinner (our FND is November 8th), so sh*ts about to get crayyyyy! Excited though.
Keep that swag if you've got it, find that swag if you've lost it!
xo
Tyler
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