I’m in the last week of the Pavel Plan and things have gone well. So well, in fact, that I don’t consider this my final week. Once I got the hang of it and planned my meals, I found that it really wasn’t too hard to follow. I feel better and don’t have the sugar cravings I once had. Sure, I’ve had a couple of bad days where all I wanted to do was eat, but overall the plan has been easy to follow. Knowing I have three “cheat” meals a week means I don’t have to give up dinners with friends or special occasions.

The hardest part of the plan is drinking my meals. During the week I have a protein shake for breakfast and another one for lunch. The problem is that they are cold and it’s February so I naturally get cold after eating them. Since I eat 5-6 small meals a day, it’s only two I’m drinking through a straw so it’s not too bad, but I miss chewing. Steve and I have become more creative with our dinners and have added shrimp and turkey to our usual chicken. Gone is the lean pork (still too much fat according to Pavel) and most beef. Even “cheat” meals haven’t been too bad. Steve made a wheat crust pizza last weekend with shredded turkey, fresh spinach and fat-free feta – all Pavel approved toppings. When we ate out on Saturday night I did treat myself to some blue cheese chips, but ate a black bean burger and steamed vegetables for my main course. I was craving ice cream so Steve stopped at Harter House on the way home and bought a couple of pints. We never ate it. I forgot about it completely and we took it over to Valerie and Kevin’s last night for dinner and left it there.

I like the way I feel when I eat this way. I don’t know how long I’ll keep up with it in this strict way, but I’m going to keep trying. Friday I’ll have Pavel measure my body fat and get weighed so I’ll see if any progress was made there. I do know my jeans are looser and I don’t feel as bloated as I used to. Sounds like I’ll get some good news Friday!

I decided to take a metals class because I needed some inspiration, wanted to tweak my skills and challenge myself to think outside the box (so to speak). No disappointments here! The past few weeks have been tough on me as I’ve tried to think differently and push myself. The first project, which was a sample granulated ring, wasn’t too hard but then I had to take that granulation, add a stone (set creatively) and make something interesting. I knew that with my advanced granulation experience that Sarah was going to expect more out of me than the students who had just learned the craft. Pair that with setting a stone (which I don’t like to do) and I’m sure you can see the challenge for me.

I finally decided on a design. The piece would set a flat round river rock, with a faux garnet set in the middle, in an oval with high walls that were granulated on the outside. The stone would look like it was floating and the oval would lay horizontal on the hand to show finger cleavage. Then, that would set on a u-shaped granulated band. Not bad, but I wasn’t feeling it. It didn’t help that when I was almost done granulating the large oval, I began to melt part of the piece. As I was lying in bed that night feeling the frustration of a ring design I didn’t like and granulation that was becoming a melted mess, I started designing something new. I got excited about it and worked out the entire piece before I fell asleep. When I awoke the next morning I felt good about my redesign and was ready to start on it. I granulated the new walls then gathered my supplies to head to school.

I wanted to talk to Sarah about it, but didn’t want to sound like one of those whiney students who are never sure of their work and constantly need reassurance. When I mentioned to her that I’d scrapped the original piece and was starting over she said, “Well, are you going to share this design with me?” I sat down and talked it out with her and she pointed out some important things: 1. making the ring set vertically on the hand changes the dynamic to something boring. If I set it horizontally, it will be much more wearable and much more sexy. 2. Why make the entire thing square when the stone is round? Why not create some curves? 3. Why am I so hung up on granulating the band? The assignment must contain granulated parts but doesn’t say it has to be the band. See, this is why I love her so much as a friend and teacher! She’s so honest. While we were talking, I reformulated the redesign and left feeling really good about what I was creating. I drew down some round wire to make it rectangular then came home to work on the piece. It’s about halfway done now and I’m very excited to see it finished. I promise to share the final piece when it’s done.

Like most people, I approach January with plans to organize my life and house. Once the Christmas decorations are put away and the house is clean, I make plans to get files purged, closets organized and my life in order. I’ve spent most of January creating pieces for my jewelry show at Waverly House this coming Friday so finishing the last piece this past weekend was a nice relief. They’ll be delivered tomorrow and I can get them completely off my plate.

A phone call last Thursday prompted the start of another project, one I desperately wanted done but didn’t think I could afford – painting the stairwell. Normally, I like doing my own painting. My natural anal retentiveness means that the work is done neatly and meets my rigid standards, however, the high ceilings in this house create a problem for painting. I need to hire a professional to get the job done because it requires special ladders and someone who isn’t scared of heights. Enter Gil Magnifico. I love this guy! We met him several years ago when he was working on the house next to ours and liked him immediately. He did outstanding work and is a very nice and reliable guy. Our friends Mick and Carrie McCulloch used him for work on their house a couple of years ago and were also impressed. Plus, he’s very reasonable. Gil called last Thursday to see if we needed some indoor work done because he was bored and wanted some winter projects. I told him about the stairwell but expressed my concerns that we didn’t have any extra money for his services. He said he’d come over the bid it anyway since he works cheap in the winter. Darned right he works cheap. He’s painting the stairwell and upstairs hallway for a mere $100. Sold. He’s here today getting started and I’m thrilled. I’ll have a nice newly painted stairwell, he gets some work and I didn’t have to spend a fortune.

If anyone needs his number, let me know.

I’m in week two of the Pavel Plan, as I’m calling it, and things are going well. Actually, it’s not hard to follow and I’ve realized that if I don’t start to eat something I don’t really crave it. I am allowed three “cheat meals” each week and used two of them last weekend. We met Ralph, Blair and the kiddos at Bob and Emilie’s house (Bob is Ralph’s godfather) for a weekend of Kansas City fun. Bob and Emilie have an indoor swimming pool so they rank quite high with the six and under crowd. When we arrived the girls were already in the pool and their fingers were starting to prune!

Emilie is a great cook and she wowed us with her creations. Friday night was a simple, but delicious, dinner of pulled pork and cheese grits with some great wine. It was a nice cheat meal and I enjoyed it in moderation. Good thing because Saturday night’s meal was amazing. We had beef tenderloin with Gorgonzola cream sauce, sauteed green beans, fennel and orange salad, potatoes and pear tart for dessert. Thank goodness the courses were spread over a couple of hours! I still went to bed feeling very full and bloated, but it was a memorable meal and fun evening.

I learned that I can stick to my plan without seeming high-maintenance. I had egg whites, avocado and fruit for breakfast, salmon salad for lunch and splurged on dinner. I’m already planning my cheat meals for the weekend which must include pizza because I’ve been craving it lately. We’ve been invited to friends house for dinner Saturday night so I’m looking forward to fresh spring rolls and hot and sour soup. It’s the knowing I have wiggle room on the weekend that helps me stick to my plan. Plus, I admit, I do feel better when I eat well!

Yesterday I finished my first piece for class. It’s only a sample since the first assignment is to combine granulation with stone setting. I decided that since I’d done a couple of granulated bands, I’d try to create something different. The piece is four granulated sections that are curved. They set apart so you can see your finger through them. I was really pleased with the outcome, but not happy that it didn’t fit the finger I originally sized it for! This is why I’m taking this class, to learn about creating rings and how to size them properly. Granulating four sections was easier than on a solid band, but putting them together was tricky. The hardest part was keeping the walls from falling over when I soldered them. One did fall, but I managed to rescue it before the solder flowed.

For the stone setting project, I’m planning to use some river rocks I gathered in Gatlinburg, TN while I was at Arrowmont two years ago. They are special to me because I picked them up on my birthday when the class went out for a picnic lunch to celebrate. It was so much fun! I’ll keep you posted on how it’s coming along.

In the meantime, here’s my sample project:

Every new habit takes about two weeks to accept. I’m four days into my new eating plan and things are going ok. I managed to survive two parties this past weekend and still have a good time. Saturday night, I stayed away from the food table and amused myself by playing poker. It was a fun game with the use of Mardi Gras beads as “money” rather than actual cash. We got so detailed about our beads that we began assigning them values and demanding the correct “value” be used when playing. It was a blast.

Sunday was a birthday party at mom’s house for Burl’s 70th. He won’t be here on the actual day so mom put together a come and go party to celebrate. The hardest part of that was resisting the cake. Fortunately, someone else cut and served it and I distracted myself in the kitchen making sure glasses were clean and plates were refilled. Since I didn’t know many people at the party, it wasn’t hard to stay out of the way.

This morning I went to the gym feeling good about my weekend eating. As expected, Pavel started asking me about what I ate. He’d been great about texting me throughout the weekend when I had questions, but wanted details. I admitted I had exceeded my wine allotment, but not in one night and I hadn’t let it affect my eating. I think he was ok with that. Then I told him about the amazing meal Steve cooked on Friday night. I was really excited to share it and hoped he would be impressed. Nope. Instead, when he asked me what oil had been used in cooking and I told him olive oil, he scolded me for ruining the meal. Apparently, when olive oil is heated it breaks down and loses all the good fat benefits. I was so dejected I actually started to get a bit teary. He kept talking until I finally told him to shut up. I’d had enough. Here I was trying really, really hard and he’s harping on me for an oil mistake. I was really quiet for a bit and then he asked me if I was ok. I informed him that he needed to attend Finishing School to learn how to communicate. I said that I understood I’d made a mistake, but he didn’t have to make me feel like a complete loser for it. I told him that next time it would be more beneficial for him to offer a solution instead of being so mean. He agreed and all was well.

At this point, those of you who don’t know him might wonder why in the world I put up with him. Pavel is a wonderful person and a great trainer. I love him like family and I respect his knowledge which is why I go to his gym. If I didn’t think he was right about all of this I would leave, but he’s right in that I eat too many carbs and make too many food mistakes. He and I are learning from each other. He’s learning how to communicate with people in a nice way and I’m learning how to eat better. I know he cares about me and my health because he’s told me so many times. He also wants me to succeed. This is why I go to him, why I put myself through this and why I will someday (soon I hope) earn his respect too!

I believe anyone who has been on any kind of diet or eating plan will agree that once you’re told you can’t have something suddenly you desperately want it. I think it’s that way with many things in life. When I decided to take this challenge I knew it would be hard so my cravings are to be expected. What bothers me about it is the cost (fresh organic food is EXPENSIVE) and the restrictiveness of it. Most diet plans fail simply because they are too restrictive and people can’t stay on them for a long time. If we would only listen to our bodies and cut out the excess sugar and fat we would find that we are satisfied with less food and stay that way for a longer period of time. Trouble is we rarely listen to our bodies.

So here’s how the Pavel plan works: choose foods that are as fresh as possible, organic when possible, raw and in their original form. Avoid white sugar, white flour, white, white, white. Make each meal consist of lean protein, good carbohydrates (veggies, fruits) and good fats (raw nuts, olive oil, etc.). Eat six small meals per day containing all of these things. Sounds pretty easy, right? Well, yes and no. It’s amazing how much bad stuff is in the foods we eat and how much of it we consume.

So what have I eaten? Yesterday I started with my normal breakfast which is a protein shake from the gym. It contains whey protein, fresh fruit and a little bit of a healthy oil blend. I love it and prefer it to most breakfasts. My mid-morning snack was a protein bar simply because it was convenient and I hadn’t done all my grocery shopping. Lunch was another shake. At this point I mentioned to Pavel that most people enjoy EATING and not slurping their nutrition from a straw. He said that I needed to change my mindset; that I was eating for nutrition and not for enjoyment any more. Ok, maybe that’s how we’re supposed to eat, but I don’t think it’s realistic. Anyway, I admit that by 3 p.m. I hadn’t been hungry and had felt quite satisfied with what I’d consumed. I then had a late afternoon snack of fat-free cottage cheese with sunflower seeds and a clementine. Steve got home early so we went to the store to plan dinner. I had suggested grilling some chicken and sweet potatoes with steamed broccoli but Steve found a great recipe for a lime chili chicken dish that is all made in a Dutch Oven. Sounded good to me. We bought all the ingredients and came home to start the prep. Steve browned the chicken in the Dutch Oven with a little olive oil, then removed it and browned chopped red peppers, green chilis, onion and garlic. He then browned the brown rice in the all the leftover juices. Once that was done, everything went back into the pot, water and spices were added and it was left to simmer for about 40 minutes. Right before serving, Steve added fresh lime juice and it was ready. Yum! This was one of the best dishes I’d ever eaten! And it was healthy and Pavel-approved! So the first day wasn’t too bad, really.

Now we’re on day two. Again, I had a shake for breakfast and it was great. No complaints here. I did wait too long for lunch but Steve and I managed to create a delicious sandwich: grilled sliced turkey on whole grain bread with fresh avocado spread. However, that was it. While I was satisfied, I still wanted something else. Ok, I wanted chips with my sandwich which is part of my problem. A couple of hours later I was hungry again so I had some cottage cheese (which I really like) and two clementines.

Tonight we’re attending a party and I’m nervous about all the food that awaits me. Too many temptations and I know it’s going to be hard! My game plan is to eat the chicken/rice leftovers right before we leave and only have veggies at the party. I think if I don’t take that first bite of anything I would be tempted to eat, I’ll be ok. My other strategy is to stay away from the food table and concentrate on talking to the guests.

Good grief. Only 24 hours into this thing and I’m about to come unglued.

I have a long history of shooting off my mouth. You’d think I’d learn to tone it down a bit, and I have, but I sometimes lower my guard and let things slip. This happens mostly when I’m with someone I know well or in an atmosphere where I feel relaxed. It also happens when I’m feeling a bit emotional, but I can usually slow down my thoughts before they reach my mouth. When I first joined Czech Us Out and met my trainer Pavel, I was cautious and polite. I wasn’t in a comfortable atmosphere and wasn’t sure what to expect. As I’ve continued to work out and have gotten to know Pavel I’ve become more comfortable. I realize that he cares about me and my progress, but he’s annoying like a brother. We also tend to egg each other on in the mornings. He loves to make fun of me for just about everything and I love to tell him that he’s a robot and no real human can function the way he does. It’s all fun and games. At least it was until today.

I asked him to take my body fat measurements so I could set some goals and begin working on them. I was irritated that some of the numbers had gone up. Some had gone down and remained the same, but I couldn’t believe some had actually increased. I thought I was doing ok. Pavel started in on my eating and told me that I was going to start sending him a list of my food daily. I said that was fine but I didn’t want him to start yelling at me for everything. Instead I was hoping he’d offer constructive criticism and alternatives to my choices. Well, one thing let to another and he challenged me to eat what he eats for a month. I said that no real human could eat what he eats because it’s all tasteless crap. He admitted that he doesn’t eat for pleasure (you know, the American way) but for fuel which is what we all should do. I agreed but said that I needed flavor and variety or I’d end up cheating. He pointed out that my main problem is carbs (I agreed) and that I needed more lean protein to cut cravings. Agreed. Then I opened my big mouth even more and said that what he really needed to do was create a service for his customers where he comes to their house and cleans out the pantry and refrigerator of all bad food. Big mistake. Guess who instantly became the first customer.

After my workout Pavel instructed me to get my keys because we were going to my house. He grabbed two large trash bags and promised me we’d donate what we could to a food pantry. I didn’t want to think of wasting everything. I told him that I would go along with this, but that he was to try and be nice about it and not too opinionated. Yeah, right. I had to really fight for a few things and I did win those battles. First, I had to point out that white flour and sugar were used in baking items that I gave away. He wasn’t going to take off with all my baking needs. Second, I flatly refused to give up my sugar-free creamer. He said I could use skim milk in my coffee. I told him that if he threw away my creamer I’d just go to the store and buy another container. I won 1 tablespoon a day. I then fought for my right to drink wine. Pavel gave up drinking a couple of years ago and, while I commend him for his choice, it wasn’t one I was going to make. Period. I won 2 small glasses a week. Ok, I can live with that. It wasn’t like I wanted to tie one on, I just wanted a glass now and then.

We discussed how I was going to deal with this weekends party circuit and next weekends trip. He will allow me three cheat meals a week, but I have to earn them first so no pizza tonight. I can have chicken, turkey or fish with brown rice or a sweet potato and a vegetable. It’s really not that different from what I normally eat, but we’re having company so I need to be a little creative. No desserts either. Hopefully, my sweet craving will subside after a few days and I won’t miss dessert.

It’s going to be a long month.

I knew this would happen. Our first assignment is a granulated ring band. I granulate all the time. It’s something I’m good enough at to be asked to demonstrate for class. So it’s only natural that I would mess up my piece. Multiple times.

On Monday Sarah did most of the granulation demo while I helped with information about how I do it. While she was going through the demo I started questioning my methods. Was my copper solution too strong? Was my flame too hot? Was I creating pits and scars? Argh! I knew that whatever I created was going to be subjected to intense scrutiny so it had to be perfect. Not a problem if I was messing around the studio making something for fun. A big problem if it involved public display and a grade. I talked to Sarah about how I was going to challenge myself in this assignment and decided to create a band with open sections. What I ended up designing is a ring of four sections that will be soldered to a band that will form the rim. I measured everything and cut out the sections to begin granulating. Since Steve was gone Tuesday night I worked in the studio before and after dinner. Things were going well until the third section. I overheated it and melted the piece. I hadn’t done that since my last high-pressure piece which was a custom creation. Grr. Ok, I cut out another section and went on to the fourth section. Granulation went well so I came back to piece #3 and re-granulated it. And melted it again. Now I was really hacked and decided that maybe I should call it a night. I cut out yet another section, formed it and got it ready to granulate on Wednesday.

Things weren’t going well yesterday either but I managed to get the third section granulated. I did get one of the edges a bit overdone, but it was nothing I couldn’t fix. I cut out a sample rim and put everything together to see how it would look. I have to say, I really like the design and am excited about the outcome. I was still feeling pressured and frustrated when I went to class so I took some time to talk to Sarah about my feelings. She laughed (which I knew she would) and told me to chill out. She liked my design and said to continue. She also said I didn’t have to make the second band if I couldn’t since I’m under the gun to finish my other pieces by February 1st for my show at Waverly House. Whew!

Today I have to work my other job so I’m taking a break from classwork. I did start to work on the next project design (designs are due next Wednesday) which is a granulated ring with a stone. I’m thinking of taking a river rock I found while I was at Arrowmont two years ago and setting a granulated section in the stone. Don’t be too impressed with my idea because I saw something similar so it’s not original! Still, I’ve never set anything into a stone so it should be a challenge. I think the organic nature of the stone with the precision of the granulation will create a nice piece. Let’s just hope I don’t continue melting everything!

As an artist I often feel the need to hone my skills and learn new ones. Most of the time I just create something new in the studio, but every few years I have the urge to return to school. The metals program at MSU is a good one and being friends with the instructor is a plus because I know her teaching methods and like her class. Being friends with her also has its disadvantages as she knows my skills better than anyone and knows how to push me. Plus, I can’t cut any corners with her!

A couple of weeks ago, while debating how to push myself artistically in the coming year, I asked her what she had in mind to teach the Intermediate class. She said she was thinking of devoting an entire semester to rings. She’d do a granulated piece, one with moving parts, one using negative space and other designs she hadn’t thought of yet. It sounded interesting even though I granulate all the time and I’ve already made a ring with a moving part. Thing is, I rarely make rings so I figured this would be a good way for me to design something different. Rings are tricky because of sizing them and I want to practice more sizing in case I want to add rings to my work. Plus, I rarely set stones and I thought this would be a good way for me to explore interesting stone settings.

Today is the first day of class and I’m a little excited because Sarah asked me to demonstrate granulation. I was very flattered when she told me that she thinks I’m better at it than she and I should demo today. I hold her skills in such high regard and have so much respect for her work that it’s an honor to be asked to do this. The downside is that since I granulate all the time, she’s going to expect my granulated ring project to be above and beyond what I normally do. I have one idea in mind but I’ll share that later should I decide to pursue it.

In the meantime, I have a bag that needs to be packed with tools and supplies. Look for updates on my projects and pictures soon!