I was a bit nervous anticipating my weekly weigh-in today as we had been out of town this weekend with a few dining out "indulgences"...but YES! Another pound down! Been buckling right down and holding my calories down to an average daily total around 1800.

I enjoyed using a terrific recumbent bicycle while at the hotel:

www.efitnessdirect.com/p
roduct.php3?id=415

A HIGHLY customizeable bike which allowed me to recline and stretch my legs out. I felt a strange combo of being relaxed while buzzing along on the pedals...if I had a pillow I think I could have snoozed while sweating it out...lol! And it could be all YOURS for the low, low price of $2,000...yeesh! :-)

So my BMI now places me at 27.3, smack in the middle of the "overweight" category. Don't know if I'll get "quite" as low as a BMI below overweight...that would mean 194 pounds for me to hit a BMI of 24. Crossing into 190's may just be "enough"...we'll have to see...however, it WOULD be awfully nice to officially no longer be "overweight!" :-)

Now for a few musical recommendations...! After Halloween marks for me the beginning of my holiday music season! Yes, a wee-bit early, but I don't exactly jump right into Jingle-Bell-Rock-mode...lol! I enjoy a wide range of new age / world music which is instrumental and captures "moods" more than spelling out specific holiday wishes. One of my all-time favorite album which can be enjoyed year round, but is especially apropos for this time of year is Paul Winter's "Wintersong" in which one of my favorite soprano sax players gathers "a collection of international tributes to the season, with traditional songs and circle dances from England, Scandinavia, Italy, France and the Appalachian Mountains." Most of these are NOT exactly workout tunes...with the exception of Bach's Ode to Joy...which Winter & Co. transform into a fun, celebratory Brasilian romp!

www.amazon.com/Winterson
g-Paul-Winter/dp/B0000000U
A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=mus
ic&qid=1257349942&sr=8-2

Winter joins forces again with Brasilian guitarist extraordinaire Oscar Castro-Neves on their duo album "Brasilian Days:"

www.amazon.com/Brazilian
-Days-Paul-Winter/dp/B0000
84H8R/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s
=music&qid=1257351584&sr=1-2

This is a WONDERFUL album, although non-holiday-oriented, guaranteed to warm your hearts and soothe away your stress...highly, HIGHLY recommended!

For more soothing holiday music of a New Age, mostly of an instrumental, acoustic nature I highly recommend Windham Hill's "Winter Solstice" series of albums:

www.amazon.com/A-Winters
-Solstice-(Series)/e/B000A
Q0G44

Everyone have a super warm-up to the holiday season this month...!

I'll continue to ramp up my efforts toward ONEderland by the New Year.

Don

PS, Oh! Also looking forward to a group walk at one of our state parks with fellow SparkPeople members this upcoming Sunday...woo hoo! :-) Check out details here: www.sparkpeople.com/mysp
ark/city_sparkrally.asp?re
source=7607