With 2 kids under 3, it’s awfully hard to get to the gym anymore.  So I bought myself a Playstation Wii recently with the full intention of using it to help me exercise. Things were going great, until I realized that I could also stream Netflix videos with it! I haven’t been back to Wii Fit since.

 The other night while I was flipping through movies, I cam across a documentary called “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead”. This Australian guy, Joe Cross, was tired of weighing over 300lbs and having health issues related to his eating habits, and decided he was going to do something drastic about it. So, he bought a juicer, and decided to go on a 60-day juice fast (he calls it a “reboot”). He would drink nothing but juice, 4 or 5 times a day, made from organic, raw fruits and vegetables that he runs through his juicer. That’s it. No food.  No coffee. No alcohol. Nothing else except juice and water.

 And if that wasn’t bad enough, for those 60 days, he decided to also tour the land of fast-food temptation, the United States of America, and ask people he came across about their diet, weight, and philosophies. Joe met a truck driver at a truck stop in Arizona who was over 400lbs, and wound up inspiring him to go on the same diet. They each lost 90+ lbs. Joe brought along a camera crew, and bam, an award-winning documentary was born.

If you read the reviews of this movie on-line or on Netflix, it won’t take long to realize that this movie has inspired thousands of people to drastically change their lives. Almost every review said that they bought a juicer after seeing this movie, went on a juice diet, and instantly lost weight.

 So, of course, immediately after watching this movie, I decided to go on a “Reboot” as well! I swiped a juicer from my mom’s house (she’ll never miss it!), planned a menu, went produce shopping, and started.

 I’m currently on day 4 of drinking nothing but fresh veggie and fruit juice. No, I haven’t crapped my pants yet. : )  But this diet definitely isn’t for the faint-hearted. My husband tried the diet with me as well, but only lasted 6 hours before he caved and attacked a loaf of bread. You need a lot of willpower to be able to give up food.

 They say the first 3 or 4 days is the worst, and I certainly hope it gets better from here. Dealing with caffeine withdrawal on top of food deprivation is not fun. But it’s a quick way to get immediate results.

Quite a community of fasting followers has popped up over on Joe Cross’s website (Jointhereboot.com),  and I plan on seeing how long I can last on nothing but fruits and veggies. More to come….

JUICING TIPS:

• Before you get started, make sure you know how use, disassemble, and re-assemble your juicer. You don’t want to have to figure that out while you’re starving.
• Buy a 4 cup measuring cup, to collect the juice and pour easily into a glass.
• Buy a whisk, since you’ll want to mix the juice together after it’s been collected in the measuring cup.
• If you can’t stand the green veggies, mix it with tart fruits, like strawberries or kiwis. It will hide the taste. One of my green favorites is spinach, strawberries, and a kiwi.

UPDATES:

Days 1-5 -  7lbs lost. Since I’m new to juicing, I stuck to recipes I found on jointhereboot.com. They were mostly pretty good. And surprisingly, the green ones were palatable. I had a real headache for the first 4 days, mostly due to quitting coffee cold turkey (I’ve had to quit coffee in the past when I became pregnant with my kids, so I’m very familiar with this crappy feeling).

It’s funny how you notice temptations everywhere when you’re not allowed to eat. Watch any TV show and count the seconds before you see food, hear someone talking about food, or see someone eating. And try getting together with someone for a social occasion and have it not revolve around food. I also noticed how much I unconsciously nibble. For example, every time I make my kid a meal, I’d usually try a piece to make sure it’s not too hot/tastes okay/not too cold, etc.

Such an extreme break from food was a great idea to really make me aware of all of these things that I usually gloss over on a daily basis. For instance, I’m much more aware of the processed stuff that I eat, including bread-based products. Anything that’s not a fruit or a vegetable now looks foreign to me.

Day 6 - 10lbs lost: Still going strong. Things did get easier after the 4th day. I’ve been drinking 4 juices a day, and surprisingly, each juice keeps me feeling full. I’m ‘supposed’ to keep the ratio of each juice to 20% fruits and 80% veggies, but I’ve been adding more fruits lately. I should probably watch that.

The cravings for unhealthy food have for the most part subsided, but if there’s something in front of me, the cravings are pretty strong. I had to really check myself yesterday when making tater tots for my 3 year old. They smelled so good right out of the oven. Yum. But I had to stop, take a second, get a good whiff of the smell, and satisfy myself with that, because that’s all I was getting. And surprisingly, I was okay. You would think that smelling good food would be painful or almost punishment, but it’s really not. When you take a step back, and you know you won’t be eating it, you can learn to find pleasure and satisfaction in the smells alone.

That may sound like a crappy way to live, but it’s not too bad when the reward is so great. Maybe it’s easier for me, since I KNOW exactly what the reward is. I used to be a 102lb triathlete (in my early 20′s), and I have vague memories of the food discipline necessary to achieve goals, and I know how differently society treats those who are skinny and fit. Besides all of the typical benefits you can imagine (looking better, wearing smaller clothes, etc.), I remember what it’s like to be able to breathe so much easier, to walk down the street and have so many more people smile at me and say hello, to have energy to push myself to new heights every day instead of just accepting the same routine. And I can’t wait to get back to that place where I truly belong.

Day 7: I purposely broke my fast last night. When I started out, I wasn’t sure how long I’d go on a juice fast, or if I even had the willpower to last more than a day. So I set a goal of 5 to 7 days. That would get me safely to Friday night.

Every Friday night, my husband and I go out for sushi. It’s our “thing”. We go to the same restaurant, my mother-in-law watches the kids, and for one night a week, we get to relax and eat a good meal. I didn’t want to give that up, so I knew if I had the willpower to make it a week to Friday night, I’d be breaking the fast. So I was okay with it.

It was my first opportunity to make smarter choices when eating out. Instead of sushi, I ordered sashimi, no rice on the side. I drank the miso soup, but stayed away from the free appetizers. This morning, I’m back on track. I’m not sure how long I’ll do this juice thing for. Right now I’m just taking it one day at a time. Let’s see if I can make it to next Friday night…

2nd Week: I decided to end the all-juice fast and slowly transition back to “regular” food, while still maintaining a diet. I wasn’t feeling good at all going into my second week of juicing. I had no energy, and I was starting to get nauseous. Since I have a new baby and a toddler to take care of, I needed to keep myself going. I still juice twice a day, usually taking the place of breakfast and lunch, and I make a reasonable choice for dinner. My “real” food choice of the day has typically been either low carb or gluten free. It’s working well, and I’m still loosing weight. Now it’s time to get my ass exercising!

more to come…

I picked up a Gini Follow-Focus off of Ebay. Since it’s coming from South Korea, I have to wait over a month for it to get here, but once it does, I’ll post a review. More to come….

Things have been going slow…. because I just had a baby!

   His name is Donny. He likes to eat, roll over, and sleep. Kind of like my husband. Donny has been monopolizing most of my time lately (along with my 3-year old), so I’ve been slowing things down so I can take care of them, and focus on getting my body back in shape (it’s not pretty growing and delivering a baby, despite what Anne Geddes makes you believe!).

   So, I figured well, if I don’t have anything going on, I’ll just start posting A/V related info on this blog to keep the ball rollin’, and give myself a place to focus.

   I also just started the Long Island DSLR Filmmakers Meetup group, and we have three awesome projects planned for the next couple of months: a documentary, a short, and a music video.  I’ll share what we shoot here….

I got mine in the mail tonight, so I figured I’d throw up some first impressions and quick pics off my kitchen table until I get to spend more time with the bag. I’ll update the post with real photos once I break the bag in.

So what’s the deal? Is it a cool bag? Is it really worth it’s $229.00 price? Let’s find out.

The Tote & Shoot arrives packaged well, in a customary Shootsac printed box, with a printed outer bag. It seems a bit excessive, but it’s all part of the Shootsac brand. They want you to feel like you’re truly opening up something special, and it certainly does come across in the packaging. There’s hidden messages throughout the design, which makes you feel really great about using this bag. It’s almost as if it’s been designed to not only make you function better, but feel good while doing it.

Overall bag size: 17”w x 13.5”h x 6.5”d

 My first impression is that the tote is a bit smaller than I was expecting, which was a pleasant surprise. After all, who wants to tote around a huge beach bag everyday? The bag looked bigger on their website. Here’s a pic of the Tote & Shoot below next to a 5DmarkII, and a flash, so you can get a more accurate view of its size.

The material that the bag is made out of is described by Shootsac as “a tactile fabric comprised of a polymer surface that resists stains, abrasion and germs with antimicrobial properties” and is water-repellant. I must say, it’s quite impressive. This is one of those products where pictures of it do not do it justice. It has a slight shine to it, and feels not only water resistant, but as if it would be near impossible to tear.

One of the biggest complaints I have about DSLR bags for women is how easily they stain and rip, like the Jill-E sailcloth bags. It looks as if that won’t be a problem with the Tote & Shoot.

The side-loading camera pocket is by far the neatest feature. I’m not sure why Shootsac claims this is the “first ever” side-loading camera pocket, as this feature is already on tons of DSLR bags, including one of my favorites, the National Geographic Earth Explorer bag. Maybe they meant the first ever TOTE bag with a side-loading pocket? Regardless, it’s well done. The side pocket can easily hold a large DSLR with a 70-200mm lens attached (turned sideways) and ready to shoot. And the tote is deep enough where you can still carry a handful of additional items in the main tote compartment when the 70-200mm is packed. The pocket opens wide enough to make it easy to put your camera in and take it out.

The camera pocket is lined with neoprene and padding, but its not very thick (see thickness of side pocket in pic above). It’s perfect to protect your camera if a person bumps into you, but if you drop it off a table, you might be in trouble. But, after all, there’s only a few every day carry DSLR bags that would protect you in that situation (like possibly the Crumpler 7 Million Dollar Home Bag), but they’re usually so bogged down with padding and masculine looking that no woman would want to carry them.

There’s a padded neoprene strip that comes in the box, which can be used to line the floor of the side-loading pocket to give your DSLR some additional protection. Oddly enough, I couldn’t get the strip to fit in there well. It seems to be a bit too long, and it curls up on both sides. It’s not a snug fit. But, I guess it’s a bonus to have a bit more additional padding on the sides, and it doesn’t interfere with loading or carrying your camera. So who knows. Maybe they did it on purpose to give you some additional padding (but probably not: ). But the extra strip is a necessity to protect your camera if you put your bag down on a hard surface while in a hurry.

There’s three outside pockets; two on each end, which closes with a drawstring clasp, and one on the back, which closes with a magnetic clasp.

Side Pocket Size: 4.5” diameter x 9”h

The side pockets are deep enough to comfortably hold a 580EXII flash, and you can pull the drawstring tight to keep it from slipping out. You can also easily hold your water bottle, or store your keys and cell phone. The bad part is, if you overextend the string when opening, it’s hard to pick out the string from the clasp to close it again. Adding a knot at the end would solve that problem.

Here’s the side pocket with a 580EXII flash inside. As you can see, it fully covers it.

And here’s the Tote & Shoot side pocket with a poland spring water bottle:

The rear outside pocket is perfect for storing magazines or your IPad (vertically, as they won’t fit horizontally), and the bottom of the pocket can be opened with a zipper, allowing you to attach the Tote & Shoot to handles of a rolling luggage.

It’s definitely not meant for this, but you can also use the outside pocket to carry a tripod. Just unzip the bottom, and drop 2 of the 3 tripod legs through. I totally beat on camera bags, and I’m sure the Shootsac website doesn’t mention you can hold a tripod like this because it will kill the bag in no time. But it works.

The tote’s handles are the perfect length (13”), and they’re padded with cushiony, non-slip neoprene padding.

The Inside

The Tote & Shoot opens and closes with a zipper, but the bag has open gaps at both ends up top, which could be an issue.

This side open gap design could be both a benefit and a detriment. If you have something long and thin to carry like an umbrella, you can still fit it into your bag by letting it stick it out the top.  But, the permanent opening lets in rainwater, and if you leave something sticking out the top, it could easily be stolen. I don’t think this will be a problem, but once I start using the bag, I’ll find out, and I’ll update my post.

The gap is so large, it easily fits a roll of wrapping paper through it while the bag is fully closed:

Besides the main compartment, the inside of the bag has two pockets; a deep pocket in the rear, and a shallow pocket upfront over the DSLR side pocket.  The lining is 100% polyester, but the material has a similar sheen and feel as the outside material, which leads me to believe it would be easy to clean and hard to tear. There’s also an additional small pocket on the inside for a water bottle or baby bottle.

Pic of inside

Internal size: 16”w x 13”h x 5.5”d

The double stitching looks solid, which is good news for me, since I tend to overstuff my bags and really abuse them (see tripod pic above).

Overall Opinion

It’s not hard to tell that someone really thought about the design of this bag. They wanted to not just give you another DSLR bag, they wanted to find a way to make your life easier. I’d say mission was accomplished.

And yes, $229 is A LOT of money to spend on a bag. But considering the other options in the marketplace, and the quality of the design and materials used, the price is worth it.

Negatives, or what I’d like to see in the next design:

This bag is definitely missing a secure, outside pocket for your cell phone and/or keys. By secure, I mean a pocket with a zipper or Velcro closure allowing you to close the pocket all the way. Not something that’s only partially closed with a drawstring. To some that wouldn’t matter, but if you live in a large city, you know how easy it is for a thief to swipe your phone out of a drawstring pocket, no matter how deep the pocket is, or how tight you pull the drawstring. Why not just keep my phone in one of the inside pockets? Because I don’t want to have to open two sets of zippers every time my phone rings.

This is one of my biggest issues with this bag. The lack of functional pockets. It would be amazing if Shootsac could combine the organizational ideas (i.e. pockets everywhere!) that Thinktank has on their bags with the Tote & Shoot. If I had to design the ultimate everyday bag, it would be a combination of the feel and size of the Tote & Shoot, the functionality of a Thinktank Retrospective, and the print options of a shootsac or Vera Bradley.

As said, I’d love to have more color or print options available. But now that I have the bag and I feel the fabric it’s made out of, I can understand why anything other than a solid color would be incredibly difficult to pull off. I can only guess that each color option added to the line costs more money, so they drew the line at three colors. And I’m guessing an extensive market survey told them that red, grey and black are the most popular three solid colors for women’s purses, so they went with that.  Still doesn’t change the fact that I want more color or pattern options.

I’d like to have the option of buying removable padded inserts for the days where I want to carry nothing but camera gear, similar to the inside of a Crumpler or Thinktank Retrospective. As it is, if I want to carry my DSLR in the front pocket, I have to throw any additional lenses and gear loose in the main compartment unpadded. Not really a great option.  There’s a “companion tote” coming out in Winter 2012 by Shootsac, but something tells me this won’t be one of the options it provides. And aside from spending another $180(!) for a shootsac to throw inside (spending a total of $410 plus tax and shipping for a functional camera bag!), there’s limited options. In fact, this is the biggest complaint that I find most people have with this bag. A shootsac is NOT included in the purchase price. Which wouldn’t be a big deal, if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s not completely functional as a camera bag without one. And for $410, there’s much better camera bag systems out there.

So if you’re okay with just carrying your DSLR and maybe one other small lens, and mostly using the bag as an everyday tote bag, then this is an awesome bag for you. In fact, it’s quickly becoming my favorite everyday bag, as I have 2 kids under 3 (which means I carry a lot of stuff with me everywhere!). However, if you’re looking for something that gives you the option of carrying a ton of lenses, bodies and flashes, then this isn’t the best option, unless you already own, or don’t mind shelling out another $180 for a shootsac.

This one is called “find the photographer” : )

It was almost a full moon, and Laurie wrapped up her shots right before dusk. One of the downfalls to having a winter wedding is that your photographer will loose light quickly, so outdoor shooting time is limited, and should be scheduled early. And it will also be freezing outside, which means the bridal party will not want to be outside for very long. But sometimes it’s worth it for the right shot.

Since Joshua was looking for more of a dark and moody feel, I needed to use big portable flashes to overpower the strength of the sun. The picture below was actually taken while it was light out, but I used the shutter speed of my camera to make it seem a if the tracks fade off into the darkness, and I used a powerful flash to bring up the light on Joshua to make him the focus of attention.

Joshua also doubled as the lookout, so I had time to move my gear if a train came around the bend!