Nude Drawing

In the early spring of 2010, a friend of mine who is a brilliant artist told me he was going to have some of his work displayed in a major art show in NYC. He said he needed models for nude drawings he wanted to create for the show and asked me to be one of the models. Eric crafts moody, interesting sculptures and paintings also. You can see the drawing of me and the other models here http://ericsonntag.blogspot.com/

How I Keep Model Fit :)

I was a skinny kid all through childhood and didn't even reach 100 pounds until I was almost 18. In my twenties I gained some pounds due to eating a lot of the standard American diet of meat and potatoes, and from including dessert with every dinner. Yikes.

Then I took it upon myself to do a little research into why someone would become a vegetarian. I was studying nutrition, biology, and anatomy at the same time. I was so moved emotionally and intellectually by the flood of new information and philosophical discussions involved that I decided to try it one morning. I quit eating animals cold turkey (no pun intended) and never felt better! The first change happened within a week. I gained a ton of energy. You don't realize how unhealthy you are or out of shape you are until the changes take place. Before, I thought I was perfectly healthy just because I didn't smoke and didn't suffer from a major illness, but after I also started dropping pounds (45 in total) I realized I was unhealthy before my diet change. Another major bonus: I didn't catch a cold or flu for 6 years. Before, I was always sick. If there was something going around, I was bound to catch it. At the time, you think that's normal. But after 6 years went by before I was sick again, I realized that it was a sign of how my poor diet was suppressing my immune system. Consuming more plant foods boosts your immune system. Anyway, a vegetarian diet has kept me slim ever since.

It drives me crazy when I hear someone say "So and So can eat whatever they want/eats like a pig/eats dessert every day and doesn't gain any weight" or "I don't know why So and So is overweight because they don't eat a lot". The truth is, we aren't around this So and So all day every day, so we don't really know how much or how little they eat. We see what they eat in one sitting once a day or once a week and assume that's how they eat even when we are not around. In other words, you don't know if that skinny person who just downed a burger and fries went home and didn't eat anything else the rest of the day and you don't know if that obese guy who just ate a Greek salad didn't go home afterward and spend the rest of his evening polishing off a large pizza and gallon of ice cream. With the rare exception, how much we weigh boils down to how many calories we consume and how many we burn. People who want to blame it on metabolism are lying to themselves because it makes them feel less responsible and therefore less guilty.

I encourage everyone to try a meatless diet for a week or two and see how much better your body runs. Seriously, it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

PS: The best thing about a meatless diet is the absence of disgusting gristle, fat, and bloody veins in your food. Yuck.

Life Lessons From TV Land

Who says you don't learn anything from watching television? Here are just some of the things I remember from my fave t.v. shows growing up.

The Facts of Life: Jo and her boyfriend, both around18 years old, decide to elope, and Mrs. Garret tries to talk her out of it. Then, just before the lovebirds sneak out the door with bags packed, Jo has an epiphany. She says to her Romeo something along the lines of, "What's the rush? If we plan on being together for the rest of our lives, why do we have to get married now? If it is meant to be, we will get married when it's the right time." Life Lesson: marriage is something to be taken seriously and should not happen when you are still waiting for your chest to fill out.
Three's Company: Jack is constantly hitting on the girls and they are constantly fighting him off. Jack and Larry are always lying and conniving their way into their date's skirts. In one particular "very special" episode, Janet is sexually harassed by her dance instructor and she quits. Life Lessons: Men are horny toads. Men are willing to do anything for sex. And women put up with a lot of b.s.
Little House on the Prairie: They had to hand-wash everything, ride horses and wagon-wheel carriages, have one "Doc" for the whole town, and women gave birth at home with no pain relief. Life Lessons: Life was hard back in the day. There was no such thing as a "simpler time". Appreciate medical and technological advances because without them you'd be having a lot less fun.