Q: Your eating habits seem great. And you eat out and enjoy while maintaining your figure. Do you estimate calories/day? How many calories do you eat to maintain? Any tips for for keeping balanced?

A: First of all, thank you! See my previous Q&A post in regards to counting calories. As far as tips for keeping balanced go, I’m able to eat out and splurge because I uphold my 90/10 rule. I’ve explained this before, but it goes like this. I eat healthy and make clean, fresh choices 90% of the time. That means that 10% of the time, I don’t have to worry about having an extra brownie or scoop of ice cream. And when I do indulge, I thoroughly enjoy it – guilt free! The bottom line is that one or two cookies is NOT going to cause you to gain weight. The entire box and making it a daily habit will.

Q: Who’s the funniest person you know?

A: Well, I have a rather odd sense of humor that I share with some of the most important people in my life. That being said, the funniest people I know are the Mister, My Dad, Tracy Levy and my brother (sorry mom, you gotta work on your delivery ).

Q: I’d love to know more about your family .. any brothers or sisters?!

A: It’s just my mom, my dad and my brother. And by now you already know that I’m obsessed with my family. I do however, have two sister-in-laws, who have become real sisters to me. I love them both dearly and we have so much fun together (even though it isn’t as often as I’d like). I also have a brother in law, who is pretty cool 95% of the time (the other 5% he is making fun of me). The Mister also has two stepsisters, who I consider to be my true sister-in-laws, as well. I’m so lucky to have acquired such amazing siblings via my marriage to the Mister!

For those of you who didn’t ask a question: don’t worry! We’ll do this again soon.

This will be the second-to-last Q&A post, as I don’t want to bore you by going on and on and ON about myself. So if you have a question you want to ask me anonymously, do it now! It will be your last chance.

Q: Have you ever had any encounters or personal experiences with eating disorders (known anyone, even acquaintances, struggling). If so, how do you try to talk about your balance philosophy (which I love)!

A: One of my good friends in college died from anorexia. She lived with her parents, so my friends and I were not fully aware of the problem. I sensed it, but was never 100% sure — and I didn’t think it was as bad as it obviously was. Due to her anorexia, her organs were weaker than normal — most of all, her heart. One night she blacked out because her heart stopped beating. She never woke up.

This was the point in my life when I realized the impact that eating disorders can have on our lives…for such a beautiful, vibrant one had been taken. I think of her often and try and stop myself from wondering how things might have been different if my friends and I had acted on our intuitions.

As my father would say, it’s a slippery slope. I think that too often, what starts with a plan to get healthy and lose a bit of weight, can turn into an obsessive disease. I know that calorie counting works for many people, but it’s because of this slippery slope that I really try and avoid number crunching. We all know the healthier choices — we just need to make them.

Q: Do u think lebron will stay in Cleveland?

A: HA – great question! If only I knew the answer. I do think LeBron will stay in Cleveland — he better.

Q: What time do you wake up every morning?

A: If I’m working out at the gym, I wake up at 5:30. If I’m working out at home, I wake up at 6:00. If I’m being lazy not working out in the morning, I wake up at 7:00.

Q: Tell us about your singing history! How long did you sing for? Did you study with a voice teacher? If so, who and for how long? What voice type are you? What pieces were in your repertoire? Do you still sing? Do you ever miss training?

A: I’ve been singing for as long as I’ve been talking. It had always been such a large part of my life, that it made sense to continue with it through college. So I enrolled at Otterbein College as a voice major. After attending the first day of classes, I dropped it. Why? I suddenly realized the thing that I had always loved and found solace in, was something I was beginning to hate. From opera workshops to music theory and piano classes, I would have had class from 9 a.m. – 10 p.m. I knew right away that I was not cut out for this program. I didn’t want to be a classical singer! I simply loved to sing and was doing it because I had no idea what else I would do. Not the best reason to invest 4 years into something, if you ask me

Anyway, I trained with one of the better-known vocal coaches here in Cleveland from 8th grade – senior year. I traveled with his adult choir (and was a featured soloist!) to England, Scotland, Whales, Lichtenstein, France, Germany, Austria, Hungry and Switzerland and performed in cathedrals throughout Europe (quite an experience!). In high school, I performed in Show Choir, as well as several other select groups. In addition, I was in all of the musicals (roles of note: Kim -Bye Bye Birdie, Adelaide – Guys and Dolls).

Do I miss it? Every day. It’s not that I miss signing — because I still cantor at my church, sing professionally at weddings and serenade the Mister in the car. I miss PERFORMING. I miss the rush of being on stage. I miss making connections with members in the audience and being part of their “escape from reality.” I miss the heat from the stage lights, the smell of stage makeup and the muffled whispers and chaos backstage. Most of all, I miss all the friendships made with other cast members. I miss creating magic with them and being part of something bigger than ourselves.

I hope to one day have the time to perform again, whether it’s in a summer stock show or community play.

Q: What is your favorite song to sing?

A: Because I have a soprano, musical-theatre quality voice, my favorite songs to sing are those that make my voice sound the best — that being said, they are mostly show tunes and church songs. But since you asked, I’ll tell.

• When I look at you – The Scarlet Pimpernel
• How Beautiful – Church song (I sing it at weddings all the time)
• Ave Maria
• Amazing Grace
• Defying Gravity and Popular - Wicked
• Any princess song from a Disney movie (haha!)
• Basically, any higher-range song from a musical – I’m such a nerd!

Want to hear me sing Silent Night? Just know that the sound is a bit distorted from the web cam! I promise I sound better in person

Do you want me to answer one of your (anonymous!) questions? All you have to do is ask!