Sunday, June 03, 2012
Watch It And Weep...
This is Mark, the man who's teaching me to bench press my body weight. Right here, he is bench pressing more than my body weight WITH EACH ARM; those are 150 lb dumbbells and that's our gym. Garret, you watchin' this??
MOAR to Chew On...
MOAR no-equipment, as-hard-as-you-make'em, do-anywhere, no fucking excuses body weight exercises: http://www.angrytrainerfitness.com/2012/06/top-10-body-weight-exercises/
From Tony, across the pond, should doctors be allowed to use the word "overweight" or "obese" to describe their patients? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18262887
Did a yoga DVD and took the puppies for a nice 45-minute walk. Additional testimony to the importance of obedience training your dog: we were set upon by two medium-sized collie-ish type dogs (black and white dogs probably about Lotus' size but fluffier) who were in their driveway while their owner was in his garage. They started barking and ran the 25 or so feet toward us in a flash. I pulled Mojo and Lotus off the curb and into the street and ordered them (in German) to stay. The owner came dashing after his dogs, yelling at them to come back (they completely ignored him) and the collies got within a few inches of us, all the while I'm commanding Mo and Lo to "leave it" and stay. When he reached his dogs and pulled them back by the collars, we began walking again, him shouting "It's okay!" and "Sorry!" Folks, listen. Please. Dogs, even the best-trained, most docile ones, have INSTINCTS. They are prey driven and have an innate need to protect their territory. Unless your dog is 15 years old and arthritis-stricken, he or she is most likely going to get up and GO when he sees other dogs walking by or a squirrel in the yard across the street. PLEASE KEEP THEM CONTAINED behind a fence or leashed to something secure if you have them outside. This has been a public service message from a conscientious owner of two big pitbulls who doesn't need the bullshit.
Off to breakfast with the boy.
From Tony, across the pond, should doctors be allowed to use the word "overweight" or "obese" to describe their patients? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18262887
Did a yoga DVD and took the puppies for a nice 45-minute walk. Additional testimony to the importance of obedience training your dog: we were set upon by two medium-sized collie-ish type dogs (black and white dogs probably about Lotus' size but fluffier) who were in their driveway while their owner was in his garage. They started barking and ran the 25 or so feet toward us in a flash. I pulled Mojo and Lotus off the curb and into the street and ordered them (in German) to stay. The owner came dashing after his dogs, yelling at them to come back (they completely ignored him) and the collies got within a few inches of us, all the while I'm commanding Mo and Lo to "leave it" and stay. When he reached his dogs and pulled them back by the collars, we began walking again, him shouting "It's okay!" and "Sorry!" Folks, listen. Please. Dogs, even the best-trained, most docile ones, have INSTINCTS. They are prey driven and have an innate need to protect their territory. Unless your dog is 15 years old and arthritis-stricken, he or she is most likely going to get up and GO when he sees other dogs walking by or a squirrel in the yard across the street. PLEASE KEEP THEM CONTAINED behind a fence or leashed to something secure if you have them outside. This has been a public service message from a conscientious owner of two big pitbulls who doesn't need the bullshit.
Off to breakfast with the boy.
Is Availability the Mother of Indulgence?
Good morning. What is that saying about "the best laid plans..."? We're on Day 2 of a dark, rainy weekend. Yesterday morning, I set up our display at the bank:
(Yes, Garret; that's his phone #...don't you go calling him now!!!) As I discovered yesterday, PLENTY of people still wait in line inside the bank, whether it's out of the necessity of actually having to talk to a person or technophobia, I'm not sure, but hey, they're stuck looking at this here table and it WILL creep into their brains! We have the little basket in the middle filled with 100 packets of romaine lettuce seeds that the Spawn stapled business cards to...on the right is a lovely photo of a lovely lawn and flyers spouting off about how great we are plus an offer for one free lawnmowing when you contract for weekly mowings June-October (call for your free estimate! Not you, Garret...) and in front of the basket are some of our magnets. On the left are mini-postcards with a list of services offered. Altogether this display cost about $100 in materials (including stuff we already had, like the postcards and the big sign -- and stuff we had to buy, like the silk flowers and the seed packets) so even ONE job, whether it's a small project or a season contract -- will pay for it manyfold (is manyfold a word? Blogger is underlining it so I guess not. But you understand what I mean).
Josh had a new client to deliver a contract to and a new potential client to go see for an estimate. In the afternoon, we sludged through the mud at two local nurseries, perusing some shrubs and small trees for two decent installation (island type) projects Josh has coming up.
We decided to hang in and make dinner at home. I grilled some steak tips, steamed some green beans and Josh made salads with baby spinach, red & yellow bell peppers and black olives dressed with olive oil & red wine vinegar. Later in the evening, the all-day drizzle turned to downpour and high winds; we just watched TV and watched the dogs alternately wrestle/snore.
My "plan," as the rain was destined to continue indefinitely, was to "sleep in" -- I did not set my alarm and I pretty much crashed as soon as we moved from the couch to bed. I was in some half-awake state a little while ago, aware that it was not nighttime dark anymore and happily turning on my side to go back to sleep for a while when both dogs suddenly jumped off the bed, went to the door and began their distress grunts. So I got up to let them out, saw that it was 5:50AM (ugh), figured I should feed them when they came back in, did that and said WTF, I'm awake. Soooooo I'm up & at'em and once again I can't even sleep "late" (I was shooting for like 7:00!) if I plan to. Whatever.
I am sure you have read about or maybe even experienced in real life (personally or second-hand) the alleged role of Facebook in divorce (if you've missed out, here is a link to a short article that succinctly describes the phenomenon). Basically, some people believe that a lot of marital strife is cropping up in recent years, that would not have otherwise cropped up, because of the ease of finding ex's, rekindling high school flirtations or friending strangers who have a common interest on the social network. That people who, in the absence of Facebook's making those communications so available and so easy to hide from their spouses would never have sought out those other parties, find themselves participating in questionable exchanges with other people just because Facebook has made them accessible, convenient, easily hidden from public view (no one sees you chatting online with The One Who Got Away in college the way they might see your minivan parked at the No-tell Motel on a Tuesday afternoon) -- so the accessibility of the forbidden increases not only temptation to indulge in some form of not-quite-kosher (or really not kosher, depending on how far both parties are willing to take it) activity, but makes it very easy to partake in said activity. My point:
As I said, yesterday Josh and I were out driving around looking at plants. The first nursery we went to is way on the other side of town and out on an older main road. It took us about 25-30 minutes to get there and we slogged around for probably 40 minutes. It was just after 4:00PM when we left to go to the other nursery. On this older main road is Burger King, McDonalds (directly across from each other), Taco Bell, Walgreen's, CVS (both large stores that have decent sized grocery departments, just packaged stuff; and the obligatory aisles and cash register displays of snack food, soda, candy), a Super Stop & Shop with a Dunkin' Donuts inside (because you might "need" a gross egg-like wrap and an XL coffee while you shop?), another Dunkin' Donuts across the street, as well as a small assortment of strip malls with pizza/sub shops. I wasn't hungry yet (in addition to my awesome post-workout breakfast yesterday I had eaten my 12 walnuts/24 raisins snack around 2:00) but I was thinking about how much food was available on a one-mile stretch of road. One exit south, on a newer main road where the second nursery is, there's another McDonald's, a Wendy's, Subway, two pizza places, a convenience store/gas station that is attached to a Dunkin' Donuts and Panera Bread.
The first drive-thru I remember personally was at the McDonald's closest to my childhood home, in the next town over and probably five miles away. I think I was about 13 when they added the drive-thru. And they were late to the game, I think, because it was a smaller McD's and that town is all weird about zoning and stuff. So I would say drive-thru's at fast food places started to crop up when I was about 11 (1980) and were pretty common within a couple of years. Suddenly, it became VERY EASY (as opposed to just "easy") to get fast food. If you're driving and think you're hungry (or "not really hungry, but I could eat"), or your traveling companion says they're hungry, or your kids are bored and whining -- you don't have to drive far to find junk food of all kinds -- and you absolutely do not have to get out of the car or have cash in your wallet (everyone takes credit cards now).
So I was thinking, BACK IN THE DAY, if you were out here and felt like you were getting hungry, what did you do? The simple answer is: You dealt with being a little hungry for a whole HALF AN HOUR and you drove back to your house and, if it was the mid-afternoon, maybe you had an apple to hold you over until dinner. If it was getting close enough to dinnertime, when you got home, you started getting dinner ready. There was not this mindset of grabbing junk on the go, was there? I don't remember ever spontaneously going to McDonald's as a kid. When my mother took my brother and me into Boston on Saturdays to shop and walk around, sometimes we got lunch there (I preferred the lunch counter at Woolworth's, given the choice) but we knew we were going out to lunch somewhere; it was part of the plan. Even when we went to the local McD's, it was planned in advance; our favorite aunt would take us there as a treat if she had us for the day sometimes (but usually she made us grilled cheese at home in her kitchen while we did art projects). I don't think we were EVER out doing errands and someone said, "Oooh, want to stop for food?" And trust me, if someone HAD, my parents would have said, "If you're hungry, we'll go home right now and I'll make you something to eat."
Food is everywhere. Our hunting instinct has been taken out of the equation. Do you remember just a couple of weeks ago, we were talking here on the blog about how junk food is now part of the scenery in stores (Dick's Sporting Goods, Michael's craft stores, Office Max, Home Depot) that have NOTHING to do with food? -- but it's an impulse buy; they plant the seed of hunger or thirst in your head and you mindlessly grab a snickers and a bottle of soda and throw it in with your fishing gear or scrapbooking shit or manila folders or socket set -- because it's there, it's easy, it's convenient, you're going to eat it in your car and it doesn't really count. Hell, you might not even remember that you ate it. Marshall's and TJ Maxx always have their little gourmet food that includes a lot of fancy candy bars and crunchy things; Kohl's has displays of Godiva chocolate bars near every checkout area. WHY? And what is the consequence of junk food being EVERYWHERE, cheap and accessible and tempting us? We eat it, of course. Mindlessly. Because it was there.
Drive-thru's and junk food in non-food stores make secret eating particularly easy, don't they? Get your food, scarf it down, destroy the evidence.
No chance of someone coming in and catching you binge, as in this particularly painful Sopranos scene, which I watched when I was fat:
Do we eat more, eat more frequently, eat more junk food, eat things we don't need when we're really not hungry, just because it's there? Is a lot of "eating strife" and overeating just kind of happening because it's SO EASY to get junk food EVERYWHERE now? It is effortless. Did any customer contact McDonald's in the late 1970's and say, "Dear Ray Kroc: I just love your food and so do my kids, but it is so inconvenient to actually have to put my car in park, turn the ignition off, get everyone out of the car, walk 15 feet to the counter, state my order and pay for it and then take the time to sit at a table for 12 minutes and eat it. Is there any way you could expedite how quickly I can get that grease and sugar into our bodies? Kthxbye." No. Did any customer ever approach the manager of the local hardware store or write in to Best Buy's corporate headquarters and suggest that they stock a full array of candy bars by their checkout counters? "You know sometimes I'm in here for super glue and I get hungry and if you had Reese's Pieces at the register, I'd totally buy some." "Hey, you in the blue shirt...you're missing out on a money-making opportunity, you know. I'm in here for some coaxial cable but this craving for salty AND sweet just hit me out of nowhere. I would happily drop a buck twenty five on a PayDay bar if you would just keep them in stock right here by the three-prong adapters." It wasn't the public's idea, I assure you, to have drive-thru's every 500 yards and junk food for sale at an electronics store. Does junk food's mere availability and its presence in unexpected settings (the auto parts store has candy, chips, an ICE CREAM freezer full of ChocoTacos and a fridge full of 20-ounce sodas) trigger us to buy it and consume it?
Thoughts?
(Yes, Garret; that's his phone #...don't you go calling him now!!!) As I discovered yesterday, PLENTY of people still wait in line inside the bank, whether it's out of the necessity of actually having to talk to a person or technophobia, I'm not sure, but hey, they're stuck looking at this here table and it WILL creep into their brains! We have the little basket in the middle filled with 100 packets of romaine lettuce seeds that the Spawn stapled business cards to...on the right is a lovely photo of a lovely lawn and flyers spouting off about how great we are plus an offer for one free lawnmowing when you contract for weekly mowings June-October (call for your free estimate! Not you, Garret...) and in front of the basket are some of our magnets. On the left are mini-postcards with a list of services offered. Altogether this display cost about $100 in materials (including stuff we already had, like the postcards and the big sign -- and stuff we had to buy, like the silk flowers and the seed packets) so even ONE job, whether it's a small project or a season contract -- will pay for it manyfold (is manyfold a word? Blogger is underlining it so I guess not. But you understand what I mean).
Josh had a new client to deliver a contract to and a new potential client to go see for an estimate. In the afternoon, we sludged through the mud at two local nurseries, perusing some shrubs and small trees for two decent installation (island type) projects Josh has coming up.
We decided to hang in and make dinner at home. I grilled some steak tips, steamed some green beans and Josh made salads with baby spinach, red & yellow bell peppers and black olives dressed with olive oil & red wine vinegar. Later in the evening, the all-day drizzle turned to downpour and high winds; we just watched TV and watched the dogs alternately wrestle/snore.
My "plan," as the rain was destined to continue indefinitely, was to "sleep in" -- I did not set my alarm and I pretty much crashed as soon as we moved from the couch to bed. I was in some half-awake state a little while ago, aware that it was not nighttime dark anymore and happily turning on my side to go back to sleep for a while when both dogs suddenly jumped off the bed, went to the door and began their distress grunts. So I got up to let them out, saw that it was 5:50AM (ugh), figured I should feed them when they came back in, did that and said WTF, I'm awake. Soooooo I'm up & at'em and once again I can't even sleep "late" (I was shooting for like 7:00!) if I plan to. Whatever.
I am sure you have read about or maybe even experienced in real life (personally or second-hand) the alleged role of Facebook in divorce (if you've missed out, here is a link to a short article that succinctly describes the phenomenon). Basically, some people believe that a lot of marital strife is cropping up in recent years, that would not have otherwise cropped up, because of the ease of finding ex's, rekindling high school flirtations or friending strangers who have a common interest on the social network. That people who, in the absence of Facebook's making those communications so available and so easy to hide from their spouses would never have sought out those other parties, find themselves participating in questionable exchanges with other people just because Facebook has made them accessible, convenient, easily hidden from public view (no one sees you chatting online with The One Who Got Away in college the way they might see your minivan parked at the No-tell Motel on a Tuesday afternoon) -- so the accessibility of the forbidden increases not only temptation to indulge in some form of not-quite-kosher (or really not kosher, depending on how far both parties are willing to take it) activity, but makes it very easy to partake in said activity. My point:
As I said, yesterday Josh and I were out driving around looking at plants. The first nursery we went to is way on the other side of town and out on an older main road. It took us about 25-30 minutes to get there and we slogged around for probably 40 minutes. It was just after 4:00PM when we left to go to the other nursery. On this older main road is Burger King, McDonalds (directly across from each other), Taco Bell, Walgreen's, CVS (both large stores that have decent sized grocery departments, just packaged stuff; and the obligatory aisles and cash register displays of snack food, soda, candy), a Super Stop & Shop with a Dunkin' Donuts inside (because you might "need" a gross egg-like wrap and an XL coffee while you shop?), another Dunkin' Donuts across the street, as well as a small assortment of strip malls with pizza/sub shops. I wasn't hungry yet (in addition to my awesome post-workout breakfast yesterday I had eaten my 12 walnuts/24 raisins snack around 2:00) but I was thinking about how much food was available on a one-mile stretch of road. One exit south, on a newer main road where the second nursery is, there's another McDonald's, a Wendy's, Subway, two pizza places, a convenience store/gas station that is attached to a Dunkin' Donuts and Panera Bread.
The first drive-thru I remember personally was at the McDonald's closest to my childhood home, in the next town over and probably five miles away. I think I was about 13 when they added the drive-thru. And they were late to the game, I think, because it was a smaller McD's and that town is all weird about zoning and stuff. So I would say drive-thru's at fast food places started to crop up when I was about 11 (1980) and were pretty common within a couple of years. Suddenly, it became VERY EASY (as opposed to just "easy") to get fast food. If you're driving and think you're hungry (or "not really hungry, but I could eat"), or your traveling companion says they're hungry, or your kids are bored and whining -- you don't have to drive far to find junk food of all kinds -- and you absolutely do not have to get out of the car or have cash in your wallet (everyone takes credit cards now).
So I was thinking, BACK IN THE DAY, if you were out here and felt like you were getting hungry, what did you do? The simple answer is: You dealt with being a little hungry for a whole HALF AN HOUR and you drove back to your house and, if it was the mid-afternoon, maybe you had an apple to hold you over until dinner. If it was getting close enough to dinnertime, when you got home, you started getting dinner ready. There was not this mindset of grabbing junk on the go, was there? I don't remember ever spontaneously going to McDonald's as a kid. When my mother took my brother and me into Boston on Saturdays to shop and walk around, sometimes we got lunch there (I preferred the lunch counter at Woolworth's, given the choice) but we knew we were going out to lunch somewhere; it was part of the plan. Even when we went to the local McD's, it was planned in advance; our favorite aunt would take us there as a treat if she had us for the day sometimes (but usually she made us grilled cheese at home in her kitchen while we did art projects). I don't think we were EVER out doing errands and someone said, "Oooh, want to stop for food?" And trust me, if someone HAD, my parents would have said, "If you're hungry, we'll go home right now and I'll make you something to eat."
Food is everywhere. Our hunting instinct has been taken out of the equation. Do you remember just a couple of weeks ago, we were talking here on the blog about how junk food is now part of the scenery in stores (Dick's Sporting Goods, Michael's craft stores, Office Max, Home Depot) that have NOTHING to do with food? -- but it's an impulse buy; they plant the seed of hunger or thirst in your head and you mindlessly grab a snickers and a bottle of soda and throw it in with your fishing gear or scrapbooking shit or manila folders or socket set -- because it's there, it's easy, it's convenient, you're going to eat it in your car and it doesn't really count. Hell, you might not even remember that you ate it. Marshall's and TJ Maxx always have their little gourmet food that includes a lot of fancy candy bars and crunchy things; Kohl's has displays of Godiva chocolate bars near every checkout area. WHY? And what is the consequence of junk food being EVERYWHERE, cheap and accessible and tempting us? We eat it, of course. Mindlessly. Because it was there.
Drive-thru's and junk food in non-food stores make secret eating particularly easy, don't they? Get your food, scarf it down, destroy the evidence.
No chance of someone coming in and catching you binge, as in this particularly painful Sopranos scene, which I watched when I was fat:
Do we eat more, eat more frequently, eat more junk food, eat things we don't need when we're really not hungry, just because it's there? Is a lot of "eating strife" and overeating just kind of happening because it's SO EASY to get junk food EVERYWHERE now? It is effortless. Did any customer contact McDonald's in the late 1970's and say, "Dear Ray Kroc: I just love your food and so do my kids, but it is so inconvenient to actually have to put my car in park, turn the ignition off, get everyone out of the car, walk 15 feet to the counter, state my order and pay for it and then take the time to sit at a table for 12 minutes and eat it. Is there any way you could expedite how quickly I can get that grease and sugar into our bodies? Kthxbye." No. Did any customer ever approach the manager of the local hardware store or write in to Best Buy's corporate headquarters and suggest that they stock a full array of candy bars by their checkout counters? "You know sometimes I'm in here for super glue and I get hungry and if you had Reese's Pieces at the register, I'd totally buy some." "Hey, you in the blue shirt...you're missing out on a money-making opportunity, you know. I'm in here for some coaxial cable but this craving for salty AND sweet just hit me out of nowhere. I would happily drop a buck twenty five on a PayDay bar if you would just keep them in stock right here by the three-prong adapters." It wasn't the public's idea, I assure you, to have drive-thru's every 500 yards and junk food for sale at an electronics store. Does junk food's mere availability and its presence in unexpected settings (the auto parts store has candy, chips, an ICE CREAM freezer full of ChocoTacos and a fridge full of 20-ounce sodas) trigger us to buy it and consume it?
Thoughts?
Saturday, June 02, 2012
Think While You Laugh
"I try to rationalize, but some food there is just never any reason to eat." -- Jim Gaffigan
Workout was good! I started with 10 push-ups, then 10 jumping jacks, then a set of bicep curls (24's, 8 reps in each position)...30 second rest, then 10 push-ups, 10 jj's, and the next exercise (which I can't remember; I have the list taped to the basement wall), 30 seconds rest and so on, for 12 different arms/chest/shoulders moves; hence, the tank top workout. I jumped on the elliptical for 20 minutes. My stomach was growling (it was 9:30 and I stopped eating at 4:45PM yesterday, so...that's my intermittent fast as far as I'm concerned) so I made three eggs (OH MY GOD! SHE EATS EGGS??? YOLKS AND ALL???) and had them on a bed of kale with half an avocado (BUT THE FAT! THE FAT!), half a mango and a drizzle of olive oil (OLIVE OIL! OMG! 100 CALORIES RIGHT THERE! THE FAT!), a cup of chai yerba mate and my vitamins and I should be good til 1PM or even later.
I smell bad. So it's the shower and then the bank to make deposits (*yay*) and set up our table display (guerilla marketing at its finest! Free advertising! I will post a pic later). I have a filthy kitchen, dirty rugs and a personal training textbook gathering dust to deal with after that. Fortunately it's a rainy day so staying in and getting things done won't feel like wasting the day.
My workout journal that I bought on New Year's day only has six months' worth of pages in it and I'm coming to its end. I think Amazon has them and I will definitely order another one to take me from July through December. I've enjoyed keeping track of things there and my notes have absolutely been helpful. In a few weeks when it's full, I will go through it and post some interesting (to me, anyway) stats and see what I've learned. Each page has facts about exercise and diet or quotes from athletes. Tomorrow's page is a Calorie Count one. As you undoubtedly know, you should be eating your fruit, not drinking it. And in light of the current NYC debate on soda serving sizes, it is easy to understand how mindlessly you can put away a ton of calories in liquid form without realizing it (I am not in favor of the proposed law; I'm not into the nanny state but WTF...it is pathetic that people don't want to realize how AWFUL soda is and have no want to even try to drink less of it on their own. In the 1940s up through when I was a little kid in the early 70s and Coke came in an EIGHT OUNCE glass bottle, one of those seemed to be PLENTY for people, didn't it? Did anyone go to a restaurant and ask the waiter for two, three or FOUR bottles of Coke with their meal? When serving sizes exploded in the early 80s and quantity over quality became the consumer cry, suddenly a 24 ounce drink cost pennies more than a 12 ounce one and soon, a 32 ounce swimming pool of soda was pretty much STANDARD. WHY???). But I digress. The fact on tomorrow's workout journal page says:
800 Calories = 32 ounce strawberry banana Orange Julius
OR
4 bananas and 8 cups of strawberries
I don't know about you, but I bet I could battle through the brain freeze and put away a 32 ounce Orange Julius in less than 10 minutes. And I LOVE bananas and strawberries, but it would take me ALL DAY to eat 4 bananas and 8 cups of strawberries, IF I could even do it. So that is why you should eat whole fruits and vegetables instead of drinking fruit-based beverages made with crap and served in something the size of paint can.
"How'd you get started?"
That's a question I get a lot.
I started this new lifestyle out of pure vanity, my favorite of the Seven Deadly Sins (well, at the time, I guess gluttony and sloth were winning out there). I had a kindergartener and a first-grader and when they were in preschool is when I had become aware of the Fat Moms...and I was well aware I was one of them. Veronica had this cute kid in her preschool class (two years prior...I was slow out of the gate) whose name is lost on me now that she's almost 11 years old, but *his* mom was a Fit Mom. She would walk him in every morning, in workout clothes, with her younger cute son in tow, and then go to the gym (as it turns out, the gym *I* go to now). And I'd be there walking Veronica in, in size 18 jeans and an XL sweater, with Emma in tow, and then go to the Dunkin's drive thru for another coffee for me and some Munchkins for her and then either run a few errands or go home and do something or nothing until it was time to collect Veronica. And I remember looking at this Fit Mom, who was normal and friendly and nice and thinking I am giving Emma some one-on-one time while Veronica's at preschool...I'm not throwing her in some skeevy child-care room so I can have 'me' time! And that was my rationalization, which I fully understood underneath was just a rationalization. To be quite honest, at the time I could not have afforded a gym membership. BUT I COULD HAVE BEEN DOING SOMETHING BETTER. Veronica's preschool was literally 50 yards from the Cape Cod Canal, which has a seven mile paved, two-lane path for walking, running, biking or roller-blading. Was there some reason I could not have spent some of the time she was in school WALKING ON THE CANAL with Emma in a stroller? Wasn't there something better I could have been eating, or giving Emma to eat (ummm, we'd both already HAD breakfast; why did she -- or I -- need a "snack" at 9:05AM?)? Could I not have gone home, if the weather was bad, put Emma in the pack & play and at least WALKED on the treadmill we had gathering dust in the basement?
All of those questions and their obvious answers (yes, yes, and yes) are kind of beside the point, though. When I started this, it was simply because I wanted to look good. The health benefits were secondary to appearance (and they kind of still are; they naturally follow when I do things that make me look better). I did not like the way I felt after carrying a basket of laundry up the stairs or following a night of poor sleep, but I didn't worry about that the way I worried about the blob of belly that rested on my lap when I sat down and the upper arms that looked like pork carcasses hanging in a meat locker. I did not want to blend into the Fat Mom crowd, or, heaven forbid, EVER be the fattest mom at any class event. I wanted to be more like MY mother had been (minus the cigarettes) -- the slim, nicely dressed to show it off, nicely made up, knockout mom that the dads noticed in a good way and the other moms noticed in a not-so-nice way. At first it was just about that. And it continues to be a lot about that. As I said, the things I do to "look good" -- the uncommonly strict diet, the wacky workouts -- by default result in increased strength, flexibility, endurance and muscle mass, healthy skin (not sure wtf is wrong with my hair and nails, though), better attitude, more confidence and of course the ability to shop in the junior's department and wear clothes four sizes smaller than the ones I wore when I *was* a "junior."
My first summer "out," after I'd gone from 205 on November 1 to the low 140s the following April, I ran into that Fit Mom at the supermarket. I hadn't seen her since Veronica and her son (they live in the next town down from us) had "graduated" from preschool nearly two years prior. She smiled faintly in vague recognition when I said hello and called her by name, then I saw it "click" for her. "Norma! Oh my god...I'm sorry! Wow. You look so different!" I thanked her and she asked (nicely, not snidely at all) how much weight I'd lost and how I'd done it; we were now pretty much the same size. I remember her saying, "You must FEEL so much better." And it was true, and I didn't mind at all that she said so. We walked part of the supermarket together, talking about food and how to not let the kids fall into the Lunchables/Snack Pack/juice box junk lifestyle out of convenience and stuff like that. She asked me all about my food and workouts and offered some genuine and friendly little tips -- not that she had ever been less than nice or unfriendly before, but my own insecurity and issues and denial about my own eating habits, lack of exercise and awful appearance had held me back from a lot of socializing. When I started going to Powerhouse last summer, I saw her there at the same time as me a couple of times a week and she'd see me working out with Mark and always comment to me in the locker room about the amazing stuff I was doing with him and tell me I look great and all that.
As I mentioned the other day, I keep a fat pic in my purse and it's with me at all times. VANITY is STILL the driving force for me to keep doing what I'm doing. Today it's a dark, rainy Saturday morning. I don't have to be anywhere until 11:00 at the earliest. The Spawn are with their dad. The dogs and Josh are snoring in bed. I could very well have crawled back under the covers myself when the alarm went off at 6:30 (I did snooze it until 7:00 when I had to get up to let the pups out and get them fed) and stayed put til 10:00...and then suggested to Josh that we go get breakfast at The Blueberry Muffin before going to put up our display table at the bank next door. But I just thought about the fat pic and that's all it took to get me out of bed and then slowly waking up at the laptop, planning the morning workout in my head (I'm exercising at home: tank top workout with a set of 10 push-ups and a set of 10 jumping jacks in between each set, then the elliptical) and having coffee. That's all it takes: the thought of being uncomfortable and ashamed of how I look. IT CAN NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. This is my life now. Eat clean. Work out hard. Look good (and, also, be strong and healthy).
You may think vanity is evil but it has saved my ass a million times.
Friday, June 01, 2012
Just Eat A Freakin' Orange
I've blogged at least a half dozen times in the past few years that orange juice is crap, and in conjunction with and separately from that, that the word "natural" on a food-like product label is meaningless.
Now it's becoming a legal issue for Tropicana:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/lawsuits-slam-natural-claims-oj-080006062.html
Based partly on this book, which is where I first learned that the orange juice on your breakfast table today has been sitting in a tank for a year or longer:
http://www.amazon.com/Squeezed-Orange-Agrarian-Studies-Series/dp/0300164556/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338581443&sr=1-1
Seriously...fruit juice you buy in a bottle in a store is junk food. Just eat fruit and drink water.
Now it's becoming a legal issue for Tropicana:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/lawsuits-slam-natural-claims-oj-080006062.html
Based partly on this book, which is where I first learned that the orange juice on your breakfast table today has been sitting in a tank for a year or longer:
http://www.amazon.com/Squeezed-Orange-Agrarian-Studies-Series/dp/0300164556/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338581443&sr=1-1
Seriously...fruit juice you buy in a bottle in a store is junk food. Just eat fruit and drink water.
"Admit it When You Cheat. Then Get Back in Control."
Worth reading and watching:
http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/man-loses-370-pounds-old-fashioned-way-reclaims-100129123--abc-news-health.html
Down from 680lbs and immobile to 310 with 40 more to go, and teaching Zumba...working out 2x a day at 44 years old.
Someone forward this link to the Big Trainwreck for me, will you?
http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/man-loses-370-pounds-old-fashioned-way-reclaims-100129123--abc-news-health.html
Down from 680lbs and immobile to 310 with 40 more to go, and teaching Zumba...working out 2x a day at 44 years old.
Someone forward this link to the Big Trainwreck for me, will you?
Refute, Refute, Refute
Here’s our next installment in my personal “Mythbusters” mission to dispel the nasty rumors propagated by the media and too easily embraced by the massive masses that “eating healthy is too expensive!”
I was raised by two very frugal, bargain-hunting parents, so their habits are ingrained in me. My mother was a couponer (albeit not a psychotic one like you see on TV now, but dedicated to the art of pinching pennies) before the term was invented, and I, myself *used* to be…but, the way I eat now, there aren’t many coupons for carrots or steak tips out there. I do usually have at least a couple a week for things like almond milk, coffee, tea and stuff like that, and of course for household stuff, but most of what I buy is stuff that’s on sale or staples…and staples (eggs, brown rice, plain oatmeal, etc.) ARE NOT EXPENSIVE.
I hit the local supermarket (my haunt) early this afternoon and purchased:
- 2 cans of black olives, $1.49 each (not on sale, but we all love them in salad, so there)
- 18 oz. container of prunes (laugh if you want but I eat two right before I brush my teeth every night and they are…magic. Your grandma knows what I’m talkin’ about), $5.99 (not on sale, but a must-have, and a container this size lasts probably four weeks)
- Starbucks K-cup veranda blend, $9.99 (Yes, these are a bit pricey but I had a $1.50 coupon; still WAY cheaper than take-out coffee and K-cups taste great & there’s no waste so…worth it)
- 5 Clif Bars (I had a coupon for one free one and another for $1.50 off four; Josh takes them in his lunch cooler), $1.49 each before coupons
- 3 loaves of Matthew’s Whole Wheat bread, one of the two breads I will buy for the kids. On sale for $2.49/loaf (regularly $4.19).
- Silk unsweetened vanilla almond milk, $3.99 (and then minus $1 coupon)
- FOUR POUNDS of frozen bay scallops, $19.99 on sale (that’s FOUR POUNDS, so $5/bag and a scallop dinner for four of us will use one bag and there will be one serving leftover for my lunch the next day)
- 2 pints of blueberries (on sale “buy one get one free”), $4.99
- 1.5 lbs of black plums (on sale $1.49/lb), $2.32
- 2 avocados, $1.98 (not on sale, but a staple for me)
- 2 mangos, $1.98 (on sale 99 cents each)
- 2.41 lb bananas, $1.18 (that’s seven medium bananas)
- 6-ounce container of feta cheese, $3.88 on sale
- 26-ounce jar of Teddie Natural Peanut Butter (ingredients: peanuts), $5.29
And I got paper towels, toilet paper (must have with prunes in the house), and the supermarket had a $5 coupon good on any purchase over $50 as well. I am doing some sloppy math in my head to deduct the price of the paper goods, so the total for the food is roughly $81. Not bad for some pretty high-end shit (scallops), exotic fruit, quality REAL bread and a couple of small luxuries, I’d say. Of course, for $80 you could buy a lot of packaged hot dogs and 88-cent packs of buns and probably 10 two-liter bottles of soda and five bags of chips and some frozen Taco Bell and two or three boxes of colorful cereal with animal-shaped marshmallows and a box of ice cream sandwiches and a half-dozen muffins and a thing of DiGiorno pizza dipping sticks and a big pack of American “cheese,” too. OR, for $80, you could take you and your spouse to Red Robin for dinner and eat a greasy tower of onion rings and a little bucket of artichoke dip and some entrées drowned in a faux-cheese sauce and desserts the size of your head and drink neon-blue artificially flavored sugar syrup drink mix with a splash of tequila and call it “a good deal,” or “a treat,” or whatever, and leave with a stomachache and think you got a bargain…but I’d advise eating FOUR prunes before bed tonight if you do.
ANY FOOD/HABIT/BEHAVIOR/SITUATION THAT DOES NOT CONTRIBUTE TO SUCCESS CONTRIBUTES TO SETBACKS. OR FAILURE. TAKE IT AS FAR AS YOU WANT TO.
Brunch :)
I am back from the gym. And it was GOOD!
Weights-only workout today.
Bench press:
65 lbs. x 10 reps for warm-up
85 lbs., 10 sets x 6 reps
95 lbs., 6 reps, no spotter available so I couldn't really do more or go higher
Incline dumbbell press:
25 lb dumbbells x 10 reps for warm-up
30 lb dumbbells, five sets x 6 reps
35 lb dumbbells x 6 reps (wooo! Couldn't get the 35s up last week so this was a little achievement and Mark was there to see it!)
Pec Deck:
45 lbs x 10 reps
60 lbs, five sets x 6 reps
75 lbs x 6 reps
That took about 40 minutes, the tunes were rockin' on the iPod and I feel good about it. I told Mark that my abs STILL hurt as if Jack the Ripper had slashed me up with a machete on Monday and he was loving it. I stopped in CVS and took my blood pressure...a corpse-like 89/62, HR of 68. Back at home, I found myself hungry-ish so I made brunch. I had defrosted some chicken tenders so I spiced them up with kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder and basil & grilled them on the Foreman for six minutes. While they were cooking, I microwaved a sweet potato (you probably think I'm anti-microwave, and I guess, in theory, I am but seriously...do I have time for that? No. Cup of tea in the microwave: 90 seconds. Cup of tea on the stove? Tomorrow. So that's a risk I will take) and prepared some kale and half an avocado on a plate. So I have about 5 ounces of grilled chicken, sweet potato, a big handful of kale (close to 2 cups by my guesstimate) and half a perfectly ripe avocado all drizzled with olive oil (OH MY GOD! THE FAT! Suck it) and a bottle of water and that's post-gym recovery food at its best.
I have a longggggggggggg list of unpleasant tasks to attend to this afternoon, evening and into the night and I'm not enthused about any of them but none of them is optional. First to-do: take a shower. Then line'em up & knock'em down.
Thanks for reading! All of you! Even the haters and the lurkers. :) I do appreciate it.
Weights-only workout today.
Bench press:
65 lbs. x 10 reps for warm-up
85 lbs., 10 sets x 6 reps
95 lbs., 6 reps, no spotter available so I couldn't really do more or go higher
Incline dumbbell press:
25 lb dumbbells x 10 reps for warm-up
30 lb dumbbells, five sets x 6 reps
35 lb dumbbells x 6 reps (wooo! Couldn't get the 35s up last week so this was a little achievement and Mark was there to see it!)
Pec Deck:
45 lbs x 10 reps
60 lbs, five sets x 6 reps
75 lbs x 6 reps
That took about 40 minutes, the tunes were rockin' on the iPod and I feel good about it. I told Mark that my abs STILL hurt as if Jack the Ripper had slashed me up with a machete on Monday and he was loving it. I stopped in CVS and took my blood pressure...a corpse-like 89/62, HR of 68. Back at home, I found myself hungry-ish so I made brunch. I had defrosted some chicken tenders so I spiced them up with kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder and basil & grilled them on the Foreman for six minutes. While they were cooking, I microwaved a sweet potato (you probably think I'm anti-microwave, and I guess, in theory, I am but seriously...do I have time for that? No. Cup of tea in the microwave: 90 seconds. Cup of tea on the stove? Tomorrow. So that's a risk I will take) and prepared some kale and half an avocado on a plate. So I have about 5 ounces of grilled chicken, sweet potato, a big handful of kale (close to 2 cups by my guesstimate) and half a perfectly ripe avocado all drizzled with olive oil (OH MY GOD! THE FAT! Suck it) and a bottle of water and that's post-gym recovery food at its best.
I have a longggggggggggg list of unpleasant tasks to attend to this afternoon, evening and into the night and I'm not enthused about any of them but none of them is optional. First to-do: take a shower. Then line'em up & knock'em down.
Thanks for reading! All of you! Even the haters and the lurkers. :) I do appreciate it.
Fill'er Up!
For me, food really is just fuel about 95% of the time. I know Ann will disagree with me, but I think you've seen enough details of what I eat to see that it's almost all very useful, non-processed whole foods. To most people it's unfathomable and boring that I don't eat cereal, or bagels, or cold cuts, or cheese, or drink soda, or drink liquor, or eat sugar, or use butter, or have "treats," or eat sandwiches or pizza (seriously...I can't tell you the last time I had a slice), but it's true. I don't have a "fix," not even take-out coffee (because I don't consume dairy and I haven't yet found a place that has almond milk as an option); I don't "let myself" have a cookie if I run into the convenience store for gum (I guess sugarless Mentos gum is my vice? BORING!) and I didn't swipe even one bite of the kids' Easter candy. Even when I am not all strict Paleo, I veer off a little maybe once a week if we go out to eat and I will have some of the fried calamari appetizer or whatever. But honestly...I do not eat for entertainment very often. When we go out to eat, I'm the "plain grilled fish with lemon and double vegetables and the unsweetened iced tea" at the table. As I said, I will eat some of a shared appetizer and maybe try a bite of Josh's or the Spawns' orders but other than my birthday fried clam plate, my restaurant meals are in line with my everyday food (obviously I don't make sushi or Thai or Indian at home but when we go to those places to eat it's not like I go crazy there...anymore). I don't even bother looking at the burgers on the menu if we go to a chain restaurant (shudder) or the BBQ place downtown or one of the outdoor places at the waterfront...I will stick to fish or steak tips with veggies and I'm fine with that..
So, yeah, maybe it is boring that even when we eat out I try to choose things that are similar to what I would make at home. I do realize they're ALWAYS going to have more unnecessary calories in them (although I will admit we've eaten at The 99 -- shudder -- a couple of times lately because it's right near the venue where we go to see MMA fights, and they have this dish called rainbow salmon which is a nice grilled piece of salmon with just like lemon and thyme on it, served with a big pile of steamed zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, etc. that says it's 390 calories, I think, so that's what I always get there) but in the grand scheme of things, it fits in well enough with the way I have to eat.
And I am more than okay with the way I eat. It's worth it. I know full well how one bite leads to a whole box and how very, very easily I would spiral downward into overeating hell without constant vigilance. And, honestly, after four years of eating like this, my tastes have changed. A 500-calorie muffin made with 27 ingredients that's been shipped to my nearest Dunkin' Donuts after being baked and frozen at an industrial factory bakery halfway across the state and then microwaved back to "life" just no longer appeals to me.
Put it this way:
I like everything I eat.
But I don't eat everything I like.
I know there are plenty of you who insist you "don't like" healthy foods (some or all of them) and you "couldn't possibly" get used to eating more vegetables and fruits and salads but I will venture a guess that if you just shut the fuck up and tried some you would. Case in point: Jen at Prior Fat Girl who gave me a very nice post tribute all to myself yesterday. Yes, I happen to like pretty much all vegetables and fruits and proteins and whatnot. But I also like donuts and french fries and blue cheese dip. If I ate everything I like, my daily menu (and my body and my scale) would look a LOT different.
I recommend again that you check out the link I shared last night. Junk food and why we all SAY we know we shouldn't eat it, but for most people it's a daily event nonetheless. The author takes a very hard line on the topic of junk food that most MDs/nutritionists/dietitians and even personal trainers still shy away from -- are they afraid of offending Frito-Lay or Mars or something (they're all still preaching the meaningless concept of "moderation" -- a little junk every day is okay! You know the body can handle arsenic in small doses for quite some time before its toxic effects begin to kill you, right? Come on, you've read Flowers in the Attic; admit it).
The article is short and well worth your time to read; here's the link again:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-katz-md/unjunk-yourself_b_1559303.html?ref=health-and-fitness&ir=Health%20and%20Fitness
A great line from it likens your body to a car, and I know we all make investing in our vehicle's "health" and safety a priority...cars aren't cheap and we want them to last...so why do we treat our bodies like garbage dumps with the "fuel" we give them? As I said a few days ago, our physical body is our HOME for as long as we are alive...why do we think it's okay to let it collapse when we have every opportunity to strengthen it? The author says:
No one I know throws any old junk into the tank of a car they hope will run well for the foreseeable future. No one I know willingly builds a home out of junk, or of rotten wood.
So, yeah, maybe it is boring that even when we eat out I try to choose things that are similar to what I would make at home. I do realize they're ALWAYS going to have more unnecessary calories in them (although I will admit we've eaten at The 99 -- shudder -- a couple of times lately because it's right near the venue where we go to see MMA fights, and they have this dish called rainbow salmon which is a nice grilled piece of salmon with just like lemon and thyme on it, served with a big pile of steamed zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, etc. that says it's 390 calories, I think, so that's what I always get there) but in the grand scheme of things, it fits in well enough with the way I have to eat.
And I am more than okay with the way I eat. It's worth it. I know full well how one bite leads to a whole box and how very, very easily I would spiral downward into overeating hell without constant vigilance. And, honestly, after four years of eating like this, my tastes have changed. A 500-calorie muffin made with 27 ingredients that's been shipped to my nearest Dunkin' Donuts after being baked and frozen at an industrial factory bakery halfway across the state and then microwaved back to "life" just no longer appeals to me.
Put it this way:
I like everything I eat.
But I don't eat everything I like.
I know there are plenty of you who insist you "don't like" healthy foods (some or all of them) and you "couldn't possibly" get used to eating more vegetables and fruits and salads but I will venture a guess that if you just shut the fuck up and tried some you would. Case in point: Jen at Prior Fat Girl who gave me a very nice post tribute all to myself yesterday. Yes, I happen to like pretty much all vegetables and fruits and proteins and whatnot. But I also like donuts and french fries and blue cheese dip. If I ate everything I like, my daily menu (and my body and my scale) would look a LOT different.
I recommend again that you check out the link I shared last night. Junk food and why we all SAY we know we shouldn't eat it, but for most people it's a daily event nonetheless. The author takes a very hard line on the topic of junk food that most MDs/nutritionists/dietitians and even personal trainers still shy away from -- are they afraid of offending Frito-Lay or Mars or something (they're all still preaching the meaningless concept of "moderation" -- a little junk every day is okay! You know the body can handle arsenic in small doses for quite some time before its toxic effects begin to kill you, right? Come on, you've read Flowers in the Attic; admit it).
The article is short and well worth your time to read; here's the link again:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-katz-md/unjunk-yourself_b_1559303.html?ref=health-and-fitness&ir=Health%20and%20Fitness
A great line from it likens your body to a car, and I know we all make investing in our vehicle's "health" and safety a priority...cars aren't cheap and we want them to last...so why do we treat our bodies like garbage dumps with the "fuel" we give them? As I said a few days ago, our physical body is our HOME for as long as we are alive...why do we think it's okay to let it collapse when we have every opportunity to strengthen it? The author says:
No one I know throws any old junk into the tank of a car they hope will run well for the foreseeable future. No one I know willingly builds a home out of junk, or of rotten wood.
That said, I woke up really hungry this morning. I have put off eating for almost two hours, but, sorry IFers, I need food & BCAAs in water ain't gonna cut it today. I had coffee at 5:45...following up now with a carrot, a chicken sausage (new organic kind I found; 80 calories & quite tasty) and Chai yerba mate. I did cardio only (elliptical) on Weds., yesterday was the tank top workout + a whole lot of jumping jacks, some lunges, ten minutes jumping rope, 15 minutes on the elliptical. This morning I'm hitting the gym for BEAST CHEST and those weights don't go up easy. If I can grab Mark or someone to spot for a few minutes, I'm gonna give 105 lb bench press a try. It's all in my head!
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Even *I* Have Nothing to Add
Great article about how we as a society pay lip service to healthy eating habits but excuse our constant consumption of mass quantities of junk food and soda.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-katz-md/unjunk-yourself_b_1559303.html?ref=healthy-living
Thoughts?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-katz-md/unjunk-yourself_b_1559303.html?ref=healthy-living
Thoughts?
Calling BS...
...all over this article, or, more accurately, the survey it talks about.
I will be candid here: men (and women) seem to find it fascinating and unbelievable that I used to be fat. Guys I know now who think I'm hot and who did not know me when I was fat have said that knowing I used to be a flabby mess makes my obsessive pursuit of fitness and resulting physical appearance fascinating, more so than if I'd always been into athletic achievement. Just a couple of weeks ago we were hanging with my next-door neighbor (female) who moved in about three years ago. We went to dinner at Bertucci's with her and the Spawn (sadly, she's moving in a few weeks so it was kind of a little last hurrah) and I was being kind of picky with the menu because of the Paleo thing, and of course I don't drink and I didn't touch those awesome rolls they bring to the table. So she was asking me about Paleo (she is an INSANE long distance runner) and we were talking about food in general (she is a vegetarian) and that DIRTY word, discipline, and she remarked, "You lost a lot of weight before I knew you, though; didn't you?" I whipped out the FAT PIC I always keep in my purse, and, like everyone who sees it, she couldn't believe it was me (and it's not even a particularly awful fat pic; it's just the one I happened to stick in my purse when I found it in the back of the junk drawer one day). Josh took the picture and looked at it for probably the 20th time since he's known me and said something adorable about how awesome it is that I made big changes and am so committed to them (right before ordering himself an entire large Ultimate Bertucci pizza; thanks, honey!).
In my personal experience, people who have met me in the last four years and start off thinking I'm decent looking find me EVEN CUTER once they find out about my Wasted Years. Doesn't it make sense that my current self looks better in comparison to my former self?
Back to the article: the authors of the study make this cop-out, excuse-ridden bullshit conclusion,playing right into the "physiology and genetics" bullshit (uh, if those are the "reasons" so many people are FAT, how come two decades ago hardly ANYONE was fat?). Physiology? The number of people who have legitimate pituitary issues is INFINITESIMAL. As for the much-more common insulin resistance/metabolic disorder, I HAVE IT and you can either give in to it and eat crap and not exercise and let it spiral out of control and let it define your health...OR (wait for it) you can cut out sugar, simple carbs, processed foods, artificial sweeteners, work your fucking ass off in the gym and YOU define your health. Genetics? I am the product of two naturally slim parents (a 6'1" father who never topped 170 lbs, he was a stringbean...a 5'1" mother who maxxed out at 120 lbs when PREGNANT and maintained her weight at <105 lbs into her elderly years) who did not have insulin resistance...and you end up with my5'9" morbidly obese younger brother and 5'4" me who WORKS to maintain at 142 and would jump back up to 200 in six months or less if I started eating "what everyone else eats" and stopped exercising...so you do the math. The authors of the "study" (who are probably fat) summarize their "research" with the whining weight loss is haaaaaaaaaaaaaaarddd...I can't do ANYTHING about my weight....wah wah wah in these paragraphs:
I will be candid here: men (and women) seem to find it fascinating and unbelievable that I used to be fat. Guys I know now who think I'm hot and who did not know me when I was fat have said that knowing I used to be a flabby mess makes my obsessive pursuit of fitness and resulting physical appearance fascinating, more so than if I'd always been into athletic achievement. Just a couple of weeks ago we were hanging with my next-door neighbor (female) who moved in about three years ago. We went to dinner at Bertucci's with her and the Spawn (sadly, she's moving in a few weeks so it was kind of a little last hurrah) and I was being kind of picky with the menu because of the Paleo thing, and of course I don't drink and I didn't touch those awesome rolls they bring to the table. So she was asking me about Paleo (she is an INSANE long distance runner) and we were talking about food in general (she is a vegetarian) and that DIRTY word, discipline, and she remarked, "You lost a lot of weight before I knew you, though; didn't you?" I whipped out the FAT PIC I always keep in my purse, and, like everyone who sees it, she couldn't believe it was me (and it's not even a particularly awful fat pic; it's just the one I happened to stick in my purse when I found it in the back of the junk drawer one day). Josh took the picture and looked at it for probably the 20th time since he's known me and said something adorable about how awesome it is that I made big changes and am so committed to them (right before ordering himself an entire large Ultimate Bertucci pizza; thanks, honey!).
In my personal experience, people who have met me in the last four years and start off thinking I'm decent looking find me EVEN CUTER once they find out about my Wasted Years. Doesn't it make sense that my current self looks better in comparison to my former self?
Back to the article: the authors of the study make this cop-out, excuse-ridden bullshit conclusion,playing right into the "physiology and genetics" bullshit (uh, if those are the "reasons" so many people are FAT, how come two decades ago hardly ANYONE was fat?). Physiology? The number of people who have legitimate pituitary issues is INFINITESIMAL. As for the much-more common insulin resistance/metabolic disorder, I HAVE IT and you can either give in to it and eat crap and not exercise and let it spiral out of control and let it define your health...OR (wait for it) you can cut out sugar, simple carbs, processed foods, artificial sweeteners, work your fucking ass off in the gym and YOU define your health. Genetics? I am the product of two naturally slim parents (a 6'1" father who never topped 170 lbs, he was a stringbean...a 5'1" mother who maxxed out at 120 lbs when PREGNANT and maintained her weight at <105 lbs into her elderly years) who did not have insulin resistance...and you end up with my5'9" morbidly obese younger brother and 5'4" me who WORKS to maintain at 142 and would jump back up to 200 in six months or less if I started eating "what everyone else eats" and stopped exercising...so you do the math. The authors of the "study" (who are probably fat) summarize their "research" with the whining weight loss is haaaaaaaaaaaaaaarddd...I can't do ANYTHING about my weight....wah wah wah in these paragraphs:
"The message we often hear from society is that weight is highly controllable, but the best science in the obesity field at the moment suggests that one's physiology and genetics, as well as the food environment, are the really big players in one's weight status and weight loss," study co-author Kerry O'Brien, from the University of Manchester School of Psychological Sciences and Monash University in Melbourne, in Australia, noted in the news release.
"Weight status actually appears rather uncontrollable, regardless of one's willpower, knowledge and dedication. Yet many people who are perceived as 'fat' are struggling in vain to lose weight in order to escape this painful social stigma. We need to rethink our approaches to, and views of, weight and obesity," O'Brien noted.
Weight IS highly controllable. The big players in one's weight status and weight loss are DIET (70%) and EXERCISE (30%). Willpower and dedication are KEY (sorry...these terms which helped people keep their focus and lose weight for DECADES have sometime during the obesity epidemic become "offensive") and knowledge is INDISPUTABLE (basic understanding of nutrition, portion sizes, label-reading, decoding advertising, basal metabolic rate, the health benefits of exercise). If you are "struggling in vain" to lose weight, take a good hard look at what you're actually doing and what you're not doing. Take out the "no time to exercise," the "everyone else gets to eat (fill indetrimental food here)," the "I can't live without (fill in detrimental food here)" and do the work if you really want to do it. I am more than convinced that 90% of the "I can't lose weight no matter what I do" people subconsciously don't really want to lose weight: either their fat is some kind of emotional protection -- or they simply don't understand that to lose weight, they NEED to break off their co-dependent relationship with food and they NEED to stop eating what "everyone else" eats and what they've always eaten(for this second group, the short term "enjoyment" of sucking down nachos really is more important than the long-term results of a healthier diet and lifestyle). The other 10% who "can't lose weight no matter what" usually are still laboring under the delusion that diet soda and starving on a head of iceberg lettuce drowned in lite ranch dressing with bacon-esque bits is good for them; that "getting thin" means following a crazy restrictive "diet" for six weeks and then going back to eating "what everyone else eats" or what they've always eaten...and they're repeatedly baffled by the regain.
Harsh? Yes I am. Perfect? No I'm not. But I am ALWAYS working to improve what I can improve, and SOMETHING can ALWAYS be improved.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
"It is Time"
The text you don't want to get.
As soon as Emma leaves for school, I am going to say goodbye to my friend. The hour is here.
As soon as Emma leaves for school, I am going to say goodbye to my friend. The hour is here.
"What's the Point?"
I have, more often than usual as of late, been coming across posts/comments in the blogosphere (fatosphere, particularly) and comments on news/info websites that I frequent, questioning the value of pursuing a healthy diet, practicing exercise and activities that contribute to physical fitness and having a "normal weight" body. That's in quotes because overweight is absolutely the new normal, but just because something is the mathematical average doesn't mean it should be what we strive for. These comments come in the form of sentiments like:
Eat right, exercise, die anyway.
Life was made to be enjoyed; I'm not going to give up the foods I love just to be a certain size.
I'm happy with the way I am and my doctor can't find anything wrong with me.
And other short-sighted, selfish, missing-the-point shit.
My friend and I were talking about some of this during my visit with her just six days ago. She has never been overweight. As teenagers she had a naturally slim build, not bony or skeletal but a single-digit clothing size and no visible fat filling out her school uniform. As reunited adults, I found out that she hadn't eaten red meat in over 20 years and was, like me, a diligent label-reader who was well-informed about nutrition, ingredients, etc. and their effect on health. She mainly cooked at home (a lot of vegetarian meals), bought organic when possible, educated her kids from a young age about what foods help your body grow and be strong so we eat them every day, and what foods don't do your body any good at all so we only eat them once in a while. She ran road races and owned a yoga studio. So when she was sucker punched by leukemia at age 41, she and I and her doctors and the people who know and love her had thoughts like:
How could this happen?
She takes care of herself. She does everything right.
In our conversation, we talked about how unfair it is; how randomly lightning can strike. And she said, It sucks. But at least I know I lived the right way. Yeah, I got screwed anyway, but there is comfort in knowing I didn't put myself at risk for cancer. I think I'd feel a lot worse if I'd done all kinds of unhealthy shit to myself and then this happened and I would feel like I had caused it. Whether or not that would have been the truth, I don't know. But if you get cancer at our age, of course you question all your life up to that point and wonder if you did something wrong. But I know I did things right and I controlled what I could.
I had a friend who died suddenly six years ago. If you go back to the March 2006 archives, just before my father was diagnosed with leukemia, you can read about Kayla and see her picture. She was my little buddy, my co-worker at the hospital, just turned 22 years old. She worked full time, was in school learning to be a radiology technician, played sports and was a kind, energetic, sweet, athletic, intelligent girl. I often told her and her mother (who was a nurse in the ER there) that if my daughters grew up to be like Kayla, I would know I had done a good job. One very early morning, my little buddy was running her ass on the treadmill, getting in a workout before going to a day of classes and an evening shift at work, and she dropped dead. Running on the treadmill next to her happened to be a paramedic, who immediately performed CPR. The gym was five minutes from the hospital where we worked and she was transported immediately, but was DOA. Her mother was working in the ER when the ambulance arrived. It was a horrifying experience for all of us who knew her. Obviously, an autopsy was performed and Kayla was found to have had an underlying heart condition, which she'd probably had her whole life...a ticking time bomb that was set to go off at age 22. Had she known since childhood that she had this heart condition that could possibly kill her instantly at a young age, would she have lived her life differently, "enjoying it" by being lazy in school (what's the point?), partying and drinking and not caring about anyone (why bother?) or would she have still been the hard-working student, loving daughter, kind friend, dedicated employee that she was?
Yes, no matter what you do or how you do it, you're going to die someday. You don't know if it's going to be this afternoon or 25 years from now or 55 years from now. Life isn't fair. Death isn't fair.
Isn't it better to control what we CAN control (eating a healthy diet of whole foods in proper portions, exercising for fitness: strength, flexibility, cardiovascular endurance) and enjoy life in our best functioning body possible? Do we do what's right or what's easy, never knowing when or if the consequences of either path will pay off or catch up with us? Can we agree that the person who makes the effort to respect her body will enjoy a far greater QUALITY of life no matter how long it is, than the one who eats foods that do not nourish the body, engages in no physical exertion greater than clicking the remote or dialing the pizza delivery place? Would my friend have enjoyed her 42.5 years of life if it had contained more bright yellow mac & cheese from a box or more booze or more sleeping off a hangover til noon and then treating it with a platter of pancakes drowned in butter and syrup? Can we understand that happiness is not found in the refrigerator or in the booth of an Applebee's off the interstate but within the body that is our home while we are on Earth? Can we admit that no one gets to be morbidly obese by eating grilled chicken and steamed asparagus?
Eat right, exercise, die anyway.
Life was made to be enjoyed; I'm not going to give up the foods I love just to be a certain size.
I'm happy with the way I am and my doctor can't find anything wrong with me.
And other short-sighted, selfish, missing-the-point shit.
My friend and I were talking about some of this during my visit with her just six days ago. She has never been overweight. As teenagers she had a naturally slim build, not bony or skeletal but a single-digit clothing size and no visible fat filling out her school uniform. As reunited adults, I found out that she hadn't eaten red meat in over 20 years and was, like me, a diligent label-reader who was well-informed about nutrition, ingredients, etc. and their effect on health. She mainly cooked at home (a lot of vegetarian meals), bought organic when possible, educated her kids from a young age about what foods help your body grow and be strong so we eat them every day, and what foods don't do your body any good at all so we only eat them once in a while. She ran road races and owned a yoga studio. So when she was sucker punched by leukemia at age 41, she and I and her doctors and the people who know and love her had thoughts like:
How could this happen?
She takes care of herself. She does everything right.
In our conversation, we talked about how unfair it is; how randomly lightning can strike. And she said, It sucks. But at least I know I lived the right way. Yeah, I got screwed anyway, but there is comfort in knowing I didn't put myself at risk for cancer. I think I'd feel a lot worse if I'd done all kinds of unhealthy shit to myself and then this happened and I would feel like I had caused it. Whether or not that would have been the truth, I don't know. But if you get cancer at our age, of course you question all your life up to that point and wonder if you did something wrong. But I know I did things right and I controlled what I could.
I had a friend who died suddenly six years ago. If you go back to the March 2006 archives, just before my father was diagnosed with leukemia, you can read about Kayla and see her picture. She was my little buddy, my co-worker at the hospital, just turned 22 years old. She worked full time, was in school learning to be a radiology technician, played sports and was a kind, energetic, sweet, athletic, intelligent girl. I often told her and her mother (who was a nurse in the ER there) that if my daughters grew up to be like Kayla, I would know I had done a good job. One very early morning, my little buddy was running her ass on the treadmill, getting in a workout before going to a day of classes and an evening shift at work, and she dropped dead. Running on the treadmill next to her happened to be a paramedic, who immediately performed CPR. The gym was five minutes from the hospital where we worked and she was transported immediately, but was DOA. Her mother was working in the ER when the ambulance arrived. It was a horrifying experience for all of us who knew her. Obviously, an autopsy was performed and Kayla was found to have had an underlying heart condition, which she'd probably had her whole life...a ticking time bomb that was set to go off at age 22. Had she known since childhood that she had this heart condition that could possibly kill her instantly at a young age, would she have lived her life differently, "enjoying it" by being lazy in school (what's the point?), partying and drinking and not caring about anyone (why bother?) or would she have still been the hard-working student, loving daughter, kind friend, dedicated employee that she was?
Yes, no matter what you do or how you do it, you're going to die someday. You don't know if it's going to be this afternoon or 25 years from now or 55 years from now. Life isn't fair. Death isn't fair.
Isn't it better to control what we CAN control (eating a healthy diet of whole foods in proper portions, exercising for fitness: strength, flexibility, cardiovascular endurance) and enjoy life in our best functioning body possible? Do we do what's right or what's easy, never knowing when or if the consequences of either path will pay off or catch up with us? Can we agree that the person who makes the effort to respect her body will enjoy a far greater QUALITY of life no matter how long it is, than the one who eats foods that do not nourish the body, engages in no physical exertion greater than clicking the remote or dialing the pizza delivery place? Would my friend have enjoyed her 42.5 years of life if it had contained more bright yellow mac & cheese from a box or more booze or more sleeping off a hangover til noon and then treating it with a platter of pancakes drowned in butter and syrup? Can we understand that happiness is not found in the refrigerator or in the booth of an Applebee's off the interstate but within the body that is our home while we are on Earth? Can we admit that no one gets to be morbidly obese by eating grilled chicken and steamed asparagus?
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Bleh
Sore as I am, I decided well in advance (like the minute Mark released me from his kung-fu grip yesterday morning) that today was going to be just cardio. That plan kinda got scrapped, but not really. As I mentioned, something suddenly went terribly wrong with the brakes in my 4-Runner: it was fine last Sunday, and then Monday I was driving the kids somewhere and as I approached a stop sign I heard the most awful scraping sound. I had a lot of shit to do and places to go last week so, in true moron girl fashion, I just kept driving on them (carefully) until I had a lead on a good local mechanic where I could drop it off this morning. I usually have all the work done at the dealership, but that's a good half hour away and I did not feel safe driving it anymore.
After Emma left for school, I drove to the shop (noting the mileage on the "trip" feature of the odometer: 3.7 miles from home) and did the moron girl explanation of what I think is wrong with my car, sound effects and all. The very nice guy gave me his guess as to what it is and took my phone number and sent me on my merry way.
I considered running home, but, honestly, my body parts just were not up for it and I was carrying my purse, plus a bag from the pharmacy next door to the shop where I stopped in to pick up a prescription, and, as it turns out, I was way overdressed for the morning, which had turned from cool and cloudy to hazy sun and very humid in the last 15 minutes. So I walked home, two miles of it on the twisting, winding main road where everyone speeds and there is no shoulder or sidewalk, and the last mile-point-seven in my neighborhood (where everyone speeds and ignores the stop signs, but there is a sidewalk). I went at a good, steady pace and it took about 50 minutes. I'm counting that as my workout today, but I might do a yoga DVD this afternoon if the kids would like to. I think the stretch would feel good.
Anyway, the guy just called and they had a chance to put my car up on the lift and check it out. There's no need to bore you with the details but the conclusion of the story is it's gonna be $900 to fix it. After spending a grand on new tires a month ago, that was not fun news to hear. I love love love my 4Runner but she is getting old. I just may think about having a little body work done on her minor dings and scratches, paying a hundred bucks to have her professionally detailed and then seeing what I can get for a trade-in. I will absolutely get another Toyota, no question, but she is almost nine years old and has certainly seen better days. Maybe I'll squeeze it out til the fall and see what I can do.
I had a smoothie this morning (almond milk, banana, honey, flaxseed & ice) and I was ravenous when I got back from the garage. I ate all the leftover steak from last night (probably seven ounces) and a mango. I got on the phone and did a little TCB; made myself appointments for a way-overdue eye exam and an even-more-overdue dental exam/cleaning (by some fluke of luck, both are for next week! And I thought I was going to have to wait months!). As I am stuck here for the day, I do have plenty to keep me busy. My choices are studying, cleaning or folding laundry. I think I'll start with the laundry!
After Emma left for school, I drove to the shop (noting the mileage on the "trip" feature of the odometer: 3.7 miles from home) and did the moron girl explanation of what I think is wrong with my car, sound effects and all. The very nice guy gave me his guess as to what it is and took my phone number and sent me on my merry way.
I considered running home, but, honestly, my body parts just were not up for it and I was carrying my purse, plus a bag from the pharmacy next door to the shop where I stopped in to pick up a prescription, and, as it turns out, I was way overdressed for the morning, which had turned from cool and cloudy to hazy sun and very humid in the last 15 minutes. So I walked home, two miles of it on the twisting, winding main road where everyone speeds and there is no shoulder or sidewalk, and the last mile-point-seven in my neighborhood (where everyone speeds and ignores the stop signs, but there is a sidewalk). I went at a good, steady pace and it took about 50 minutes. I'm counting that as my workout today, but I might do a yoga DVD this afternoon if the kids would like to. I think the stretch would feel good.
Anyway, the guy just called and they had a chance to put my car up on the lift and check it out. There's no need to bore you with the details but the conclusion of the story is it's gonna be $900 to fix it. After spending a grand on new tires a month ago, that was not fun news to hear. I love love love my 4Runner but she is getting old. I just may think about having a little body work done on her minor dings and scratches, paying a hundred bucks to have her professionally detailed and then seeing what I can get for a trade-in. I will absolutely get another Toyota, no question, but she is almost nine years old and has certainly seen better days. Maybe I'll squeeze it out til the fall and see what I can do.
I had a smoothie this morning (almond milk, banana, honey, flaxseed & ice) and I was ravenous when I got back from the garage. I ate all the leftover steak from last night (probably seven ounces) and a mango. I got on the phone and did a little TCB; made myself appointments for a way-overdue eye exam and an even-more-overdue dental exam/cleaning (by some fluke of luck, both are for next week! And I thought I was going to have to wait months!). As I am stuck here for the day, I do have plenty to keep me busy. My choices are studying, cleaning or folding laundry. I think I'll start with the laundry!
Wrecked!
It says something about a trainer when he can make ME sore. I do some kind of exercise every day and, although they're not all BEAST MODE, they are rarely light or easy. I woke up at 2:30 (Mojo, thanks again) and as I tried to roll over to get out of bed (Lotus was in the way) I could tell I was in trouble. After I let him out, I hobbled to the bathroom myself and I noticed that, of all places, my lats are the most sore! Which indicates to me that I don't work them often enough or hard enough, because the bent-over rows with the bar that Mark had me do yesterday was pretty much a break in the Tabata circuit; it was the only move all day that felt "easy." Today they hurt, as do my lower abs...and pretty much everything else, too, but those are definitely the most affected.
It's awesome!
In other news:
If Justin Bieber assaulted me, I think I'd just STFU and not publicize that.
Where are idiot parents keeping their laundry detergent pods that their idiot kids can A) get at them, and, B) confuse them with candy? On a low kitchen shelf next to their neon-colored sugar-coated Crappy-O's cereal? Seriously? This is Tide's fault?
And, back to fitness: I think adding a set of 20 jumping jacks (or 10-20 push-ups...or alternate them) in between sets of weight/strength training moves is an AWESOME idea. They aren't easy and will contribute a LOT to your workout. Simple, old-school body weight stuff can't be beat.
After Emma leaves for school, I have to drop off my car and then I will be trapped at home all day with no excuse whatsoever not to cross off every item on my to-do list. I'm going to add a few things to it right now....
It's awesome!
In other news:
If Justin Bieber assaulted me, I think I'd just STFU and not publicize that.
Where are idiot parents keeping their laundry detergent pods that their idiot kids can A) get at them, and, B) confuse them with candy? On a low kitchen shelf next to their neon-colored sugar-coated Crappy-O's cereal? Seriously? This is Tide's fault?
And, back to fitness: I think adding a set of 20 jumping jacks (or 10-20 push-ups...or alternate them) in between sets of weight/strength training moves is an AWESOME idea. They aren't easy and will contribute a LOT to your workout. Simple, old-school body weight stuff can't be beat.
After Emma leaves for school, I have to drop off my car and then I will be trapped at home all day with no excuse whatsoever not to cross off every item on my to-do list. I'm going to add a few things to it right now....
Monday, May 28, 2012
Graduation Day!
One day last week when I'd finished lifting and was alternately zoning out to Alter Bridge/people-watching the gym floor, I noticed Mark setting up an obstacle course for his next victim, er, client. Mark, as you'd probably assume, does not have many female clients. In his defense, not many women could handle his type of workout and he's not really willing to tone shit down for people who don't want their asses kicked. And I assume women look at him and think if they stand too close for him or do what he says, they're going to turn into musclebound behemoths. As far as I know, he trains me, Kristin the bodybuilder chick, a husband-and-wife pair in their late 40s and this one other woman who's worked with him off and on over the years. It was that last woman who I saw come in and start working with him while I was doing my thing on the elliptical.
So my eyes are going back and forth; the bank of TVs (watching daytime talk shows with the sound off is interesting; you still learn who the father is on "Maury" thanks to the CG), the display on the machine (HR getting up there; good) to the big window that looks out over the gym floor.
Then I see this bitch flip the tire. MY TIRE. My 275-lb tire that I love and have formed a personal relationship with since late last summer. Get your filthy hands off my tire, skank!
So that afternoon, I sent Mark a text:
I see you have another girl who can flip the tire. That means *I* have to learn to flip the bigger tire. IMMEDIATELY.
He sent back:
HAHAHAHAHAAA :-) No problem. You can do it.
So I showed up this morning for my 0900 training session and find Mark in a quirky mood. Both his 0800 and 10AM clients had canceled. Too much partying yesterday, maybe? "Lucky you, we'll have time for extra abs!" he told me. "You're doing the big tire today."
He rolled it out on to the floor for me, demonstrated how to slide my fingertips under the tread just far enough for leverage, and then, "it's all legs, baby. It's all you. Give it a try." While he set up the rest of my Tabata stations, I got to work with the big tire. It took a couple of false starts to get the stability down, but I did it. I freakin' flipped the FOUR HUNDRED POUND TIRE about six times while Mark got the circuit ready. "Good. Here we go. Tire flips first," he said to me. "With this one?" I said, pointing to 400 lb. tire. "Ya with this one, duh," he replied. "You graduated, baby. You are all done with the 275 pound tire. Get to it. GO!" he clicked the stopwatch. So for eight sets of 20 seconds each, Norma flipped the 400 lb. tire with 10-second rest breaks in between. Now I will usually get five or six flips of the "little" tire in 20 seconds; with the BIG TIRE I was getting two or three for most sets... but all told, I flipped that FOUR HUNDRED POUND TIRE at least 28 times and I just gotta say, I could not wait to call Josh after and tell him. I am pretty damned proud of myself. I confirmed with Mark that he knows NO OTHER FEMALES who can flip the 400 lb. tire.
So my eyes are going back and forth; the bank of TVs (watching daytime talk shows with the sound off is interesting; you still learn who the father is on "Maury" thanks to the CG), the display on the machine (HR getting up there; good) to the big window that looks out over the gym floor.
Then I see this bitch flip the tire. MY TIRE. My 275-lb tire that I love and have formed a personal relationship with since late last summer. Get your filthy hands off my tire, skank!
So that afternoon, I sent Mark a text:
I see you have another girl who can flip the tire. That means *I* have to learn to flip the bigger tire. IMMEDIATELY.
He sent back:
HAHAHAHAHAAA :-) No problem. You can do it.
So I showed up this morning for my 0900 training session and find Mark in a quirky mood. Both his 0800 and 10AM clients had canceled. Too much partying yesterday, maybe? "Lucky you, we'll have time for extra abs!" he told me. "You're doing the big tire today."
He rolled it out on to the floor for me, demonstrated how to slide my fingertips under the tread just far enough for leverage, and then, "it's all legs, baby. It's all you. Give it a try." While he set up the rest of my Tabata stations, I got to work with the big tire. It took a couple of false starts to get the stability down, but I did it. I freakin' flipped the FOUR HUNDRED POUND TIRE about six times while Mark got the circuit ready. "Good. Here we go. Tire flips first," he said to me. "With this one?" I said, pointing to 400 lb. tire. "Ya with this one, duh," he replied. "You graduated, baby. You are all done with the 275 pound tire. Get to it. GO!" he clicked the stopwatch. So for eight sets of 20 seconds each, Norma flipped the 400 lb. tire with 10-second rest breaks in between. Now I will usually get five or six flips of the "little" tire in 20 seconds; with the BIG TIRE I was getting two or three for most sets... but all told, I flipped that FOUR HUNDRED POUND TIRE at least 28 times and I just gotta say, I could not wait to call Josh after and tell him. I am pretty damned proud of myself. I confirmed with Mark that he knows NO OTHER FEMALES who can flip the 400 lb. tire.
THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE
And I'm it.
The rest of the circuit was freakin' cake after getting THE FOUR HUNDRED POUND TIRE sets done. He had me do Tabata sets of lateral push-ups, Bosu burpees, bent over rows with the Olympic bar, clean & press with the Olympic bar and just regular planks.
The next 20 minutes or so were spent doing 21's: first, barbell curls (one set @ 20lbs, five sets @ 30 lbs) and then what Mark calls "nosebreakers," which Jesse calls "skullcrushers" -- six sets of those with the 20 lb barbell.
As I said, his guy after me shit the bed, so I got to have extra time: Tabata abs consisting of Russian twists, ins & outs, jackknives, opposite toes and then some crazy butt thrust thing that was tough as hell.
I am going to be sore tomorrow. But I have bragging rights. Call *me* a girl...pffftttt.
Fun House Mirror
I tried to sleep in again. I really did. No Spawn, no Mark until 9:00AM...I set my alarm for 7:00 "just in case" I didn't wake up on my own. Hahaha. Mojo, running a little late himself, woke me up grunting to go out at 6:00AM. I let him out, he came back in, I crawled under the covers, Josh was conscious enough to snuggle up with me but not conscious enough to hear Mo's continued obnoxious grunting for the next ten minutes. I guess the dog needed more than to pee, he wanted to eat. So I got the fuck up and staggered to the kitchen and fed Mo and Lotus and noted it was 6:22AM and really not worth going back to bed for 40 minutes so I put the Keurig on and I'm on my second cup, which I rarely have, but which I felt I needed.
Yesterday was a perfect weather day. Josh walked the dogs with me after the gym (I put myself through the tank top workout plus a bunch of extra arms/shoulders moves and I jacked it up by putting a set of 10 push-ups in between each exercise; then elliptical for 20 minutes) and then we got some shit done (banged out a dozen invoices that will go in the mail tomorrow...cha-ching; put together a prototype of our upcoming bank table display that I think looks more than decent) before we went to our friend's cookout.
On our way to the party, we stopped at the supermarket. I was asked to bring a veggie platter (my friends know me by now) and as I was not in overachieving Martha Stewart mode (I hardly ever am), it was going to be a nice store-bought one all made up with dip and everything. We grabbed that quickly, plus an extra container of dip (because people are pigs when it comes to dip...it's like, "Hey, you want some veggies with that dip?" as the baby carrot disappears into a glob of Chemical Ranch mush) and boogied to the express lane.
Now, you might take the anecdote I'm going to relate as sad or mean or criticize me for having the thoughts that I had but do you think I care? I'm just reporting what happened, because it was interesting and made me think.
I was wearing big silver earrings (as always), a lot of black eyeliner (as always; goth habits die hard), a spaghetti strap black tank top with kind of a heart-shaped neckline (like a little pucker in the middle), capri-length extra-low rise skin tight Candie's jeans (the junior's department rocks!) and pink sequined boat shoes. All the ink is visible. You may remember I colored over my unfortunate highlights, but those things are like weeds and "permanent" drugstore haircolor tamed them but did not obliterate them, so I still have some noticeable blonde streaks here and there.
We approach the register with the veggie tray and there is one person in line checking out who turns to look our way as we put it down on the belt. It is a woman, probably about my age or somewhere in her late 30s/early 40s, an inch or two taller than I am, with short, dark hair with some prominent bright red (like Manic Panic) highlights in it. She is wearing...big silver earrings, a lot of black eyeliner, a spaghetti strap blank tank top, capri length jeans, pink canvas Converse. She has a big tattoo on her left arm and something else on her right shoulder.
And she probably weighs (I'm not a carnie; not good at guessing your weight, but come on...you know when you're in the ballpark)...350 pounds.
Let me just say there was a four- or five-second pause (that felt a lot longer) where we looked at each other and where the cashier boy looked at both of us before going back to scanning her items.
Only when her items were bagged and she had left the area did I turn around to Josh and raise my (drawn on perfectly) eyebrows. He smiled and said, "Wow," knowing exactly what I was thinking. It was a weird little moment there. Like looking into a ...fun house mirror. For both her and me, I assume.
I am not hungry yet (6:58AM) so I'm going to try to stay that way and do my workout on an empty stomach. I did keep my eating to an Intermittent Fasting schedule yesterday: I ate my "brunch" (I guess if you're waiting until 11:00AM to eat every day, that is brunch) post-workout and post-dog walk and post-shower (a little after 11:00) -- I had two eggs, a handful of kale topped with half an avocado, and a small baked sweet potato with a dab of coconut oil on it. At the cookout I snarfed down about 10 raw oysters (amazing...fresh out of the ocean at the foot of the hill and right into my mouth!), a grilled chicken thigh (lime-garlic marinade), veggies, fruit salad, water. Nothing crazy. We left the cookout around 6:30PM and I didn't eat anything after getting home so we'll see if I can eke out another four foodless hours.
As we go about our business today -- whether it's the business of sleeping in, working out, partying, traveling, watching TV, pulling weeds or at a paid job -- let us remember at what price Memorial Day comes and take a moment to remember all who have served our country and the sacrifices they, and their families have made, so that we might be free.
Yesterday was a perfect weather day. Josh walked the dogs with me after the gym (I put myself through the tank top workout plus a bunch of extra arms/shoulders moves and I jacked it up by putting a set of 10 push-ups in between each exercise; then elliptical for 20 minutes) and then we got some shit done (banged out a dozen invoices that will go in the mail tomorrow...cha-ching; put together a prototype of our upcoming bank table display that I think looks more than decent) before we went to our friend's cookout.
On our way to the party, we stopped at the supermarket. I was asked to bring a veggie platter (my friends know me by now) and as I was not in overachieving Martha Stewart mode (I hardly ever am), it was going to be a nice store-bought one all made up with dip and everything. We grabbed that quickly, plus an extra container of dip (because people are pigs when it comes to dip...it's like, "Hey, you want some veggies with that dip?" as the baby carrot disappears into a glob of Chemical Ranch mush) and boogied to the express lane.
Now, you might take the anecdote I'm going to relate as sad or mean or criticize me for having the thoughts that I had but do you think I care? I'm just reporting what happened, because it was interesting and made me think.
I was wearing big silver earrings (as always), a lot of black eyeliner (as always; goth habits die hard), a spaghetti strap black tank top with kind of a heart-shaped neckline (like a little pucker in the middle), capri-length extra-low rise skin tight Candie's jeans (the junior's department rocks!) and pink sequined boat shoes. All the ink is visible. You may remember I colored over my unfortunate highlights, but those things are like weeds and "permanent" drugstore haircolor tamed them but did not obliterate them, so I still have some noticeable blonde streaks here and there.
We approach the register with the veggie tray and there is one person in line checking out who turns to look our way as we put it down on the belt. It is a woman, probably about my age or somewhere in her late 30s/early 40s, an inch or two taller than I am, with short, dark hair with some prominent bright red (like Manic Panic) highlights in it. She is wearing...big silver earrings, a lot of black eyeliner, a spaghetti strap blank tank top, capri length jeans, pink canvas Converse. She has a big tattoo on her left arm and something else on her right shoulder.
And she probably weighs (I'm not a carnie; not good at guessing your weight, but come on...you know when you're in the ballpark)...350 pounds.
Let me just say there was a four- or five-second pause (that felt a lot longer) where we looked at each other and where the cashier boy looked at both of us before going back to scanning her items.
Only when her items were bagged and she had left the area did I turn around to Josh and raise my (drawn on perfectly) eyebrows. He smiled and said, "Wow," knowing exactly what I was thinking. It was a weird little moment there. Like looking into a ...fun house mirror. For both her and me, I assume.
I am not hungry yet (6:58AM) so I'm going to try to stay that way and do my workout on an empty stomach. I did keep my eating to an Intermittent Fasting schedule yesterday: I ate my "brunch" (I guess if you're waiting until 11:00AM to eat every day, that is brunch) post-workout and post-dog walk and post-shower (a little after 11:00) -- I had two eggs, a handful of kale topped with half an avocado, and a small baked sweet potato with a dab of coconut oil on it. At the cookout I snarfed down about 10 raw oysters (amazing...fresh out of the ocean at the foot of the hill and right into my mouth!), a grilled chicken thigh (lime-garlic marinade), veggies, fruit salad, water. Nothing crazy. We left the cookout around 6:30PM and I didn't eat anything after getting home so we'll see if I can eke out another four foodless hours.
As we go about our business today -- whether it's the business of sleeping in, working out, partying, traveling, watching TV, pulling weeds or at a paid job -- let us remember at what price Memorial Day comes and take a moment to remember all who have served our country and the sacrifices they, and their families have made, so that we might be free.
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