Motivation

RANTING BURNS CALORIES!

This is an open, ongoing, support-encourage-motivational-RANTING thread. Feel free to skip to the end, or spend days reading through all of this ...

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I have decided that "Diet" is a 4-letter word.

I find myself muttering and uttering the word around my house these days with loathing and vehemence previously reserved only for comments directed toward liberal politicians. In fact, I seem to be talking to myself a lot more these days .... sort of a running, sarcastic commentary on all the foods I can't eat, or on various other related topics. I wonder if there is a link between calorie-deprivation and Tourettes Syndrome? Grrrrrrrrr.....

I am now on Day 8 of the dreaded D-word. This is already the longest period of time that I have ever successfully remained on a diet. And I seem to be growing grouchier and feistier each day..... at least when I am alone and no one is around to hear my running rants. (My wonderful DH has heard some of my more memorable rants on the subject of broccolli and reports that I am hysterically funny when I am hungry!) I am counting carbs. I am counting calories. I am counting fat grams. Sheesh ... now my math anxiety is about to kick-in!

Mini Rant #1 .... what masochist decided that the serving size of cereal was anything less than 2 cups? Have you ever measured out 2/3 a cup of cereal? Or even a full cup? And placed it in a bowl? Those few little flakes and pieces just sit forlornly at the bottom of the bowl, shivering and lonely, even when we dribble on a few meager droplets of skim milk! Sheesh. Well, I can tell you that there is simply no way that my oversized body is going to be happy with that tiny amount of cereal ... so I have been eating TWO servings for breakfast. SIGH. And while the side of the box says that I can supplement the cereal with some fruit, they probably don't mean eat 45 cherries with your cereal -- much less 1/2 a watermelon, huh?

Mini Rant #2 .... Things NOT to say to someone who has told you that they have just started on a diet:

1.Good, you sure needed it.
2. It's about time.
3. Really? It doesn't look like it.
4. Again? Haven't we heard this before?
5. Gosh, how much weight do you need to lose?
6. What do you weigh? I've always wondered.
7. I never need to diet, I have a fast metabolism.
8. Really? I can eat all I want and never gain weight.
9. Is THAT why you are so grouchy?
10. I sure hope you plan to exercise a lot more.

AAAUGGH! All of these responses are just the thing to make me even grouchier .... so just smile and say something encouraging and supportive, ok? I will let you know how it is going.

_____

=^..^=  Molly 

WELCOME TO MOLLY'S MOTIVATIONAL RANT / CHAT THREAD ... FEEL FREE TO SHARE YOUR RANTS, TOO!  YOU CAN EITHER READ FROM THE BEGINNING OR JUST JUMP ON IN ON THE LAST PAGE ... JOIN US! 

Hi Molly-

I looked it up for you and the serving size in the food log states that one serving equals one can.  So if you ate a can ( of soup, that is), then you ate one serving.  By the way, I for one can see nothing wrong with adding salt to low sodium soup to make it taste better.  I love salt, but the diet powers that be say that salt is bad for you (ie: bloating/water retention, blasted high blood pressure) so I myself would have to refrain from adding salt, even though I really would WANT to.  (Side note: when I was young, instead of asking for the pepper and salt, we would ask to "please pass the dirt and the high blood pressure)  Anyway, I digress....

My husband is a coffee snob and will only use real half and half in his coffee.  He says it's sacrilege to use "fake cream" in his gloriously caffeinated daily carafe (yes a whole carafe).

Fat free oil???? Isn't that called PAM (the non stick spray)?  Hmmm.

i am on my 11th day without weight loss, and so i went to weightloss forum to ask, plea, beg for help and...nothing. the post sat for about 10 hours without a responce. talk about bad for motivation. was i being told to get over it and quit complaining? clearly, i should have come here. whatever was i thinking. not only no weightloss, but jumping from one weight to a weight two lbs heavier. teasing, taunting, the scale laughs at me. i would normally eat my way happy, but i guess thats a thing of the past now. i don't want to eat my way to happy anymore cuz thats why im this way in the first place and im still angry about that. i don't want to exercise. i want to clean obsessively. but now someone pointed out that may not be enough because i do it everyday and my body is used to it. if i'm used to it why am i so tired?

Silvaraynebow....

Clearly, there are several reasons why your scale is being non-cooperative with your aforementioned weight loss goals -- and is maliciously, arbitrarily, nefariously, fiendishly, and wantonly conspiring against you.

REASON #1 ... Your scale is possessed.  Yes, true enough, sometimes evil "fat demons" and "calorie demons" enter into your scale, and cause the weighing mechanism to work IN REVERSE.  You might try sprinkling some holy water on the scale or, better yet .... threaten the scale by holding it over a bathtub FULL of holy water. Show it who's boss.

REASON #2 ... Your scale is malfunctioning. Let's face it-- things break. My car breaks. My washing machine breaks. My nails break. Why do we assume that our trusty bathroom scales are invincible? (Especially after we step on them ... repeatedly!) You might test the scale's accuracy or simply try replacing the battery.  If that doesn't work, I heartily recommend dropping it from 5 stories or higher onto a concrete surface. (Be sure and yell "look out below!")

REASON #3 ... Your house has too much gravity. I've seen Star Trek, and I know that sometimes -- with no warning whatsoever -- gravity "fields" suddenly "shift" and "fluctuate" and cause "temporal rifts" and, of course, "time travel."  Scales showing too much weight is the ONLY known warning sign of an impending gravity field fluctuation .... which itself is merely a warning that there is about to be a temporal rift. Expect to either be catapulted into the past, or to have a visitor from the past come to visit you, soon.

REASON #4 .... Communism.  I like to blame most things in this world that go wrong on one of several things: humidity, water retention, Satan, taxes, Communism, and carbohydrates. Looking at this list, I can see that the clear culprit in THIS case is Communism. To combat this, do something capitalistic like spend some money on Ebay or Amazon.com.

Hope this helps!

MOLLY

i just about cried. nothing could have helped me more than that post. thankyou, my dear saint molly. lol. only you could possibly understand that i don't need to be told i'm retaining water, i need to be told my scale is possessed! only that could make me feel better. i think i should copy your rants and tape them in odd places around the house to constantly remind me what a smile can do for the soul.

I KNEW it!!  I just knew there was something wrong with the gravity in my house!  I could feel it.  And now the scale has proven same.  Where is Captain Picard when I need him!!!

I have long been convinced that the answer to many of life's mysteries can be found in .... Star Trek.

Live long and prosper ....

 

MOLLY (doing the Vulcan greeting here .... \\// ...)

So really, what you're saying is, if my scales are not posessed and are working and the gravity in my house is all normal then the only thing I can do to contiue my weight loss is go shopping? What a chore

 Gripe of the day: restaurants that serve fries with everything then look at you like you have two heads when you ask for the food to come with out them.

 I have a strange craving for croissants this morning, that's a new one...sigh.

Yours in slimness, 

 KT xx.

Cassie83- serving fries ("chips" in my country) with your meal when unasked for is a perfect example of the conspiracy of the food industry to get you to consume more. When in restaurants I simply conjure up an image of Meg Ryan in "when Harry met Sally" and tailor the dish to my requirements - e.g. no croutons or doughballs on salads; dressing on the side so I can control the amount.  And I send it back if they don't comply.

More power to us to get what we want!

HEHEHE...slow-coach, you're lucky to have Chips be the only choice! Here if we say, no fries, they substitute cchips...thin, crisply fried and overly salted munchies! Arghhh!!

No Bread means they bring you a basket of saltine crakers instead....geeeewhiz!!

And if I don't want a potato, but a second helping of steamed broccoli, why does the waitress look at me as if I had a huge wart on my nose???

So let's all insist on getting it "our way" like Sally, and finish the meal with those sounds effects too...LOL!!!

Krismasself - just keep on insisting on what you want - tipping is a big source of income for waiting staff in your country I think? Unless they are really stupid, they will make the connection...!

I sometimes wonder if we project our fears onto others and they are not really looking at us funny or thinking we are weird at all? My observation is that overweight people are often too eager to please or comply. I have lots of friends who pick and choose in restaurants or have the knack of saying no politely when things are offered that they don't really need or want. I have found it feels very empowering to say "No thanks, I'm not hungry". My 12 year old son says it (he's very self-regulating and doesn't snack), so we should be able to do that without feeling awkward too.

As for Sally's sound-effects - I prefer to leave those to real-life bedroom athletics with my lovely BF!Not in public!

 

Drat, I just erased my proposed post!  I'll try again...

IMHO, "fat-free cream cheese" is an oxymoron and an abomination!  It tastes nothing like cream cheese.  At least, fat-free yogurt is still yogurt and not some scary amalgam of unpronouncable "ingredients".

Slow Coach - DH and I were in England in April.  You're right you are being overtaken (deliberate pun!) by American driving habits.  Also, what happened to taking a cloth bag or basket to the shops???  I was amazed at how many plastic sacks we collected in just 2 weeks!  The saddest change I noted (I'd last been in England in 1975) was the trend to American-style traffic intersections in place of the civilized and democratic round-abouts.  Obviously, the amount of traffic has increased to the point intersections have become necessary.  At least, the pork pies are still delicious if not diet-friendly.

And, as for not buying things you don't like, that is what Capitalism is supposed to be about...willing buyers and willing sellers and all that.  I believe "voting with my pocketbook" is an essential expression of  freedom.  You go, girl!

Molly, DH said I should be able to get the butterfly photos onto the computer...we'll see!

Jane :-)

I thought of you this morning Molly while I was practicing my balancing act on the scale. I decided it would be a good idea to see how much each of my appendages weighed. I stood on the scale and put one arm on top of a shelf without actually leaning into it. Whether this is at all even remotely accurate... I don't care. =) I then tried to do this with a leg. This proved to be a bit of a problem and it turns out that I do not possess that kind of agility or balance. While all of this was mildly entertaining, the minor exercise did not make the scale change it's mind from earlier numbers. *sigh*

I wish sitting on the cough/bed (wherever) reading a book burned 200 calories an hour at least. I hate exercising, but I love reading. I wish I could read and exercise at the same time without feeling ill or ridiculous. =)

Becky/Rebecca (eh, call me whatever you want)

Stayonpiste  You've hit on another hobby-horse of mine: excess plastic carrier-bags! Wish I could rant like Molly about them (Do you have paper ones?).  I can't stop others using them, but I have calico bags, backpacks and/or bike panniers for putting my shopping in. I keep imagining sea-creatures choking on all the plastic bags we are producing. But there is talk of a plastic bag tax to get people to cut down.

I had a German lodger for a while recently, and they are leading the way in being green - she wouldn't use any plastic bags at all and was very clean. And she only bought eco-friendly cleaning materials.They didn't work that well however!  

I'm all in favour of consumerism, in the sense of us exercising power with our wallets (I'm an economist by day), but I also abhor waste and and worry that people waste so much energy and time on the less important things in life (like fake fingernails!). What's really important to peoples' happiness (and there is research evidence to back this up) is feeling part of a community; personal relationships; belief in something; mental and physical health. GDP has risen substantially in all Western countries since WW2, and yet average happiness levels (annual international surveys are conducted) have not risen at all. What does this suggest?

 

EEEEEEK .... fake fingernails!!!  I tried a pair about 10 years ago, and the feeling of having something glued on top of my fingernails so weirded me out that I plucked them all off during the course of the next day at work ... and had an impressive little pile of pink nail "bodies" stacked up on my desk at the end of the day. Since then, I've just decided to use clear nail polish ... and be done with it! (Though, nowadays, I don't even use CLEAR polish... LOL)

Restaurants ... I can understand the frustration of those of you who, for some unfathomable reason, actually want to eat your sandwich or burger without french fries. I must confess that I am the EXACT opposite ... I just want the fries (hold the burger, please!) I must say that most of the restaurants that we go to are very accommodating about my weird/unusual/quirky food requests ... even at the chinese restaurant where I order Sizzling Rice Soup ... without the rice. (I know, I know, it won't sizzle .... but the chicken broth, chicken and veggies are still sooo yummy!)  And most people I know order their dressing on the side these days ... that seems pretty common. As for mysterious salad-toppings ... if I can pick them off, I do ... but do NOT put pickled beets on my salad because they bleed purple juice all over the lettuce!!!

The nice thing about eating at home is that I can keep nefarious items like bell peppers, beets, mustard and black olives out of my food.... plus any other weird ingredient that I despise. Unfortunately, at home, NO ONE ever asks ME if I "want fries with that?" The answer, I must confess, is YES! YES! YES! I DO WANT FRIES WITH THAT!, OHHHH YESSSS!!!!!

hee hee hee .... take THAT, Meg Ryan. (grin)

=^..^=  MOLLY

Molly I agree!!!  I had those nail treatments for 3 years.  the day I had them removed was a great feeling.  I love natural nails.  Yuck that was chemicals. haha   I quit the clear coat too for the health of it.
Maybe an olive oil treatment would feel good and be so healthy.

can I have some fries w/that :))

Confession ... When given a choice at the checkout line, we ALWAYS ask for plastic bags... we use them when we scoop our cat boxes to avoid having to pay for our own plastic bags. They are just perfect for this, and then we can tie the top in a knot and toss the whole surprise package into the BIG trash can outside. You just can't do this with paper bags, much less cloth bags! Besides, paper bags with their paper handles (and even paper gift bags that you can buy at the store) are BANNED inside our house .... we've had kitty cats get their heads stuck through them and get hurt trying to free themselves. So, on the very few occasions we bring a handled bag inside, the very first thing we do is cut off the handles. (We do keep some gift bags in the garage, which is a kitty-free zone at our home.)

Becky ... your scale balancing act sounded very, very funny. I've given up trying to get weighed in our bathroom ... too many other obstacles around to interfere with my contortions and flailing arms ... now I do my Monday morning nekkid-as-a-jaybird weigh-in in the middle of our tile hallway. After having spent several hours one day getting on and getting off and getting on and getting off ... I finally discovered the EXACT spot in the hall where I weigh the LEAST!!!

We bought some eco-friendly, organic, all-natural ingredients, no harsh chemicals bug spray earlier this summer .... it didn't kill ANY of the bugs we tried it on. Nope, not one spider. The spiders just looked annoyed, and several came skittering at me, chasing me out of the room on more than one occasion.  I finally decided that it was probably just easier to STEP ON THE DARN SPIDER! Hee hee hee.... or at least throw heavy objects at it until it flees out of sight.

=^..^= MOLLY

I love this thread!

Not only is my scale possesed, but its crazy too!

I got home from work yesterday after being awake for almost 48 hrs and weighed myself...303 pounds.  I crashed and slept for about 5 hours, got up and just knew that scale was wrong so i weighed again...299.  HOW IN THE WORLD do you lose 4 pounds sleeping???? 

Today, I weighed when I woke up...(quickly becoming and obsession) and I was 299.6.  I did my morning business, ate 24 frosted mini-wheats w/my one cup whole milk (cant stand anything else), and weighed again....back up to 301. 

I know that that itty bitty one serving of cereal and one cup  milk could NOT weight 2 pounds. 

So, not only possesed, but crazy.  and I am definatly going back to weighting once per week before I go crazy.

Oh No...Please don't take away my fake nails!!!!EEEK!!! I don't think I'd know how to type without them anymore...and how would I live without typing all these posts to my friends!!??

A scales and weigh-ins. There is nothing more unreliable than a scale...home, digital, doctor's, gym's...whatever. In outer space they'd all be totally useless. Come to think of it, they may be equally useless here on earth!

My first week here, I decided to weigh in once a week...that was a major change for me...hadn't been on a scale in months for fear of actually seeing the numbers! Well, I certainly didn't want to believe the first weeks number, so I tried both scales, several times each. Now that's an obsession!

Please Note: our bodies are made up of many chemicals! So, if I want to put some nefarious chemical on my natural cereal, let me be! After all, God made the chemicals, and I trust Him, even if He does think I'm a bit twisted...lol!!

I work with enablers! but in all fairness they didn't know that I was "back on the wagon" again. One lady just dropped two strawberry cream savers on my desk. Why is it that I could stare at them for a year and never be tempted to eat them but if it was a snickers or a hershey kiss it would have already been devoured?

Okay, mini-rant:

Is it just me, or is there no CC activity entry for doing laundry by hand? As in, vigorously cleaning clothes in a bathtub, lifting gigantic beach towels full of water (those had to be at least 40 lbs) and wringing dozens of clothes out, all the while sweating like a maniac.

Yeah, washing machine is broken and I don't have a dryer. GREAT. Anyway, I was trying to see the positive side, all "Hey, it's a workout!", and then there is no entry? Do I just have to guess?

Or is it maybe hidden away somewhere so I can't find it?

Hrmpf.