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! 

Molly- Don't the the H20 get you down.  By the way, you made me feel like a dumb blonde ( I am blonde so I can say it).  Guess I know why I got a C in Chemistry.  I concur with everyone else.  It's only water.  It will go away.  It is waaaaaaaaay more important that you have such GREEEEEEEAT test results.  That is another very important measure of your success.  And you have been very successful!

I honestly don't know how you all weigh yourselves so often.  I have a self diagnosed scale phobia and can barely bring myself to weigh in once a month, which is why I gained 20 pounds last year.  I have to force myself to get on the scale, so I know if I am staying on track.  I lost ONE pound this past month! Grrrr! It is better than the half a pound I lost last month, so I'll take it. Yay! (Man I feel sort of schizophrenic) I know slow and steady wins the race, but this is ridiculous.  I even tried Molly's "move the scale around the room and find the lowest weight" trick, to no avail.  The gravity is the same all over my house, Go figure.  Oh well, it is about the long term results and good health, so I will keep on trudging along, one millipound at a time.

Which brings me to my un-rant for the day.  Have you all measured yourselves?  I strongly suggest it.  It helps so much on the days when you're feeling like you haven't made any progress on the scale.  We all know that SCALES LIE! The only thing that has kept me sane on weigh in days is the measuring tape.  I measure once a month on weigh in days.  I measure before I weigh in, so it gives me some perspective on my true progress and keeps me from throwing the mean and nasty scale against the very hard and solid wall.  So even though I lost one measly wimply little pound, I also lost 3 total inches this month.  Yay Me (patting self on back).  I think the scale is happy too.  He has been spared for one more month.....

Confession...

I don't own a measuring tape, and I never have.  Why in the world would I want to face the cold, hard reality of exactly how "amply proportioned" my waist is ... not to mention my hips and thighs. But people keep telling me that it's good to know your measurements so you can monitor how well your diet is doing when the scale is being unruly and stubborn. (Hmmm... I'm unruly and stubborn, do you think the scale takes after me?)  

So, this morning after DH had left for work, I went into the garage (his sacred, slightly disorganized testosterone-filled domain) and went foraging for those construction-worker type retractable tape measuring thingies. (Yes, you can see my vast knowledge of tools displayed right here.)  He seems to collect tape measuring thingies the way I collect low calorie salad dressings ... the garage was literally filled with them, scattered about in hidden spots like some sort of Do-It-Yourself Easter Egg Hunt. (In much the same way, salad dressings are tucked into every available nook and cranny in the refrigerator.)

So, I found one, and brought it into the kitchen. Somehow, measuring myself in the kitchen just seemed BETTER than measuring myself in the garage. Of course, the retractable tape measurer thingy (hereinafter referred to as the "RTMT") attracted two curious kittens as well as several other adult cats. I could see the look on their furry feline faces ... "What is Mommy doing NOW?"  Of course, I wanted a true and accurate measurement (well, as true and accurate as possible given the fact that I didn't have a simple fabric-style tape measurer) ... so I stripped down butt nekkid in my kitchen.

(Before you shriek about my being nekkid in the kitchen, let me just say that the only window in the kitchen faces our private back yard ... I was not flashing the neighbors and I did wait until after the gardeners had left, ok?)

Anyway, the metallic RTMT just doesn't bend around curves very well ... and, believe me, I am ALL curves. (Picture a beach ball with legs ... OK, that's me.)  So I was trying to do this two-handed. (Because I don't have more than 2 hands.) I decided to sort of lean up against the kitchen counter with my tummy, holding the RTMT in place, so I could use one hand to hold each end of the thing. Well, between the kittens, the fact that the metal from the RTMT was icy-cold from being in the garage, and .... oh, I don't know ... FATE .... I managed to lose my grip on one end of the RTMT, causing it to whip around my tender, exposed nekkid self at an alarming rate of speed. Not wanting to get cut by this dangerous flying object, I sort of flinched/jumped back, losing my footing on our kitchen rugs.

Of course, all of this clatter, commotion and chaos freaked both kittens, who poofed up and jumped in the air, startling our other cats who HAD been sitting peacefully on the kitchen counter. As they skittered and scattered in terror across the counter top, they bowled right through our tomatos and apples and bananas and acorn squash ... creating even more chaos.  I ended up on the floor, nekkid, laughing hysterically, and surrounded by falling fruits and veggies. "SPLAT" "SPLAT"  The cats were nowhere to be seen.

I am NOT making this up.

Anyway, the RTMT has been safely returned to its lair in the garage. The fruits have been returned to their former fruit bowl, a little worse for wear. Several of the riper tomatoes have met their demise, and have passed on. I have cleaned the tomato goop off me, the kitchen cupboards, and the kitchen tile floor. I haven't seen the kittens since ... but am optimistic they will emerge from hiding in an hour or two.

And I STILL haven't taken my measurements. This dieting thing can be dangerous!

=^..^= MOLLY

ROFLH.  I've been there.....not completely with the flying cats and fruit bowls, but those RTMT can be DANGEROUS.  I ended up going to the dollar store and "splurging" on a tape measure.

Molly, you're killing me! How am I supposed to surreptitiously peak at CC when you have me laughing hysterically?  My cover is blown!

A recommendation for you Molly...other than buying a fabric tape measure :)

Have your DH do the measurements for you.  Having another person do it will result in more accurate readings, and accurate is always good.  Prevents you from accidently measuring in a different spot and throwing off your results :)

Ok, I know its not a rant but I'm having a happy healthy, non-weigh in, non-measuring, trying not to get sick before my interview day :).  My boss came to work sick this morning and I leave for oregon tomorrow after work, so I am going to go attack every possible surface with clorox disinfecting wipes! (I made him buy them yesterday).

Molly, what great medical news!!! That's a wonderful improvement!! That single rave was worth a thousand rants, don't you think? :)

And yes, I heartily second the purchase of a non-retractable, regular measuring tape. I sort of love mine (it tells me that I've lost 6.5 inches off my waist so far, for instance).

Keep up the great work everyone!! Let off steam here! Laughter is good for us: an essential part of our healthy lifestyles!!

Gasping for air I'm laughing so hard!!!!

Oh Molly, you create such wonderful visuals with your writings!!!

Like the scale, I've had a love/hate relationship with tape measures too! My rant is tapes that are too short to go around my widest parts!!! And even so, my two arms alone couldn't manage the job. And nothing is more embarassing than having some delicately framed, barely A-cup lass measure for a Seriously Engineered Well Endowed Over-shoulder-boulder holster!!!

Thank God, I can now be measured by an ordinary tape and can reach sufficiently around to accompish the task!

Molly - I only have an RTMT myself and to avoid any cat fleeing fruit flying fiascos I measure myself with a piece of regular string and then measure the string with the RTMT. The extra step burns more calories.

OK, how many calories did I burn spending an hour and a half ransacking the house only to discover that we seem to live in a string free, ribbon-free, yarn-free home. (Hmmm.... I suspect the cats.)

Tomorrow's Agenda: buy a soft, yellow, fabric-style measuring tape.

Yay ... one of our local grocery stores has fresh asparagus on sale for just $1.99 a pound (I had some for lunch), so we went back this evening and bought two more bundles!!! Yum Yum Yum .. an asparagus weekend!

=^..^= MOLLY

Molly- You crack me up!  I didn't know my little suggestion about measuring yourself would create such havoc.  It was good for a laugh though.

I went to Ralphs today ( a grocery store in So Cal).  They have Walden Farms!  Yay!  I didn't buy any today b/c I wasn't in need of anything, but now I can try it without having to order it online.  Also have found out that a small farmers market type store called Henrys carries it as well.  It is literally right around the corner from my house.  Maybe they have more of a selection.  Ralphs also has the Almond Breeze but the only unsweetened version is the Original flavor.  I bought it, but I think I will like the vanilla better.  Maybe Henrys has that too.  I was very excited.  It's the little things that make me happy :)

I made a small observation today.  I think I have lost weight in my FEET.  Can you believe it?  Of all places to lose inches/weight...  maybe that was the half pound from last month.  But my once too tight shoes are now loose and move around just enough to give me blisters.  Should've measured my feet/toes prior to starting this all....

Soooo .... how much weight did I end up losing for week #9 of my diet? Eight ounces. One-half a pound. One glass' worth of weight. The size of a pretty nice cut of sirloin, sizzlin' on a plate in a nice restaurant.

Oh well, at least it was a loss. And not a gain. And it IS the week before my period where -- last month -- I lost only one pound. And I have been working out on my new treadmill, so I am building muscle. And, this was the week I got my over-the-top-fantabulous blood test results.... plummetinng cholesterol, sinking triglycerides, and dropping blood sugar.... ALL proof-positive that something I am doing must be working.

Today I shall be a turtle, repeating to myself "Slow and Steady Wins the Race" .... "Slow and Steady Wins the Race ...." and I shall keep my focus on the prize.  We are heading out of town today up to the mountains where there's a great small town just outside of Yosemite where we like to explore. The challenge will be to stay on track when we go out to lunch .... but I am pretty confident I can make a reasonable choice.

Have a great Saturday, peeps .... enjoy the Autumn!

=^..^= MOLLY

Molly... you had me in stitches with the RTMT, and of course everyone else in the family wanted to know why i was laughing, so I've printed it and now we are all LOL!

I too dont like the bad news of the tape measure... that's properly why I can never find any kind of tape(RTMT or otherwise), when trying to measure household objects or space.  It took over a week to find out how tall I was for this site.

 

YAY! I survived my trip to the mountains and going out to eat for Mexican food .... plus car snacks! And, I'm only 150 calories over goal for the day ... and I can live with that!

Yay, me!

Rant ... if you order things in Mexican restaurants with "no cheese", they look at you like you're NUTS. And when they asked corn or flour tortilla (for my tostada) and I said "neither", they REALLY thought I was NUTS! Finally, when I didn't want dressing or cheese on my salad, they came right out and said "Loco!" hee hee hee. I just asked for extra salsa and was happy as a clam!

(And are clams happier than, say, other shellfish? I would think oysters would be happy because they have jewelry (pearls) ... but what do I know?)

=^..^= MOLLY

Molly, obviously trying to measure is waaaay to dangerous for you and your household.  (How long was it before the kitties dared emerge from hiding?)  I fear for your limbs.  Slipping on a tiled floor...you could have hurt yourself!  I have a less risky method...

I use the "how do things fit?" strategy.  I have a pair of slacks and a bra that give me a very good idea of how I'm doing without me having to look at any really shocking numbers.  The added bonus is that it feels soooo good when there is extra room in the garment compared to the last time I tried it on!

No rants today...we got 2.75 inches of very-much-needed rain here over the past two days...everything looks so much happier now. 

JJ :-) 

 

 

Just had to pass on my good new...

My BMI is no longer 40+

You guys should have seen me, jumping up and down with glee as my daughter confirmed my weight loss and new BMI rating...

Just 3lbs more to get to my first goal, but I feel great! 

Congrats Taypet!!!!

That's a great milestone!! :)

Congratulations taypet!  that is wonderful news ... keep up the good work!

Woo hooo, Taypet!!!! You go girl!!!!

You know, I don't know if I am one of those people who can judge how well I am doing by how my clothes fit ... since every single piece of clothing I own seems to be both a different brand AND a different size. And I am the QUEEN OF ELASTIC WAIST! Heck, it's been so long since I wore anything from the waist down with a button, I'm not sue if I could even dress myself, hee hee hee. ("What's this round thing? That's a button, dear.")

I wear a lot of shorts. In fact, I pretty much wear shorts year 'round, regardless of what the outside weather looks like. I chalk this up to (1) I have the fashion sense of a kid; (2) I have the common sense of a kitten; and (3) I have hot flashes of the sort to fuel a nuclear submarine. Oh, and I DO live in California and have been a happy stay-at-home-wife for the past two years. Anyway, if I find something I like, I tend to buy several pairs of it.... and I discovered not long ago that I had 9 pairs of shorts from the same manufacturer, 6 in navy blue, 1 pair red, 1 pair black, 1 pair white. (My approach for a period of time was to keep buying more clothes to avoid the need for laundry.... hee hee hee! And blue matches everything, right?) 

Anyway, I have these shorts in 3 sizes ... and the larger size is now waaaay to baggy and lose on me... so they're gone!  I am still wearing a few pair of really baggy shorts in that size (different manufacturer), but that will pretty much be over by Thanksgiving or so, I'd think. Well, maybe Christmas. Sizes ... I have Fat Clothes (biggest size), Not-so-fat Clothes (middle size) and Less-Fat Clothes (smallest size.) I am delighted to report that, overall, I can now fit into all of the Not-So-Fat Clothes that have been living in my closet, and I am keeping my eye on the Less-Fat Clothes.

And why aren't there standards for sizes out there? Depending on the brand and cut, I can wear up to three different sizes of the same thing!! It is very frustrating sometimes!

My goal by spring (say, my birthday in March), is to pretty much need new clothes.... wouldn't THAT be delightful? If not spring, summer for sure! Yeppers, THAT would be soooo verrrrry coooool!

Right now, I am wearing semi-baggy aqua blue plaid shorts, an aqua blue tank top, and my nifty new aqua blue and lime green plaid tennies!!!  (And it's 60 degrees outside, brrrrrr.)  Thank goodness the high today is 71, and tomorrow's high will be 79!!! Warm weather is not gone, yet!!!!

=^..^= MOLLY

 

Ha-ha. I just ate a can of tuna that had 2.5 servings. I was just thinking how it was kind of silly and they should just give the calories for the entire can.

I can totally relate with you on the clothes sizes, just this morning I was looking for my bright red work blouse which I haven't seen in a while (I have 4 of the same blouse, which I have desinated for work. 2 different blues, 1 beige and the red one). Anyway while searching my bedroom, one dumping ground after another I ended up in the closet where I saw my old suit/jumpsuit... its a purple jumpsuit that looks like a trouser suit with a beige blouse.  Well I pulled it out and held it up infront of my DH and annonced "One day I will wear this again... it'll probaly be back in fashion!"  it too has an elastic waist band, but thats more for the effect than to give me room to squeeze into it.