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.

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=^..^=  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! 

Hey, I have to walk home in snow and 23 degree weather...shouldn't I get more calories burned for that???

Thanks for sharing that Megan I did find that funny about the way the man reacted to your comment, that was cute! Bet he wont forget that and give his Mom a little more TLC

My 2 cents on the changes I look forward to are going on rides ie roller coasters with my 12 yr old son I have been to embarrassed in the recent past to go with him and I can't wait for this summer to take him and I look forward to waking up in the morning and not have my back and feet hurt!Its getting better but not 100% yet but it will be!

Have a good one ladies!

I'm baaaaaaack!!!!!

THIS is what I look like on vacation, preparing to "Go for Gold in 2008!"

:: giggle ::

PRETTY FLOWER I PHOTOGRAPHED

A CHEEKY SEAGULL

JELLYFISH AT THE MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM

SEA OTTERS!

ME n' GIANT FUZZY OTTER

PACIFIC OCEAN WAVES

=^..^= MOLLY

Original Post by meganr:

Well, maybe being honest about our feelings and the journey to health maaaybee burns a cal or two. Sue, I really liked your comment also, reaching our goal weight is only part of the journey, working on becoming healthy physically and learning to have a healthy emotional and spiritual attitude toward food and our relationship with it the other part.

Anyway, an anti-rant, and hopefully this isn't too much information. Since I am a woman of a certain age - the hormones are certainly interesting at times. After months of not having them, I've now had hot flashes the last three times I've gone to the gym, as soon as I start with the weights. Nothing major, just sort of annoying, but what was really funny last time was the reaction of the young man close to me as I started waving my hands in front of my face fanning myself trying to cool off. I had to reassure him that all was OK, just a hot flash. Ha ha, he backed off so quick! Nothing like striking fear into the hunky musclemen!

According to my mother they're not hot flashes, they're power surges....hehehe

Yeah!! Molly's back! Any vacation rants?

Original Post by kaptain9:

Yeah!! Molly's back! Any vacation rants?

Oh my gosh ... of course!!!!

First, snooty restaurants. Or at least snooty wait-staff in overpriced restaurants. Twice in three days we were scoffed at by snooties for saying "no thank you" to their wine list ... at lunchtime, for heaven's sakes! And one of the waiters looked positively alarmed when I asked him to substitute rice pilaf for either more grilled veggies or some sort of potato. I've never before had to defend my decision NOT to eat rice. Sheesh. (It really makes my blood sugar spike, something we diabetics try to avoid!)  And after I politely ordered the grilled tilapia WITHOUT the "almond crusting" and "kiwi-butter-cheese sauce" ... did he really need to say "You just want PLAIN fish?" in a loud, disapproving voice?  I assured him that seasonings were fine, I just didn't want nuts, kiwis, butter or cheese smothering my fish. I think he retaliated by telling the chef to just serve me a completely nekkid poached fish. Thank goodness I was able to fish lemon wedges out of my water glass (yes, with my fingers) right in front of him so I could make my own lemon-pepper seasoning. And who wants kiwi mixed with cheese on their grilled fish, anyway? Ewwwww.  And the mashed potatoes he brought out were ... green. Seriously, a pale green, with darker green specks. (I felt trapped in an Irish Pub on St. Patrick's Day!) I think we decided they were supposed to be "herbed" potatoes.

Second ... hysterically funny strangers arguing near me. OK, this isn't really a rant, but I must admit that it's hard not to eavesdrop (and giggle) when there is funny argument occurring not 12 inches from where you are sitting. The best line of the argument? When the female, said to her male companion, "You have more needs than a pregnant woman!"  heh heh heh  Maybe you had to be there, but her tone of voice and mannerisms just gave us the giggles.

Third ... warm-from-the-oven, crusty french bread. Oh gosh, do you have any idea how hard it is to eat healthy when every place we went brought out the most mouth-watering bread in the whole world? Yes, I ate some! (Ooooo.... and it was fabulous.) One place even had sun-dried tomato and garlic butter to put on the bread..... happy sigh. Oh well, I did order fish every place I went ... hopefully the grilled fish sort of offset the bread I managed to snarf and scarf.

Fourth ... skeeters in the shower. For three days, I think I valiantly and vainly chased the same two mosquitos around the bathroom!!! It's December, shouldn't you silly bugs be dead by now?

Fifth ... goober drivers. OK, who let all the nuts out of the asylum and gave them keys to their own SUVs?  We saw one woman who was eating with chopsticks while talking on her cell phone AND driving ... and doing a messy job of all three, from the looks of things.

But, we did have a delightful time!

=^..^= MOLLY

Welcome back Molly!  Glad you had a good time!  Love your glasses

I totally feel your pain with the wait-staff.  People just don't seem to understand the concept behind no rice, double vegetables.  That's one of the few good things about diners.  You don't get weird looks when you order just vegetables as your sides.  I suggest a snooty Queen Victoria look and attitude right back at them. 

Today's rant -- Co-workers.  In particular, the idiot who is incapable of anything that he considers beneath him.  IE, putting things away.  Yes, I understand that as clerical staff, one of my duties is to file paperwork.  But, I also operate under the you got it out, you put it away premise.  I was snidely informed today that my file box is full and hasn't been touched in weeks, so that's why the files got put in my to fax box.  I put on my best confused look and said that I don't have a file box, I have a general in box and a to fax box.  As the idiot in question walked away, he said you still file don't you?  Arrggghh!  And which of my other responsibilities and extra projects that all have deadlines am I supposed to stop doing so that I can be at his beck and call to retrieve papers and put papers away for him?  (None of the other people that I work with are like this).  Oh well.  On the plus side, they are supposed to be evaluating my job to see if what I do fits my classification or not.  I'll believe that when it happens. 

Welcome back, Molly! Love the photo of you in your stylish glasses!

Glad you had a good time - you can see we've been ranting away in your absence.

Regarding snooty waiters, my DH & I were out at the fanciest place in town a while back and, salt junkie that he is, he noticed that there was no salt and pepper on the table.  He had the gall to ask our waiter for salt, and you'd think that he committed a mortal sin right there.  It was comical. 

I love the image of the driver with the cell phone eating with chopsticks.  Now that's multi-tasking!

Molly, you take beautiful pictures!

Oh, PUL-lease...don't get me started with "co" workers......what's so "CO" about males who can't put anything away, can't find anything even if it's under their noses, and then complain that "you're not doing your job" when in fact you're too busy doing theirs?

Phew, can you tell it's been a bad day at the office? I can hardly wait to see how they're going to handle my being off for the entire month of Feb!!!

And I'm taking tomorrow off to prepare for my trip to NYC to visit my daughter!

Long time lurker, first time poster.  I've derived a lot of sympathetic amusement and motivation from this thread, it's wonderful.  I'm generally pretty laid back but I finally have a rant to add...

People who yell things out their car/truck windows at you while you're running.  I'm in that odd phase right now where SOME guys think I have the right amount of fat on me to be 'curvy' and some other guys think I'm still a whale.  So when I go for a run, sometimes I get whistles and catcalls (which, if I'm being really honest, are something of a self esteem boost) and sometimes get 'get in the pool shamu' screeches too.

I mean seriously, I can understand making rude comments to people making poor health decisions.  It's dead wrong, it makes the commenter a bad person, but at least I understand why it happens.  Some of those poor, dumb, rude saps might actually think they are helping in some twisted way.

But WHY IN THE WORLD would you antagonize a stranger who is CLEARLY trying to DO SOMETHING ABOUT the VERY THING you are mocking them for?!?

In my experience everyone has always been super nice and supportive to me when I went to the gym while overweight, almost like they were trying to coax me back in there.  No one jeered at me while I struggled on the treadmill there.  Why is the sidewalk different?

Is it just the avoidance of consequences?  You never really know who yelled something dumb out their truck window?

I have to say, I honestly don't think kiwi and cheese would taste good on anything. And about the server, what if they mixed some crazy thing in with the rice (if they put kiwi and cheese together, you never know) that you had a deadly allergy to? Are they still going to force you to eat it?

Did your co-worker realize that he just wasted more time complaining to you over something he could have fixed, than if he just filed the papers on his own?

omg ellybell, I know!! Are they thinking that yelling stuff like that after you will motivate you to push yourself harder? I mean, come on! All that makes me want to do is turn around and run after them as they drive off.

Original Post by ellybell:


People who yell things out their car/truck windows at you while you're running. 

I think most of us who have ever gotten this pretty much just ignore it, but don't you wish there was enough time before they got out of earshot to have this exchange?

(using the comment from your original post)

Them:  Get back in the pool Shamu.

Me: Only if you promise never to BREED, Plebian swine!

The sad thing is they don't even realize is that by doing what you're doing, eventually, whether it be weeks or months, YOU will be fit and healthy.  And they will still be stupid.

I don't know, maybe kiwi and cheese is better than we give it credit (it does sound pretty gross).  You know, kind of like apple/cheddar.  Individually tasted, you think no WAY those tastes go together.  And yet it's superdelicious.

Apple and cheddar? I might have to try that someday.

OMG is it just a deep south thing?  I thought everyone knew about apple/cheddar.

We put CHEESE on our PIES here we love it so much.

Hmm... you know, this might not be the best place to talk about my favorite ways to eat cheese....

Original Post by ellybell:

OMG is it just a deep south thing?  I thought everyone knew about apple/cheddar.

It might just be that I've never heard of it because I grew up in Arizona. People will always recommend food to me here in Texas, and I'll have to explain to them that they don't have that in Arizona.

Ah, restuarants and their "WHAT?" attitudes....I could rant for hours on that one! Not only are their attitudes rude, they risk our having allergic reactions, let alone running out without paying the bill for something we couldn't/wouldn't eat because they completely ignore the fact that The Customer is Always Correct!!! Finding true Customer Service these days is a real life challenge!!

We once had a waitress who kept saying "Can I get yous anything else?" As a "tip" I left her the following note on a napkin: The word USE is a verb, learn it and apply it correctly. There is no such word as YOUS!

I have a friend who sent back her meal twice because they ignored her special requests. The chef came out to "chat" with her, and she simply stated that if he couldn't honor her request, she couldn't pay the bill!! Out came the dish as she requested!

Now, about those rude enough to shout insults from the car window....ever wonder why there are so many "drive-by" shootings? Wouldn't you sometimes like to shoot, or at least shout back? "Hey Flabbo, when's the last time you got out and walked your arse off?" Or, "bet I could walk faster than you can run, Tubby"

But , alas, our aim is to be better people..in size, shape and spirit!! So we ignore, which is, indeed the polite thing to do!

Ellybell- Just keep running.  Like Stellajo said, you will be fit and healthy, and they will still be stupid.

I have had this happen to me, though, and I know how disturbing it can be!

restaurant

Our family goes to Benihanas weekly.  Now we have the same waitress and cook so we have zero problems.   Prior to requesting our chef and waitress we had to go through these foreigners who barely speak english.  Every week the waitress with a high pitched voice and smiling would say "Pepsi"?  I would say no b/c I dont' drink pop and I don't drink with my meal either.  She would say out loud NO PEPSI?????  Keep in mind there is a table of strangers all sitting together watching and listening.  Being humours natured I would say back to her plenty loud W A T E R  as if she didn't understand English.  What is funny is they would continue doing it week after week until we finally found a waitress we liked.   Oh and then her nice voice would go to a serious voice of disappointment and she would write down water and say it out loud water in a deeper voice.  Too funny.