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! 

Original Post by chunkyprogrammer:

Hello!  This is my first post though I've been lurking for about a month.  I've really enjoyed this thread you all are hilarious :)

Today I have a rant.  It's about shoes.  First of all let me say that my rant makes the assumption that the majority of people who purchase shoes have 5 toes on each foot.  But I believe that the shoe designers have been designing for the more highly evolved people who have managed to get rid of their supposedly superfluous pinky toe.  This is the only explanation that I can find for shoes that fit everywhere except where my pinky toe is and leave my poor toe to get painful blisters if I walk or run anywhere.  Am I talking about silly pointy toe stilleto shoes?  No! I'm talking about Nikes.  NIKES!!!! (please don't sue me Nike).  I've tried wide shoes I rattle around in them *sigh* guess I just have weird feet.

[end rant]

PS. Thanks for this thread it always makes my day. 

Yep... I hear ya!  Of course, I've been ranting about shoes for the past 25 years ... ever since my colossal feet FINALLY stopped growing and left me with ... WHAT!?!? Size 12 feet!?!? Just where the heck am I supposed to find size 12 shoes!?!? AAAUUUGGGH! And it's not "barely" a Size 12... it's a decided, definite Size 12 shoe. (My dad wore size 14 and my mom wore size 11.5... sigh. A family of Big Foots.)

I spend vasts chunks of my life looking vainly and forlornly in shoe store windows, being oft-relegated to catalog shopping (see shoes, order shoes, wait for shoes, receive shoes, try shoes on, shoes don't fit, repack shoes, send shoes back, repeat process. 4 months later, fitting shoes are here, and the event I wanted them for is long since passed.)  Fortunately, SOME Payless Shoe Sources carry random Size 12 shoes, so every time we pass a Payless Shoe Source, I whimper out the car window (like a puppy who wants out of her crate) until my wonderful DH stops the car so I can rush in to examine their shoe selection.  Needless to say, if they have a Size 12 in something I like, I am a happy camper ... but their shoes aren't the most durable and lasting, so I am soon needing my next Payless Shoe Source fix.

The Wizard of Oz taught me that a fabulous pair of shoes can change your life!

=^..^= MOLLY

haha, and here I am getting grumpy when they don't have the styles I like in size 9.  I thought of ordering shoes online but I chickened out because I'm horrible at returning things .

 

Molly, your Russian judge comment made me laugh out loud until I coughed!  Too funny :-)

Warning ... may be too much information!  Molly I totally agree with you about peeing in a cup.  Usually I pick the container up prior to my Dr appointment and do the deed at home where I am less likely to pee all over the container, drip on the floor ... well, way TMI.  Anyway they took me by surprise at my last Dr visit and handed me the cup.  A man was handed his unexpected container at the same time and we trooped, forlornly, off to the adjacent (but of course private) bathrooms.  I had trouble peeing on demand and it seemed like he did too because I heard the tap turn on; I turned mine on.  Eventually I felt like there might be success.

 Fortunately I had taken my right leg out of my slacks and underwear because there was "drippage".  I placed the container on the several pieces of paper towel on the back of the toilet, cleaned the floor, redressed, wiped down the container, washed and sheepishly walked out of the bathroom with my container.  Of course the man next door walked out at the same time with his.  How undignified ... both of us with containers of pee and no where to put them.  RANT ... where is the nurse who needs to receive these specimens and what do we do with it now!!  We stood there like kids with our pee containers in hand until she finally came along after what felt like hours (was just a couple of minutes).  Surely there must be a more dignified way to complete this test!

In Washington when giving a urine sample (well, at least for job situations) you are required to leave all your stuff with the nurse, pee at the site , and the nurse must remain just outside the bathroom door.  You cannot flush or wash your hands until after he/she has checked to make sure that everything is ok.

Now how's that for dignified?

Original Post by brandy_m_gray:

In Washington when giving a urine sample (well, at least for job situations) you are required to leave all your stuff with the nurse, pee at the site , and the nurse must remain just outside the bathroom door.  You cannot flush or wash your hands until after he/she has checked to make sure that everything is ok.

Now how's that for dignified?

That's how it is in Louisiana too, but only for drug screens, not for health panels.

I have a shoe rant, the opposite of Molly's.  I wear size 41/2 or 5.  I always have the option of buying Minnie Mouse or Barbie tennis shoes or shoes that light up.  What I can't seem to find are high heels that are higher than 1/2 and inch.  I actually had to buy suede high heels when I graduated from high school.  They were the only pair of plain black heels I could find....June and wearing suede, hope nobody looked.  Also being really short was fun when I graduated because I was stuck between the tallest girl in our school and the tallest guy, they were bean poles and I looked like a fat chipmonk between them.  If they arrange kids by size for photos in school why couldn't they arrange us by size for graduation.  ok done with rant...feel better....been holding that in for 18 years

Original Post by 4square:

I have a shoe rant, the opposite of Molly's.  I wear size 41/2 or 5.  I always have the option of buying Minnie Mouse or Barbie tennis shoes or shoes that light up.

OK, I would seriously KILL for shoes that lit up!!!!! ROFL!

(I'm just a big kid!)

=^..^= MOLLY

Ok it is not so glamorous when that is part of your only selection.  I am a big kid too, that is why I am a youth pastor, this way I am always part of the youth group

Original Post by stellajo:

Original Post by brandy_m_gray:

In Washington when giving a urine sample (well, at least for job situations) you are required to leave all your stuff with the nurse, pee at the site , and the nurse must remain just outside the bathroom door.  You cannot flush or wash your hands until after he/she has checked to make sure that everything is ok.

Now how's that for dignified?

That's how it is in Louisiana too, but only for drug screens, not for health panels.

I don't know if that's how it is for health panels or not.  But pry not, since people are normally more inclined to get ACCURATE results for those.

I did have to take a pregnancy test once upon a time to get on birth control, and the lab just had a little slot that you put the sample into.  Very convenient.

My mortifying pee-in-a-cup story happened recently when I got my new job (actually about a year and a half ago now). I had to have a drug test, so I took all of my paperwork to the pee-in-a-cup place and got all ready (I had even had extra water on the way there to prepare), only to find out that I didn't have the correct paperwork. I took it back to the office (at my new job), and the woman there called my boss and told him my start day would have to be post-poned because there was a problem with my drug test!!!! As if the problem was that I tested positive, and not that they had just messed up the paperwork! I was so mad, how's that to start a new job as that person who didn't pass the first drug test! Thankfully all was sorted out and the boss does not think I failed the test.

I feel your pain about shoes.  I have wide feet, and I have always had wide feet.  I have to get my shoes special ordered and pay a fortune if I want shoes that actually fit and fit well.  Because there are different definitions of wide, a wide width shoe that I can get at a store doesn't always fit.  One of the pluses of loosing weight is that I no longer need the Plus Size catalogues -- oh, wait, I do!  Those are the ones that carry wide width shoes!

4square, try Auditions or Maryland Square.  My sister has small feet and I know she's gotten some shoes from there.  You could also try Zappos -- they advertise free shipping.

 

Check out this article! We can all retrain our tastebuds for healthier foods!!

http://food.yahoo.com/articles/eatingwell/206 86/retrain-your-tastebuds

Thanks, Sue. That was interesting. I wish I could get hold of a piece of that paper to test how much I taste bitter things. I know my daughter is a super smeller and that has a lot to do with how she eats. She can smell me opening a jar of greek olives from across the house with the door closed!

Rant: The area is being blanketed with ice. I was just sure that the college I work at would tell all non-essential personnel to stay home. (Yes, I am not essential --I can accept that.) But NOOOOOOOOOO! They'll wait until the left over salt has washed off the road and everybody can slide home.

I think that's absolutely true, and thanks for the link!

But as a caution, though, you can also unlearn the training and revert to your old ways pretty easily -- Thus all the losing and regaining weight problems we've all experienced!

READY FOR SOME GARLIC-LIME PEPPER SHRIMP OVER SPINACH?

Garlic-lime pepper shrimp over a bed of steamed spinach ... doesn't that sound just delightful? And it's what I currently have marinating in my fridge ... for LUNCH no less. I just wasn't in the mood for soup, salad or a sandwich, so I thought I'd have something especially delightful for lunch today (though it would make an awesome dinner, too!) I started with a bag of Trader Joe's frozen shrimp and measured out 1/4 of the bag ... 100 grams ... 100 calories. (A nice, lunch-serving of shrimpies. For dinner I use 200 calories' worth.) Then I placed it in a bowl with some fresh lime juice and garlic to marinate! I added 1/2 cup of chopped yellow onion, one whole crispy red pepper, diced, and 8 ounces of fresh, sliced mushrooms. I also added in a small package of shirataki noodles for some color/texture, and then sprinkled everything with some garlic-chili-lime powder and some chives. After it's been marinating in the fridge for a while, I will toss it all in a sizzling electric frying pan and stir fry it up. In the meantime, I will steam 10 ounces of spinach (a bag!) and place it on a plate, so I can dump my delectable garlic-lime-pepper-mushroom-onion combo on top. It's an IMPRESSIVELY HUGE pile of food for just 400 calories ... my normal lunch!

Dinner tonight will be 200 calories' worth of grilled southwestern chicken breast, 14 ounces of lemon-butter grilled fresh asparagus, 8 ounces of roasted banana squash with cinnamon, 8 ounces of garlic-dill fresh green beans, and a salad of cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and radishes in a tangy, no-calorie balsamic vinaigrette. A lot of color, a lot of crunch, a lot of flavor, a lot of fiber, and a lot of food! That oughtta keep me happily munching tonight!

It's cold outside today (in the 40s) ... but it's sunny!!! YAY! I love the twittering-flittering finches and sparrows, the cooing mourning doves, the cheeky-bouncy blue jays, and the scampering squirrels. The green grass is merrily confetti'd with a a carpet of orange, yellow and red leaves -- it looks at if God is having quite the autumn celebration out there! Since the gardeners come tomorrow, I don't see much point in raking today ... but I may venture outside this afternoon for some pruning!

BREAKFAST

two toasted Thomas' light multigrain english muffins (200 calories)

four tablespoons of roasted red pepper hummus (64 calories)

five cubes of Laughing Cow Light Gourmet Cheese Bites (35 calories)

LUNCH

 

100 grams of shrimp, marinated and grilled (100 calories)

one red sweet pepper, diced (43 calories)

one-half cup of onions, diced (34 calories)

eight ounces of fresh mushrooms, sliced (50 calories)

one small package of shirataki noodles-plain (0 calories)

one 1o-ounce bag of fresh spinach (65 calories)

one toasted Thomas' light multigrain english muffin (100 calories)

DINNER

one serving of southwestern grilled chicken breast (200 calories)

eight ounces of roasted banana squash (91 calories)

fourteen ounces of grilled fresh asparagus (71 calories)

eight ounces of fresh garlic-dill green beans (50 calories)

one medium cucumber, peeled/diced (24 calories)

one cup of cherry tomatoes, diced (27 calories)

two cups of sliced radishes (37 calories)

CALORIE TOTAL: 1198 (does not include after-dinner snacks)

FIBER TOTAL: 64 grams

VEGGIE TOTAL: 17 servings

NUTRITION REPORT: ( 9.2% fat / 37.9% protein / 53.0% carbs)

=^..^= MOLLY

>>>> WHINE ALERT <<<<<

I am getting antsy, anxious, and frustrated by how my weight loss is going, which makes absolutely NO sense whatsoever since it's humming along nicely. Maybe I am just getting the winter-time, cold-weather blues? Who knows?  Anyway, I weigh in on Sundays and as of last week's weigh in, I am down to 307.6 (which represents a 61.6 pound loss in 16 weeks.)  As I approach the 200s, I feel more and more lacking in patience and I just want to scream!!! Ahh, cold weather, calorie-counting, and hormonal surges (I'm in my 40s) are a grouchy-causing combination for me, methinks.

And my wonderful DH, who isn't dieting, stepped on the scale this morning and cheerfully announced, "Hey! I lost 6 pounds without even trying!"  I think one of these evenings I may just have to sneak up behind him and THWACK him over the head with his icecream carton!

Anyway, thanks for letting me whine.

=^..^= MOLLY

Rumor has it that whining also burns calories.

=^..^= MOLLY

I know how you feel Molly, as my weight has been creeping down I have been practically holding my breath because I knew it wouldn't be long before I weighed less than my husband. 

It's a big deal for me (He doesn't know it yet) and is sort of a milestone. I just don't want to be bigger/weigh more than him. It makes me feel... less womanly, or something.

So I got all excited at my last weigh in and I IM'd him while he was at work and told him about my new weigh in:

Me: "Pretty soon I'll weigh less than you "

Him: "Oh, y'know what last time I weighed, that thing said I weighed 161 lbs, does that seem right to you?"

Me: *heart crushed silence* That's so great for you hon. That totally makes sense you've been eating what I've been eating and you eat even less at work. That's so great!

I'm glad for him, he's trying to lose too but I was like, "Ouch..." and although he starves himself when they don't, his work takes him out to eat all the time! He gets bacon burgers, ribeye, donuts, bagels, mexican food.

In the end it doesn't matter, it WILL happen.

I just.. *sigh* am really workin' at it.