gallavant

We are having a pot luck in the office tomorrow.  There is a sign up sheet going around, and suddenly I understand why most of the women in our little area, including me,  are extra curvy.  On the menu for lunch? Fried Chicken, BBQ meatballs, potato salad, cake, cake and more cake, “dessert” several times - chips & dip - I’m bringing fresh peaches and strawberries.  Someone is bringing salad - but it’s going to be, and I will bet money on this, smothered in bacon bits, croutons, and some sort of gloppy fatty dressing.  Time for a strategy.  The thing that I hate about these things is that if I don’t load up my plate like I’m never going to see food again, someone is going to point it out and make some SNARKY comment.  If I don’t try the  chili cheese bacon dip or death by chocolate cake  that ”Betty” made from scratch using her new receipe from Southern Living,  her feelings are going to be hurt.  I just can’t eat that crap and be healthy.  If I say that point blank, then “Betty” looks at her own plate loaded down with 3,000 calories and gets pissed.  If I say that I am trying to lose weight, then women with more to lose than me tell me I don’t need to worry about it.  Bullsh**.  I know my BMI - I’m a good 20#’s past not needing to worry about it.   Oh well.  Peer pressure. 

I will start with a healthy breakfast.  I will imagine haggis.  I will not offer explanations about my food choices.  I will tell “Betty” that her chili bacon cheese dip looks delightful and I can tell that people are really enjoying it.  A dieter at a grand feed like this one is about as welcome as a who*e in church.  I will keep that in mind and try to keep my healthy eating to myself.

Will post my weight  tomorrow.  It’s been steady below 160 for two mornings, we’ll see if it holds.  My weight varies from day to day, so I will not post a new weight until it’s been that for three days in a row.  Be much blessed, ya’ll

Well, made it back from the North Alabama Scottish Festival.  Boat did great, stayed at a beautiful marina in Scottsboro, Goose Pond Colony - and really enjoyed the festival.  I have a thing for bagpipes, what can I say.  Hope to have pics on my profile page soon.   Stayed away from the food vendors - there was a booth called the Frying Scottsman that sold, and I am not kidding, Fried Snickers Bars.  And Haggis & chips.  Fried hardboiled eggs - ugh!!!!  In 95+ degree heat.  Nauseating.   

I’m originally from Colorado, and was fortunate enough to land in Alabama about 15 years ago.  I really love it here - but the food here is a nutritionists nightmare.  I worked my way thru college in a redneck diner and learned about the south and the glory that is southern cooking while working there.   I discovered that I really love the South and southern cooking - Fried Green Tomatoes, real coleslaw with mayo & sugar, fried chicken, buttermilk biscuits and gravy.  Everthing is prepared with some mixture of sugar, salt, and fat.  Squash is fried.  There was a place down the road where I used to live that actually sold hamburgers, battered, and then deep fat fried.  Turnip greens are cooked with pork fat.  Same with beans.  Macaroni & Cheese is a vegetable here.  It’s rare to find a place to eat that isn’t an ”All You Can Eat Buffet”.  I could eat like that when I was chain smoking,  younger, and running myself ragged working & going to school, trying to raise a family - but the moment I got a desk job & put down the smokes - and turned 40 - well, hello biscuit butt. 

I have no tolerance for it anymore.  I know how to eat right - so I will.  Two more days till I weigh in.  Hoping to be anywhere below where I am now.

Hi ya’ll;

Weird day -  Today was birthday time in the office.  I have the good fortune to work with a woman who is a wonderful cook - and she brought in a lemon poppyseed bundt cake that was like heaven.  Then we all went out for lunch - Mexican.  Two weaknesses I have - Mexican food and cake - so here’s how I handled it.  I did eat the cake - and I’m so glad I did because it was really really good.  One slice.  At lunch, I had a grilled chicken salad with black bean salsa, fresh pico,  real chipolte ranch dressing and pepperjack cheese (deprivation not my thing) wow, good stuff.  O.k, what I wanted was the Enchalada Platter - with extra sour cream - but I do recall the statement “nothing tastes as good as thin feels” - so that worked.  When the late afternoon munchies set in, I thought about the cake - I looked at my Wasa Whole Grain Crisp bread & peanut butter - I took a deep breath and - - - ate my crispbread.   Worked out like a fiend after work - 20 minutes rowing, biking, treadmill & elliptical for a total of 80 minutes of powerful fat burning cardio.  Bye Bye Cake.

Here’s my 15 seconds - totally surreal - I’m back at my desk, getting into the work groove, got my XM getting ready to hear Dr. Laura give em hell and - - - she read the blog I posted yesterday - on the air.  Cheeze Whiz.  I thought only ya’ll read this stuff, you know,   folks like me who need to drop a few & need a little encouragement to keep going - it was bizzare.  Anyway, I called my mom - told her to call my conservative uncle and tell him about it cause he’ll be so proud.  The rest of the family will probably disown me.

Other personal stuff:  Still getting ready for my trip Scottish festival up the TN river.  I’m thinking of loading up the boat Thursday night rather than Friday morning - it’s going to be hotter than blue blazes on Friday, and I’m thinking leaving EARLY Friday might be best - beat the heat.  There should be wind from a favorable direction, so I should be able to sail/ motor sail for a chunk of the trip.  I’m thinking haggis might be the perfect diet food - much like spam, too revolting to eat.   Looking forward to the music & the piping - bummed that the grandkids won’t be there - my mom & dad & daughter & son in law have no desire to drive the guys up in the heat & they are too young to come with me on the boat.

Ya’ll are the gravy on my grits.  Be blessed.

O.k., I confess - I’ve just started listening to Dr. Laura in the afternoons on XM at my desk.  She’s said some not so nice things about extra curvy people - still and all, today she said something that made sense to me - a curvy person called her and asked how she stayed motivated to work out - her answer?  Motivation has nothing to do with it - she does not get up and feel excited about working out  - BUT SHE DOES IT ANYWAY.  It’s not motivation, it’s just what she does because she has to do it.  I beleive the word she used was “grit”.  I would like to get there - make taking the stairs like brushing my teeth - just do it because it needs doing.  So when I left work today after a one hour commute and ten hours behind my desk and didn’t “feel” like going to the gym - had no “motivation” to do so I thought to myself - yeah, I have no motivation today - none zero zap zilch - but I do have plenty of grit.  And that is what got me to the gym - and boosted my normal workout.

Then there is this site - which is motivating to me - I have a buddy that I report to every day about how many flights of stairs I took - and that really does keep me from taking the elevator.  It also helps me to keep fitness and health as an active part of my life instead of as an afterthought. 

My final thought - grit alone ain’t enough - but sometimes it’s all you have - so use it.  Motivation is the gravy on the grit(s).  I’m a hefty girl - I really like gravy a lot.  So I’m really glad I’m here.

O.k - I’m thrilled that I very easily lost the five pounds I always gain when I don’t exercise.  Cool beans, love that my body responds so well.  Three days of reasonable eating - and I really feel like I ought to be skinny already!!  I think that I am not going to weigh again until next Monday - then I will be able to see what ten days of reasonable eating AND regular activity do.  Maybe kick it down another five. 

Other than that- Sunday I got my shiplet ready for a long trip this weekend.  Leaving Friday morning, coming back Sunday evening.  Should be good fun.  Worried about my workout - I’m working extra long days so I don’t use up a lot of my vacation time.  Thought about working out tonight, but I was just too tired after work and still sore from yesterday’s adventures - lugging the dingy to the water, rowing out to my boat, contorting myself to scrub her down - ouch!  however, my nana wings are gone.  No flapage at all!!

I did go on my 2 mile walk today - I ate reasonably - kept the calorie content under or around 1200 - cleaned my house a little bit - Mostly today I was just grateful.   I live at a marina so I am surrounded by beauty and have the opportunity to meet  many different people.  Today I spend the day on the dock pitching in to help a fellow sailor get his boat out of the water - his scuppers clogged up, his boat took on water, and now it’s at the bottom of the lake.  I was the  ”gofer” - which was great because I didn’t have to get into that scummy icky water - it was interesting to me to see how people come together to solve problems - everyone comes in with an idea about how to solve the problem - what works, what doesn’t, what’s been tried, what hasn’t - and working together they figure it out - a lot like this place I think.  Well, the boat is still at the bottom of the lake, I’m still overweight, we’ll give it another shot in the morning.  Keep trying - keep open to new ideas - something will work.

 Ommmmm ya’ll

It’s ______ and exercise - the magic non-wormknuckle formula to weight loss.  I’ve been avoiding that part of the puzzle - I like healthy food -  in fact today I had plain non fat yogurt for breakfast w/ frozen cherries and I really liked it -  also really enjoyed my veggie burger on one piece of whole wheat bread - liked my fresh carrots and celery sticks -   will probably have a bag of 100 caolorie popcorn later tonight for snack - but that doesn’t make up for the days when I make not so good choices - too much of too bad - No, a chocolate bar is not satan, cake is not evil, and an occasional fried thing does not need to end my quest for thighs that don’t rub together -  but the amounts of those things and the frequency with wich I consume them is troublesome.  When in the cafeteria at work, I will go in with every intention of grabbing a box of fat free milk to put on my kashi cereal - but when the smell of BACON hits me, frequently, the Kashi goes by the wayside.  Eggs, biscuits, bacon, hashbrowns.  mmmmm.  Same with lunch -  yeah, baked fish & steamed broccoli is always a good option - but there’s mac & cheese (it’s a vegetable in the South) - fried chicken - peach cobbler.  Needless to say I do better when I avoid the cafeteria.

When in doubt, look at the size of the butts in the line - salad bar, little butts, mac & cheese fried chicken line, not so much.

Guess I’d better suck it up and set some limits.  Fat breakfast once a week, fine - five days a week, NO.  Baked fish with mac & cheese?  Better than Fried Chicken with.  Practice moderation.  It’s what I’ll think about over the weekend.

The pool where I live is clothing optional after 9:00 - and I am a proud member of the 9:01 club.  Fortunatly for me, the pool is under repair right now - so no worries!   It is, however,   a reality check - bods is bods is bods - and nekked is nekked.  Still, knowing that the 9:01 club will soon be in session for the summer is motivation to stay on that treadmill for another 10 minutes!!  

 All kidding aside, skinny dipping actually fills me with a sense of gratitude - I love to swim and knowing that my body is working and able and that my friends accept me as god made me (in very dim light) is empowering.   I used to go when I was a kid - we’d sneak up to the lake with a bottle of Boone’s Farm and frolic.  Good fun with good friends.  It’s an innocent child like feeling.  Just being peaceful with who I am and who I am with at the moment.

Ommmm ya’ll

O.k., I really don’t want to be one of those overweight people who has it in for slender girls, but this was too funny.  I’m a pretty healthy woman - I hit the gym  regularly  & stay active - I have a weakness for fried things that the treadmill just can’t overcome, but I’m working on it.  So, skinny pretty girl, in heels because this is the South, is ahead of me on the stairs - she gets up two flights and is panting for air - turns to me and says, “This just always wears me out!!”  Two flights?  Not only was she easily 30 to 40 pounds lighter but she had to be 15 years younger - and I kicked her skinny young butt on the two flight challenge.  Yippy!!

I’ve been skinny for most of my life.  When I look at what kept me thin - stress, coffee & smoking - I really wouldn’t want to go back.  I always used to tease that I had two weights - scrawny & miserable or fat n’ happy - I need to find a third weight - healthy n’ happy. 

Diet and exercise - ARRRGGG!!  There has to be an easier way!  Those weight loss gimicks are always so seductive - just pop a pill - drink a potion - clean your ever loving colon so your immune system functions better and the weight just melts away?????  What the F****?    Hoodia - green tea - colon blow -  hydroxycut-  dexatrim - Hollywood -  if it worked i guess there would be no overweight people - but there are - - -my conclusion - worms don’t have knuckles - so please don’t try to sell them to me.  There is no such thing as a magic pill to make me skinny and fit - may as well invest in worm knuckles.  Pass the Nutty Buddies & revv up the treadmill

amen