Adina’s Cute & Perky Blog!

We have all been guilty of trying to find the easy way out.  It’s logical to find the shortest route to where you are going.  Sometimes you buy food for a party rather than make it.  Sometimes you pay for services you could do yourself to save time.
 

But there are some things in life with no easy route.
 

Bodybuilding for instance.  It’s like the quote from Ronnie Coleman.  I’m not sure exactly how it goes, but it rings to the tune…everybody wants muscles, but no body wants to lift no heavy ass weights.
 

Losing weight is the same way.  There really is no easy route.  My friend Allen (asmolenski) reminded me of this when he replied to my blog recently.  He said:
“I am amazed at how doctors and nurses I work with (people who should know better) fail to get it right. A nurse asked me for a prescription for “diet pills” so I wrote her a prescription that said “Eat Less and Exercise”.
You see, I was once the recipient of one of these prescriptions myself.  When I came back for my six week appointment after the birth of my second child, I tipped the scales at 256 pounds.  Dr. Angle sat me down and told me he was giving me a prescription for weight loss.  He took out his little pad and wrote on it “195.”  And that was all he wrote.  He even offered to let me weigh in at his office every week. 
I looked at him like he was crazy, because that didn’t seem low enough.  But he saw what I could not see at the time.  I needed to focus on small goals.  I needed to take it day by day.
He didn’t offer me pills, as he well could have.  Just like Allen, he told me to eat less and exercise more.
It would be years later, and after the death of Dr. Angle before I hit that mark.  And when I did, I E-mailed his widow to let her know. 
But in the grand scheme of things, as Allen and Dr. Angle remind me, the prescription to weight loss really is: eat less and exercise more.
Have you filled your prescription lately?

Attention, K-Mart Shoppers: There is nothing magical about starting a diet on January 1.

“I whined and I complained till the fat just melted right off my body.”

“I asked everyone I knew who lost weight.  I finally found one who knew what the magic pill was.”

“I never exercised.”

“I ate junk food every day.”

“I worked my ass off.  I didn’t take pills.  I didn’t have surgery.  I joined a gym.  I ran bleachers so long my legs would tremble as I stood to unlock my car door!”

Only one of these describes my weight loss.  Of course, it’s the last one listed.  But that’s just not what people want to hear.

This week is a big week for next year’s dieters.  Thousands upon thousands will gorge themselves silly this week in preparation for a January 1 diet.

Unfortunately, very few will succeed.

Even fewer will keep it off.

What made the difference for me? 

I didn’t look for pills.  Before my success I tried pills.  Twice.  My blood pressure sky-rocketed

I didn’t investigate surgeries.  I just didn’t want to go there.  I had seen too many people look away when asked how they lost their weight.  If I was going to do it, I wanted to look people in the eyes and say I did it the hard way.

I didn’t whine.  I hear from so many people asking how I lost the weight.  So many of them complain that they can’t eat this or they can’t do that.  You know what?  Make a list of what you CAN do.  Look at the people who look the way you want to look.  They are not eating junk.  Even better, take a good eye-full of the people around you the next time you go to Mickey Dee’s.  I mean get a REAL eye-full.  Count how many people have bellies that reach the counter a good foot before they do.  But…they aren’t whining.  They are ordering their lard-food with pride!

You know what you have to do. 

You know how you have to do it.

Get it done.

As I celebrate my second Christmas as a normal size girl, I am reminded what a blessing it is to have lost the weight and kept it off over a year now.

My obese coworker asked me before we left work on the last day the caloric content of every food she might possibly eat. 

I discussed healthy choices with her.  I told her what was OK and what was not.

I was sad for her as I left.  She has been dieting for almost a year now, yet she has not really lost anything.  So, I know she is not dieting really.  But she thinks she is.

I don’t really have to think about what I eat today.  I might make some poor food choices, but my calories will still be in check.  I have eaten six small meals for so long now that my body simply cannot take more than a few hundred calories at a setting.

And that is freeing.

To not think or worry about food on a day like today.

I watched the boys open their presents and didn’t worry about breakfast.

I didn’t worry about rushing to fix my hair and make-up.  Something I always did to compensate for my size.

I had cocoa with my boyfriend last night and didn’t worry the waitress would think I shouldn’t be consuming it.

I shopped in regular stores and didn’t worry the sales people were wanting to tell me they didn’t carry my size.

Today is a day about giving.  The single best gift you can give yourself and your loved ones is the gift of good health.

I do not look back at my two years of hard work and wish I had not done it.  It is a continual source of greatest pride.

Merry Christmas and wishes of good health and fitness!

Adina

Do I DESERVE to cheat today?

I say “deserve” because that is what I will hear my gym buddies say when I see them on Wednesday.  The ones that cheat, that is.

“I worked so hard, I decided I deserved to cheat.”

“Yes, I cheated.  I deserved it.”

My favorite of late: “I did extra cardio so I decided I can afford to cheat.  I deserve it.”

Gotta love pre-guilt! 

If you’re going to have cheat foods, just do it.  But don’t justify it.  You are grown, and you owe no one an explanation.

But here’s what I deserve:

Peace.

Happiness.

Good health.

Happy Kids.

A fun day.

A day free from stress.

A healthy body.

To look good in a little black dress.

Uncontrolled joy.

I may or may not cheat today and tomorrow.

But if I do, it won’t be because I DESERVE it.  It will be because I made a conscious decision to eat some food off plan.

And life goes on.  And I am no less or more of a person than I was the day before.

What do you deserve?

So I was ironing Jonah’s church clothes this morning.  And let me just tell you, I HATE ironing.  So as the iron was moving back and forth, back and forth, across the khaki fabric, I was asking in rhythm with the iron, “Why am I doing this?”

The answer of course was obvious.  So he will look his best.  What would be the point of his bathing, combing his hair, brushing his teeth, and then walking in in wrinkled pants?  People might tell him, “Your hair looks nice.” Or, “I like your shirt.” But something would be missing.  No one would be able to say, “You look good!”

I walked around in the wrinkled pants of obesity for years.  And I heard comments accordingly. 

“You have such a pretty face.”

“You really fix up.”

“Wow, that’s a nice outfit.”

I ironed my pants and lost 121 pounds.

Now I hear things like, “Wow, you look great.”

I was the most fixed up fat girl you would know.  Hair.  Make-up.  Nails.

What I wore to Wal-Mart, you would have worn to a party.

But I was obese, so my pants were still wrinkled.  No matter how much I fixed, my pants were still wrinkled.

So, get out that iron!  You need to iron your pants, so you don’t have to wear party clothes to Wal-Mart to feel good about yourself.

All you can eat.  I went to an all you can eat buffet today.  Me, my mother, and 42,000 obese people.  There was an obese person everywhere I looked.

I was thinking about how we think of things like buffets as gifts.  There are so many things we think of as gifts, when they are so very bad for us.

Buffets.  Do we really need permission to eat all we can?  That’s not a gift.

Starbucks.  Do I need 400 calories of egg nog in my coffee?  That’s not a gift.

Front row parking.  We get so excited when a space opens up right outside the door when the truth is, we just missed the opportunity to burn a few extra calories.  That’s not a gift.

Super Size.  We get so excited when we can upgrade things.  At McDonalds it’s actually cheaper to get two pies than one.  That’s just wrong.  That not a gift.

Fast Food Hours.  So many of the fast food chains in my area boast about being open till midnight or even later.  Do we really need to eat fried food at 2:00am?  That’s not a gift.

I did some people watching today.  I watched an elderly obese woman struggle to make it from the car into the store.  She was winded by the time she got inside.  The first thing she did?  Order a 600 calorie coffee.

I’m sure she thought it was a gift that there was a Starbucks inside Target.

About two years ago I exchanged my gifts.  I didn’t have the receipt, but I returned Starbucks and buffets.  I used my store credit to get clean food, black coffee, and a gym membership.

Now THOSE are gifts.

And I get to open them everyday.

Don’t you just love it when someone tells you something obvious that you just can’t respond to without sounding arrogant or self-righteous?

I am a quick-witted person.  I can make you blush from your head to your toes.  I can make you run.  I can make you recoil.  I can make you wish you had not started mental battle with me.

Yet, there is this one phrase.  This one stupid little phrase that I am powerless to reply to.

The conversation always begins when someone confronts me about my weight loss.  I say confront, because there is this segment of the population who tend to be confrontational toward people who have achieved their weight loss goals.

The conversation starts by them asking how I did it.

Next comes the head to toe glance over.  Prompting me to wonder if I should just go ahead and spin for them.

Then comes my pep talk…and I give a damn fine pep talk, ending in my desire to help them achieve what I did…because anybody CAN do what I did.

And then it comes.

“But you obviously have more motivation than I do.”

And along with this statement comes the look.  The look like the mother of all obesity excuses has just been birthed right there in front of me.  Through natural child birth no less.  And I’m sure it was over nine pounds.

I have not figured out what to say to this.  What do you say to someone offering you the worst excuse you have ever heard?

If  I say, “Why yes, I do.”  Well, that sounds arrogant.

If I say, “No, I don’t.” I’m lying.

If I say, “Well, maybe.” I’m being wishy-washy.

Instead, I walk away. 

Because obviously, I have more motivation than they do. 

Obviously.

And they shouldn’t even try.

Because I am clearly the Queen of Motivation.  And it wasn’t hard for me AT ALL.

“Life is short, eat dessert first.”

I forget sometimes the joy of running.

My eleven year old son knows. 

He doesn’t walk to the mailbox.  He runs.

He doesn’t walk across the street.  He runs.

He doesn’t walk from the car to the mall.  He runs.

Jonah is a runner.

He doesn’t have to put on certain shoes or certain clothes.

He doesn’t have to map out a perfect course.

He doesn’t have to make sure the moon and stars align.

He just runs.

When he feels like it, he runs.

I run as well.  But I make it a chore.  I have to have certain clothes and certain shoes.  I only run when scheduled.  I read everything I can get my hands on to make sure I am getting the most effective run at the most effective time.  If I feel like running and it’s a non-cardio day, I don’t run.

Jonah’s eyes sparkle when he runs.

Mine do not.