MOLLY'S DIET RANTS! (ranting, raving, motivating & more)
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!
Reason: Removed sticky 9/12, had been up since 9/4
Argh on the cable company! It seemed like every quarter they'd raise the bill and try to justify it with what they called better selection. Better selection = 3 MORE shopping networks! I eventually switched to a disk but I'm fairly sure it's just going to give me another company to hate. 
Yay, Sue! "I'm mad as heck, and I'm not going to take it anymore!"
Hahaha, I'm with you on the cereal! I love love love cereal. I can't help it but get a heaping serving or two. :)
We just stopped getting TV because it was stupidly expensive. I only watch like 10, maybe 20 channels, why do I have to pay $50 for over 100 channels? Grr...I wish we could have better packages that we can actually choose...
Good luck! fight the good fight!
Cereal, cereal, cereal.....I have a 15 yo (always hungry) autistic son who likes his cereal in a certain bowl and will not fill it beyond a certain line below the rim. It doesn't matter if there are 10 pieces of cereal left, he will NOT overfill his bowl to empty the box. While this particular quirk keeps him from overeating, this is my rant....He will put the box of cereal back in the cabinet with 10 or 5 or 3 flakes in the box....When he is ready for another bowl of cereal, he refuses to use the opened box because it isn't enough for a full bowl--he HAS to open a new box...I get ready to go grocery shopping, look in the pantry and see we have 4 boxes of cereal and don't buy any....LITTLE DO I KNOW that all 4 boxes combined would equal about 20 flakes!!! We are always out of cereal! But what the heck..if that is the worse thing I have to complain about having two teenagers, then I am blessed.
(Other than the time we were having important dinner guests and my homemade rolls didn't rise, despite it being a recipe I use often...we later found out my son was "helping" me by patting it every time he walked by so it wouldn't run over the top of the pan - gotta stay inside the rim ya know!!!)
oh my gosh tamaretta, that's cute! I know it's got to drive you crazy on some level but it seems you have a great sense of humor too. That's so important for any parent! My kids will use the last 5 flakes but often will leave a half a serving. I bought a few nearly clear boxes with pour spouts to keep the cereal in (also keeps it from getting stale) so now I know if we have a lot or just the dregs of three kinds. It has the added bonus of making it possible for me to sneak the store brand of certain cereals past them! lol!
I havent posted here before but I've been following you guys for a while and feel a rant of my own is in order. It is August. The height of the Summer, kids are at home, etc etc. So why oh why are we suffering October weather. How am I supposed to lose weight by eating salads and healthy barbeques when its piddling with rain, blowing a gale and all I want to eat is sausage casserole and mash or steak and kidney pies????? Today its 15 degrees, wet, windy and so far this summer we've had the grand total of approx 6 dry days (and most of them were in March!!!) I've managed to lose 8lbs in 3 months with 70 to go. Any ideas for healthy comfort food????? Oh for a sunnier climate than Old Blighty!!
Day Three in Alaska (Tuesday Aug 12) was our coolest, most overcast day yet. We headed to the beautiful Alaska Zoo in Anchorage in the morning, where we spent three hours truly enjoying ourselves! My favorites? The snow leopard gets first choice, followed by a cheeky river otter, the polar bears (I have a thing for polar bear butts, it seems), the red fox, and a really nifty red mushroom we saw growing in the bushes. Then we had a scrumptious lunch at Sullivan's Steak House downtown (gotta love eating low carb -- more steak!) before heading south east around the Turnagain Arm (a big inlet) to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. On the way there we stopped alongside the Seward Highway to watch a large pod of adult and baby beluga whales frolicking in the water -- truly the coolest thing EVER! At the Conservation Center, my favorites were the moose and the brown bears, though the black bears, caribou and elk were great, too.
SUNSET FROM THE SEWARD HIGHWAY AT 10:25pm
We leave Anchorage on Wed Aug 13 to spend two nights in Seward (120 miles south). On the 13th we're going to the Seward Sea Life Center and on the 14th we're going on an all day "Wildlife Viewing" cruise. On Friday Aug 15 we drive to Kenai to spend a few hours with Cruebug (yay! Go Calorie Count!) before spending Friday night in Girdwood. On Saturday Aug 16 we drive from Girdwood to Whittier, where we catch a 6 hour Glacier Cruise of Prince William Sound. We spend Saturday night in Girdwood, too. On Sunday the 17th, we head back to Anchorage and Elmendorf AFB ... where for the next 2 days we want to visit the Botanical Gardens and the Eagle River Nature Center. We fly home on the 19th.
Rant...well, actually more like a whine....
I wanna be in Alaska too!
Welcome milledog!
I chuckled about "healthy salads and BBQ" Around here, salads are loaded with potatoes and mayonnaise! And we BBQ lots of sausages and greasy burgers. Top off the meal with a bit of ice cream for dessert. Now, ain't that Healthy???LOL
Rant and Rave all mixed into one!
Okay, I went away for 3 months to work at a summer camp in central Maine. I actually lost 10 pounds even though 1. the average weight gain in staff is 7 pounds 2. the food is mostly carbs 3. I didn't really try too hard to lose weight, just hoped to maintain the 36 pound loss this year. But, on the other hand, I forgot how to shop, plan meals, pack my lunch.
I have no idea what I want to eat, I am so used to showing up at meal times and food being ready. Now I have to plan and go to the store and remember about all the food stuff (as opposed to thinking in terms of healthy or not, chicken nuggets = not healthy, salad = healthy) I made a grocery list and forgot it at home so I went to the store and bought everything I wanted. Good thing I was at Trader Joes and picked lots of fruits and veggies (and cookies). It did take me like 25 minutes to pack my lunch for tomorrow though. I got a cute new lunch box for the new school year though so at least my lunch will look cute in the staff room.
robin
Original Post by milledog:
I havent posted here before but I've been following you guys for a while and feel a rant of my own is in order. It is August. The height of the Summer, kids are at home, etc etc. So why oh why are we suffering October weather. How am I supposed to lose weight by eating salads and healthy barbeques when its piddling with rain, blowing a gale and all I want to eat is sausage casserole and mash or steak and kidney pies????? Today its 15 degrees, wet, windy and so far this summer we've had the grand total of approx 6 dry days (and most of them were in March!!!) I've managed to lose 8lbs in 3 months with 70 to go. Any ideas for healthy comfort food????? Oh for a sunnier climate than Old Blighty!!
Hey, millie... you must be in England. If ya want some summer come on over here to Atlanta, GA. There is PLENTY to go around. personally, I'd LOVE some October weather. Tho the temp has dropped to about 87, the humidity is always at least 80% becasue of the summer showers which are always impending. I can't get out and be active because it's so hot. I detest it. I'd move but it's just not a part of the plan right now. So I suffer it. Anyway, here's some humid, sweltering summer for ya... <WHISH!> Enjoy.
OK, I have a diet rant.
I got mild food-poisoning after eating a grilled chicken breast at a bar during my brother in-law's 40th birthday party. I would not usually eat at a bar, but it was 11pm and I hadn't eaten in 10 hours. So I ordered the most innocuous item, a grilled chicken breast sandwich. I only ate the meat, tomato and about 3 fries with a beer. At about 4am I woke up sweating profusely and vomited it all up. I was so sick for the next 12 hours I threw up my own saliva. But, the next day, after starving, I got on the scale and had lost 3 pounds! YAY! Then, today, I got on and had gained 2 of 'em back. So, now all I have to do is eat rotten food a couple of times a week and I might make my GW in 2 months!
In case it wasn't dreadfully obvious, that last sentence was completely sarcastic.
I went to a big nerd convention last weekend (Gencon in Indy for those playing at home). I was really nervous about the con because I would be stuck eating not so healthy foods. I made sure to workout every morning before the con and then we ended up walking soooo much.
I ended up losing 4 pounds (a good 2 of that is probably because my TOTM ended and I stopped retaining water)! Yay me! I was able to get my "thin clothes" box out of my closet and most of the stuff fit. I dived from 16 into 12 size pants. Woo! Well, I have 14s as well. But I'm pleased. It's nice to be able to wear some of my cuter clothes again.
Also, I am 1 lb away from my halfway mark. Scary!
Ew, mspw, I'll leave THAT diet to you! Yuck!
Congrats, anonymous! What a great way to handle a convention! Most people would gain.
It's Tuesday Aug 19 and we're in the Anchorage Airport waiting for our flight to Seattle, then on home to Fresno. We should land around 10pm tonight. We haven't had good Internet access the past 5 days, so I haven't posted as much as I'd hoped. On Mon Aug 18 (yesterday) we spent the day in Anchorage, enjoying some museums and shopping and touristy-exhibits and having dinner with my online friend, Erin... which was nice (fresh halibut ... yum!) Afterward, we were driving around Elmendorf AFB when we spotted a mama moose and a calf right next to the BX parking lot, so we parked and watched them happily munch on clover for about 40 minutes. Being about 30-45 feet from two moosies was the NIFTIEST thing ever!!!!
On Sun Aug 17 we decided to ride the Alaska Railroad from Portage to Grandview, with a whistle stop at the Spencer Glacier. The scenery was just breathtaking and it was nice to sit back, relax, and drink it all in! Seeing vast fields of wild berries, large patches of snow all over the ground, and dozens of beaver dams -- all very cool. On Sat Aug 16 we drove from Girdwood to Whittier (population 300) and took an afternoon cruise of the glaciers of Prince William Sound. We saw thousands of kittiwakes nesting, rafts of adorable fuzzy-muzzle-puffed sea otters, calving glaciers, and seals. We also saw a mom black bear and 2 cubs. On Friday Aug 15 we drove from Seward to Kenai to spend some time with CC's very own Cruebug... which was just delightful! She took me berry picking in her very own back yard! Driving back from Kenai to Girdwood we watched two black bears fishing for salmon along the river -- and even saw one catch (and chomp) a pestering sea gull. On Thursday Aug 14 we visited some lakes, rivers and glaciers around Seward -- our boat trip was cancelled due to 15 ft swells.
Final count of animals seen in the wild: 5 black bears, 3 moose, 2 Dall sheep, about 15-20 beluga whales, about a dozen otters, 2 elk, 2 loons, 3 seals, LOTS of bald eagles, LOTS of ravens, LOTS of magpies, thousands of kittiwakes, one rabbit and one pika.
RON ENCOUNTERS MORE ALASKA WILD LIFE
CHUGACH NATIONAL FOREST (TEMPERATE RAINFOREST)
Rant!!
I was taking a "progress report" picture for this site wearing my "new" pants that look excellent on me. I got the picture taken and then bent over to get my camera cord and popped my button! How insulting. Stupid pants. 
Well.
291.2.
Crap.
Up about 15 pounds from my lowest.
Getting on the scale was a bit sobering, a bit depressing, not terribly surprising, but VERY motivating. I apparently "suck" at maintenance (who am I kidding, I have been in full-blown vacation mode for the last 7 weeks) and it's time to get back on track. With logging everything. With measuring everything. With counting calories. And with losing. And with getting my blood sugars back under control. Dagnabbit. Gaining 2 pounds a week is a heckuva lot easier than losing 2 pounds a week, ya know?
I am trying hard to keep things in perspective -- and focusing on the positive. I've still lost 85 pounds and kept them off for a year (as of Friday.) Who knows, maybe I will be down a pound or two by that one-year mark. Anyway, I'll take 85 pounds for my first year at Calorie Count. I wanted my official loss to stay at that magic 100 mark, but I didn't want it badly enough to stay on track. A lesson learned. Fall off the bike? Get your butt back on the bike.
I did it once, I can (and will) do it again.
(sigh)
Welcome back Molly!
Well, there is certainly no Magic when it comes to weight loss, is there? Despite all the advertising and billions spent on diet products, it still comes down to the basics:
1. The Desire to do it!
2. Reducing calorie intake
3. Increasing calorie output
Simple as 1-2-3, right? Well, as they say "simple, but not easy"
We're here to say, "You Can Do It, Molly!!!"
Molly, your pictures of Alaska are beautiful. Each nature picture is like your very own postcard. I especially like the flowers! Thanks for sharing!!! And welcome back.. I know you can get those vacation pounds off in no time!!!
UPDATES ON THE DIET FRONT
The scale today was much kinder -- then again, it was so very dreadful yesterday that the only way it COULD move had to be an improvement, right? Anyway, I was at 283 -- down 92 pounds from when this all began, 8-22-08. I will weigh daily through Friday (my one-year mark), because I want to know that number, then I will resume my Official Weigh-in Days (OWIDS) on Saturdays. I must admit I am looking forward to re-entering the 270s (which had been my lowest weight to date.)
- Starting Weight: 375
- Current Weight: 283
- Total Weight Loss: 92 pounds
Breakfast this morning was one cup of Fiber One cereal (120), one half cup of unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze (20), one Western Bagel Perfect 10 high fiber/low carb/high protein bagel (140), and one slice of Kraft fat free cheese (31).And I logged them. I would've had my usual eggplant hummus, but need to get some at the store, first. I have definitely been neglecting my fiber intake, and I've had only passing flirtations with vegetables. We're nicely stocked at home with some things, but I definitely need to hit at least 3 stores today.... which will get me out of the house, right? (I am still adjusting to the fact that it is 40-50 degrees warmer here than in Alaska!)
UPDATES ON THE HOME FRONT
The exchange student company contacted us a few days ago and informed us that they cancelled the 4-week program here due to an inability to find enough host families, so we are bummed that we aren't Motoko and Minjung -- especially after we did quite a bit of preparation and furniture re-arranging and even assembled the niftiest gift bags for them. Silly me didn't save the receipts from Bath and Body works, so I will be giving away cool sprays and lotions as presents for a long time to come. We've spent a few hours putting things back to normal, and my wonderful DH has agreed to take the "teenager food" we bought to his work so it won't lurk in my pantry, whispering my name.
Surprise, Surprise .... the military completely failed to pay our normal mid-month paycheck. When we noticed it wasn't in our account on the 15th (we have direct deposit), we emailed them and ONLY THEN did they start the "fix it" process. Bottom line? We have to wait 12 days (until Aug 27), to get our normal Aug 15 pay. Sheesh -- welcome back from Iraq, did you really expect that we'd pay you properly??? (Sorry I sound a bit tweaked about this, but they mess up his pay when he deploys, they mess it up while he's gone, and they mess it up when he returns!)
Today's agenda? Laundry! Laundry! Laundry! I also need to run to the grocery store, Trader Joe's, Smart n' Final, and to pick up a prescription. I've filled back yard bird feeders -- still need to do front. And I need to study (start my training for my new job) .... I did some reading on the plane, but need to do more. I figured I'd study in the pool this afternoon! (Doesn't that sound decadent?)
