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.

_____

=^..^=  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! 

I had no idea how ridiculously irresponsible the military is with pay! My goodness, most of us would be bouncing checks from here to kingdom come! I would be more than a little miffed if I was you.  I'll bet the generals get their pay on time!

Molly, didn't this same pay snafu happen last year?  Gah.  That really sucks!  Sorry about your exchange student's not coming in.  I know you were really excited about it.  I'd imagine that the students are a little bummed out too.

Good luck starting your weight loss journey back up!

SCALE REPORT -- YAY!

Well, I must admit that the scale is cooperating nicely, and my initial "sticker shock" scale report on the EVENING of Aug 19 (291.2) seems to have been short-lived (thank goodness!) Yesterday the scale was down to 283, and today (Aug 21)  it whooshed down even further to 279.4 ... bringing me to a loss of 95.6 pounds. THAT seems more like it! Tomorrow (Aug 22) is my one-year anniversary of dieting, and I really did want to be "near" the 100 pounds lost mark ... and this morning my wonderful DH smiled and said that 95.6 pounds was "definitely close enough to count, dear!" Isn't he a sweetheart? I am so thankful that he is so very encouraging and supportive through all of this. (And so are you all, too!)

MOLLY

My scale has gone UP the past three days!  I have "gained" 3 pounds in the last three days and I don't know why.  I haven't been eating healthy foods, but I make sure to stay under my limit AND I've been exercising.  But it keeps going up, up, up.  It's very disheartening.  Today I didn't work out because I just wanted to cry when I saw that it went up AGAIN.  It's very frustrating and my usually supportive DH only says "well, we haven't been eating very good lately" and it just makes it worse.  Boo...

I know your pain suji! Eight weeks of careful eating, losing a pound a week and feeling good about it. Then a few days of not so great and it bounce up several pounds! I'm not talking pigging out, either, just a couple of hundred over what should be deficit. Heck, it makes me wonder: WHEN I reach my goal, how the heck can I maintain?? I suppose it's a matter of water weight but my scale has been uncharacteristically even this week. It IS discouraging!

Original Post by chris1208:

I know your pain suji! Eight weeks of careful eating, losing a pound a week and feeling good about it. Then a few days of not so great and it bounce up several pounds! I'm not talking pigging out, either, just a couple of hundred over what should be deficit. Heck, it makes me wonder: WHEN I reach my goal, how the heck can I maintain?? I suppose it's a matter of water weight but my scale has been uncharacteristically even this week. It IS discouraging!

That's pretty much the same for me.  I KNOW I've been ok, not great but I certaintly haven't eaten 10500 calories over my burn in the past 3 days.  So I KNOW it will pass...but it's just disheartening. 

ONE YEAR DIETING ANNIVERSARY ... WOO HOO!!!

Today is the one-year anniversary of when I started my new adventure in healthy eating and weight loss. I've had my share of ups-and-downs over the past 365 days, but I'm about as close to my one-year-100-pounds-lost goal as I could've hoped to be ... the official one year loss is ..... (drumroll, please) ....... 98.2 pounds!!! WOO HOO! (I'm going to just say "about 100 pounds" and call it good!) So ... where am I going from here? My next goal is to lose another 25 pounds, then another 25 pounds ... for 50 more pounds. Isn't 150 pounds a nice, round number for a goal???

I've got a good, solid rant for your anniversary.  I've recently encountered the opposite of vanity sizing, which I've decided to call "self-loathing sizing".  I've acutally seen it in quite a few brands marketed to young people.  Anyway, I saw a really cute pair of pajama pants at a store the other day.  They were really cheap, and they came in XXL, so I bought a pair.  I washed them yesterday and went to put them on after my bath.  They were super tight, especially considering how loose pajama pants usually are.  I checked the tag on the inside, and they said XXL(14).  14?  What?  Since when is a size 14 extra extra large?  I can't imagine looking a size 14 (aka average sized) woman in the eyes and telling her, "Ma'am, you are extra extra large."  That's about 4 sizes smaller than a normal XXL.  Can they really make money with sizing like that?  I'm going to hang on to them until I am a size 14, just so I can laugh about how not-extra extra large I am.

Ahhhh... remember the good ol' days when sizes actually MEANT something??? What I hate is that there are absolutely NO STANDARDS left anymore for what a size means. Seriously, I can wear 4 different sizes of clothing (of the same type of clothing), depending entirely on the brand -- how silly is this? I used to like to shop catalogs, but I am doing less of that now because who knows if the sizes run small? normal? big? AAAAUUUGGGHHH!

Totally off topic ... but has anyone else distinctly heard their scale SIGH when they stepped on it?

Hmmm..........

Original Post by mollymouser:

Totally off topic ... but has anyone else distinctly heard their scale SIGH when they stepped on it?

Hmmm..........

I use my Wii Fit board to measure.  I swear to gravy, every time I step go he* goes "oh!" in a shocked and dismayed voice.  I. Dont. Dig. It.  Makes me want to jump on the little poop.

*I say "he" because Nintendo made the fit board into a little character on the game.  So he does talk to you. 

Original Post by mollymouser:

Ahhhh... remember the good ol' days when sizes actually MEANT something??? What I hate is that there are absolutely NO STANDARDS left anymore for what a size means. Seriously, I can wear 4 different sizes of clothing (of the same type of clothing), depending entirely on the brand -- how silly is this? I used to like to shop catalogs, but I am doing less of that now because who knows if the sizes run small? normal? big? AAAAUUUGGGHHH!

Totally off topic ... but has anyone else distinctly heard their scale SIGH when they stepped on it?

Hmmm..........

sometimes also the same brand/store has differently sized clothing that is supposed to be the same size. went to two shops recently, looking for some slacks, and even when i have tried the same size, some were too small and some too big, even in the same shop

I think I would have assumed the 14 was in children's sizing!

Twenty-four days.  In just 24 short days, my wonderful DH leaves again for his FIFTH tour of flying the not-so-friendly skies over Iraq with the USAF.  For those of you keeping track, yes he did JUST get back in July ... and now he's heading over again for another three months. He called me from work just a few minutes ago -- to let me know that he'll be replacing another pilot who is unable to go for the Fall Deployment. I know I am being selfish -- but he just got home and I don't want him to leave again for month, ya know?  I wanted to go biking with him this fall. I wanted to go to the County Fair with him this fall. I wanted to go to the coast with him this fall. We had plans. We had things on our calendar. We had hopes and dreams for enjoying cooler weather.  Heck, I am STILL waiting for the military to pay us everything they owe us from his LAST deployment!!!

(sigh)

Original Post by mollymouser:

Twenty-four days. In just 24 short days, my wonderful DH leaves again for his FIFTH tour of flying the not-so-friendly skies over Iraq with the USAF. For those of you keeping track, yes he did JUST get back in July ... and now he's heading over again for another three months. He called me from work just a few minutes ago -- to let me know that he'll be replacing another pilot who is unable to go for the Fall Deployment. I know I am being selfish -- but he just got home and I don't want him to leave again for month, ya know? I wanted to go biking with him this fall. I wanted to go to the County Fair with him this fall. I wanted to go to the coast with him this fall. We had plans. We had things on our calendar. We had hopes and dreams for enjoying cooler weather. Heck, I am STILL waiting for the military to pay us everything they owe us from his LAST deployment!!!

(sigh)

AH Molly.  I'm so sorry.  So so sorry.  I will have you and your DH in my thoughts and prayers.  Your DH is such a hero.  They are all.  God Speed.

Awwww, thanks.

:)

Some of you will remember that a fluffy white stray cat showed up in our backyard in June. Since one ear was badly injured (scabbed), I took her to the vet and after extensive/expensive exam/tests, they determined she had some sort of fungal infection. We had her tested for FIV/Felv (negative), checked for a microchip (none), given an antibiotic shot, and vaccinated for rabies. I also placed ads in the paper and on Craigslist and with local pet groups, trying to find her owners. (I suspect she was abandoned for getting sick --- her coat still shows signs that she used to wear a collar.) Fast forward 2 months to now ... her ear looked worse -- so we took her in today (Saturday) to a different vet.

Marsha has cancer.

Specifically, feline squamous cell carcinoma on both ears -- which is sadly fairly common for outdoor white cats. She also has fleas and tapeworms. After a lot of discussions and looking at our budget, we've decided to try surgery to save her life, and to make her an inside-only cat since further sun exposure will just cause more cancer. We're also having her treated for the fleas and tapeworms, and will get her all of the rest of her vaccinations when she's healthy enough. For the next 72 hours she's living in our guest bathroom (until all those pesky fleas die -- it's all tile in there), then after her surgery we're moving her into our office ... complete with shaded window ledge, cat condo, futon, desks, shelves, and her own litter box, food and water -- plus a cat door so she can SEE the other cats in the house while still remaining isolated. Our eventual hope is to get her mainstreamed into the whole house if everyone can get along. (There's been much growling and hissing through the bathroom door.)

Her surgery is Tuesday (she gets both ears amputated ... poor thing). Please keep her in your thoughts / prayers. This cancer is not "curable", but if the surgery can successfully get all the cancer, she could live for years.

MARSHA

I just started a weight loss challenge if anyone is interested in joining me.

http://caloriecount.about.com/forums/post/114 228.html

Beth

Original Post by mollymouser:

Some of you will remember that a fluffy white stray cat showed up in our backyard in June. Since one ear was badly injured (scabbed), I took her to the vet and after extensive/expensive exam/tests, they determined she had some sort of fungal infection. We had her tested for FIV/Felv (negative), checked for a microchip (none), given an antibiotic shot, and vaccinated for rabies. I also placed ads in the paper and on Craigslist and with local pet groups, trying to find her owners. (I suspect she was abandoned for getting sick --- her coat still shows signs that she used to wear a collar.) Fast forward 2 months to now ... her ear looked worse -- so we took her in today (Saturday) to a different vet.

Marsha has cancer.

Specifically, feline squamous cell carcinoma on both ears -- which is sadly fairly common for outdoor white cats. She also has fleas and tapeworms. After a lot of discussions and looking at our budget, we've decided to try surgery to save her life, and to make her an inside-only cat since further sun exposure will just cause more cancer. We're also having her treated for the fleas and tapeworms, and will get her all of the rest of her vaccinations when she's healthy enough. For the next 72 hours she's living in our guest bathroom (until all those pesky fleas die -- it's all tile in there), then after her surgery we're moving her into our office ... complete with shaded window ledge, cat condo, futon, desks, shelves, and her own litter box, food and water -- plus a cat door so she can SEE the other cats in the house while still remaining isolated. Our eventual hope is to get her mainstreamed into the whole house if everyone can get along. (There's been much growling and hissing through the bathroom door.)

Her surgery is Tuesday (she gets both ears amputated ... poor thing). Please keep her in your thoughts / prayers. This cancer is not "curable", but if the surgery can successfully get all the cancer, she could live for years.

MARSHA

The first cat that I can remember having was Cindy.  She was a fluffy white and black cat.  She ran away from her abusive home and came to live with us.  When out cousins (the abusers) came to visit and saw her we just lied and says it was a different cat.  Heh.  Cindy was a sweetie pie.

She got ear cancer.  It wasn't bad in the beginning, but we couldn't afford the surgery to have it fixed and Cindy didn't seem to be in pain or mind her ears being wonky.  By the end, she almost had no ears.  I have incredible guilt for not taking her to be euthanized early.  My mom as well.  We just don't talk about it.  Cindy was happy for the most part, she just had very sad ears.  I don't know why I am "confessing" this to a mega-kitty-lover.  I just felt like sharing Cindy's story.  I do always warn anyone who has a white-eared cat about the possibility of ear cancer.  It sounds weird, but its more common than you think.

Good luck to Marsha.  Im sure she will be a very happy and blessed kitty.

I didn't know that. I have two white cats (mother & daughter, long & shorthair) but they are both completely indoors. The mother is the one the vet said would die within 6 weeks...over a year ago. She said she had an inoperable mass in her abdomen. I think it was just hairball effect: She's going along just fine, spunky and eats like a horse!

rant:

why there are so many calories in Mexican food?!??!! I love it but 600 cals for a plate of enchiladas? why????

----

Molly, I'm a big fan of yours and a big fan of cats as well. Give a giant bear hug to Marsha for me, you're an angel to take care of her and not leaving her out in the streets.