Curves

Pffft

/ Quilly / 22 Comments

I cleaned my carpet and rearranged my furniture. Work. Work. Work. Scrub. Scrub. Scrub. It looks worse then it did before. Now that I’ve removed all the dirt from the carpet, the stains show up really well.

I live in a dump.

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I just used the exact same hair dye I have always used. Same brand. Same box. Same number. My hair looks decidedly red. It had better not do so when it dries.

Update:  Hair is dry.  It is Revlon Light Blond #81, just like it’s supposed to be.  Phew! 

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The cats are afraid of the livingroom. They are tippy-toeing across the carpet smelling every inch. The love seat is terrorizing Christmas. It isn’t where it’s supposed to be. She’s afraid it’s going to pounce on her.

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Curves Report:  Well, I am not too happy with me.  I lost 6 pounds this month, but regained two.  It was probably the ice cream cone and the choclate Coke.  In future I can have one or the other, but not both.  The good news is, I lost an inch and a half around my waist, and that’s one place I hadn’t been slimming.   I am losing, but it’s slow going.

Tuesday Update

/ Quilly / 20 Comments

As I mentioned last Tuesday, I am taking the Curves Weight Loss Challenge class. Following their diet I went from losing 3-5 pounds a week, to losing just one. With that thought in mind I dropped the diet — though I stayed in the class — and went back to eating my way. This week I lost another three pounds. My way works for me.

I eat whatever I please. I just eat it in moderation. For instance, I took three days to eat a bag of M&M’s, instead of eating three bags of M&M’s in one day. The other day my friend and I went to Arby’s for lunch. I ordered the turkey club, but tossed most of the bread as I ate. I also ordered curly fries. There is no way I am going to Arby’s without having curly fries dipped in Horsey Sauce — so, when they handed me my tray, I grabbed a huge handful of those fries and dumped them in the garbage on the way past. No way I can eat what isn’t on my plate.

Ignore all that guilt your mom piled on you about having to clean your plate. All that food you’re wasting could feed a third world nation! First off, no, it couldn’t, because the abundance is in my country, and there is no way for them to access it.  Secondly, how is my being fat going to prevent someone else from starving? Think about it.

Next week we weight and measure. Stay tuned.

Some People Never Learn

/ Quilly / 27 Comments

I’ve gone on many diets in my life.  Mostly what I’ve lost — on each and every one — is money.  So, why did I decide to try another?

This latest — and hopefully last — diet, has taught me quite a bit about myself and my healthy eating needs, so it has by no means been a waste.  And the book they gave me is quite good.  I am enjoying the class and talking to the other people.  Basically, I am not even having a problem with the diet — except:

I spent a part of my life homeless.  There were periods where I would go three to five days without adequate food.  Most days there were frozen apples still hanging off a tree down the road.  One had to eat them at just the right moment — still frozen enough to chew, but thawed enough not to break teeth.

During my homeless time pretty much all I thought about was food.  I was constantly hungry and I worried 24/7 about my next meal.  Even after I was no longer homeless or hungry, that obsession stayed with me.  I didn’t even recognize it until a few years ago.  At that point I started reprogramming my food thinking.

I do not have to clean my plate. I know where my next meal is coming from.  I do not have to over-eat.  I know where my next meal is coming from.  I do not have to worry about getting my fair share of everything.   I know where my next meal is coming from.  Just because there is food in front of me, I am not obliged to eat — especially if I’m not hungry.  I know where my next meal is coming from.

Last August it all finally clicked.  My eating patterns changed.  My food stress left.  Poof — gone.  I thanked God for the miracle and watched the scales roll back.  The weight was coming off at two to three pounds per week without effort. I found myself wondering what would happen if I applied myself — so I joined Curves.   The weight started coming off at three to five pounds per week.

So I decided to take the Curves Weightloss challenge.  They didn’t advertise it as a diet.  They said it was a class on healthy eating habits — which it is, but it comes with a 6 week prescribed diet.  Suddenly I am back to thinking of food 24/7.  I am weighing, measuring, recording — eating certain foods in certain amounts at certain times …

And even though there is plenty of food and I am not going hungry, I am constantly hungry — because I can’t set the thought of food aside and go on with my day.  I am headed once again for obsession mode — worse, doing things their way, I lost only 1 pound this week.  Losing one pound is better then gaining one, but it is not the kind of progress I was making pre-diet.

I will keep and use their book.  I will attend their class.  I will exercise — but I am going back to eating what I want, when I want, in reasonable portions.  I am no longer going to record every bite that goes into my mouth, or plan for my meals days in advance.  I will listen to my body and feed it when it needs fed — what seems tasty and right at the time.

Check back this time next week to see if my way puts me back where I should be.

Not So Rosy

/ Quilly / 26 Comments

On Valentine’s Day, I sent my love red roses. I sent them, but they have yet to arrive. I paid for them, but he’s seen not a petal. Today, for the third time I dialed the FTD 1-800 number to complain. Today for the third time I talked to a very pleasant clerk. This one gave me her name and her personal assurance that the flowers would be delivered tomorrow.

She also read me the history of my order: The flowers were ordered for the 14th. Forty-five minutes later delivery was changed to the 13th. Due to weather conditions, delivery could not be made. Delivery was rescheduled for the 16th. The local florist cancelled the delivery due to lack of stock. (Right here O’Ceallaigh will insert an, “I told you so.”) The florist did not bother to contact FTD. No new delivery time was scheduled. I phoned in and requested delivery for the 20th.

At this point the friendly clerk reading me the order history said, “Uh-oh.” I queried, “What does uh-oh mean?” She explained that the clerk who took my call for delivery on the 20th typed in all the particulars for said delivery — including a $25.00 free upgrade by way of apology — then, instead of clicking send, she apparently cancelled the order. “Uncancel it,” I said.

Tabitha, the clerk I spoke to today, said she would personally call the local florist, relay the delivery instructions, and make certain they had the stock on hand. She also took my phone number and promised me a phone call if any glitches arose.

She didn’t call. I am assuming that Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, finally.

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In other news: I’ve started the Six Week Diet Challenge at Curves (which is an 8 week course) and my official weight loss to date is 19.5 pounds, and I dropped another 1.3% in body fat.

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Also, anybody who actually thought O’Ceallaigh quit blogging, I’d like to apologize for leading you astray. He is the unreliable one, not me. Forgive him for it and pop by his blog. His current story made me laugh out loud, gasp for breath, and wipe tears from my eyes so I could keep reading.

I’m a Loser!

/ Quilly / 29 Comments

It’s the beginning of the month and time for my Curves report again:

I just signed up for the Curves weight loss challenge class. I have to attend every Tuesday evening from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. It is a nutrition and lifestyle class. They probably aren’t going to teach me anything I don’t know, but reminders never hurt.

I weighed in tonight. My total weight loss since August 1st is 21 pounds. They tell me that 14.34 pounds of that was body fat (I am down another 1.4%). And overall (bust, waist, abdomen, hips, thighs, & arms) I’ve lost 25.75 inches.

There’s a thin person inside of me and she wants out!