Some stuff I wrote recently.

Recently, I was chatting with a bestie about the struggles we’re both going through to try to lose weight.  She and I were commiserating on what a serious pain in the ass it is, and how much it sucks and hurts to have “let ourselves go” as much as we have.  I blame married life.  HA!  I kid.

During the course of our conversation, I wrote the following words.  She appreciated them, so I thought I’d plop them on the ‘ol blog to share with my gynormous audience.

Note:  I’ve doctored them up a smidge because some of it is non-applicable here.  Also, it can get a little angsty at times.  Bear with me.  J

Without further ado:

Dude, you’re preaching to the choir.  I get so mad that I have to struggle to lose two pounds when my sister and brother are both thin and fit, and can easily control their weight.  I despise looking at myself, and have taken up being the photographer rather than being in any pictures because it’s disgusting to me.  So, I know exactly where you’re coming from, trust me.  I mean, without the part about how you used to be so skinny.  I never had that.  I’ve always been fat.
Despite that, though, I realize that I absolutely can’t compare myself to anyone else.  What I’ve got and what everyone else in the world has are different.  It’s just how it is.  I would have loved to have been born a Hilton or a Winchester, but it didn’t work that way.  I would have loved to have hit puberty and shed all my baby fat and magically grown pretty.  It didn’t happen.  The sooner you can stop comparing yourself to everyone else OR to the girl of the past, the better.  You need to accept that you gained a bunch of weight, and that you now have to work to lose it.  If you can’t accept it, you’ll never lose it.  It’ll never get better, and you’ll never be happy.  This is what you have to deal with now.  OVERCOME IT.  You can’t use the excuse that you used to be able to eat whatever you want and still be skinny.  It’s not how things are anymore.  You need to learn to eat clementines instead of jelly beans and carrots instead of chips.  Once you get over how shitty it is to have to eat healthier, it turns out that it’s better – it’s delicious.  I love the way that my little Jimmy John’s lettuce wrap crunches and I don’t miss the bread scraping the roof of my mouth.  Now that I realize that I can’t taste the cheese on my Subway anyway, the 100+ calories that I save seems easy and stupid to waste.  Sure, I love the SHIT out of BBQ pork sandwiches and enchiladas, but I eat them as a treat, and only a small amount.  Even as I dole out advice though, I need to say that I DEFINITELY need to cut down on the pizza.  J  Once a week is way more than enough.  ha.
Like I said, you need to accept that this is your new reality, and work to make it change.  You’ll probably have to keep your eating in check and make sure you work out consistently for the rest of your life.  Big deal.  Someday, when people comment on how fit you look, you can take pride in knowing that you spend time exercising and maintaining yourself, rather than just stuffing your face full of sour cream and onion Lay’s and going for an occasional run.  I adore when someone asks me if I’ve lost weight.  Even A asked me about it when I saw him a couple of weeks ago.  Sure, I’ve only just started the (very slow!) climb up Kilimanjaro, but when I hit the summit, I’ll be able to look back and say “DAMN.”

I mean it all, by the way.  Every word.  We all need to stop comparing ourselves to other people and focus on our own strengths and greatness, and look at the things about ourselves that we love.  I’ll start.  I really love my knees.  I know that they’re cute under that extra fluff, and I look forward to meeting them again, and having them meet the world.  J  AFTER I’ve gotten them a little bonzed, that is.  ha!  I love my toes.  I think they’re cute.  Even those weird little toes.  I love my muscle-y legs.  They’re getting so nice again!  I also dig my face in general.  It’s already shed some of its chunk, and I’m recalling how it’s rather pretty when it’s slimmer.

PS - I tried on a bunch of pairs of pants (that I own!) last night, and found that many of the ones that have lived in my closet for YEARS actually fit!  Happy day!!!!  I have a pair of wide-legged, white pants that I’m waiting for Memorial Day to break out.  1) because you shouldn’t wear white before Memorial Day! and 2) because the gut-region is still slightly smaller than I want.  I’m hoping that a few more pounds down over the next few weeks will help with that.  I can’t wait!  I’m envisioning a new pair of navy blue espadrilles and my gray-and-white stripped Paris top to go with it.  Seriously.  It’s kind of sick how I can’t wait.

Snackadium

This is a Snackadium:

Well, I guess I should say that it's a VERSION of the Snackadium that the website "This is Why You're Fat" published on their site (warning:  don't go onto that website if you're concerned about being grossed out.  Some of the pieces of "food artistry" on there are pretty icky - for lack of better terminology...).  We made this bad boy for my birthday party a bit back.  Note the "B" in the center - clearly, that's my team logo.  Also, you can't really see it in this shot, but the endzones have "G" and "L" for "Green Bay" and "Losers" - the game was being played on my birthday (and, as I'm sure you know they WON).

Anyway.  This post isn't necessarily about this particular dish of awesome, so much as about party food in general.

In two weeks, GBP will be taking on the Who Cares; They're Gonna Lose at the Super Bowl.  Super Bowl parties are always a great place to have a good time with friends, watching the commercials (they'd better be better this year than in previous years...), and - you guessed it - snacking.

All the wight loss gurus will tell you the obvious:  eat before you come, chew gum, avoid the creamy foods, don't drink your calories, don't hover near the buffet.

Blah, blah, blah.

Don't get me wrong - those are all great nuggets.  They're just not always viable options.  Because come on.  Avoid the creamy foods?!  What ARE the creamy foods:  Artichoke dip?  Check.  Cheese-chili deliousness dip (we call it "Bastard Dip")?  Check.  Buffalo Chicken dip?  Check.  Dang, now I'm hungry.  The point is, you're often hard-pressed to find healthy alternatives to the dips and foods that are presented at these kinds of get-togethers.  PLUS, I don't know about you, but I love the hell out of all those dips.  Why should I have to avoid them just because I have a Tommy Boy-esque "weight problem"?

SO, here's MY favorite option.  Bring Droid.

The fabulous thing about having a smart phone like my Droid is that I can scamper over to allrecipes.com and, even if I don't know exactly what the dish-bringer put into it, I can get a pretty dang good idea.  A lot of recipes on that site have nutritional information, which helps me make more informed decisions about the kinds of creamy dips I'm shoving down my throat.  If I can get a general idea about how many calories I'm possibly taking in, it helps me to think a little bit more about whether or not it's REALLY worth it.  OR, if I can take less than the serving size of a higher calorie-and-fat dish.  Because, if I'm honest with myself in this little "gettin' skinny" venture, I can admit that I am willing to change much about my eating habits, but am NOT willing to completely restrict things that are less-than-perfectly-healthy.  That's a diet, not (as They say) a life change.

Also, I'll probably bring a veggie tray.  :)