Foodaholics - The Trouble With Food

Hi, my name is Christy, and I'm a foodaholic.

Over the course of my adult life, the "skinny jeans" have been stuck in an endless rotation from front to back of the closet. During one of my skinny years I even went so far as to carry a "fat picture" around in my purse as a reminder. Ah, the oh-so-popular "Before and After" shot. I wasn't one of those annoying people that bounces around, shouting "LOOK AT ME!" and flashing it in everyone's face. It was there as a personal reminder during tempting emergencies, such as any driving routes that took me past fast food restaurants and buffets.

This strategy worked great...for a while. But as my journey through life became more challenging as I ascended into adulthood, as many people do, I started getting back into my old habits. I can not tell you how many fitness gyms near Raleigh, NC LOVE me for the amount of money I donated to memberships without ever using them. Upon leaving work each day, my thought process would go into a frenzy of ridiculous excuses for not working out that particular day. Most of the time is was some off-the-wall reason, comparable to skipping school because I was having a bad hair day. I would even drive into the gym parking lot, turn around and leave, just to be able to say I went "TO" the gym.

After a few weeks of this, ALL of my clothes would somehow start shrinking. Blame it on the dryer, I guess. This would be the first migration of skinny jeans to the back of the closet as the "more comfortable" clothes emerged. Note to self: They are more comfortable because they are the next size UP. It couldn't possibly be due to laziness and poor eating habits. Maybe it's just because I reached the age of 30 and my metabolism slowed. Yeah, we'll stick with that one for a while. After a few more months, there weren't even any "fat clothes" that fit anymore. I hated these times because, in my mind, going shopping for larger clothes was admitting that I had failed once again. Through the years, my eclectic closet has been stocked with everything from Size 6 to Size 16, and everywhere in between.

During the fat years, it seems like every diet starts tomorrow...and it never comes. I remember justifying a cupcake or bag of chips by thinking, "I'm already fat, what difference does it make?" After throwing clothes around in yet another fit of self-loathing rage, I would start a crash diet. Two weeks later I'm down 10 pounds and what do I do? I tell myself, "I've lost 10 pounds, I can afford ONE trip to (insert favorite fast food chain)." Then one turned into two, two turned into three and three turned into 10 pounds back on, just like that.

We all know that eating a super-sized, greasy quarter pounder, fries and a large shake on the side is wrong...but we spend a few savory moments indulging in edible sin, then stand in front of the mirror wondering what happened. Just remember, even if nobody sees you eat it, the calories still count. What you eat in private SHOWS in public.

Do you remember that childhood song about "Little Bunny Foo Foo?" Putting that fattening food in our mouths is like taking a hammer and bopping ourselves in the head, then complaining about the effects. We know it's bad...it's going to hurt...but we do it anyway. Well I'm going to picture that little bunny trying to scoop me up and BOP me on the head with a devilishly tempting snack...and I'm going to grab an apple and bop HIM on the head!

It's time for a serious life change, but the difference this time is that I, along with the support of Phitter.com, will be making myself accountable for every single thing I do. My camera is going everywhere with me, and I will be posting weekly pictures of the scale as well as trips to the gym and even meals. Forget pride. It's not like my weight-gain is a secret.

2010 is the year to put the hammer down, stop beating ourselves up, and make the necessary changes to put a stop to the revolving closet cyle for good.

Don't Have a Cow...Give One!!

I've never been a "Save the World" kind of person...but this is the coolest idea! This will be my public service announcement to close out an amazing, life-changing decade!!

I can't figure out how I've gotten this far in life without ever hearing about this, then again, I've never thought of buying a cow.

If you ever want to make a donation that you know will make a difference, think about this...
Visit this website run by "Heifer International" and donate money towards many incredible things.

"The idea behind Heifer ... is similar to the notion that it's better to teach a man to fish so he can feed himself than to give him a fish that will feed him just once. One animal could eventually benefit an entire community."
- Associated Press

Donate a water buffalo!
"In poor Filipino villages, water buffalo from Heifer provide draft power for planting rice and potatoes, milk for protein and manure for fertilizer and fuel. A farmer can plant four times more rice with a buffalo than by hand." ..."By renting their buffalo to neighbors, Heifer partner families can earn money for home improvements."

A goat can help!
"With all the money donated to help fight famine around the world, with all the grandiose plans conceived to conquer poverty, sometimes all it takes to save a child is a goat."
- 60 Minutes, CBS News Magazine Program

a cow for a family...some animals can provide milk...others can increase productivity, helping families bring more income!

Not a baaaaad idea...it's very mooooving!

I seriously think I'm gonna send a goat AND a flock of ducks! (sorry, Flock of Seagulls is way outdated!)

http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.204586/

Happily Ever After Isn't So Bad

So many movies have been made throughout the years, from the All-American classics to the tantalizing chick flicks that never fail to bring tears to the eyes of men and women alike. Some movies give us lessons on life and love while others leave us staring blankly at the credits, trying to figure out what in the world we were thinking when choosing this particular show.

There is nothing more frustrating than setting aside two hours of my life, being mesmerized by this incredible story, only to be slapped with a dose of reality when the ending doesn't go along with my own wishes and desires. Perhaps this will be a "spoiler" for some, so if you have not seen the movie "City of Angels" and do not want to know how it ends, please look away now...or take this advice for the sake of your heart.

What an incredible story "City of Angels" told. A man (Nicholas Cage) who was so much in love with this woman (Meg Ryan) that he gave up eternity so that he could have an earthly body and an opportunity to spend his life with her. Watching each scene as he learned about the sensations and incidental moments that come with life made me think about all of the things we truly take for granted. Seeing the love grow and the incredible, passionate love scene as she taught him about the pleasures of the flesh took me to a warm, safe and happy place...a fantasy dream world where happiness always prevails. Personally, I think that was a good enough story as it was. Here comes the spoiler...and for me, it really did spoil the entire movie...

Instead of allowing us to remain in that world of "if only" and "what ifs," they had to smack us across the face with a dose of the awful concept of mortality and jerk us back into the sadness and loss that life sometimes brings. The story was good enough and it was totally unnecessary to rip our hearts out and cause so much grief. One comment that I heard from someone that enjoyed the movie for that very reason was, "That's life. It's true and it happens." Yeah, but I have the opportunity to see that every day. I don't have to pay my hard-earned money to watch the terrible things that happen to good people every single day. Why take such a beautiful love story and turn it into something so horrid that I spend the rest of the week carrying a box of Kleenex, avoiding any radio station that may play the heart-wrenching music that went along with it?

The main point is that, although movies can become predictable if they always end "happily ever after," there are some that are good enough to deserve just that kind of ending. Personally , I've never been able to figure out what attracts people to movies that are known to be depressing. If I'm going to dedicate two hours of my life to escape the occasional painful reality of life, I would appreciate the opportunity to bask in my safe haven of "warm fuzzies." I've never said to myself, "You know, I'm feeling great on this beautiful, sunny day. I think I'll watch a movie that will send me into deep depression for about a month."

If I want a depressing dose of real life, I'll just tune into the evening news. Maybe I'm just overly sensitive, but to walk into something like that, knowing that your heart is going to be ripped to shreds, I just consider that to be emotional masochism.

Belief vs. Undeniable Proof

There are many things in life that we are given the option to believe in. The most obvious being God, Santa, The Easter Bunny...

Our beliefs are most often based on what we are taught during our childhood, what we choose to pursue knowledge about and/or our own personal experiences. Regarding God, there is a lot of information out there, and people choose to believe what they want to based on the information given. I'm obviously not trying to compare God with St. Nicholas and Peter Cottontail. The point here is that most people rely on blind faith, therefore belief is a choice.

There are other things that most people have a choice to accept or not to accept, again, based on their own life experiences. One of these would be whether or not we choose to believe in ghosts. Stories have been told in the glowing light of campfires, mostly with the intention of providing us with a good scare among friends. Hollywood has provided us with their interpretation of poltergeists and hauntings, not only to entertain but to earn a profit from everyday thrill-seekers. Documentaries have been made in attempt to give merit to these ghost stories that so many people love to share, but many people question their validity.

Based on my own personal experiences, I have found that it is quite difficult to make someone believe something that they have not seen for themselves. Some people are arrogant enough to think that if they haven't actually seen a ghost with their own eyes, that in itself is proof that they don't exist. Which leads me to the point I would like to make today.

I, like everyone else, have made my own choices about God and St. Nick... but as a child, I was not given a choice as to whether or not I wanted to believe in ghosts. It was right in front of me. Undeniable. We lived it.

There was no way that I could look at this apparition before us or ignore the unexplained events that occurred all around us every day and actually say, "I don't believe in this." I could not deny what was happening right before us.

Because of the reaction I have gotten from those who were fortunate enough NOT to go through something like this, I have kept the story to myself for the most part. I always found it quite frustrating to be ridiculed for something that wasn't even a question in my mind. There was no reason for me to make it up, or for my mom, grandmother, cousins, uncle and aunt to lie about it. WE all experienced the same thing. And although I can't clearly remember everything that happened, I clearly remember the deep, intense fear that it instilled in me because I still live that to this day. We were finally able to make it stop after literally having our house "blessed," so it has been years since this apparition that we named "Betty Smith" has made another unwelcomed appearance. As for the scars that "she" left in me, I am 31 yrs old now and I physically can not walk through my house without having lights on. I can not open my eyes after the lights are turned off at night. I can not leave a closet door slightly ajar for fear that "she" will once again emerge. I still can not look out any window of the house at night time, for fear that I will again see "her" standing there.

I just thank God that it happened at a young enough age to where I didn't really understand that this actually was something to be afraid of. I didn't really "get it" because I was an innocent child that had not yet been exposed to the campfire stories and horror movies. At the time, it was just weird, but in a strange way it was normal for us. Only later did I find out that this wasn't something that everyone experienced, and I learned that when I faced a classroom of non-haunted peers who were laughing at the story I wrote about it. They weren't laughing because it was funny. They were laughing because they didn't experience it, so they didn't understand. Hence my reluctance to talk about it to anyone else in the future.

Just remember that some people aren't given a choice to believe in something or not. And if you are one of the lucky ones that did not experience an old woman standing in your window every night or moving items around in your house, please accept the fact that it IS possible regardless of the fact that she didn't come to your house. If nothing else, believe ME, and just be thankful that you aren't haunted by a past that leaves a paralyzing fear of the unknown and the uncertainty of what lies just beyond the light.

This Is Going To Hurt

It is probably safe to say that no-one in the world really enjoys having to get a shot for any reason. It's just one of the necessary evils that we, as human beings, must endure in our quest for a healthy life.

When I was younger, the most popular phrase used by any syringe-wielding health care professional was, "This won't hurt a bit." That statement, in itself, probably led to many children and adults alike learning to distrust these doctors and nurses and instead viewing them as needle-poking enemies. When you are in the business of helping and providing care for patients, it seems to me that one of the first items on your agenda should include "build trust with patient." If you precede a skin-piercing jab to a patient with "This won't hurt a bit," chances are that the goal of building trust will not be met on that day.

So as time progressed and people caught on with the realization that "This won't hurt a bit" is roughly translated into "I am insensitive and I think you are stupid, plus I'm not the one getting poked so I don't care," they came up with a new term. Now we are told that we are going to "feel a slight pinch." According to our friends at Mirriam-Webster, the word "pinch" can be defined as "to squeeze or compress painfully." Although I still don't agree that a sharp, stinging stab into my arm really resembles "squeezing OR compressing," at least we're getting a little closer to admitting that a little pain may be involved.

Rarely have I ever had any infliction of personal injury, whether on purpose or accidental, prefaced by either of these statements. As we make progress though our journey of life, we are going to feel the need to scream "OUCH!" at some point. I, as most people do, can use my own personal scale of pain to be the judge of that.

I just prefer that, if I am going to willingly allow someone to impose this unpleasant sensation on my delicate skin, I would rather they just be honest and give me fair warning. "This is going to hurt."

It is impossible for me to see the similarity of a "pinch" verses a "sting," or even a "jab." But don't bring your syringe full of healing medicine and poke it into any skin on my body and say that I am going to feel a "pinch." If you do, I will invite you to allow me to inflict MY interpretation of a "pinch" in the form of a "jab," directly to the area from where that misguided statement emerged...and hope that my liability insurance will cover the dental visits that will ensue.

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Above All the Bustle...

When you think of the holiday season, what is the first thing that comes to mind?

Take a minute and really think about this, because if the first thought that you have is anything other than what the season is actually supposed to be about I think we need to talk.

I have never been one to "preach" to anyone about religion, and I don't plan on starting now. If you have any level of education, you know what Christmas is actually about. There's no need to cover that. This is mostly about the events leading up to this most wonderful time of the year.

The point that I want to make today is that there are so many things to look forward to as we enter into the holiday season. There is something about the chilly air that brings thoughts of a warm, inviting fire below the stockings hung in a cozy living room. At any point in time you can hear carols and Christmas bells ringing, whether you are driving down the road or walking through the halls of a mall bustling with shoppers. When you walk into a store and see the Christmas decor throughout, and the creative energy that everyone seems to collectively put into filling their store with the most red and green...it should remind you that we are all in this season together, slowly migrating towards this huge event that for so many brings family, love and friendship together like no other holiday does.

So if you are one who chooses to participate in the preparation of this Christmas season that so many of us are blessed to share together, I would like to remind you of these things...

If you are driving down the road, on your annual journey to find a Christmas tree and you find yourself getting frustrated...just think about those that don't even have a home in which to put a Christmas tree.
When you are wrestling with the lights as you fumble around to get them perfectly aligned throughout the branches or even down the banister of your home...just think about those that can't even afford electricity to turn them on.
If you are one of the brave souls that chooses to venture out into the vast ocean of shoppers and traffic...consider it a blessing that you are able to enjoy the freedom of going anywhere you want to go, at any time...or that you are fortunate enough to have a little extra money to spend on your loved ones, or even yourself when so many others have to pinch pennies just to buy their next meal.

At some point during this holiday season, take a minute to look around, wherever you are. Breathe in the aromas of the delicious Christmas candies and baked goods that are just waiting to be savored by a giddy child whose heart is still filled with excitement from a recent visit to Santa. Listen to the hustle and bustle of everyone that is moving around, feverishly working to make this the best holiday season for the ones that they love. Look around at all that we have to be thankful for, from the togetherness that this season brings to the incredible beauty of everything involved in the journey towards this Christmas day.

Be thankful for the ones whose Christmas lists you hold. Be thankful that you are able to carry out some or all of the wishes on those lists. Be thankful for your family and every precious moment that you get to spend with each and every one of them.

Try to remember all of the reasons that made us care so much about the holidays to begin with..put that partridge back in your pear tree and just smile. It's Christmas time!

Who Am I To Say...

From my tiny little corner in the south, I'm here to bring what I hope to be thought-provoking stories & opinions that will in some way provide entertainment for all who partake.

To the trained professional, I'm sure that future postings won't fit certain guidelines preferred by college professors and newspaper editors. But to the untrained eye, you may just get out of this what I put into it...which is enjoyment, not just from the topic at hand, but from the creatively amusing and sometimes politically incorrect way that the stories are told.

Most importantly, it is not always the topic that is the most intriguing, but the way that it is explained. I can guarantee a few laughs, if you have even the slightest sense of humor. I can guarantee a candid point of view with nothing held back, including some choice words, depending on the topic at hand. If you, the reader, is the type that gets offended by certain issues, I would like to remind you that everyone is entitled to my opinion...and if you don't like it, please feel free to guide your little mouse cursor to the northeastern section of your screen and click the little "X." I take that very seriously and I will promptly exit stage left. For those who choose to stay and partake, I certainly hope you enjoy...and please let me know what you think, even if you disagree!