Soapbox Saturday

Soap box Saturday

I like to share my opinion, there is NO doubt about that.

My mother might even say I enjoy complaining.......craziness

To ensure this blog does not turn into my endless rants and I uphold Miss Mallory’s message while staying true to pessimistic, glass half empty myself, I decided to only have rants on Saturdays. Thus Soapbox Saturdays.

I will try (I'm far from perfect, so I will TRY) to keep my judgmental, opinionated passionate rants to Saturday posts ONLY

calorie counting.....FAIL

Having a degree in physics & chemistry one would think I can do simple math, since quantum physics actually makes sense to me…. but I’m having trouble, can anyone help me?

1204, 2024, 1288, and 1449….

Are all over 1200 and my calorie intake is supposed to be at or lower than 1200

I have lost four pounds in 2.5 weeks but I’m kinda having nightmares about weigh in this coming Monday! I’m not ready to see a zero or a positive number when I compare my weights…… (yes, I catastrophize, and no I still haven’t taken my measurements, I know, I know!)

The shakes are great, and I’m good between the hours of wake-up and 7pm, which is one HUGE help…..

After 7:00pm….. NOT….. SO….. MUCH

Bewitching hours beings about 1-2hrs after dinner, I have been staying later at work to avoid extra time at home to avoid indulging my munching urge. 

pathetic? YEP, but I know, I know.

The shakes work great, but my dinner does not satiate me and I WANT MORE! But, I'm NOT ok over dosing on protein. (almond are great but HIGH in calories & protein) Oh I tried breakfast & dinner shake, w/ a healthy lunch but…… that was a huge mess & I don’t have time to pack a lunch or let alone sit down and eat it at work, plus I still struggle around 7:00pm

Needless to say, I hate after dinner time till bed time.

Not to mention this heat! We have air conditioning (@work) but with all the machines & analyses being ran, it’s still a temperature battle leaving the lab between 75-80 degrees AND in lab appropriate clothing….. (plus my boss doesn’t like having the air on in the month of March) = HOT, MUGGY, HUMID.... yuck!

I’m sweating worse than a sumo wrestler in a sauna, from the moment I get into work till when I leave……..

I leave work, two pounds lighter but go to bed 5 pounds heavier because

1.)      I’m so icky I get home, drink tons of water, but you know when you are hungry and you need food? (not to mention 5-10 powder room visits…….. So, being all hot & yucky & hungry I go on to ice cream or quick snacks.

OR

2.)    I’m so icky I’m on my way to class & stop at McDonald’s® for a chocolate milkshake just for the feeling of cooling down….. I cannot do 3 shakes a day, I need food, too!

Needless to say, this whole calorie counting part is kind of kicking my butt! Please tell me I'm not in the same boat? Vi-Trim works great in my lunch shake, but the issue is after I eat dinner, I want more and its just builds & builds. I cannot get my stomach to "feel" what I just ate 30 minutes ago.

Any Suggestions....???

Great Game Syracuse…..

(Now, yes a bit of sore winning)

14 three pointers AND……..

you STILL LOSE?!?!

That’s gotta hurt Wisconsin!....

maybe you should have actually made some plays instead of calling them

(#31…. Yeah that shot is going to give you nightmares for awhile)

My mom emailed me this…..

...but WHY be calm about Syracuse???

Hello, its SU BASKETBALL & MARCH MADNESS

The question is: how do I do this?

.........cause unlike R Kelly, I When I spread my arms wings, my front buttons pop open !!!!

Believe in the power of believing.

Believe in fairy tales for what they can teach you about real life.

Believe in happy endings, and believe they don’t always happen.

Believe in something, anything, that gives you the courage and strength to continue on.

Believe it when a friend says you’re beautiful. Believe that you deserve to be happy.

Believe that you have choices and that you can choose wisely.

Believe in your own intuition.

Believe that you can do more with your life than you’re doing, and then do it.

Above all, believe in yourself.

Any Suggestions???

Its working PEOPLE!!!! Its Working!!!!!!!

Down 2.8 more pounds people!!!!!

(that’s a total of FOUR pounds!!!) 

with maybe even a few slip ups

My weigh-in day is Monday morning! It think it helps me from engorging on the weekends!

I STILL haven’t taken my measurements, there are no other excuses except that I am avoiding it, I just happen to forget to pick up a measuring tape when I’m at the store and I just happen to not be able to find string to use to measure and then compare to my heavy duty Black & Decker® Retractable Tape Measure

I hate hate hate that its true, but I have to exercise too! (the question is where to find time)  Yes the pounds are dropping but I need to tone up this:

(yeah was working on my thesis this weekend & saw this staring up at me)

YaY Free?!?!?!

FREE!

YaY FREE!!

NOT!

“FREE” is NOT always FREE

Maybe the baby in the Jimmy Fallon, Capital One® commercial has a point

“FREE” is NOT always FREE

Actually “Free” can be can be a scam

“Free” can cost you more money!

Now yes I own a dictionary and I’m college educated but Free does not always mean FREE, keep reading, I have a point

Look, notice anything on this shampoo bottle

Look closer… see that little yellow & red sticker????

More for the same price? Great sign. me. up.

NOT so Fast

I have curly hair, I drown my hair use conditioner, I need it to calm frizz, be more relaxed & manageable. Its arguable that I use more condishioner than shampoo, I have even heard that hair can go without shampoo, but I’m too much of freak to not “soap” to wash my hair. In my case conditioners is a necessity.

Here’s the scam. Do you see the differences in sizes?

 Case. In. Point.

I run out of conditioner before I run out of shampoo, so I go buy more conditioner, but then I run out of shampoo, but still have condishioner left, so I buy more shampoo. Enter vicious cycle. I’m getting stuck and forced into continuously buying that brand!

ummm…..

NOT FAIR!

I do not change shampoo/condishioner often, I have a select few I dabble between. Though I do not want to have only one of the pair and switch brands in the same shower.

It’s a marketing ploy and big, rusty bear trap!!!!

So yes FREE does cost money & is not always a good thing.

Why it Works

(the important/point of my post is ½ way down)

 Did I mention, I'm extremely stubborn? I'm pretty stuck in my ways!

(side story: I like what I know so, in a restaurant growing up, if I ordered pasta, I expected it to be like how I got it at home, pasta, butter, NO sauce. (it prevented a lot of fights at the dinner table for two full time working parents) If that’s not how it came, I would complain, then refuse it eat it, & whine about being hungry and ask when are we leaving! YES, a real joy to go out to eat with! Well the summer of third grade we took a 4 week? cross country road trip. My mom sat me down before we left and told me we were going to be eating at restaurants for the entire vacation and she didn’t want me ruining every meal and I needed to accept that not all dishes will be served how I’m accustomed. Not pleased, but I said ok….. What did I do for meals for 4 weeks? I ate chicken fingers, one dish I knew was the same in every restaurant, no matter how far in the boonies we were. Yes, chicken fingers for two meals a day for 4 weeks, ok maybe a few different meals, but it was infrequent. I got food, it was what I was expecting AND I didn’t whine & ruin dinner. My way works for me…. sometimes rarely)

(Important Part)

Oh back to stuck in my ways…… I cook what I like, I will try to add things together for a dish if I know I like the flavors. Yes, sometimes they are not the best with each other….

Remember the FRIENDS episode where Rachel made a raspberry ground beef trifle??

>

 NO! my kitchen endeavors have not gotten that bad, but when it comes to the kitchen, I have the creativity of a dune bug. I have no idea what goes with what.

But

 I like what I like and that is why these shakes work for me. I’m not stuck with prepackaged meals, or a plain 3oz chicken breast or extensive meal prep EVERY SINGLE DAY. I get to decide what I want, whatever flavors I want to mix together. There is endless variety, but there is creativity too. I follow some of the recipes but more than anything, I go in my kitchen find what I’m craving that day and blend it up. I actually look forward to my shake meals MORE than I do my regular meal. (not to mention less prep time & less dishes) Plus, I still get in my Ben & Jerry’s and other “cheat” foods but without the excessive calories. Yes, I've had a Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk Shake..... um 344 calories!!!!!

That is why Visalus Sciences fits me!

for example my newest creation

(219 calories)

 2 scoops

1 cup of frozen strawberries

1/2 cup of frozen raspberries

1 cup of Trop 50 Apple Juice

3 ice cubes

It was soo good, all I did was throw ingredients in my blender that I like. No, it wasn't in a recipe book or outlined in a meal plan. I got to be in control and choose how I wanted my shake! 

Plus 1/6th of my daily calories for breakfast... 

like I said, pretty. fricken. awesome.

http://misserandom.myvi.net/ 

Irony?

Start #4…. Hoping it’s the last…. Hey, I’m doing better than the first three tries.

Regardless of what I post, this blog was to show me and try to live on Miss Mallory’s message. Yes, I’ll forget, there will be fluff, nonsense and complaining but there will also be hard core truth, bare naked (figuratively speaking) me, putting myself out there. It’s a step towards self-acceptance which leads to so much more.

It’s ironic though, look at my first few blog posts, I was at different points in my life, but the message was the same. Learning to dance in the rain. I’ve gotten better and worse in a myriad of ways, but I’m still me. It’s just funny to me. As humans we can change….RIGHT??

Below is a little video about Mal…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEvEEueXNVE&feature=related

Ummm…. Pretty.Fricken.Awesome.

or this is pretty sweet too

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-AejsF152I&feature=related

Whatever I face, I can get there…. Feeling blue? Watch this, you’ll feel a bit better.

One extra bit…. See bled Orange too just for the wrong team! HA. She’s Gator! (the only Gator I will ever support) But she knew her stuff & could rattle off stats and rag on other teams like nobody’s business.

Mal, I hope this blog carries on your message or at least makes a person, stop, think, laugh or remember what they have is so much. (Including me…. Yeah I’m guilty)

Big Lots Score

So, I’m not sure if anyone was aware or not but furniture is expensive! Heck even the crap is expensive. I moved into my house with nothing. notta. zero. I bought a bed, dresser, couch, and few random furniture pieces from a friend but it was college apartment furniture. Not exactly, the vision I had for my first place.

Décor is hard, on a champagne taste with a beer milk budget. I want it to look good, not Holly Hobbie. (Though I do have a set of original Holly Hobbie sheets)

So, I go shopping, get ideas, then get upset that I cannot afford it, and then take my ideas to thrift stores, craig’s list, garage sales & store sales to try and SOMETHING close.

So, one day at big lots I found this….

Perfect.

The perfect color red.

The amazing quatrefoil lattice design.

Classic vintage knob……..

Insert REALITY CHECK 

 I see the Tag hanging on the knob said $149… still out of my budget. Left with just a picture…

Well everytime I went to big lots, I visited “my” pretty table knowing ot would fit perfect in the corner of my office. Meanwhile searching to find something close….Few months pass, I’m looking for a craft table, for my craft nook. Happen to look in Big Lots furinature section…. And I see my table!!!!!

BUT

 But… Its missing the classic vintage knob??

Not sturdy anymore?

Two holes?

Cracked?

What happened?

(I**** Insert awesome thought)
Damaged goods = major discount.

Go ask for a price, salesman says $65…. Ahhh no, maybe in prestine condition maybe if it was real wood, maybe if etc..

I argue, he says, $50

I’m interested, I saw $35 & Its gone

He calls the manager, I smile a flirty smile and I we convince him its in crappy condition, unsellable, he should cut his losses…. Quite for a minute…. Then the salsman, says you cannot return it.

ummm duh? I want it, I’ve dreamed about it.

Smile a bit bigger, bat a few eyelashes…. Yeah pathetic I know… but my table!!!

  

SOLD for $35

I bring it home & with some glue, spackle, joint compound, sand paper and a bit of cardboard, I got to work

Stay tuned…..