The difference between a misstep and a f*%k up is very small

August 27, 2008 at 9:54 am (Rants and Vents)
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Picture 2 people in the same job. Same responsibilities, same pay, same issues.

One day, they both make the same mistake. The misfile some documents and they get lost. As soon as they realise what’s happened, they react.

Person 1 – how could I have screwed up so badly? I’m so incompetent. Anyone else would have known where to put those files and I’m the only person who’s screwed up this badly. I’m so getting fired. Maybe I should quit first.

Person 2 – Shit. I have no idea where those files are. Not my brightest moment. Okay, so what am I going to do? Maybe I can empty out the filing cabinet and search? If I can ask someone to help me, we should be able to find them. If I still can’t find them, I’ll have to own up to it and deal with it then.

Who’s going to be more successful? It seems fairly obvious, doesn’t it?

So why do so many people act like Person 1 when it comes to weightloss and fitness? If you wouldn’t expect success in the workplace with that attitude, why react like that to your life and lifestyle?

Too many times, it becomes an all or nothing approach. I tried that once but it didn’t work so I quit or I’m so uncoordinated, I tried playing tennis once when I was 12 and I looked silly so I’m never playing again. How ridiculous would that be in RL?

“I tried filing paperwork once and I made a mistake so I’m never doing it again’

‘I went a meeting before. It didn’t work. We should never have meetings again.’

(I personally would love to be able say that sometimes!)

I vote that we BAN this kind of attitude from our lives entirely. Just because something didn’t work ONCE or because you missteped SLIGHLTY does not mean it or you are a failure. It’s one day. It’s one meal. It’s one workout.

I found myself doing it this morning. I was chatting to a girl on the bus and she was telling me that she was going to play squash for the first time. I started laughing and telling her how uncoordinated I was. Then I realised that I was talking about ‘me’ from 10 years ago – I haven’t tried anything ‘coordinated’ since then. How silly is THAT? How do I know that me-now is uncoordinated? I haven’t tried anything. Just because I was doesn’t mean I am now. I USED to have terrible balance – I don’t now, thanks to many hours of core work.

This is my challenge to you: if you find yourself with the negative attitude this week, STOP and change the thought. If you give in to that temptation called dessert, it’s okay. It’s ONCE or TWICE. It’s not a f*&k up. It’s not the end of the world. If you find yourself thinking “I’m such a screwup” STOP. You. Are. Not. I am not an screwup for eating that SmartPop yesterday. I missteped. I’m back on track. I’m not a screwup for skipping the gym on Monday – I had things to do and I’m back on track.

We. Are. Not. Screwups. We. Are. Human.

7 Comments

How to cure road rage (or any type of rage)

August 25, 2008 at 10:17 am (Uncategorized)
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Send them to baking class. Make the offenders bake their own bread.

This, my friend, is the ultimate lesson in patience. There is NOTHING you can do to make bread rise faster or cakes bake better. You have to follow the instructions, let things do their own thing and relax.

This I learnt on Friday when I took up my own challenge and baked my own challah, following Leslie’s Yummy Challah Recipe. Two things you should know about me first:

  1. I have not been blessed with patience. When I drive alone, I yell a lot. I mutter when walking behind slow people on the sidewalk. I try to curb my impatience but alas, my father has a lot to answer for.
  2. In the past, when I’ve tried to bake, I’ve screwed it up and never gone back. For the past 5 years, unless it was pre-mixed-just-add-water-and-an-egg, I wasn’t baking it.

So Friday, I got home from work and decided that it was Time. I got all the ingredients together, read the recipe (already printed out) and got to it. I mixed and I poured. I kneaded the dough til it needed no more. I covered the bowl and I left it to rise. Leslie said 1-2 hours.

Those were the longest hours of my week. I checked the bowl incessantly. I fretted that I should have added more flour. I fretted that it wasn’t rising. I found a million reasons to wander past the Bowl. I agonised that my bread was a flop and I should just give up.

It rose. I braided it and I baked it. And it was good. I tad salty (my bad – I added salted butter instead of unsalted) but oh so good.

But nothing I did made it so. The bread rose in its own sweet time. It baked in its own sweet time. All I did was combine the ingredients.

So, any police officers and judges out there – you want to teach road ragers a lesson? Send them to baking class.

6 Comments

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate?

August 22, 2008 at 9:42 pm (Rants and Vents)
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David Isaacs, a professor in pediatric infectious diseases at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead and one of the doctors who contacted DOCs, said the case had angered staff because the baby’s rights were being ignored.

“I am a strong believer in vaccinations being voluntary but not getting this baby vaccinated is a form of child abuse,” he said. “We are talking a potentially major and awful outcome for this child and it is our job to protect children when they can’t make decisions for themselves.”

Professor Isaacs said the baby had a 5 to 40 per cent chance of contracting hepatitis B from its mother and “about 30 per cent of people with hepatitis B will develop cancer or cirrhosis and die young … I don’t understand why these people are willing to sacrifice their child for a warped idea when the benefits far outweigh the risks.”

Parents on the run with baby after refusing vaccination – National – smh.com.au

Is choosing not to vaccinated your child a form of child abuse?

That’s the theory offered in Sydney by the Department of of Community Services (DOCS) after parents refused to vaccinate their 2-day old baby against hepatitis B. The mother has hep B and in New South Wales, all children born to infected parents are offered the vaccination. In my opinion, the operative word is offered – it’s not compulsory and not against the law to refuse it. And yet DOCS has taken out a Supreme Court Order to force the parents to vaccinate the baby.

Now, a disclaimer: I’m all for vaccination. I feel that if we’ve managed to eradicate certain illnesses, why not give our children the benefits?  But I’m fully aware that there are a lot of parents out there who choose not to vaccinate – believing that the additives are harmful and there are possible links to autism. Nothing is proven, but fair enough, we live in a free world and we’re allowed to make our own decisions.

As the father says:

“I don’t agree with the one-size-fits-all policy. He is a small baby [2.49kg] and they give the same dose to babies twice his size. I just wanted time to get more information about the vaccine.”

Now it’s true that they haven’t vaccinated their older child either – again, a choice they’ve made. Can it really be qualified as child abuse?

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New numbers and I don’t believe them for a minute

August 20, 2008 at 7:38 pm (Self-Esteem, Working out)
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Yes, it’s a long title.

My gym has a new body composition machine. Previously, I would weigh in on the old-fashioned scales and then sit down in front of the computer to have my body composition analysed with the hand-held wand thingie while my trainer filled out some questions which the machine would then take into account and spit out my body fat percentage.

Questions like how often I worked out, at what intensity and what my frame build was. Change any of the answers and the body fat percentage would change too – sometimes quite drastically. Not impressive and not really accurate it seems.

So the new machine – you hop on, sans shoes and socks, enter a few details – weight of your clothes (generally 1lb since they’re gym shorts and a tank!), height, age and whether you’re male or female. And then voila! Your weight, your body fat percentage and even your BMR calorie requirements.

According to this new machine, my weight is 121.6. This matches my home scale in the evenings, so I accept that and love it. The body fat percentage? 18.3%. This, I question. It’s a difference of 7% from 5 weeks ago (and that was using the hand held machine) so either I’ve leaned out LOTS or the hand held machine was REALLY off. I think both are iffy, so let’s take an average. 5 weeks ago it was 25.4%, tonight it was 18.3%. Average of that would be about 22%. Either way, I’ve definitely dropped fat and build muscle. I’m liking that. I do think that the old machine was iffier though – my % barely dropped for weeks despite losing weight and working those muscle HARD. For those months, I had to console myself with the fact that I WAS working hard and feeling good and screw the numbers.

And yet my measurements haven’t really changed a great deal. But my clothing size has. So again, I’m calling operator error in the measurements and going with the clothing size. Because technically, if my measurements were the same, I should not be hiking up my old jeans at all. And I am. So there.

I really don’t want anyone to think I’m

a. complaining
b. bragging

Because I’m not. I don’t know what I’m trying to say really. Maybe that sometimes the numbers don’t reflect the effort and sometimes they do. But either way, you need to realise that you’re working hard and numbers aren’t everything. Sometimes (like tonight), they’re good to you and other times they’re not. Sometimes it just takes a bit of time for the numbers to catch up with you.

Whether I dropped 3% or 7%, I’m still happy because the trend is DOWN on the percentage and UP on the lean muscle. And that makes me happy :)

4 Comments

HYC Check-in week 8

August 19, 2008 at 2:31 pm (Healthy You Challenge)
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Other than the whole having-trouble-breathing-again saga, I’m doing okay. I’m up 1lb but that’s all good, considering last week’s weight was a tad troubling really. It harked back to a weight I haven’t actually seen in about 10 years, so this week is a little more normal.

The only trouble is that, well, my stomach is not a happy camper. Let’s just say it’s holding onto things a lot longer than normal! I’m adding Benefibre and foods with fibre to my diet but it hasn’t really been helping yet. I may have to stop by the pharmacy on the way home for something a little stronger. This is not something I’ve had to deal with in a long, long time and I’m not enjoying it.

Otherwise things are good. I think I’m getting stronger and leaner but that could fade since I just overindulged in half a tuna wrap and small muffin. When I say “just indulged” I mean now, 2 hours after lunch and after a banana as my snack. Was I hungry? Not really. But I’m justifying it by saying I’ll work out tonight EXTRA hard. Hold me to it please!

Measurements to follow tomorrow from my trainer and I’m mighty curious really. I know I’ve slimmed down and my clothes fit better and looser and smaller but still, it’s always nice to get the numbers.

Since this post has taken me all day to write between actual working, I think I’ll post now and catch up on work stuff, since my boss might prefer that!

Have a great week all. :)

3 Comments

On being diplomatic

August 18, 2008 at 9:19 am (Rants and Vents)
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Sometimes a question is asked and before you can stop yourself, you answer and it’s not the most diplomatic. Luckily over the course of this weekend, I stopped myself many times when talking to my roommate and instead, came out with very diplomatic answers. But what would I have preferred to say?

Roommate: Are you okay? You look sad.

Weekend Answer: I’m fine. Just thinking.
Unfiltered Answer: Just because I’m not prattling about crap every two seconds does not mean I’m sad. I have the ability to stop talking, unlike you.

R: What are you thinking about?

WA: Nothing really. Just thinking.

UA: I’m thinking how awful those shorts look on you and how I wish you’d learn to clean up after yourself, considering you have 3 mugs of old tea around you from 3 days ago.

R (ten minutes later): What are you thinking about? You seem really quiet.

WA: I don’t know what I’m thinking about. Stuff.

UA: Can you shut up? Please? Just because you’re unable to sit in frigging silence does not mean I have to talk to you. Can’t we watch tv and be contemplative on a Sunday without having to

At this point, she accused me of being crusty and sulking for not knowing what I was thinking. I left the living room and went to my bedroom. Ten minutes later, she opened my door and came inside and sat on my bed.

R: What are you reading? What are you doing? What’s in the bag?

WA: A magazine. Just chilling out. Some stuff from the pharmacy.

UA: Get a frigging life woman. Learn about personal space. And OMG STOP TALKING FOR 5 MINUTES

R: I washed the dishes.

WA: Cool

UA: What do you want from me? A lollipop? A gold star? This IS the first time you’ve done the dishes in about a month. I do them every frigging day and you don’t hear me bragging about it. Congrats on learning about the cleaning properties of soap and water.

This is a snapshot of my day yesterday. Repeat questions 1-3 about 10 times and that’s the whole day. I went out twice to get out of the apartment and then I went to bed at 9:15 so she would stop talking and asking me what I was thinking. I held back well but this is another reason why I’m glad I’m be living alone in 2 weeks.

6 Comments

Are you missing something?

August 15, 2008 at 7:27 am (Nutrition, Rants and Vents)
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Children who have their tonsils removed or suffer ear infections are more likely to be obese when they grow up, researchers claim.

A set of studies appears to show a strong link between a liking for high-fat foods and the damage caused to taste nerves by chronic ear infections and operations to remove tonsils.

Children who have tonsils removed are more likely to be obese adults, studies suggest | Mail Online

Having never had my tonsils removed and having suffered from very few ear infections as a kid, I can’t really comment on this riduculous study. Oh right, I think I just did. Another study to find a ‘reason’ for liking high fat foods other than, say, they taste awesome? Another way to blame your body for something most people have responsibility for?

What do you think? Valid? Or insanity?

7 Comments

Moving on to bigger and better things

August 13, 2008 at 8:40 pm (Nutrition, Working out)
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My new goal (as I mentioned yesterday) is to move from weight loss to maintenance and building more lean muscle. To help me get there, I’m upping my protein and lifting heavier (thanks Mizfit!) and after just one training session, I’m feeling awesome about it.

A couple of NSVs that I have to share:

I was doing single dumbbell rows and after one set with the 12lbs, I moved up to 15lbs. That’s huge for me, considering that 6 months ago I would have probably fallen over with a 15lb weight in my hand, much less be able to do 12 reps and 4 sets of it. I’m pretty stoked about that.

We ended the session with a plank. Usually, I get to a minute but I’m struggling by the last 10 seconds. Today, I got to a minute. I got to a 1:15. I got to 1:30 and then I collapsed. Considering that when I started this journey 9 months ago, I couldn’t even do 10 seconds in plank position, I’m REALLY stoked about this. Next time: 2 minutes (but don’t tell my trainer)!

Now if my hip would stop hurting, I’ll be a happy camper entirely. I have one leg *slightly* shorter than the other (about 1/2 inch or so) so the right hip aches occassionally. I know that network chiropractic helps it but the money aspect is huge at the moment, so I have forgone it since I’ve been in Canada. I was hoping to get back to Melbourne at the end of September and book in for a few sessions but alas, my visa is not sorted yet so my trip is postponed until at least December. I think I need to get myself a few sessions here otherwise lunges will be permanently on the no-go list and while I’m not a fan of them, they do burn mucho calories and work those muscles.

One thing I’m definitely proud of is the fact that I’m not afraid to tell my trainer when I need more weights. I never used to trust my strength and ability before. I’m more confident now that I CAN do it. Sometimes I do overestimate and again, I’m not afraid or shy to say Whoa! That’s way too heavy and know that I’m not chickening out. I no longer think as a weak chick. I am strong.

I am a STRONG woman. Hear me roar.

Oh, and my new protein shake? Rocks as a shake, not as perfect on the oats – I need to rejig the oatmeal recipe (less protein or more oats and water) but as a shake I’m loving it.

2 Comments

HYC Check-in week 7

August 12, 2008 at 11:05 am (Healthy You Challenge)
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This week was a great week. I was on vacation all week (except Thursday when I had to come into the office for a meeting) and I had a great time. I did very little other than catch up on reading and tv and workout. It was bliss.

As a result, I lost another 2.5 lbs. It’s insane really. This is after a weekend of having a beer, a basket of sweet potato fries and a lot of chocolate. I told my trainer last night that I don’t want to be losing any more weight. I want to focus on toning up but my weight is a little low for my liking. The thing is that I’m used to this eating healthy racket and it’s tough to get out of it. I’m still eating chocolate (almost everyday) so it’s not as though I’m depriving myself. I’m eating 3 full meals and usually 2 snacks as well. I don’t know how many calories I’m taking in everyday (never been a calorie counter really) but I’m very rarely hungry. I’m wondering whether upping my carbs a little would stop the weight loss. I know I’m complaining about something most people crave but seriously, any more weight lost and I’ll be forever known as stick insect and that’s not my goal.

So now onto the whole maintenance thing – anyone got any tips for me? I want to do this right. I worry that as soon as I start eating more etc I’m going to pile the weight back on.

Other NSVs:

I managed to do 54 pushups in training yesterday. I admit that I drifted away from the 100 pushup challenge because of time and training being 3 times a week. The last few weeks I’ve been sore for a while after trainign and the last thing I’ve felt like doing is pushups. But I was pretty stoked at the 54 last night. True, they’re modified pushups (on the knees) but I’m not disappointed at all.

I bought some new jeans yesterday and I’m down a size. My shape is still the same (hello hips!) but I’m more in proportion. Honestly though, the number of jeans I own that don’t fit anymore is ridiculous. I really need to cull before I move.

So that’s the update for this week.

Goals:

  1. Maintain weight!
  2. Keep drinking 2-3 litres of water
  3. Get to the gym 4 times (I only made it there 3 times last week even though I had plenty of time!)
  4. Get to 5 minutes with the skipping rope.

Have a great week all!

8 Comments

Good habits vs a quick fix

August 11, 2008 at 8:26 pm (Nutrition, Rants and Vents)
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*Getting on soapbox*

I was watching Oprah today (it was the last day of my stay-cation so I was doing the daytime tv thing) and I got myself a little bit outraged (okay, a lot). The show today was about obese teens getting lap-band and gastric bypass surgery. We’re talking 14-17 year olds who are still growing, who claimed to be active and had tried every diet under the sun.

The same teens who admitted eating 2 cheese burgers in one sitting.

Now, these kids looked great. I’m not going to deny them that. They were obese to start with, either facing the prospect of diabetes and ill health or actually suffering from the effects already (one girl was already losing her eyesight at 15, directly from being obese) but surgery on a growing body? Come on.

And don’t tell me that they had tried EVERYTHING out there to lose weight – the one guy on the show (Mac) talked about how he would lose weight and then gain it all back. That shows me that he was looking at every diet precisely as a diet and not a lifestyle change. None of these kids had any medical reasons for their weight – no thyroid problems, nothing – only their emotional issues and eating habits.

Now eating habits can be changed. Yes, once you’ve had surgery, you physically can’t eat very much so that automatically changes your habits. If you don’t, you’ll throw up. Nasty. But the emotional side? All those issues that got you there in the first place? Surgery isn’t going to fix that.

And what about the rest of your life? Gastric bypass, which creates a walnut sized stomach and bypasses the rest of the stomach, creates a situation whereby the small stomach can be stretched. Meaning, that patients can, and often do, gain weight back if they don’t see their new life as a lifestyle change.

And what about the long term effects? These surgeries have not been around for long enough to really know what the long term effects are and these kids have a long life ahead of them. 10, 20, 30, 40 years later, what’s going to happen?

But the big thing in my mind – how the hell have we gotten to such a point that 15 year olds need to have surgery to lose weight? We as a society have let down this generation. We dropped the ball. We have an entire generation who sees diet and exercise as something that doesn’t work because it doesn’t work fast enough and they still want the high-fat foods. They see surgery as this quick fix. But it’s not. Nothing is a quick fix. Mac talked about how his mother was now stocking the pantry with low-calorie foods – why wasn’t she doing that in the first place when he was getting to 360 lbs? They all talked about eating less – why weren’t they doing that in the first place? Because it takes too long to see results?

I pity these kids. Sure they look great now, but where is the longterm knowledge about good nutrition and activity to keep them looking good? Where is the education about food as fuel? Where are those good habits that they need to carry them through and to pass onto their kids?

It’s gone. And in its place is a scalpel.

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