Monthly Archive

As quick as I can do on a dial-up connection. So I’m here in PA and survived day 1 of MIL’s food. The flight was okay except for the man behind me who was too big for his seat and kept banging into my seat every time he moved which meant that as soon as I would start to doze off I’d get jolted awake. Someone really needs to come up with a height/weight airplane seat for men and larger people so that they can be comfortable too. Even on Jet Blue you only get so much room and it’s not much, especially for big/tall guys. Unfortunately the lack of sleep really put me in a PISSY mood. Luckily I got to sleep on the drive to the ILs which was about a 2 hour drive.

This trip is pretty emotional for us because we are here to help with the auction because they are selling the “family farm.” (not a working farm but a good size piece of land where The Husband grew up and now the ILs are selling it because they are too old to take care of the property themselves). We arrived and everyone is already working on getting things ready for the auction later this week. MIL was not home but she left a note about lunch (we arrived at noon). I was hard to see the house starting to empty out but as The Husband says, we need to be strong for the ILs.
Lunch consisted of a cheese sandwich and chips. The good thing is that MIL had bought Pepperidge Farm Light 7 grain bread which I thought was very nice. She had also bought FF milk and LF yogurt for me. She is very sweet. I’ve never asked for anything special, we usually just go to the store ourselves. I was surprised and appreciative that she had those things so that I had something to eat. Guess she must have noticed me and all my WW stuff last time even though I never really verbalized anything.

I haven’t written anything down so far and am definitely not doing strictly Core. It’s just too hard, especially out here, but I am watching my portions and not going overboard, especially with chips which I used to do in the past.

Dinner - I offered to help but she said that she didn’t need any, which is typical, but at least I asked. She said that she was making oven fried chicken, potatoes, corn on the cob and broccoli. Sounds good and healthy right? Think again… Apparently her version of oven friend chicken has something to do with Crisco and chicken and an oven. At least it wasn’t regular pan fried but still. Then I see her rubbing Crisco all over the potatoes before wrapping them in foil. I have NEVER seen tis before. My mom has used Olive Oil for baked potatoes which is at least healthyish but Crisco? Then she decides that the broccoli needs a cheese sauce side. I watched her make this and realized that it CAN be made LF but she does not do that (don’t think she thinks of LF alternatives). The sauce consisted of almost a half cube of butter, 1% milk, flour, cubes of Velveeta AND shredded cheddar. OMG! I’ve had the sauce in the past and liked it but now that I know what is in it, I avoided it like the plague.
I ate only a nibble of the chicken skin (chicken too), luckily there really wasn’t much crunchy parts, I did eat some potato with a little butter because that Crisco doesn’t add any flavor just artery clogging grease. I also ate about a 3/4 cup of broccoli sans sauce and an entire ear of corn. Not to bad but it could have been so much better had she not used Crisco. I passed on dessert but did have a piece of this Jell-O salad thing that she makes. It has mandarins and pineapple in it so it’s kinda good for you, it is fruit after all ;). I have the recipe at hope and need to alter it with FF Jell-O because it really is yummy and refreshing.

That was dinner. Oh I should mention that I did spend a good amount of time walking around the property taking pictures so I think I earned at least 1AP.

After dinner we got cleaned up and decided to head out but it was later than we thought so I couldn’t shop but we did end up going for ice cream. Bad I know but I wanted a little something and technically it was only 6:30pm back home. I had 2 small scoops and don’t feel guilty. It was neat too because it was from this ‘Soft Serve’ place that is only open when it’s hot out, so I’ve seen it every time we’ve come to visit but this is the only time that it was hot enough for it to be open so it was cool. It was like a mini date in “Hooterville/Mayberry,” which is what I call the town The Husband grew up in. It’s not really Hooterville or Mayberry but if you’ve seen either show then you can picture it (Petticoat Junction or the Andy Griffin Show). This is how I came up with the “Green Acres Barbie.”

Speaking of…after we arrived (before dinner) we changed into our “work clothes” which for me means my overalls a tank top, hair up and my generic crocs. Well as I was walking around taking pictures the one of the auctioneer helpers decided to engage me in conversation. Now he’s from the area that we are in (RURAL, Central PA) and has a heavy accent (which you need to imagine while reading the following)

Him: Mam? Mam?
Me: Yes?
Him: You from California are ya?
Me: Yes
Him: What part?
Me: SF
Him: So you’re from a big city are ya?
Me: Yes (smiling)
Him: So I hear y’all have a lot of dairies out there, more than Wisconsin. What area is it that has all the cows?
Me: Huh?
Him: I hear there are a lot of cows out there, what is that area called with all the dairies?
Me: Uh? I don’t know…HUSBAND?!

That was my Green Acres moment. Even in my “farm clothes” I stand out and the locals like to ask if I really am from CA and SF (they don’t think anyone is actually FROM there). Very sweet people but it cracks me up that they need to reconfirm where I am from and then start asking me questions about cows or something else that I seriously have no idea about (I grew up in the city not country). Clearly I’ve never stepped foot on a real farm otherwise I don’t think I’d be wearing ‘crocs’ with overalls LOL.

So that is my day in a nutshell. Guess it was longer than I thought. Tomorrow is a new day and I plan to do more walking. At least I got some F&V in today

Oh I bought 2 new magazines before our flight so I will have a ton of stuff to share later in the week.

Hope everyone is having an OP week!

As quick as I can do on a dial-up connection. So I’m here in PA and survived day 1 of MIL’s food. The flight was okay except for the man behind me who was too big for his seat and kept banging into my seat every time he moved which meant that as soon as I would start to doze off I’d get jolted awake. Someone really needs to come up with a height/weight airplane seat for men and larger people so that they can be comfortable too. Even on Jet Blue you only get so much room and it’s not much, especially for big/tall guys. Unfortunately the lack of sleep really put me in a PISSY mood. Luckily I got to sleep on the drive to the ILs which was about a 2 hour drive.

This trip is pretty emotional for us because we are here to help with the auction because they are selling the “family farm.” (not a working farm but a good size piece of land where The Husband grew up and now the ILs are selling it because they are too old to take care of the property themselves). We arrived and everyone is already working on getting things ready for the auction later this week. MIL was not home but she left a note about lunch (we arrived at noon). I was hard to see the house starting to empty out but as The Husband says, we need to be strong for the ILs.
Lunch consisted of a cheese sandwich and chips. The good thing is that MIL had bought Pepperidge Farm Light 7 grain bread which I thought was very nice. She had also bought FF milk and LF yogurt for me. She is very sweet. I’ve never asked for anything special, we usually just go to the store ourselves. I was surprised and appreciative that she had those things so that I had something to eat. Guess she must have noticed me and all my WW stuff last time even though I never really verbalized anything.

I haven’t written anything down so far and am definitely not doing strictly Core. It’s just too hard, especially out here, but I am watching my portions and not going overboard, especially with chips which I used to do in the past.

Dinner - I offered to help but she said that she didn’t need any, which is typical, but at least I asked. She said that she was making oven fried chicken, potatoes, corn on the cob and broccoli. Sounds good and healthy right? Think again… Apparently her version of oven friend chicken has something to do with Crisco and chicken and an oven. At least it wasn’t regular pan fried but still. Then I see her rubbing Crisco all over the potatoes before wrapping them in foil. I have NEVER seen tis before. My mom has used Olive Oil for baked potatoes which is at least healthyish but Crisco? Then she decides that the broccoli needs a cheese sauce side. I watched her make this and realized that it CAN be made LF but she does not do that (don’t think she thinks of LF alternatives). The sauce consisted of almost a half cube of butter, 1% milk, flour, cubes of Velveeta AND shredded cheddar. OMG! I’ve had the sauce in the past and liked it but now that I know what is in it, I avoided it like the plague.
I ate only a nibble of the chicken skin (chicken too), luckily there really wasn’t much crunchy parts, I did eat some potato with a little butter because that Crisco doesn’t add any flavor just artery clogging grease. I also ate about a 3/4 cup of broccoli sans sauce and an entire ear of corn. Not to bad but it could have been so much better had she not used Crisco. I passed on dessert but did have a piece of this Jell-O salad thing that she makes. It has mandarins and pineapple in it so it’s kinda good for you, it is fruit after all ;). I have the recipe at hope and need to alter it with FF Jell-O because it really is yummy and refreshing.

That was dinner. Oh I should mention that I did spend a good amount of time walking around the property taking pictures so I think I earned at least 1AP.

After dinner we got cleaned up and decided to head out but it was later than we thought so I couldn’t shop but we did end up going for ice cream. Bad I know but I wanted a little something and technically it was only 6:30pm back home. I had 2 small scoops and don’t feel guilty. It was neat too because it was from this ‘Soft Serve’ place that is only open when it’s hot out, so I’ve seen it every time we’ve come to visit but this is the only time that it was hot enough for it to be open so it was cool. It was like a mini date in “Hooterville/Mayberry,” which is what I call the town The Husband grew up in. It’s not really Hooterville or Mayberry but if you’ve seen either show then you can picture it (Petticoat Junction or the Andy Griffin Show). This is how I came up with the “Green Acres Barbie.”

Speaking of…after we arrived (before dinner) we changed into our “work clothes” which for me means my overalls a tank top, hair up and my generic crocs. Well as I was walking around taking pictures the one of the auctioneer helpers decided to engage me in conversation. Now he’s from the area that we are in (RURAL, Central PA) and has a heavy accent (which you need to imagine while reading the following)

Him: Mam? Mam?
Me: Yes?
Him: You from California are ya?
Me: Yes
Him: What part?
Me: SF
Him: So you’re from a big city are ya?
Me: Yes (smiling)
Him: So I hear y’all have a lot of dairies out there, more than Wisconsin. What area is it that has all the cows?
Me: Huh?
Him: I hear there are a lot of cows out there, what is that area called with all the dairies?
Me: Uh? I don’t know…HUSBAND?!

That was my Green Acres moment. Even in my “farm clothes” I stand out and the locals like to ask if I really am from CA and SF (they don’t think anyone is actually FROM there). Very sweet people but it cracks me up that they need to reconfirm where I am from and then start asking me questions about cows or something else that I seriously have no idea about (I grew up in the city not country). Clearly I’ve never stepped foot on a real farm otherwise I don’t think I’d be wearing ‘crocs’ with overalls LOL.

So that is my day in a nutshell. Guess it was longer than I thought. Tomorrow is a new day and I plan to do more walking. At least I got some F&V in today

Oh I bought 2 new magazines before our flight so I will have a ton of stuff to share later in the week.

Hope everyone is having an OP week!

I think I am most random at the beginning of the week and die down by Friday.

I got my yogurt YIPPEE. FF Strawberry and for what ever reason the mini chocolate chips yelled at me and jumped into my yogurt cup. Now before you say ewww they compliment the strawberry yogurt very well!
Who was it that kept eating chocolate chips last week? Even though I can’t remember I can picture your blog and reading about the chocolate chips and I totally thought of you as I scooped in 1tsp of mini chocolate chips. SO YUMMY!

I’m back at my desk, yogurt now gone, a half cup really doesn’t last that long even though it looks like a lot. Check my google reader and Go Fug Yourself strikes again and then again. So much to catch up on and so much work to do and I only have 3 hours left till I am outta here. I feel a meltdown approaching!

And now just because it is one of those days, a few Cartman quotes…
“Screw you guys, I’m going home”
“Ok That’s it, Talking Poo is where I draw the line.”
“Hey, I ain’t fat, I’m just big-boned.”

I think I am most random at the beginning of the week and die down by Friday.

I got my yogurt YIPPEE. FF Strawberry and for what ever reason the mini chocolate chips yelled at me and jumped into my yogurt cup. Now before you say ewww they compliment the strawberry yogurt very well!
Who was it that kept eating chocolate chips last week? Even though I can’t remember I can picture your blog and reading about the chocolate chips and I totally thought of you as I scooped in 1tsp of mini chocolate chips. SO YUMMY!

I’m back at my desk, yogurt now gone, a half cup really doesn’t last that long even though it looks like a lot. Check my google reader and Go Fug Yourself strikes again and then again. So much to catch up on and so much work to do and I only have 3 hours left till I am outta here. I feel a meltdown approaching!

And now just because it is one of those days, a few Cartman quotes…
“Screw you guys, I’m going home”
“Ok That’s it, Talking Poo is where I draw the line.”
“Hey, I ain’t fat, I’m just big-boned.”

I’m not sure why but I seem to freak out aka borderline anxiety attack before we travel. It happens every single time and I have no idea why. Tonight’s trip will be my 5th one this year alone so you’d think I’d be fine by now but I’m not. I get in a funk, start freaking out about every little thing and usually snap at The Husband, although this time he said that he was grateful that I haven’t yelled at him like I usually do but that he can see me starting to freak. I don’t think it’s a fear of flying, and if it is/was you’d think I’d be over it by now considering how many trips we seem to take every year.
It also doesn’t help that I wait till the absolute last minute to pack either. Seriously. We leave on a red eye tonight and the suitcases are still in the garage which means running home after work, marathon packing, some type of dinner and then leaving to drop one car off with my parents and then heading to the airport. And if you’re wondering why I don’t pack early it’s because I’m always afraid that I will need something that I’ve packed, so by waiting till the last minute I can make sure that I pack everything. At least that is my thought process.

I’m stressing over food to since we will be with the ILs for 3 of the 5 days and my MIL cooks pretty fattening foods. Lots of cream sauces or butter etc. She tries to be healthy but she’s older and follows her cookbooks and NONE of them are for healthy diets. Example, we have fruits and veggies with every meal, but there are also chips and cheese (cheese that we can’t get in the Bay Area so it’s super special when we go back east) on the table and dessert after lunch and dinner which is always some homemade cake, pie or cookies. She makes broccoli but then some type of cheese sauce for it, green bean casserole with all it’s good fatness. And what is worse is that she knows how picky I am and totally goes out of her way to make me what I can eat and what I’ve said I’ve liked in the past. Which is very sweet and I am grateful but it usually means that she’s remembered the one or two times that I commented on some fattening dish that I liked (because I had never had it before). See, my ILs are German/PA Dutch so they eat very rich foods that are also very plain in taste so I have to add salt to everything and the cream sauces usually contain any of the flavor that the dish is supposed to have, and even in small quantities these foods are high in calories. Last time I lived on WW/LC meals for dinner but since we’re only there for 3 nights that really isn’t possible this time (we’re usually there for 7-10 days).
I know I shouldn’t complain because it’s always nice to visit them and I am grateful that they go out of their way for me but it’s like going from a safe WW friendly environment to an area that doesn’t have veggie meals, LF options and there is fat in everything and everywhere you look (no healthy restaurants at all). Sadly, obesity is very much the norm in this area and family. I’m not saying this to be mean in any way, it’s just a fact and one that stresses me out when ever we go visit. Mainly because of my fear of giving in to the snack foods that we can’t get back home and that are oh so yummy and readily available when we visit.

With all that said I am going to attempt Core this week because last time we were there I tried to count points and it stressed me out because I was going over every day with teensy bits of food and still feeling hungry. So today is my first day trying this and I’m not sure what to think yet.
I had watermelon for breakfast. That was good. Then for lunch I was out at a Dr. appt. and decided that I had to try this salad that everyone keeps raving about. So I swung by Micky D’s and got one. Not bad but I would have preferred it with the fried chicken. My question is that if only 2 items in the salad are not core why should I count the entire thing as FPs the way eTools has you do? It’s not a huge deal but I just don’t like losing 6 FPs right off the bat my first few hours on Core, know what I mean?

So here I am having eaten 2 things so far and not sure what to do cuz I want something else. If I count points today I’ve eaten 8 if not then I still have 29 FPs for the week on Core but not sure what else I can snack on. And yes I realize I should have put more thought into this but as mentioned in the beginning of this post I AM STRESSED! I want something crunchy and salty and sweet but not fruit or veggies. No wonder my husband does so well on Core he LOVES fruits and veggies, I on the other hand have a love hate relationship with them.

As I type this I keep flipping back and forth to eTools to see if nuts are on there - NO, frozen yogurt - NO. I think I want to cry. How do I do this?! Hmmm. Maybe I do points today and attempt Core starting tomorrow and just really watch it like I did in HI and hope for the best. Good thing is that there won’t be any wine or alcohol since the ILs don’t drink so that should help.

So for any of you who are still reading this is how my morning started which added to my funk.
Got up on time, drank coffee too fast and needed second 20 oz mug (yes I drink that much every day just to get started) because I just wasn’t feeling the full octane of the first mug. Got ready, jeans fit loose YAY, new tops fit too big YAY and bummer because I really like them. Found an outfit, almost ready to leave and I drop my teeth (aka invasiline - I call them my teeth) and can’t find one tray, I decide to just wear one and search for the other tonight. Then I drop one of my wedding rings, well I CAN’T leave without that so I get on the floor and start looking. The damn thing bounced off my toe and it hurt so you’d think it wouldn’t have gone far. WRONG. I’m on the floor for like 1o minutes finding all sorts of random shit like vitamins, hair, dust, rubberbands, change, my teeth but no ring. Finally I find it and can continue on my schedule of getting ready. Nothing horrible but when you are about ready to head out and only have rings and shoes left to put on and that happens it kinda throws you off. Then I get in the car and the gas light is on. Great, that means having to go out of my way to get gas because I also have a doctor’s appt that is past the office but I can’t remember what time it is. I get gas, car happy. I get into work and call the doc only to realize that I need to leave the office in 30 minutes to make it in time. I leave, get my fruit, see the doc, things are good DOUBLE YAY, then I get my salad. Back to work, eat my salad, bummed about the points and Core and so I write. And now here we are 1:30pm and I want something else that isn’t on the Core menu.

Screw it, I’m getting yogurt!

I’m not sure why but I seem to freak out aka borderline anxiety attack before we travel. It happens every single time and I have no idea why. Tonight’s trip will be my 5th one this year alone so you’d think I’d be fine by now but I’m not. I get in a funk, start freaking out about every little thing and usually snap at The Husband, although this time he said that he was grateful that I haven’t yelled at him like I usually do but that he can see me starting to freak. I don’t think it’s a fear of flying, and if it is/was you’d think I’d be over it by now considering how many trips we seem to take every year.
It also doesn’t help that I wait till the absolute last minute to pack either. Seriously. We leave on a red eye tonight and the suitcases are still in the garage which means running home after work, marathon packing, some type of dinner and then leaving to drop one car off with my parents and then heading to the airport. And if you’re wondering why I don’t pack early it’s because I’m always afraid that I will need something that I’ve packed, so by waiting till the last minute I can make sure that I pack everything. At least that is my thought process.

I’m stressing over food to since we will be with the ILs for 3 of the 5 days and my MIL cooks pretty fattening foods. Lots of cream sauces or butter etc. She tries to be healthy but she’s older and follows her cookbooks and NONE of them are for healthy diets. Example, we have fruits and veggies with every meal, but there are also chips and cheese (cheese that we can’t get in the Bay Area so it’s super special when we go back east) on the table and dessert after lunch and dinner which is always some homemade cake, pie or cookies. She makes broccoli but then some type of cheese sauce for it, green bean casserole with all it’s good fatness. And what is worse is that she knows how picky I am and totally goes out of her way to make me what I can eat and what I’ve said I’ve liked in the past. Which is very sweet and I am grateful but it usually means that she’s remembered the one or two times that I commented on some fattening dish that I liked (because I had never had it before). See, my ILs are German/PA Dutch so they eat very rich foods that are also very plain in taste so I have to add salt to everything and the cream sauces usually contain any of the flavor that the dish is supposed to have, and even in small quantities these foods are high in calories. Last time I lived on WW/LC meals for dinner but since we’re only there for 3 nights that really isn’t possible this time (we’re usually there for 7-10 days).
I know I shouldn’t complain because it’s always nice to visit them and I am grateful that they go out of their way for me but it’s like going from a safe WW friendly environment to an area that doesn’t have veggie meals, LF options and there is fat in everything and everywhere you look (no healthy restaurants at all). Sadly, obesity is very much the norm in this area and family. I’m not saying this to be mean in any way, it’s just a fact and one that stresses me out when ever we go visit. Mainly because of my fear of giving in to the snack foods that we can’t get back home and that are oh so yummy and readily available when we visit.

With all that said I am going to attempt Core this week because last time we were there I tried to count points and it stressed me out because I was going over every day with teensy bits of food and still feeling hungry. So today is my first day trying this and I’m not sure what to think yet.
I had watermelon for breakfast. That was good. Then for lunch I was out at a Dr. appt. and decided that I had to try this salad that everyone keeps raving about. So I swung by Micky D’s and got one. Not bad but I would have preferred it with the fried chicken. My question is that if only 2 items in the salad are not core why should I count the entire thing as FPs the way eTools has you do? It’s not a huge deal but I just don’t like losing 6 FPs right off the bat my first few hours on Core, know what I mean?

So here I am having eaten 2 things so far and not sure what to do cuz I want something else. If I count points today I’ve eaten 8 if not then I still have 29 FPs for the week on Core but not sure what else I can snack on. And yes I realize I should have put more thought into this but as mentioned in the beginning of this post I AM STRESSED! I want something crunchy and salty and sweet but not fruit or veggies. No wonder my husband does so well on Core he LOVES fruits and veggies, I on the other hand have a love hate relationship with them.

As I type this I keep flipping back and forth to eTools to see if nuts are on there - NO, frozen yogurt - NO. I think I want to cry. How do I do this?! Hmmm. Maybe I do points today and attempt Core starting tomorrow and just really watch it like I did in HI and hope for the best. Good thing is that there won’t be any wine or alcohol since the ILs don’t drink so that should help.

So for any of you who are still reading this is how my morning started which added to my funk.
Got up on time, drank coffee too fast and needed second 20 oz mug (yes I drink that much every day just to get started) because I just wasn’t feeling the full octane of the first mug. Got ready, jeans fit loose YAY, new tops fit too big YAY and bummer because I really like them. Found an outfit, almost ready to leave and I drop my teeth (aka invasiline - I call them my teeth) and can’t find one tray, I decide to just wear one and search for the other tonight. Then I drop one of my wedding rings, well I CAN’T leave without that so I get on the floor and start looking. The damn thing bounced off my toe and it hurt so you’d think it wouldn’t have gone far. WRONG. I’m on the floor for like 1o minutes finding all sorts of random shit like vitamins, hair, dust, rubberbands, change, my teeth but no ring. Finally I find it and can continue on my schedule of getting ready. Nothing horrible but when you are about ready to head out and only have rings and shoes left to put on and that happens it kinda throws you off. Then I get in the car and the gas light is on. Great, that means having to go out of my way to get gas because I also have a doctor’s appt that is past the office but I can’t remember what time it is. I get gas, car happy. I get into work and call the doc only to realize that I need to leave the office in 30 minutes to make it in time. I leave, get my fruit, see the doc, things are good DOUBLE YAY, then I get my salad. Back to work, eat my salad, bummed about the points and Core and so I write. And now here we are 1:30pm and I want something else that isn’t on the Core menu.

Screw it, I’m getting yogurt!

New week starts tomorrow.

If you haven’t subscribed to the free Hungry Girl email newsletter yet you should!

In going through some old emails I found this one. Desertmama, I think they heard our wondering about calories and settling.

“HG, I’m trying to figure out how many calories I burn in a day, but I have no idea. Can you help me? Thanks! Calorie Confused

Dear Calorie Confused,
Yes, as a matter of fact I CAN help you. I’m going to point you in the direction of something called a “BMR Calculator”. This handy dandy tool will tell you how many calories your body would burn if you stayed in bed all day and did absolutely nothing (sounds like a fun day to me). There’s a formula that takes into account your height, weight, age and gender — and based on those things, it tells you how many calories your body burns per day. This is your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). Remember, if you do more activity than just lying around all day (which you probably do!), your body requires additional calories to fuel those activities. So, just the calories from your BMR wouldn’t be enough to sustain you on a daily basis. In other words, don’t use your BMR as the total number of calories you need to eat in a day. Use that info as a baseline from which to add calories for acti vity. If you want to know more about this topic, consult a doctor or nutrition professional. FYI — they say depriving your body of food can actually slow down your BMR (a very BAD thing!), and doing lots of cardio can actually increase it (which rocks!).
Here’s a link to the calculator. Definitely forward this email to everyone you know, because there’s probably not a person on the planet who isn’t interested in finding out this magic number.

So according to my BMR I burn 1411.1 calories a day if I were to just lay around and do nothing. Which means that according to my SP calorie logs I’m not even eating the number of calories that I am burning everyday and we’re not even counting the hellish stairs that I do every day. So if I’m calculating correctly (I am horrible in math) based on the calories that I consume in a week and my BMR it takes me over a week to lose a pound. AH HA! That explains so much. Now if only that site had a section to include what you do daily in terms of exercise. Definitely time to kick up the exercise. Of course I still lack motivation but this gives me some since I can see why I’m losing so little each week.

Basal Metabolic Rate
You expend energy no matter what you’re doing, even when sleeping. Thus your Basal Metabolic Rate is the number of calories you’d burn if you stayed in bed all day - a tempting idea for some. If you’ve noticed that every year, it becomes harder to eat whatever you want and stay slim, you’ve also learned that your Basal Metabolic Rate decreases as you age. Likewise, depriving yourself of food in hopes of losing weight also decreases your BMR, a foil to your intentions. However, a regular routine of cardiovascular exercise can increase your BMR, improving your health and fitness when your body’s ability to burn energy gradually slows down.

New week starts tomorrow.

If you haven’t subscribed to the free Hungry Girl email newsletter yet you should!

In going through some old emails I found this one. Desertmama, I think they heard our wondering about calories and settling.

“HG, I’m trying to figure out how many calories I burn in a day, but I have no idea. Can you help me? Thanks! Calorie Confused

Dear Calorie Confused,
Yes, as a matter of fact I CAN help you. I’m going to point you in the direction of something called a “BMR Calculator”. This handy dandy tool will tell you how many calories your body would burn if you stayed in bed all day and did absolutely nothing (sounds like a fun day to me). There’s a formula that takes into account your height, weight, age and gender — and based on those things, it tells you how many calories your body burns per day. This is your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). Remember, if you do more activity than just lying around all day (which you probably do!), your body requires additional calories to fuel those activities. So, just the calories from your BMR wouldn’t be enough to sustain you on a daily basis. In other words, don’t use your BMR as the total number of calories you need to eat in a day. Use that info as a baseline from which to add calories for acti vity. If you want to know more about this topic, consult a doctor or nutrition professional. FYI — they say depriving your body of food can actually slow down your BMR (a very BAD thing!), and doing lots of cardio can actually increase it (which rocks!).
Here’s a link to the calculator. Definitely forward this email to everyone you know, because there’s probably not a person on the planet who isn’t interested in finding out this magic number.

So according to my BMR I burn 1411.1 calories a day if I were to just lay around and do nothing. Which means that according to my SP calorie logs I’m not even eating the number of calories that I am burning everyday and we’re not even counting the hellish stairs that I do every day. So if I’m calculating correctly (I am horrible in math) based on the calories that I consume in a week and my BMR it takes me over a week to lose a pound. AH HA! That explains so much. Now if only that site had a section to include what you do daily in terms of exercise. Definitely time to kick up the exercise. Of course I still lack motivation but this gives me some since I can see why I’m losing so little each week.

Basal Metabolic Rate
You expend energy no matter what you’re doing, even when sleeping. Thus your Basal Metabolic Rate is the number of calories you’d burn if you stayed in bed all day - a tempting idea for some. If you’ve noticed that every year, it becomes harder to eat whatever you want and stay slim, you’ve also learned that your Basal Metabolic Rate decreases as you age. Likewise, depriving yourself of food in hopes of losing weight also decreases your BMR, a foil to your intentions. However, a regular routine of cardiovascular exercise can increase your BMR, improving your health and fitness when your body’s ability to burn energy gradually slows down.

Gym Bunny Barbie aka My Life in a Blog this one is for you!

Barbie, this is what I picture when ever you talk about your work Barbie days. Sorry but I could not find a turtle hat.

Triathlon Barbie - Taking the Reins

Click here to see Roni
Click here to see Melanie
Click here to see Trixie and Colette

Click here to read the post that started it all (Barbie Brigade) and then this one and really just Steph’s blog in general if you haven’t already.

Click here if you want to make your own “Barbie” meez. It’s free to sign up and if you use my name - jewells- as a referral you get 5 free coinz (coinz buys you stuff).

Gym Bunny Barbie aka My Life in a Blog this one is for you!

Barbie, this is what I picture when ever you talk about your work Barbie days. Sorry but I could not find a turtle hat.

Triathlon Barbie - Taking the Reins

Click here to see Roni
Click here to see Melanie
Click here to see Trixie and Colette

Click here to read the post that started it all (Barbie Brigade) and then this one and really just Steph’s blog in general if you haven’t already.

Click here if you want to make your own “Barbie” meez. It’s free to sign up and if you use my name - jewells- as a referral you get 5 free coinz (coinz buys you stuff).

Anyone read Family Circle? I never have until I came across it the other day and it has some pretty good articles in it.

1. Do you recycle? Check out these cool reusable bags that can help you keep things separate until it’s time to take them in out

2. Free Fitness Help - Visit choosetomove.org to sign up for the American Heart Association’s free 12 week motivational program.

3. They have a ‘diet success’ section that always has a ‘how I lost it!’ section. Click the image below to enlarge it. You can even submit your own story!

4. On the same page check out the ‘FC Fact’ about almonds or walnuts helping curb hunger.

5. I think this site has been posted before but it’s just so cool. How Stuff Works - Nutrition

6. Calorie Calculation & Serving Size Conversion Calculator - Check out SP Nutrition Resources

7. How to lose weight the healthy way Some things we already know but it’s a good article anyway

Today was okay, I realized that every time we go out and have a high points dinner that I struggle to eat the next day.

I won’t get to WI this week because we’ll be at my ILs. I need to reread the Core plan so that I can attempt that while we are there since counting points will be out the window. I’m also hoping to get some walking and maybe even mowing in so that should count for some APs.

That’s it for today….

Today was okay, I realized that every time we go out and have a high points dinner that I struggle to eat the next day.

I won’t get to WI this week because we’ll be at my ILs. I need to reread the Core plan so that I can attempt that while we are there since counting points will be out the window. I’m also hoping to get some walking and maybe even mowing in so that should count for some APs.

That’s it for today….

So this whole Barbie Brigade has me thinking about my Barbies and I’m afraid to admit that I may have more than 3. Does that also make me Sybil Barbie? I seem to have a Barbie for every phase in my life and although I may have moved on to a new Barbie there is a little piece of each one still with me (my closet proves it LOL).

Here you have the chronicles of this Barbie…

Rocker/Groupie Barbie (my hay day) late 80s early 90s

Growing up in the Bay Area I met tons of bands and it was the time of the Glam Hair Rock Bands. This was also my time of yo-yo dieting, eating disorders, crash diets etc. I thought I was fat when in fact I was a twig then I got fat and was devastated. I went from a size 5 to a 12/14 back down to a 2/4 in less than 2 years time (stayed at the low end for 10+ years too). Let’s just say that slutty was the norm in that scene, at least out here and I would have made Trixie proud (think back to the Motley Crue or Poison videos and you’ll know what I mean)! Looking back I’m fortunate that things were safer and nothing ever happened to me and my friends as we tramped around town frequenting the local club scene (we were under aged but don’t tell!). This Barbie comes complete with loser wannabe Rock Star boyfriend, big hair, emotional issues, body image issues and some great hooker shoes (I think this started the hooker/pole dancer shoe fetish).

Vampira Barbie (aka “Old School” Goth Barbie - goth of the late 90’s early 00’s (ala Anne Rice - hay day part 2

Somethings just naturally lead into the other and that was how it was for me. Rocker chick became enamored with the goth look and the scene was thriving (underground of course) and so we checked it out and loved it. There was also a lot of cross over between the 2 (some glam bands kept the make-up only it was darker and the attire was all black). This Barbie comes complete books or poetry, pale skin (from avoiding the sun and sleeping during the day) with dark flowing dresses and capes, cleavage galore (think Elvira Mistress of the Dark), poison ring, pointy pole dancer stiletto shoes/boots, blood red lips and nails, tattoos, piercings, death stare, sarcasm, smoking habit (I actually smoked socially off and on for like 15 years) and evil grin. Later she became agelessness (I refuse to acknowledge my “real” age), got a fluffy dog and met The Outsiders Greaser Ken (more on that later)

My goth days and and some of the best times in my life before I met my husband. I hated being single but I loved going to clubs and dancing and drinking the night away only to stroll in at like 3am, sleep and get up in time to start my retail job at 1pm and then do it all over again. I lived and breathed the Ann Rice novels and still want to visit the areas that she wrote about.

Eventually Goth Barbie got a real corporate job and realized that she freaked people out so she had to try and play “normal.” She started to incorporate a few primary colors and more non colors into her wardrobe but apparently it only made the goth more subtle, it was already a huge part of who she was. Corporate world didn’t work too well with going out every night of the week so she had to suck it up and give up that part of her life. But she missed the dancing so much. One night while out at their favorite dive bar her and her friends discovered SAMBA and she became

Dancer Barbie!

Eventually Samba dancing got old and she started belly dancing (my real costume BD was MUCH better than the meez but I didn’t have much to work with) and I danced for years. I even danced in our city’s version of Carnaval one year when I was still doing Samba (4 years) and while Belly Dancing (5 years) I danced in middle eastern restaurants and taught my own classes for about a year or so.

I stopped dancing when I got sick and had to have to have surgery. Surgery left me unable to use my right leg or walk for a few months and then it too like a year to really get back to normal. That is when I gained all the weight. Talk about messing with your self-esteem!

Somewhere in between (before the surgeries) I met Greaser Ken aka Oliver Ken and that is how I became

Green Acres Barbie

Zsa Zsa Barbie ala Green Acres is my other alter ego fully equipped with Oliver Ken and Wilbur dog/pig. You see, I’m the total glam, vampy, diva girly city girl and Ken is the East Coast country boy who married himself a California Girl through and through (minus the blonde hair of course). He’s also a total gear head/hot rodder/greaser. I never felt like Lisa/Zsa Zsa until the first time I went back east to visit the in-laws and saw where my Ken grew up. In RURAL PA very close to Amish Country. The first time I showed up wearing what I wear I realized that we were Lisa and Oliver. Even with my overalls on trying to help mow or plant flowers or do something countryish I apparently scream CITY GIRL. So when we visit the in-laws we’re Lisa and Oliver. LOL

Plain Jane Barbie aka The Fat Girl

This is me now :(. And that is a typical outfit for me at work. I wear a lot of sweaters not to cover the back fat and muffin top that was occurring. Fortunately muffin top and back fat are slowly disappearing so I’ll get updated soon cuz Plain Jane is too boring for me!

This is what I turned into when I gained weight. I wanted to be invisible so I stopped dressing up and stopped wearing make-up or even really doing anything to my hair. Of course there are somethings that i just can’t let go of that apparently still make me stand out like my hair (it’s always big and curly and looks nice but I don’t do anything special with it anymore, jewelry and nails, but for me the lack of make-up and dressing up (I never wore pants until I gained weight) and feeling pretty made me feel plain and invisible because that is what I wanted. To be invisible because I hate being and feeling fat. I hate being uncomfortable and feeling insecure.

Now I realize that I don’t have a huge amount to loose and I wasn’t always the chubby girl, nor have I ever been teased about my weight, but as we all know based on reading each other’s blogs and the Barbies, we’re all different and we all have our vulnerable stages . Mine was gaining weight and being fat my senior year in HS which really traumatized me, especially when my best friend was skinny and blonde and all the boys liked her. I know how I gained the weight too. 1/2 pint of coffee Haagen Daz everyday for lunch will do it to you before you know it. I guess that was my weakness back then. Once I lost all the weight I was still insecure but over the years I became confident and sassy and well, you know the rest. I was totally fine and comfortable with myself for years. Then I got sick.
Being cut open multiple times because of surgery fucks you up. You can’t eat, you can’t exercise, you can’t even poop! It really sucks and does a number on your body. Pain killers make you depressed. Add it all together and what do you get? Chubby Plain Jane Barbie who tried to make excuses for years and then finally got some sense in her plain little plastic head and went to WW before she got any bigger and now here I am trying to find me again! Not really sure what the new and improved Barbie will be like but she’ll have bits and pieces of each of the above, especially Vampira (my favorite).

In the process I’ve also found a great group of women who are so willing to share their stories and support and struggles and jokes and a little of themselves. Than you for that. I learn something from each of you and I love it!

To join the Barbie Brigade on Steph’s blog.
If you want to make your own Barbie meez just click on the animated one below and sign up (it’s free) and use my name - jewells- as a referral so that you get 5 free coinz (coinz buys you stuff).

(currently working towards this Barbie because I actually have an outfit just like this that was my favorite to wear before I gained the weight). Oh and Ken has also gained another persona, Surfer Ken (he doesn’t know that he is all these Ken’s) who has unofficially been doing WW with me (Core) because he want to look better on the beach.

So this whole Barbie Brigade has me thinking about my Barbies and I’m afraid to admit that I may have more than 3. Does that also make me Sybil Barbie? I seem to have a Barbie for every phase in my life and although I may have moved on to a new Barbie there is a little piece of each one still with me (my closet proves it LOL).

Here you have the chronicles of this Barbie…

Rocker/Groupie Barbie (my hay day) late 80s early 90s

Growing up in the Bay Area I met tons of bands and it was the time of the Glam Hair Rock Bands. This was also my time of yo-yo dieting, eating disorders, crash diets etc. I thought I was fat when in fact I was a twig then I got fat and was devastated. I went from a size 5 to a 12/14 back down to a 2/4 in less than 2 years time (stayed at the low end for 10+ years too). Let’s just say that slutty was the norm in that scene, at least out here and I would have made Trixie proud (think back to the Motley Crue or Poison videos and you’ll know what I mean)! Looking back I’m fortunate that things were safer and nothing ever happened to me and my friends as we tramped around town frequenting the local club scene (we were under aged but don’t tell!). This Barbie comes complete with loser wannabe Rock Star boyfriend, big hair, emotional issues, body image issues and some great hooker shoes (I think this started the hooker/pole dancer shoe fetish).

Vampira Barbie (aka “Old School” Goth Barbie - goth of the late 90’s early 00’s (ala Anne Rice - hay day part 2

Somethings just naturally lead into the other and that was how it was for me. Rocker chick became enamored with the goth look and the scene was thriving (underground of course) and so we checked it out and loved it. There was also a lot of cross over between the 2 (some glam bands kept the make-up only it was darker and the attire was all black). This Barbie comes complete books or poetry, pale skin (from avoiding the sun and sleeping during the day) with dark flowing dresses and capes, cleavage galore (think Elvira Mistress of the Dark), poison ring, pointy pole dancer stiletto shoes/boots, blood red lips and nails, tattoos, piercings, death stare, sarcasm, smoking habit (I actually smoked socially off and on for like 15 years) and evil grin. Later she became agelessness (I refuse to acknowledge my “real” age), got a fluffy dog and met The Outsiders Greaser Ken (more on that later)

My goth days and and some of the best times in my life before I met my husband. I hated being single but I loved going to clubs and dancing and drinking the night away only to stroll in at like 3am, sleep and get up in time to start my retail job at 1pm and then do it all over again. I lived and breathed the Ann Rice novels and still want to visit the areas that she wrote about.

Eventually Goth Barbie got a real corporate job and realized that she freaked people out so she had to try and play “normal.” She started to incorporate a few primary colors and more non colors into her wardrobe but apparently it only made the goth more subtle, it was already a huge part of who she was. Corporate world didn’t work too well with going out every night of the week so she had to suck it up and give up that part of her life. But she missed the dancing so much. One night while out at their favorite dive bar her and her friends discovered SAMBA and she became

Dancer Barbie!

Eventually Samba dancing got old and she started belly dancing (my real costume BD was MUCH better than the meez but I didn’t have much to work with) and I danced for years. I even danced in our city’s version of Carnaval one year when I was still doing Samba (4 years) and while Belly Dancing (5 years) I danced in middle eastern restaurants and taught my own classes for about a year or so.

I stopped dancing when I got sick and had to have to have surgery. Surgery left me unable to use my right leg or walk for a few months and then it too like a year to really get back to normal. That is when I gained all the weight. Talk about messing with your self-esteem!

Somewhere in between (before the surgeries) I met Greaser Ken aka Oliver Ken and that is how I became

Green Acres Barbie

Zsa Zsa Barbie ala Green Acres is my other alter ego fully equipped with Oliver Ken and Wilbur dog/pig. You see, I’m the total glam, vampy, diva girly city girl and Ken is the East Coast country boy who married himself a California Girl through and through (minus the blonde hair of course). He’s also a total gear head/hot rodder/greaser. I never felt like Lisa/Zsa Zsa until the first time I went back east to visit the in-laws and saw where my Ken grew up. In RURAL PA very close to Amish Country. The first time I showed up wearing what I wear I realized that we were Lisa and Oliver. Even with my overalls on trying to help mow or plant flowers or do something countryish I apparently scream CITY GIRL. So when we visit the in-laws we’re Lisa and Oliver. LOL

Plain Jane Barbie aka The Fat Girl

This is me now :(. And that is a typical outfit for me at work. I wear a lot of sweaters not to cover the back fat and muffin top that was occurring. Fortunately muffin top and back fat are slowly disappearing so I’ll get updated soon cuz Plain Jane is too boring for me!

This is what I turned into when I gained weight. I wanted to be invisible so I stopped dressing up and stopped wearing make-up or even really doing anything to my hair. Of course there are somethings that i just can’t let go of that apparently still make me stand out like my hair (it’s always big and curly and looks nice but I don’t do anything special with it anymore, jewelry and nails, but for me the lack of make-up and dressing up (I never wore pants until I gained weight) and feeling pretty made me feel plain and invisible because that is what I wanted. To be invisible because I hate being and feeling fat. I hate being uncomfortable and feeling insecure.

Now I realize that I don’t have a huge amount to loose and I wasn’t always the chubby girl, nor have I ever been teased about my weight, but as we all know based on reading each other’s blogs and the Barbies, we’re all different and we all have our vulnerable stages . Mine was gaining weight and being fat my senior year in HS which really traumatized me, especially when my best friend was skinny and blonde and all the boys liked her. I know how I gained the weight too. 1/2 pint of coffee Haagen Daz everyday for lunch will do it to you before you know it. I guess that was my weakness back then. Once I lost all the weight I was still insecure but over the years I became confident and sassy and well, you know the rest. I was totally fine and comfortable with myself for years. Then I got sick.
Being cut open multiple times because of surgery fucks you up. You can’t eat, you can’t exercise, you can’t even poop! It really sucks and does a number on your body. Pain killers make you depressed. Add it all together and what do you get? Chubby Plain Jane Barbie who tried to make excuses for years and then finally got some sense in her plain little plastic head and went to WW before she got any bigger and now here I am trying to find me again! Not really sure what the new and improved Barbie will be like but she’ll have bits and pieces of each of the above, especially Vampira (my favorite).

In the process I’ve also found a great group of women who are so willing to share their stories and support and struggles and jokes and a little of themselves. Than you for that. I learn something from each of you and I love it!

To join the Barbie Brigade on Steph’s blog.
If you want to make your own Barbie meez just click on the animated one below and sign up (it’s free) and use my name - jewells- as a referral so that you get 5 free coinz (coinz buys you stuff).

(currently working towards this Barbie because I actually have an outfit just like this that was my favorite to wear before I gained the weight). Oh and Ken has also gained another persona, Surfer Ken (he doesn’t know that he is all these Ken’s) who has unofficially been doing WW with me (Core) because he want to look better on the beach.

Collette/CHineseFoodAddict/Radiant RedHead

Barbie/Trixie/Steph

Collette/CHineseFoodAddict/Radiant RedHead

Barbie/Trixie/Steph

If you want to make your own click on mine below and sign up (it’s free) and use my name - jewells- as a referral so that you get 5 free coinz (coinz buys you stuff).

See mine below…

Post your Barbie name in a comment along with your “accessories” ie: hiking boots, jewels, mic etc. and I will do my best to make you a Barbie meez (hair (length/style) and eye color too if you don’t have a pic in your bio.) .

If you want to make your own click on mine below and sign up (it’s free) and use my name - jewells- as a referral so that you get 5 free coinz (that buys you stuff).

See mine below…

Post your Barbie name in a comment along with your “accessories” ie: hiking boots, jewels, mic etc. and I will do my best to make you a Barbie meez (hair (length/style) and eye color too if you don’t have a pic in your bio.) .

If you want to make your own click on mine below and sign up (it’s free) and use my name - jewells- as a referral so that you get 5 free coinz (that buys you stuff).

You have to read Steph’s, I mean Barbie or is it Trixie’s lates post here in order for this to make sense.

Standing tall with one hand on hip and one behind head while gazing up in a pin-up Barbie pose.

I promise to uphold the Barbie ways which include whining when you feel like it, being bitchy on cue and knowing that NO MATTER WHAT or WHO (yeah even if she is a rich, plastic surgery induced, exercise obsessed, bubble head) comes across your path - that you are Barbie…..beautiful and worthy!!! Size 6 or 60, Porsche or Pinto, flat belly and good boobs or pannus and dried prunes - we are AWESOME!!

Steph now says, “If you agree to that then I am proud to announce you to the world as Old School Goth Barbie!!! Welcome to the fam!~”

You have to read Steph’s, I mean Barbie or is it Trixie’s lates post here in order for this to make sense.

Standing tall with one hand on hip and one behind head while gazing up in a pin-up Barbie pose.


I promise to uphold the Barbie ways which include whining when you feel like it, being bitchy on cue and knowing that NO MATTER WHAT or WHO (yeah even if she is a rich, plastic surgery induced, exercise obsessed, bubble head) comes across your path - that you are Barbie…..beautiful and worthy!!! Size 6 or 60, Porsche or Pinto, flat belly and good boobs or pannus and dried prunes - we are AWESOME!!

Steph now says, “If you agree to that then I am proud to announce you to the world as Old School Goth Barbie!!! Welcome to the fam!~”

Thanks to Tina this is now on my Google Reader. Some are ‘eh and others crack me up. This gave me a good laugh today.

Thanks to Tina this is now on my Google Reader. Some are ‘eh and others crack me up. This gave me a good laugh today.

No, not with reality, although some may beg to differ! With the blogs. Ever since the crash on Roni’s site and a lot of us went to blogger then back to WeightWatchen or split I feel like I’ve been missing oun on some blogs that I used to read daily because they were no longer on blogger and therefore no longer on my Google Reader. I’ve tried going back and forth between my reader and WeightWatchen but I was still missing some people. So today I got wise and added some of the WeightWatchen blogs to my reader and now I can get caught up again. YAY!

What’s my point? None really other than if you use Google Reader you can do the same if you haven’t already, and if I used to comment on your blog all the time and suddenly stopped it’s not because I decided that I didn’t like you anymore, I just kept missing the updates, but not anymore…
I love Google Reader because it will tell me each time a blog that I have subscribed to is updated. Even if I’m not on the WeightWatchen site at the time I won’t miss it.

Back to eating my weird salad (more on that later I’m sure)

No, not with reality, although some may beg to differ! With the blogs. Ever since the crash on Roni’s site and a lot of us went to blogger then back to WeightWatchen or split I feel like I’ve been missing oun on some blogs that I used to read daily because they were no longer on blogger and therefore no longer on my Google Reader. I’ve tried going back and forth between my reader and WeightWatchen but I was still missing some people. So today I got wise and added some of the WeightWatchen blogs to my reader and now I can get caught up again. YAY!

What’s my point? None really other than if you use Google Reader you can do the same if you haven’t already, and if I used to comment on your blog all the time and suddenly stopped it’s not because I decided that I didn’t like you anymore, I just kept missing the updates, but not anymore…
I love Google Reader because it will tell me each time a blog that I have subscribed to is updated. Even if I’m not on the WeightWatchen site at the time I won’t miss it.

Back to eating my weird salad (more on that later I’m sure)