The Evil Girl Scout Cookie

Yes folks, its that time of year again. Where a girl scout (or scouts) come to your doorstep and sell those irresistible cookies. Only nowadays the girls scouts don't come to your doorstep, but still manage to be everywhere ready to sell that delicious treat that you've been waiting for all year. I know that between my sister and I we've somehow managed to buy 10 boxes of sinful delights. Then again, it is also that dreaded cookie that spoils many diets across the country.

I just finished reading Feed Me: Writers Dish About Food, Eating, Weight, and Body Image. This book is a collection of stories from women about their relationship with food and body image. I found this book insightful, even though much of it wasn't exactly a new concept. Basically, many of the stories talk about dieting, eating disorders, attitudes towards how a woman's body should look, etc. Reflecting on the love/hate relationship women have with food and their bodies. What I found so insightful about the book was that it got me thinking about my own current battle as my sister as so termed, "fightn' the fatty".

I was never a fat kid growing up, but I wasn't skinny either. I definitely didn't take after the rest of my family either. All of whom were (and still are) skinny and have metabolisms that could easy match bumble bees. I have the distinct pleasure to take after the side of my family that added weight easily and could not take it off without submitting to an exercise regime that resembled torture. Oh and I probably should mention that I also have Irish, Italian and Lithuanian backgrounds. All of which feature carbs as their main staple for their cuisine. Because apparently, carbs are suppose to be a woman's worst enemy. Potatoes, Pasta, and Dough-Filled Dumplings UNITE!

Despite this pesky inheritance, I was a very active kid and wasn't home very often. I usually could be found biking or walking throughout the town I grew up in. This lead to a muscular physique, plus the very full figure I got while going through an early puberty. I didn't become really conscious of the food/body image relationship until right before my freshman year of high school when I had to get a sports physical from my doctor. The nurse that was recording my vitals had made a comment about my weight in relation to height according to the new and improved height/weight chart in the office. Her comment was that I was a little above average weight and for my below average height. I thought it was entirely bitchy thing to say since the doctor didn't seem to have a problem with my height or my weight which was at 125 lbs.

A year later, when I had to go back for another sports physical. I had participated in 2 sports and managed to drop my baby fat. I was at my lowest weight ever at 116 lbs. The same nurse happened to be taking my vitals again. That time she had the nerve to ask me if I was anorexic. At the time, I was thinking to myself, "can she make up her mind what exactly I am supposed to be?"

I haven't thought about that incident until I started reading the book. Reflecting upon that incident, it is no wonder why women are so screwed up about food and body image. Not only women are fighting images from mass media, but now we are fighting it in the doctor's office too! To this day, I hate being weighed in by my doctor. This hate/fear has grown since my diagnosis of PCOS eleven years ago. No matter what diet/exercise plan I followed, my weight seemed to have a mind of its own since coming down with PCOS.

Even though I now have a doctor and his nurse who are much kinder to me about my weight complications due to the PCOS, I still cringe out of reflex. (I am now appox. 175-180 lbs with the PCOS when I was 125-130 before the diagnosis). My current doctor is more constructive with how to manage weight, food and activity than others doctors I've had. I don't feel (or made to feel) less human in his office because of the weight which is helping me cringe less at the scale. Even though I am considered obese according to the BMI index, I have good cardio endurance, low blood pressure and normal cholesterol levels.

I did have this goal of losing a certain amount of poundage before my 30th birthday in 2 months. However, I am now altering that goal. Since reflecting on my own weight/body image relationship, I have been able to conclude that setting up such a goal is a recipe for failure. So instead of losing a certain amount of poundage by my birthday, my new goal is to actually accept my body's limitations and be more forgiving on myself. Now while this doesn't completely open the flood gates in eating whatever I want, but it will allow me to enjoy my evil girl scout cookies that much more.

A Total Lack of Motivation

Seriously! Spring is actually peaking its head out this weekend. It has been sunny most of the time this past week. And, I still can't manage to motivate myself.

This winter has been particularly bad for me. I've had periods of low motivation and managed to bounce back. However, this past month has been really awful. I am in such a funk right now. I can't get motivated to do basic things at work. There are things I've really got to get a move on in order to achieve some personal goals and I continue to apathetic towards getting them done.

I can't honestly blame this recent bout on the latest economy buzz. Whatever is going to happen with that is going to happen. Hey maybe the bank in charge of my credit cards will fail and I won't have to pay on them anymore (hey a girl can dream, can't I?).

Worst yet, I know that I am not the only one that has had the wind puffed out of their sails. It seems to be a growing epidemic. Friends, co-workers, random chats with strangers, all suffer from this comatose state of no progress. So, what swift kick in the ass could get us back in gear? I don't have any answers. But, hopefully something comes to me soon because this lack of motivation is driving me crazy.

The Worst (And Most Common) Etiquette Mistakes

I found this on Yahoo.com and thought it was pretty funny (and how true).

Posted Mon, Mar 02, 2009, 10:53 am PST

• Party Poopers When you receive an invitation to a dinner or party--whether by Evite, voicemail, or casual email--RESPOND. Yeah, that’s what that little “RSVP” thing means. Everyone knows it, yet it’s amazing how many don’t respond. Even for weddings! Planning a party or event requires a lot of work, so do the host a simple favor and let them know if you're coming or not.
• Nickel & Dimin’ How annoying is it when you go to dinner with four or more people, the check finally arrives, and one of your meal companions begins to divvy up the check down to the last penny? Sure, we get that Sally had a shrimp salad, and Janet had two iced teas, while Beth only had water, and you ordered a slice of peach pie (a la mode, which is extra). The point is, if you go out to dinner with a group, be prepared to split the bill more or less evenly. If there's an outstanding cost differential, fine, estimate it and be done with it. The person who spends twenty minutes dividing the bill to the dime comes off as a cheapskate –- and kills the festive mood.
• The Line-Up Lines are a fact of life. At the post office, the supermarket, just about everywhere these days. For starters, moaners who huff and gripe about standing in a line of three people for all of five minutes are tops on our list. Get over yourself -- if you don’t have a few minutes to wait to buy that loaf of bread, then pick it up another time. Another thing: Don’t show your impatience by creeping up so close to the person in front of you that they can feel your breath. Crowding those around you will not get you to the front any faster, so give them some space. Finally, cutting in line or trying to ignore the fact that there IS a line –- stop it! Everyone’s time is valuable.
• The ME Show It’s great to hear all the crazy, wacky, wonderful things happening in the lives of others. Jobs, engagements, breakups, boyfriends, puppies, pregnancies, vacations — very good stuff, all of it. But once you’ve listened to a friend, family member, or colleague spout about their own fabulous life for an hour (or two), it’s normal to expect them to ask, “So, what’s going on with you?” Those who blab on about themselves while you listen intently, then don’t ask a thing about you in return are just plain rude.
• Baby Biz Changing a poopy baby diaper around others is nasty -- and we're moms. Changing the other kind of baby diaper in public is one thing, but still should only be done when absolutely necessary!
• Mobile Madness As much as we love the modern age, there are days when we long to go to a coffee shop, movie theatre, bookstore, or post office and not hear some teen queen dishing to her friend about last night's hot date with Todd or eavesdrop (unwillingly) on a screaming family feud. Mobile phones are essential, but please, people, pleeeeeeease, use a little restraint on the when's, what's, and where's. We're happy that Todd is "totally built" but we're going to have to start walking around town and slapping people with "TMI" tickets (yes, too much information).
• Smokes Everyone has a right to smoke in public, but be conscious of whose face your smoke is blowing into. Are there kids nearby? And we just might kick the butt of the next person we see throwing their burning butt on the ground without putting it out. Really, find an ashtray or trashcan where you can extinguish and dispose of it properly -- that thing is garbage, not decoration for our streets and sidewalks.
• The Pee & Flee Public bathrooms get used by everyone -- yup, they're public! So, making a mess of the toilet seat, and then prancing out without bothering to wipe it up -- not cool. Leaving a mess for the next visitor is completely unacceptable (and disgustingly unsanitary, of course). Take 10 seconds to rip off a piece of toilet paper, toilet seat cover, or a paper towel, and do your due diligence!
• Stealing...a parking spot, that is. Yeah, you know who you are. If someone has their blinker on and is patiently waiting for a spot, it's theirs. And if you've already passed a spot up, it's gone. Treat others as you expect to be treated, and the parking goddesses will smile down upon you... eventually.
• Belly Baring Men, women -- anyone who's passed puberty, everyone who isn't lounging poolside or oceanside -- resist the urge to bare those bellies. They may be beautiful, Buddha-like, jolly, but sometimes they can be flabby, hairy, and not ripe for public consumption. If you're jogging, fellas, t-shirts or tanks won't hurt your workout, so throw one on. Gals, midriff fashions are never really on our "Do" list, and that goes double if your age doesn't contain the word "teen." There are plenty of ways for all of us to flaunt what we got without sharing our tum-tums with the world.
• Spitting This gets especially yucky when it's one of those enormous globs that looks like it could be alive. Some people (males, in particular) think it's kind of a cool-guy thing to do. We're here to tell ya that no one wants to see you hock a big gooey one out of your car, onto the sidewalk, or anywhere else for that matter. Try a tissue.
• Honking Problem People who honk too often, too unnecessarily, or just to express their emotions are on our list of Most Etiquette Challenged. If you're trying to warn someone about a collision or problem, fine, otherwise it's not that serious. Give it a rest!