…the msn.com article “10 Secrets of the Effortlessly Thin”
I get asked at work by all of the females around me on how I stay so skinny . And then I look at my colleague who just gave birth 6 months ago who is even skinnier than me and wonder how she is so skinny. Honestly, I think it is genetics of metabolism. Other factors come into play, too. So I’d like to respond to each so-called secret that MSN came up with.
Secret#1 They don’t diet.
True. I do not diet. There was that one time I was dieting with the mister but only to support him. Other than that, I never think about dieting. I never had to calorie count – except for my nutrition assignment in college. However, I used to ban all red meat not because I needed to lose a few pounds. I just didn’t like eating red meat anymore. Red meat disgusted me. To the mister’s benefit, I have returned to eating red meat (in moderation). I do eat more fruits and vegetables because they taste good and it makes me feel better after eating them. A lot of what I conscientiously eat is for health reasons not for diet reasons. I’ll admit, I do have a sweet tooth and always give in to my sweet cravings. Luckily my sweet cravings don’t occur all the time.
Secret #2 They keep track of their weight.
True, but in the opposite sense. As I am underweight, I keep track of my weight to see if I have not lost any more weight.
Secret #3 They exercise regularly.
Hell no. I don’t have enough time in the day to eat, let alone exercise. When I am busy I do not exercise. Enough calories are burnt because I am on my feet all day at work anyway. I am too tired to exercise. But I do exercise sporadically when I don’t have work. It’s not consistent, though, but it should be. I do have a couple Pilates DVDs for the purpose of stretching and toning. When the mister and I have free weekends together, we try to do some type of outdoor activity, be it just walking around the block, hiking, kayaking, or biking. But really, I don’t regularly exercise. And I’m sure this will come back to bite me in the butt.
Secret #4 They don’t solve problems with food.
True. Food has never been my shoulder to cry on. When I have a bad day, my tendency is to sleep it away. I don’t get hungry either. My appetite is gone when I am sad or depressed or stressed out. I drown my sorrows in my pillow, not a pint of ice cream.
Secret #5 They stop eating when they’re full.
Definitely true. When I am full, I am done. Actually, when I am full, it disgusts me to see food. But I don’t like to waste food, so I will keep save it and eat it for tomorrow’s lunch or dinner. I also don’t like being forced to finish food on my plate. Why keep eating all the food on my plate when I can finish it later? I’d like to add that my meal portions are small. For example, I big juicy steak will be cut in half (or a third) on my plate and the rest will be eaten at another meal.
Secret #6 They don’t surround themselves with temptation.
Half true. I have bags of chips, the mister has bags of cookies, the cupboards stores lots of ingredients for me to make cupcakes…I just don’t eat them. I only eat snacks when my body is craving it. Otherwise I don’t eat it. The mister on the other hand, has cravings all the time, which I don’t understand. Doesn’t he get sick of eating chocolate all the time? I do.
Secret #7 They allow themselves treats.
Hell yeah! The mister always gets upset when I snack on things right before dinner. Whatever. If I want to eat ice cream before dinner, ima gonna eats it. Nuf said. No one can tell me what to eat and what not to eat. If my body wants something, it’s going to get it.
Secret #8 They eat breakfast.
True. I don’t like skipping breakfast. It throws my routine off into a tailspin. Then I get hungrier early and get very irritated easily. My brain just doesn’t function very well if I don’t have anything in my system.
Secret #9 They move, stand, and fidget more.
True. When I sit, I am shaking my leg – right, now for example, my leg is shaking like crazy as I am sitting here typing this up. Moving and standing is purely due to work. I hardly sit for hours at a time. Maybe that’s just the nature of people’s work environment.
Secret #10 They don’t skip meals.
True. This is very similar to #8. Skipping meals just throws my body off kilter and I don’t like the feeling. I’ll also snack throughout the day if I am craving something or my stomach starts conversing with me.
Most of the time, I’m eating to sustain my body, not to indulge (except for snacks and sweets – those are an indulgence). Frankly, I think eating is a waste of time, especially if you are busy. Someone needs to invent portable tube feeding – seriously. But I do have to say that eating or snacking is dictated by three things: cravings, laziness, and survival. Sometimes I’ll feel like a rice krispies treat, but I’ll be too lazy to make it…unless I’m absolutely craving it or I would die if I don’t get anything into my system.
If I can offer any advice at all, I would suggest cutting down on the red meat and carb intake. Think of your usual sides as the main entree instead and the meat entree as a side dish. In other words, increase the vegetable portion on your plate and decrease the meat portion.
Filed under: Contemplate
…my life and my children’s lives and their children’s children’s lives would be set.
Surprise…surprise. It has been a long time since I’ve blogged. Been busy with work for the whole month of August. But today I wanted to address the Mega Millions Lottery. The Mega Millions Jackpot kept growing and growing. Like everyone else, I was hoping to retire early. But some lucky person in San Gabriel, CA and Bronx, NY got to enjoy the spoils of being a millionaire. Whoever they are…congratulations! There was 1 in a gazillion chance a person would have won the Mega Millions. I knew winning wasn’t likely but one could only hope. If I were to have won the $333 mega millions…here is a list of things I would do with the money.
First things first, remain anonymous, if possible, when collecting the prize. Collect the lump sum instead of annual payout. Then I would open several special accounts for the big win. I feel uneasy keeping a large chunk of money in one account. Changing your phone number wouldn’t hurt either or even changing your mailing address. I would go to a lawyer and financial advisor.
After all the legal aspects and paper work are taken care of, I would then enjoy life. So onto my list of things to spend the winnings on:
- The mister and I would open our own respective businesses.
- Move into a bigger and nicer house but nothing too extravagant – maybe a 5 BD/3 BA house. Is having a pool and tennis court considered extravagant?
- The mister and I would each get a brand new car.
- I think I would start having babies and setting up a trust fund for all 12 of them – just kidding. I would really have only ~2 kids but I could’ve definitely afforded to have 12 kids.
- Own a horse. They are such wild and beautiful creatures. Or even own a ranch to rehabilitate mistreated horses.
- Buy some other property – I guess real estate would be a smart investment now that housing prices are down.
- Treat our respective families to a fabulous vacation.
- Go on our own vacation twice a year and try to visit every continent on earth, except Antarctica (too dangerous).
- Take a ton of classes because I enjoy learning things.
- Buy all of my wish list items – you know, nice computer, upgraded camera, a closet full of shoes, etc.
- Donate money to charities or organizations of our choosing, especially organizations that I have volunteered at.
- The rest, we would invest wisely.
Here’s to hoping for another triple digit million jackpot and wishing, praying, hoping the lucky numbers will fall into our laps. Come on, Mega Millions!
Filed under: Contemplate
Apparently some colors in the house help focus and other colors distract. I read an online article of how color can affect our thinking and feeling. Going through the rainbow of colors:
RED: Triggers hunger. That’s why a lot of fast food chains have this color in their signs or buildings.
ORANGE: Agitates. It can keep children awake.
YELLOW, Bright: Excites the body and brain. A good color for an exercise room, not a study hall.
YELLOW, Pale: Or Almond color can cause less irritation. It’s common in school hallways.
GREEN: Creativity.
BLUE: Is the color of academics.
PINK: Soothes and Calms.
However, I did read somewhere else that the color ink you you can also affect your thinking. Red ink sharpens focus, making it good for detail work. From the article above, I bet it would also make you hungry. Blue ink is supposed to enhance creativity, ideal for brainstorming. Everyone uses black ink. I wonder how that affects our thinking?
UPDATE 11/04/09: Kindle Wireless 6″ display is $249…nope, still not buying it.
UPDATE 7/17/09: Kindle 2 price came down to $299. About a 16.5% savings.
While on vacation, I noticed a fellow vacationer with a Kindle 2. It’s always advertised on the Amazon homepage so it’s hard to miss. I didn’t think that people actually buy these devices because it’s crazy expensive. But there was one, right across from me. I was immediately envious. Was it because Kindle 2 was one of those mythical objects I didn’t think really existed? Or was it because I wish I had something to read at a resort that had no television set? Maybe a little of both.
When I got home, I looked up the cost again hoping it might have gone down just a little. Nope. $359. Is a Kindle 2 worth that much money? For me – NO. I love to read but I just don’t have the time to read as often as I would like. But for those who have the moola and go through a book or two a week and still considering purchasing a Kindle 2, you might want to read this Kindle 2 review. It lists 10 reasons to buy and 10 reasons NOT to buy it.
Filed under: Contemplate
Today, I’ll be attending a wedding from the first couple that I personally know to have used Evite.
For my wedding last year, I seriously contemplated using Evite for my friends because of the cost for each wedding invitation. But from reading wedding magazines and reading other wedding blogs, it seemed too faux pas. Of course, that was before the Freddie and Fanny fiasco.
This year is a different outlook. People are saving money wherever they can and the first thing to cut costs on and save money is with formal wedding invitations. So far, I’ve received 2 evites for a wedding. The first evite was to get somewhat of a headcount of who was going to attend. And whoever responded yes, received a formal paper invitation. This was a brilliant idea because it gives the bride and groom advanced notice of the actual number of invitations they should actually order and the amount of people they need to feed, etc.
The second, Evite was used as a part of ‘Going Green’ theme. They wanted to save on money and reduce their carbon footprint. Evite is a great free and paperless service for wedding invitations. This way is definitely environmental friendly. It’s also an effective form of communication. I’ve gotten a few Evite email update messages from both events about any new information. I think it’s better than having a wedding website like I did because your ensured via email that everyone is aware of changes that have been made.
So using Evite for invitations is not a tacky thing. I am completely for evite wedding invitations or even to use as a headcount. Because being a bride once before, you need to save every penny where you can and plan way in advance. Don’t be convinced that Evites are faux pas! (more…)
Filed under: Contemplate
I think I’m a relationship junkie. I like to analyze relationships to the max. And I can’t help but become glued to the Dr. Phil show when flipping through the channels.
The episode du jour was titled Honeymoon Hangover. It was pretty much about married life right after the honeymoon. The featured couple have been dating for 8 months and are now married for 8 months. The husband claims the wife is extremely clingy and the wife says she doesn’t get enough attention from him. During their marriage, they found out they have nothing in common.
Throughout the show before commercial break, the show also poses a question about marriage and Dr. Phil answers it after break. One of the questions was very interesting…Should you live together before marriage? So during commercial break, I was thinking about my relationship with the mister before we married. I never lived with him but I did stay with him, and vice versa, on some days. So we both had an idea of our living habits. I have clutter. I pile up my clean laundry on my bed and wait to hang them up until it becomes a hassle to keep moving the pile on and off the bed. I leave my bowl of cereal unclean until I get back home at the end of the day. I like to soak dishes in the sink. Everyone of my habits are, unfortunately, the mister’s pet peeves. To that I say, ‘Oh well. He knew what he was getting into.’ But if he’s pestering me about my habits, then I will make an effort to change.
But during our relationship, we also talked a lot. I think it actually helped that I asked him a zillion questions about his past, school, beliefs, morals, goals, parenting, money, death. There was no limit to what I asked him and he answered all of them. I tell him everything about my life – so often that I repeat the stories he’s heard before. If it weren’t for my curiosity, we would’ve known nothing about each other. I felt as if I knew enough about him and he about me to be married to him without having to live together before wedded bliss.
Commercial break was over and Dr. Phil’s answer was: You really need to know each other…You shouldn’t marry someone until you’ve seen them with the flu…If you haven’t cleaned up their vomit, you shouldn’t walk down the aisle…What you need to do is really, really know each other.
Although I haven’t seen the mister become sick until after we married, I agree with the rest. My advice is to ask anything. You should be able to find out everything from him without getting grief. Never be afraid to ask a question to your future partner and your future partner should always answer your questions, even if they’re embarrassing or intimate.
As for the couple on the show, Dr. Phil says that the husband and wife each need to be selfless, not selfish. That’s a hard one. I like to be both sometimes. Can’t it be 50/50?
