Shocking results!

I am healthy...for now. My workplace held a health fair last week. They contracted a lab to come out and check our blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, and BMI. I was honestly pretty scared to get my test results back. I thought for sure the extra weight I carry had to cause unhealthy readings in all categories. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that all were in the healthy range except my BMI. I was shocked. I was thinking to myself, "but I am fat, this can't be right?!?!?" After taking it all in I realized I am in a great position. My body is still resisting the hostile take over of fat and all that it entails. I am in a place where I can change with minimal damage. I know that I am a ticking time bomb as an obese person but so far I was warding off the bad health and illness. This is just a huge motivator for me to keep on the right path towards health. I have not lost the battle. I will fight on until the end.

Let me at the accessories!

My closet is packed with shoes. I have purses galore. I live for jewelry. Sun glasses? I have four pairs. Why? Well, when was the last time you tried on your purse and it was too tight. Have you ever gone to buy jewelry and discovered they don't make it in your size? Have your sunglasses ever made you look fat? Have you ever had to take off your shoes because you ate too much? I didn't think so. I am a woman in love with accessories. I can dress up my fat pants. I look past the fact that so many big girl clothes aren't cute. I guess I am trying to make up for it all with the added touches. The right earrings, the greatest bag, the hottest sunglasses...I can have those, even if I can never fit into designer clothes and the latest fashions never come in XXL. So, until the label on my jeans says 14 or below, I guess I will keep amassing the accessories...let me at them!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today I turned 27. No, its not a milestone birthday in the conventional sense, however I hope for it to be a milestone for me. I hope it is the last birthday I ever spend over 300 pounds. This time next year I hope to be well under 300 pounds and living a healthy life. Here's a toast to the journey!

Exhausted

I am sorry to have left a huge gap in my blogging recently. I have been extremely busy and am completely exhausted. I wanted to post and say I am still alive and well and will write more asap.

Can Credit Cards Make You Fat? (Or at least fatter?)

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/CreditCardSmarts/CreditCardsCanMakeYouFat.aspx

I read an interesting article the other day about the convenience of credit cards and its affect of the way people eat. (Link above) I was drawn in to the msn money article because of the title. Of course my first thought was "of course credit cards have nothing to do with weight!" However after reading the article I can see how it actually does have some affect on people's choices. Basically it says that now that all fast foods restaurants take credit cards its easier for people to eat fast food more often and more of it. When people needed to have cash on hand it wasn't as convenient. Also, if you did have cash you couldn't spend more than what you had. It seems people are spending more and eating more because of their plastic little friends. Its a valid point. I can honestly say before the fast food restaurants took cards I was never even tempted to go there because I never carry cash. They began to call my name more often on my way home from work when I could whip out my card and pay. Of course its still the consumers choice to use the card in this unhealthy way so its not the poor little cards fault, he is just an innocent bystander in all this.

Living outside the realm of reality.

I truly feel I must have reverse body dysmorphic disorder. Most of the time when I look in the mirror I feel pretty good about myself. I may not be thin but I never think I look huge ether. I can look in the mirror and feel good about leaving the house. In fact there are days I forget I am fat. I know its sounds ridiculous but if I have done my hair, have a great outfit on and feel pretty I forget completely that I am as big as a baby hippo. I'll be out with my girls friends feeling pretty and confident and then I barely fit into the booth at dinner, or barely fit into the chair in the movie theater and that's when it hits me. I am not normal. Those people weren't staring at my because I was pretty, it is because I am large. The other time it hits me like ton of bricks is when I see pictures. Pictures do not lie. It is quite painful to think you looked amazing all evening, then to see a picture and realize you are twice the size of any of your friends. You are stuffed into ugly plus size clothing. You are not cute. These days I try to keep from taking too many body shots. I will hide behind a friend, or my hubby, or a piece of furniture. Or of course I resort to the floating head picture. If people hundreds of years from now people had study my life from pictures along they may think I had no body at all.

Hairspray, is it so fat friendly?

My little sister's 12th birthday was this week so we took her out to dinner and a movie. The movie she picked was Hairspray much to my husband's dismay. First off, let me say it was a very entertaining movie that I actually enjoyed watching however there were a few things that made me cringe. It was a fun movie with some positive messages on racism, self acceptance, and that being different is okay, great even. The movie had many catchy songs that left me humming on into the night. I just hated to see another movie that depicted the Fat Lady as a cute, sweet, not to bright, food obsessed, person who doesn't leave the house much less exercise. This movie drives home many subliminal messages about fat people that are inaccurate in most instances. I realize this is done to be funny and honestly it is funny but I feel when people see these things in a movie they absorb them as reality. Look at all the girls that know that magazine models are airbrushed and "fixed" before the printing yet they still try to compare themselves to them and strive to be something attainable. Many scenes in the movie show that all Tracey and Edna Turnblat care about is food. Why do heavy set characters always have to be depicted in this light? Can't there be more to them that the weight? At first glance I felt the movie was this spreading a positive message to fat women since the main character defies the odds and gets what she wants even though she is discouraged due to her weight. While I do think that is a good message I think that other messages they sent were even more of a strong undertone. I would love to see a movie where the main character was heavy and the movie was not about weight loss, food, or low self esteem. There is so much more to be explored. But hey, as a huge musical fan, I still recommend the movie. If you have seen it, let me know what you think.

Weekends it is...

I'm not dead. :-) Sorry for my absence. My job decided to block a bunch of websites they thought were taking away from people's work and....you guessed it Blogger was one of those sites. Our home computer died from a virus a couple months ago RIP...so I guess I am down to only being able to blog on weekend's when I can use my friends computer. (Luckily I have awesome friends!) Hubby and I are looking into buying a laptop soon so this problem should be fixed as soon as possible. I am off to a party but I will post again tomorrow and sunday.

Obese and Gorgeous?

Can a woman be both obese and gorgeous? This thought was spurred by a conversation I had with some friends a couple days ago.

Can these two adjectives co-exist in one person or does the obese person with some gorgeous feature(s) have to lose weight before she is truly gorgeous? Have you ever found an obese person gorgeous? Your thoughts? (Oh and if you would mention whether you are obese or not.)

Feeling like a kid again...

For the couple months I have been eating off the kids menu when I go out to eat and I have found it to be very beneficial for the most part. From dine in restaurants to fast food getting the kids meal means smaller portions and smaller prices. I have found I can be satisfied by the the smaller sized portions. Typically the "kid size" portion is the correct portion size for anyone. The adult size portion is usually enough for 2-3 meals depending on what you order and what restaurant it is. I started doing this when I had to go to a business meeting and I just didn't want all that food. I saw that the menu said for kids of all ages so I gave it a whirl. I ordered the kids grilled chicken sandwich with baked beans. The portion was perfect and it was only 3.50 and included my drink! From that point on I payed close attention to all kids menus when eating out.

The Cons:
1) Some places do have age limits, however I have found A LOT of them do not, or will bend the rules.
2) Some restaurants only offer pretty unhealthy foods on the kids menu but many restaurants will substitute the fries for broccoli, coleslaw, or a garden salad. Also, many restaurants are trying harder to offer healthier kids fare.

So, this will not work every time you go out but I would say I do it at least half the time and I am a big fan. Just a tip. I am about to eat my teriyaki kids meal from Pei Wei: Grilled Chicken, Veggies, and Brown Rice in a yummy sauce. Half the price, half the calories, all of what I need for lunch.