Friend Makin’ Mondays: 10 Questions

I’m laaate. Here I am writing to you from Northern CA, on the housing hunt. Things are expensive as all get out up here! Luckily, I have met some cool people and I’m still ravenously on the hunt.

I’m going to do my best to answer the questions. Unfortunately training and eating well isn’t something that’s happening very much right now.

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: http://www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

TEN QUESTIONS

1. Describe the kind of home you would live in if money were no object. Luxury yacht. If I have to be totally terrestrial, and I only could pick one, I’d say a gorgeous and modern beach house. Must have beach access and a killer view.

This would do nicely.

2. Are you more conservative in your actions or more rebellious? Rebellious for sure. I like to prove everyone wrong. The only thing conservative about me is the height of my heels.

3. Would you go to Mars even if it meant you could never return to Earth? No. I love exploring, but I couldn’t stand the idea of being separated from the water for the rest of my life. Oh yeah, and the people that I love, and the places that I love… But if I could never swim again, that would be supremely sad.

4. Name one song that makes you want to dance every time you hear it. Bye Bye Bye, by NSYNC. Yes, I do the moves. Yes, I don’t care who is looking when I do them.

5. Share one thing that you wish you could go back and do differently in your life. I wish I had known then what I know now about my career path. As much as I LOVE science, and there was no way to know this at the time, I fell like it was the wrong decision to pursue a career in it. I’ve painted myself in to a corner in my professional life, and it’s frustrating as hell because I am such an achiever.

6. Share at least one accomplishment that people wouldn’t expect you to be proud of. I am proud of my intuition. It can be freaky for some people, but I really trust my gut and it’s been right more often than it hasn’t.

7. Describe one delicious thing that you’ve eaten lately. Oh dear, I had Vietnamese Cinnamon gelato last night and it was fantastic.

8. If you had a theme song that would play every time you entered a room, which song would you choose? It’s not fair to only pick one! And man, that answers has changed throughout the years. I’d say now I would choose Titanium by David Guetta and Sia.

9. Had technology enhanced your life, or has it over complicated your life? That’s not an either or question for me. I think overall, it has enhanced it. I love having so much information at my fingertips. I love how small the world has gotten when it comes to person to person interaction.

10. If you could get paid to do any job, which job would you choose? Definitely, be a rock star. But, I can’t play an instrument or sing. I’ll settle to get paid to play with cats all day.

Friend Makin’ Monday: Pondering Personal Thoughts

This has been a good week. My feet are recovering from last Sunday’s 5k and I’m really considering getting rid of the orthotics all together. I can’t find the right balance with my shoe problems! Training was great this week, and since my husband was home all week, we got our gym time in. He nagged me Saturday to go even when I felt like I had super low energy. It was just what I needed. He flew out for his first week of work, so we’ll see how our routines go. I’m trying to be confident!

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: http://www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

1. How old would you feel if you didn’t know how old you are? I feel incredibly immature. Seriously. I don’t have my shit together at all and I’m still doing stupid things. So, basically, I feel like I’m in my early 20’s still.

2. Are you the kind of friend you’d want to have as a friend? I think I’m an excellent friend. I tend to keep a few friends near me who are very much like I think I am, or at least, how I hope I am. I’m definitely nicer to others than I am myself!

3. Look back at the last year. When did you feel most excited about something in your life? I was really excited to go back home to Maine last Spring. I’m doing it again this Spring. I miss my family and my friends, I miss the familiarity, I miss the connection. I love living in SoCal, but I get to feel like my authentic self when I’m back in the Pine Tree State.

4. Have you ever been with someone and not spoken a word, only to walk away thinking that was the best conversation ever? Hmm, probably not. I’m a talker. There’s never a time when I don’t speak a word.

5. If you won 100 million dollars Monday, would you continue doing whatever you usually do on Tuesdays? Absolutely, will the caveat that I’d call up my husband and tell him to get on the next plane home. I was going to invest in whatever start-up he wanted to run, as long as he came back home.

6. What would you do differently if you knew no one would judge you? I guess I’d dress a little more outlandishly. I love fashion, but I don’t really fit into sample sizes, if you know what I mean. So, yeah, I’d like to dress more “out there”. Not Lady Gaga level of out there, but definitely not conservative.

7. Share something you do differently than most people. I have an intense desire to know “the whole story” about things, people, etc. So, I tend to tell stories with a crazy amount of detail, because in my crazy brain, that’s what I’d want. If there’s something I have a question about, I research it. I’ve been accused of being a stalker because of my drive to totally figure a person out if there’s something that doesn’t seem right, or if I have a question about their personality. There’s no such thing as too much detail in my world.

8. What’s one thing that you really want to do that you’ve never done? I’ve never ran a whole 5k. My races are much more walking than running, and my opponent is always myself. I want to get to the point where I can actually RUN. I have work to do to get there.

9. If you had to move out of state right now, where would you move? I love California so.freaking.much that it’s kind of hard to imagine moving to another state. Maine is home, but there’s snow there, which I don’t like at all. Denver has as many sunny days as SD, but is also cold and snowy, with no ocean. So maybe Hawaii? It’s great to live in an endless summer.

10. What is the one thing that you’d like to change most about the world? I really just wish that before people open their mouths and spout off their opinions, they take a moment to think about what they are saying and acknowledge that in fact, they might not have all the answers. People don’t keep an open mind enough to be kind and considerate to others and I think that unfortunately, the internet has made that so much worse. I’d like to see people try and say to people’s faces the kind of vileness they think is okay to write in comments.

Don’t let scowly face fool you. He’s really usually very happy!

Terms that annoy me about fitness and weight loss.

Please note: this is more or less a rant. I’m picking on works and phrases that you probably use and maybe you just love them. I don’t, and I’m telling you why. It doesn’t mean that I don’t love you despite them.

This is my annoyed face.

Words are powerful. When you choose a word, you imply a meaning and sometimes, a back story. The culture of fitness and weight loss could fill its own dictionary.

The Weight. Weight as a definite article gives it a personification. It also reminds me of the old Slim Fast commercials “Give us a week, we’ll take off the weight!” The weight I have gained doesn’t define me and it definitely doesn’t deserve a title. It’s not something that’s going to go away and make my life magical. I am who I am, this is me.

No Pain, No Gain. This is bullshit. Exercising to injury will only get you sidelined. There’s a difference between pushing yourself beyond your comfortable boundaries for growth, and masochism.

My Weight Loss Journey. It’s actually just called life. And sometimes, in the middle of life, you gain weight and then lose it. I am more than a person with a weight issue. I don’t talk about my time in college as “my education journey” or the time before I met my husband as “my dating journey” or my time since as “my marriage journey.” There is no destination. For me, it’s about wellness. Some days are home runs, some aren’t. That’s life.

Willpower. The dangerous thing about referencing willpower is that it translates to “Well, if you aren’t able to meet your goals, it’s entirely due to the weakness of your mind.” I find this assumption dangerous because it puts a lot of pressure on people. We are all human and sometimes we slip, sometimes we fail, but if you put really negative connotations on setbacks it makes you feel like crap. And I don’t think that’s necessary.

Big Changes in Little San Diego

I’ve been quiet lately. Too quiet. I’ve had stuff going on, like getting really, really ill with what I am guessing was Influenza B. My foot problems have not entirely been solved. I ended up getting new sneakers, my podiatrist hated them, I got other sneakers, I got my orthotic insoles in. My feet REALLY hate them. I’m back in my old shoes, old orthotics for normal workouts. So figuring all these things out has taken up my valuable blogging time.

It was dark, it was cold, we lost an hour of sleep, but we came out for the San Diego 5k and did really well.

But probably the biggest news I can share now is that my husband has left his job. The rub is, he took a new one that is in the Bay Area. We’ve had a lot to figure out on this front, and probably still will be figuring it out for awhile. Basically, I’m staying here in San Diego and my husband will be commuting up for the workweek and back home on weekends. We’re planning on getting a studio or loft near his new office.

Here’s where this piece of personal drama relates to this blog. My husband and I have been each other’s partners in crime throughout this whole fitness and health revolution in our house. We are in it together, even though we have different reasons for going down the path, and different goals and activities. We keep each other motivated, honest, and on track. Now, our “flow” is going to be changed. I can’t lie, a part of this terrifies me. I wonder if we have the moxie to be able to make some new routines on our own during the week. Granted, it’s not like he isn’t a phone call, IM, email, or FaceTime session away during the week, but there’s something that is special about having someone standing over you on the couch telling you to get up, get your shoes on and get out of the house.

I worry about myself, and I worry about him. He needs structure and I hope he can find it without me Monday through Friday.

But, I do see an opportunity here as well. I’ll be alone during the week, which means I only have myself to think about when it comes to meal planning. That may actually be a good thing. I don’t have to wait for him to get home from work to have dinner together. I don’t have to keep in account the list of vegetables he doesn’t like. And I only have to worry about what I’m in the mood for instead of trying to find a good compromise. I think being on my own during the work week, I’ll be able to do meal planning and cooking for myself a little better.

Besides, whenever there is a big change in life, it gives you a window to make some other sweeping changes at the same time. It’s kind of like punctuated equilibrium in that regard. While things are in flux, might as well use it to add in some beneficial changes that stubbornly don’t like to meld with the former status quo. If that makes any sense.

Friend Makin’ Mondays: Food Questions

Well, let’s see if I can get this out on a Monday!

I need to devote an entire blog post to some recent developments in my life, but I’ll tell you now that I have a whole lot of change coming up. The good thing about change, I think, is that you can take advantage of the new period of flux to also get some good habits in the routine, as well as culling some bad ones.

I also did a 5k yesterday. Ouch, my feet are still very angry. I have new orthotics, but it was tough on them.

If you’ve never participated in FMM – here’s the rules. Copy and paste these questions on your own blog, answer them, then go to All The Weigh and share your post’s link in the comments. Visit the other commenters as well!

Easter displays at the grocery store mock me!

1. What did you eat for dinner last night? We went to PF Chang’s and I had the Better Lemon Chicken with brown rice. My favorite dish there has been the Double Pan Fried noodles, but they recently took them off the menu. I guess it’s good to try new things because if I like something a lot at a restaurant, I usually only stick with that.

2. If you could make one food calorie-free for the next year, What would you choose? I can’t help to agree with Kenlie here. Cupcakes would be great if we could poof make them calorie free. If I had to choose a meal, I’d probably go with nachos. I’m a big fan of nachos, but that much cheese is usually a bomb.

3. How often do you go to the grocery store? I have a very bad habit of going one per day, or more. I live close to 2 stores, so I do a lot of shopping before a meal, which is terrible and something I’m going to try and work on.

4. Do you make a list before buying groceries? I don’t bring a list unless I’m making a dish I have to get ingredients for and I’m unfamiliar. Again, this is a bad idea and something I need to be better about.

5. List three things that can always be found in your kitchen. Kosher salt, soy milk, and Greek yogurt.

6. How often do you clean out your fridge? Usually I do a pass once a week, and once a month I do a deeper cleaning. We got a brand new fridge last year – gotta keep it nice!

7. Do you ever use a slow cooker? If so, will you share a recipe? I do! Mine recently had the insert piece break, so I bought a new one – have to try it out. I don’t have a great recipe to share. I usually make red sauce, chilli, and corned beef in it. I need to get more creative though.

8. How often do you try new recipes? Again, something I need to work on. I’m definitely a recipe follower, but my husband is more about creating things on the fly. I usually attempt a new something every month or so.

9. What is the most delicious meal(s) you make? My red sauce is phenomenal, I must say. I try and make bison meatballs to go with it. I also really like the version of Thai Peanut Chicken that my husband taught me to make.

10. Share at least one thing that is currently in your kitchen even though you don’t like it. I picked up some Bagel Thins for my husband, but I couldn’t find whole wheat, so I got white and “everything” flavored. That’s really his thing. I don’t mind Bagel Thins, but I like either sweet (cinnamon and raisin e.g.) or plain bagels.