Losing weight is more difficult than quitting smoking

Quitting smoking is one of the hardest things I've done in my life. However, it's no where near as difficult as losing weight.

When people quit smoking they can quit cold turkey or wean themselves off over time. Either way they eventually eliminate cigarettes from their lives.

Success in weight loss is dependent mostly (approximately 80%) on food choices. So limiting the unhealthy food choices is the best way to achieve weight loss success. The trick is to LIMIT but not ELIMINATE certain foods from your diet. The human body needs some oils and fats so they can't safely be removed entirely from your diet. But it's so much more difficult to have small amounts of something tempting than to eliminate them completely.

Imagine if someone was told not to QUIT smoking but to have just one or two cigarettes a day. That they need just one or two in order to survive. They are bombarded in the media with smoking advertisements (similar to food, restaurant, etc advertisements). However they cannot have more than 2 cigarettes even though their friends, family, co-workers, etc all have more than 10 cigarettes a day, often right in front of them. It would be so difficult to exercise the self control required to stay on track for the rest of their life!

There, FWIW, is my analogy of why weight loss is so tricky.

Phoebe's truth songs for kids

On season 2 of "Friends" there is an episode called "The One After The Superbowl" in which Phoebe (played by Lisa Kudrow) is asked to sing some songs to kids. The kids loved the songs because they told the truth. I enjoyed these songs so much I have transcribed the lyrics for you here :)

Now grandma's a person who everyone likes,
She bought you a train and a bright shiny bike.
But lately she hasn't been coming to dinner,
And last time you saw her she looked so much thinner.
Now your mom and your dad said she moved to Peru,
But the truth is she died and some day you will too.
La la la la-la-la, la la-la-la, la la-la-la, la la la laaaaaaa

There'll be times when you get older
when you'll want to sleep with people
just to make them like you.
But don't!
Cus that's another thing that you don't want to do.
That's another thing that you don't want to do.

Oh the cow in the meadow goes "moo".
Oh the cow in the meadow goes "moo".
Then the farmer hits him on the head and grinds him up,
And that's how we get hamburgers.
Now chickens......

Sometimes men love women
Sometimes men love men
Then there are bisexuals
Though some just say they're kidding themselves
La la-la-la la, la-la-la la, la laaaa

What do you do if......

Seriously.... what would you do??????

1. You are "nippular" at the office? Do you ignore it or try to correct it?

2. You are on a public toilet and you let out a big echoing fart that you didn't know was coming?

3. You have the sniffles but no tissues at your desk?

4. You fall in love with a married man (or woman)? Does it make a difference if they are miserable in their relationship?

5. You leave the house and realize you forgot to brush your teeth? Do you ignore it? Go home and brush them? Take a handful of mints?

6. You call someone long distance and ask them to call you back... and then they do. Do you offer to hang up and call them back so they don't have to pay for it?

More things that suck (or bug me)....

1. People that NEVER SHUT UP!!!! There aren't too many people that fall into this category but you've probably met one or two in your life. It's that person that you have a conversation with but they are the one speaking 95% of the time. There are no awkward silences but after a while you wish for a moment of silence.

2. Similar to number 1.... people that know it all. I actually had one woman TELL me how much it costs me to fill up my van with gas. She has a similar vehicle so instead of saying HER vehicle costs $xxxx and MINE costs $xxxx , she declared that I was wrong in my statement of how much it costs me and that her figure was accurate. I couldn't believe it! Like I'm going to lie about the dollar amount of my last gas receipt. I just don't know how to talk to someone like that.

3. Along the lines of number 2..... stupid users that think they have the answers to their own technical problems. In database support, a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. If a user logs a problem ticket due to a problem, that's fine. If a user logs a problem ticket with pages of instructions on how to fix it (which are usually wrong yet written in a condescending tone), it just makes everybody's job harder. Just tell me what the problem is and I'll look into it! Don't waste my time with your theories of how to fix it. And REALLY don't say "while you're at it can you (insert 5 hour job that requires a whole other set of paperwork and authorizations to complete)" because the answer is going to be no! Stupid users!

4. Being sick and on call for work at the same time. The weird thing is, I seem to only get sick when I am on call (the theory is that increased stress and interrupted sleep plays havoc with my immune system). But it's like adding insult to injury.... it just sucks.

5. Expecting something great and getting something mediocre. Today the cafeteria had mulligatawny soup. Last time they had it I was in heaven.... by far the best mulligatawny I'd ever had. So when I saw it on the menu today I just about had an orgasm! I ordered it, brought it to my desk, opened up the container and there sat a runny, lumpy, yellow mess. It was mostly edible (in that I ate about 70% of it after I picked out the questionable items) but it was no where near as good as last time... it was like they took good Mulligatawny, added some left over chicken noodle, threw in a handful of rice and chickpeas (I think that's what they were), and called it lunch. Major let down. So next time the cafeteria has mulligatawny I'm not sure what I'll do. There is potential for greatness but also for disappointment. What a dilemma.

6. Not having enough money to do all the things I want to do. At least I have enough money for my needs (not that long ago I didn't....) but my dreams have gotten bigger. And bigger dreams require bigger funds. I better go buy my Super 7 tickets after work :)

Fictional relationships make me happy :)

There is no relationship in this world I am rooting for more than Jim and Pam on The Office. They are fictional characters but I want them together more than Ross and Rachel! But as soon as they get together it'll make that excitement totally go away so I guess I should just enjoy this "pre-relationship" stage while I can :)

Stupid Label

This morning I woke up with a sore throat so I went to the medicine cabinet and took out the Cepacol spray. I noticed on the label that it said spray 4 times in throat and "try to avoid swallowing". So my question is... if you don't swallow it, what are you supposed to do with it? 4 pumps of liquid is enough that you can't just let it sit there... your options are basically swallow, spit, or inhale/choke.

IMHO, it's a stupid label that doesn't make any sense. It's probably on there for legal reasons.... not common sense reasons. :)

Earl's Brother

I was watching "My Name Is Earl" the other day and it struck me that the guy who plays Earl's brother, Randy (played by Ethan Suplee), must be a really good actor. He is so believably gullible and innocent and somewhat stupid that it's easy to forget that there's a real guy under that... a guy that has memorized those lines he's saying and is acting out the direction he was given.

Not to take away from the rest of the cast (Jaime Pressly, Jason Lee, and Eddie Steeples all do great work as Joy, Earl, and Darnell/Crab Man) but here's to Ethan Suplee. The best comedic side-kick on NBC today :)

These are a few of my favorite things...

Weight Watchers Chocolates - Just one point each :) English toffee are the best but the Pecan Clusters and Mint Patties are good too.

TV Shows on DVD - I just bought the first season of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. It originally aired 1990-91. The hair styles and clothes are outdated (remember when guys wore blousey shirts in loud colours with suspenders? - very MC Hammer) as are the references (NKOTB) and guest stars (remember when Al B Sure, Isaiah Thomas, Bo Jackson, and Kadeem Hardison were the hottest stars?). But it's interesting to see some guest stars that hadn't reached their peak yet (Naomi Campbell, Don Cheadle, and of course Will Smith went on to do a few other things after the show ended ;) ). My only complaint is that they have taken out the blooper reel that used to run at the end of each show.

Movie DVD extras - I recently watched Tommy Boy: The Holy Schneikey Edition which included a ton of extras. I love the director commentary but this DVD also included behind the scenes featurettes and interviews with the stars, writers, etc of the movie. It's even more precious because of Chris Farley's untimely demise.

Sherpa Bags - Taking my dog in the cabin with me on a flight is the greatest thing ever. Unfortunately, airline personnel have the power to deny us boarding if they want to be a pain since Mercedes is hovering at the maximum size allowed. So it's in my best interest to be as inconspicuous as possible at the airport... luckily Mercedes is a great traveler and is so quiet, no one even knows she is there.

Canned Air - The greatest invention in the last decade! This sucker cleans out not only my keyboard and all the nooks and crannies of my laptop but it does wonders with the blades on my clippers.

Krazy Glue - There are only a few instances in my life when Krazy Glue has come in handy... but when it has it has been a life saver. I used it yesterday on the Sandicast sculpture that didn't come home in one piece from our trip to BC and you can hardly tell where it broke. It's a miracle glue. Because I use Krazy Glue so seldom I bought it the 4 one-time use tubes in a pill bottle. What a great marketing idea that was :)

Sundays - Yup, I love Sundays. Today I got up and fed the dogs their breakfast. Then I went back to bed for 4 hours LOL. There is no other day of the week when I can do that. And given how often I am out of town on the weekends, it's a rare Sunday when I can enjoy this kind of lie-in. It was goooooood :)

Crystal Light individual servings - Just empty a package into a bottle of water and you have an enjoyable beverage. No sugar added, almost calorie-free, but full of flavour.

Good Friends - Self explanatory :)

Customer Service

Ya know how at the Safeway deli or Co-op deli or wherever-you-shop deli, if you want to sample a piece of roast beef or black forest ham or something before you buy it, they'll break a small piece off for you to try?

Well yesterday I was in the Safeway bakery section and I had a question about their bagels. So one of the bakery employees comes out to answer my question, then proceeds to take the bagel in question out and cut me a piece to try. But before she offers it to me she goes to the back and puts some butter on it.... REAL butter! Talk about customer service! I didn't ask for any of that but it sure earned them some brownie points and a bagel sale :) BTW, the bagel (flaxseed flavour) was outstanding! I would recommend it to a friend :)

BC Show recap

Well, we did it. We made it to BC and home again. The trip almost got cancelled about a dozen times (after talking to a non-helpful Westjet "customer service representative", after trying to cram the contents of my van into a single suitcase, after a family member went in the hospital, etc).

But once I was packed and on my way to the airport everything turned around. Mercedes was so good in her Sherpa bag. She hardly made a sound and the check-in personnel didn't worry about her at all. People on the flights didn't even know I had a dog on board until we landed and I let her stick her head out of the bag.

At the Kiwanis all-breed shows Mercedes did me proud by going Best of Opposite Sex each time in the ring. Then on Saturday we had the cocker specialty. Mercedes went in for her sweepstakes class first. She won her competitive class which was a great thrill.

Then we went in for the show we came for... the specialty. Mercedes was tired by this point as it was fairly late in the day but she is a little showing fool and she never let me down in the ring. She made the first cut, then the second cut. By this point we were down to only a few dogs left in the ring and they were all big winners. The judge pulled out a buff bitch for BOB and then a black dog for BOS. Then he walked back and pulled out Mercedes and another black dog in behind her and awarded us the Awards of Merit. And then we weren't done as this specialty awards a trophy to the best Canadian Bred dog so we went back in for that and won :)

I didn't know it at the time but we still weren't done as my fellow exhibitors had organized a surprise birthday party for me complete with cake, cards, and presents. I was so surprised and touched that they went to so much effort for me. Thanks to Kelly for organizing the party and to everyone who was in on it and did all the running around picking up the cake and stuff.

So all in all, it was a great trip. We may even do it again next year. We'll see :)