Check your local chip aisle

One of the hardest things about losing weight is substituting regular food for low fat or fat free versions. Sometimes the healthier options are fine and there is no significant difference in taste. Unfortunately that is not true for salty snack items. Baked chips taste different than regular potato chips in so many ways. They have little or no flavour. They are less greasy but they are dry and lack the same crunch as regular potato chips. They are just a sad substitute.

However, in the last year or two, I've seen some exciting developments in the potato chip aisle. This has come in smaller packaging of tried & true salty snack favorites. They have 100 calorie packs of Lay's original potato chips. Sun chips, and Doritos. They also have individual portions (about 120 calories) of Rold Gold pretzels and Cheetos (the good air puffy ones). These were probably intended for travelling, lunch boxes, etc. But they are also good for those watching calories as they have all the flavour, texture, and taste of the original products (as they ARE the original products) but they come in a smaller package. So I can open one package of chips to have as a snack without the hassle of counting out the chips into a bowl (this is what WW recommends) or trying to trust myself to close the bag and take it back to the kitchen after a single serving has been consumed... HA!!! Like that would ever happen :P

Things I learned at WW LOL

This may make Weight Watchers attendees sound like a bunch of nuts but, on a WW bulliten board we were finishing the sentence "You don't know this about me but.....". Some of the answers made me laugh so I've copied them here for you to enjoy.

• I can't let cutlery touch my teeth. It gives me cold shivers down my spine.
• I can stick out my tongue and touch it to my nose!!
• I can find a piece of shredded coconut in a granola bar (gag)
• The word "moist" makes me cringe. The sound of bisque porcelain (unfinished) against itself brings tears to my eyes. I actually *like* the sound of nails on a chalkboard!
• Even thinking the word "mould" makes me gag
• I'm really insecure
• I hate the sound of frozen packages of food (meat, veggies, bread etc.) scraping against the sides of the freezer. It is like nails on a chalkboard to me.
• I also cringe when people play with their cutlery and place the knife in between the fork ewwwwwwwwwww!!!! I can't read lettering on a pill bottle but I can spot a wee spider anywhere in any room!
• The sound of a metal spoon in a metal bowl makes me want to curl up in the fetal position and die.
• I enjoy plucking my eyebrows
• I can't sleep with my closet door open. Not even a crack.
• I have entire conversations with people in my head.
• I can't have my foot hang off of the bed when I’m in bed I still think something is going to come out from under there and grab me.
• When people eat with their mouth open, I have an uncontrollable urge to tell them to chew with their mouth closed. YUCKY
• I'm a chronic nail biter. I hate it, but it’s something that I do when I am stressed.
• I can knit, crochet, fix vehicles, refinish furniture, set up any and all electronics, but can't sew a straight line for the life of me.
• I chew the inside of my lips constantly. Until my teeth hurt and my lips bleed. I too am afraid of things under the bed, and the dark. I am constantly imagining my own death and funeral
• I can't be near someone scraping paint off of wood.
• I can put my leg around my shoulders
• Dirty dishes in the sink drive me nuts! They either go in the dishwasher or even on the counter but keep the sink clear!
• It's been 14 1/2 months since I last looked at myself in the mirror naked!!!
• I have a fear of falling and can't climb ladders because of it.
• Lately straightening my hair causes me to sneeze... (WTF??)
• Eyes on potatoes freak me out. Can't touch them or look at them. The spore balls on the underside of leaves creep me out.
• I hate the sound of my brother rubbing his toes together, skin on skin! YUCK!!! ***shutter***
• I can roll my tongue from the sides inward and can roll the tip!
• I can speak in several different accents. I can play piano by ear. I can sing.
• I can't make omelettes. They always turn into scrambled eggs so I make frittatas instead.
• I'm a texting addict... I average 3500 - 4000 texts a month
• I can't eat seafood if it has a head. The chickens/ducks and pigs in the windows in China Town with their heads attached freak me out. The sound of smacking lips makes me cringe.
• When I was little, I was afraid to flush the toilet. So I'd wash my hands first, flush and RUN!
• *no one* is allowed to touch my toes, DH included. I got a pedicure once, for my sister's wedding, and it might have been the worst experience of my life.
• My favourite word is Doily and I know every word to Wayne's World...including the Cantonese parts.
• I am also afraid of thunderstorms, bees, and I have an incredibly strong phobia of bats. Just typing it gives me goose bumps.
• the sound of someone rubbing their finger against their teeth so it squeaks.... I don’t have words for how awful that makes me feel..
• After dark our rec room is very creepy. So I have to turn off the light, run from the room and close the door
• I can cook just about anything but I can't make pancakes (even from a mix), grilled cheese or omelettes!
• I cannot stand the feeling of no cream on my feet once they've been wet and dried...it is one of the worst feelings ever
• I hate the sound of people swallowing
• Strong peppermint makes me sneeze.
• I cannot stand the feel of yarn or wool, and it actually makes me shudder.
• I have a terrible fear of going across bridges (to the point where a grown man couldn't get me to bend my elbows when driving across one - he did everything but karate chop them).
• I can ride a unicycle. I can write with both hands (just not as comfy with the left). The thought of a piece of string going across my lips or through my fingers, can put me over the edge - so can a fork screeching on a plate (and that squeaky sound that Kleenex makes when you squeeze & rub it together - I think I'm the ONLY one on earth that can hear that, can't hear anything else most days - but I can hear THAT). * SHUDDER *
• If I have a hitch in my nail and I get a hair, or a fibre of any variety caught in it, it seriously gives me goose bumps and puts my teeth on edge.
• I hate the feeling of foam and velvet I can’t stand the sound of kissing
• I have to use a different fork for every course when eating a multi-course meal. Even if I eat spaghetti, and then eat my salad after, I have to change forks.
• I prefer paper cups over glass
• I hate shaking people's hands- I'm a bit of a germophobe! I wash my hands dozens of times a day
• I flush the toilet with my foot! Especially if I'm in a public place *cringe*
• Mittens don't bother me, but I can't breathe when I have gloves on my hands.
• The feeling of hair being "teased" makes me freak out!! I wear two different socks at all times - I match them in my drawer and then when I go to put on a pair I take one sock from one set and another sock from another set and wear two different ones. I chew my lips when I'm stressed.
• I tend to forget to flush the toilet.
• I hate it when anyone touches the top/upper half of my head - it makes me feel claustrophobic I can't go barefoot
• I have weird texture issues with food and can’t eat celery
• I go out of my mind when I see/hear/feel cotton wool.
• I used to complain all the time about my cold feet, then I lost some weight and now I complain that they are too hot!
• I secretly wish everyday that my fish would die. :( He lives in a big huge tank all alone and he's too big to flush and he's 4 years old. His brother's and sister's died and I don't want him. I feed him, but I hate him and I feel guilty typing this.
• I am very insecure. At every social event, no matter how small or large, I wonder who is thinking I am: not successful enough too fat too loud weird obnoxious do not dress nice enough
• I HAVE to have bare feet. Not in public but anywhere in my house (or backyard in the summer) I have to be barefoot. I don't like the feeling of my toes being squished together in socks or shoes
• I can be a total beech sometimes
• Some days I have an extra weird feeling about falling down the stairs. I hate to vacuum the stairs since I'm worried about falling down them. I don't remember falling down the stairs so I don't know where this comes from.
• I hate being hugged by anyone other than my closest friends and my husband. What's wrong with a good ol' handshake? That was the ONLY thing leading up to my wedding that stressed me out - that people would want to hug me. I'm talking my own aunts, uncles, cousins, family friends. The thought of HIS family and friends, whom I don't know very well, hugging me, was even worse.
• I can twist both my wrists more than 360 degrees. I have to crack my collarbone every morning when I wake up, or else I walk around lopsided all day. I have a paralyzing fear of snakes, even photos of snakes. I cannot use someone else's spoon, fork, straw, etc. Even if it's a bite or a sip of something, I need to get my own.
• I hate it when people sleep on the couch when others are in the room. If I am too boring for you to stay awake and communicate with, or you are that tired, then go to bed. If other people are around, give them the respect of sitting up and talking to them and acknowledging they are with you. Okay if you are sick, that is different, but as a general rule, it drives me absolutely stupid.
• I *HATE* the feeling of Styrofoam on my skin... also the sound of it. If I buy something new and its packed in Styrofoam in the box, I have to get my FH to unwrap it for me.. *cringe* I don't like going barefoot in my house (or anyone’s house for that matter)
• I eat ice cream with a fork.
• When I wear gloves, i have to put my pinkie fingers in with my ring fingers so my pinkies don’t get cold.
• I don't like it when people shuffle their feet when walking...unless they are elderly.
• I flirt shamelessly with married men because they are safely attached and can’t hurt me. If any of them ever tried anything more than flirt, I would be super mad!! It would ruin my fun.
• Walking on a wharf over water makes me panic... and I'm a great swimmer. I hate swimming in lakes - can't see the bottom and having the weeds touch my feet freaks me out (I picture something under them getting ready to grab my feet - too many scary movies maybe?)
• I dry myself when I come out the shower a very specific way. My new DH tried drying me once after a shower... poor man was trying to be romantic - it FREAKED me out - and now he just smiles when I get into my "routine"... I ABSOLUTELY can't stand people walking around the house with wet feet after taking a shower - DRY YOUR FEET PLEASE
• I can't hear as well when I have sunglasses on. I think certain inanimate objects have feelings...like my muffin tins.
• I chew everything, including pudding, ice cream, jello, smoothies. I have to eat with a teaspoon, not the bigger spoon. This for some reason is considered weird. Both my dad and dbf always forget and get a kick out of watching me go get the small spoon. I think inanimate objects have feelings too. And I think that the lesser used of 2 items likely feels slighted and unloved. I cannot do ANYTHING in the morning before I've gone to the washroom. Heaven help me if someone else in the house gets up moments before me. I will have to hop around until they're done.
• I can't cook rice. When I take a bite of a cookie, I suck right after so crumbs don't fall.
• Every time I pass by a sharp object - I imagine it sticking in my eye. Every time I walk over a grate or near the lake, I hold on to my rings with my other fingers.
• I refuse to eat cake/pie with a dinner fork if we have dessert forks available. Dessert needs a dessert fork... it's right in the name of the fork! LOL
• I can't find addresses with the radio on. I must turn it off. I have what we call the 'finder finger' when I'm looking for something (on a wall in the grocery store, etc.) I put up the index finger on my right hand and bend it repeatedly at the bottom knuckle. Took us forever to figure out how I developed the habit. It's from scrolling on a computer mouse. I developed the habit in university -- likely from scrolling through pages and pages of journal articles looking for the one I want, and worse, scrolling through individual articles looking for citations. I do it without realizing it. It cracks the family up.
• We have "love fluff" in our house, and all new stuffed ups (what DD calls stuffed animals" have to go through the love fluff ceremony, to get their name and come to life. I cannot walk over bridges, or enclosed tunnels (like walkways from a parking lot to the mall). Monkeys scare me, even stuffed ones. They don't have love fluff available.
• I have to hold my breath passing by a cemetery. This makes funerals a might tricky.
• I can't go in elevators more than around 15 floors without someone with me. My old dentist used to have to send someone down to get me. I got a new dentist. I can't stand being near someone who is constantly tapping a pen or playing with something noisy. I have to rip the tags off my t-shirts or they will drive the back of my neck crazy.
• I hate using the same pen everyone else uses at the bank or store to sign receipts - always use my own. I can't stand mouth noises - chewing, biting nails, etc. The girl that shares my office chews gum with her mouth open all the time. AAAAAAAAAAAAH!
• I hate the feeling of my nails scratching against rocks.
• When I read about injuries to fingertips, or even just about catching a nail on something, my fingertips tingle and I curl up my hands to protect them. Talk about sympathy pains!
• I am totally grossed out by egg yolks and the white Rooster juice on cooked eggs (broken over Hard is the way I like my eggs) The sound of someone chewing their food annoys the hell out of me
• I am afraid of dying/getting old and seeing others I know and love go before me
• I am afraid of my house burning down and losing everything
• I cannot sleep without my bedroom door open and night lights all over my house, and also the closet door has to be closed.
• I am terrified of thunderstorms

Bragging rights for anyone who can pick out any of my 3 contributions to the above LOL.

Just For Fun :)

Stolen from Sarah's blog.....

Answer in only one word:
1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Your significant other? Unreachable
3. Your Hair? Cut
4. Your mother? Dead
5. Your father? Calgary
6. Your favorite thing? Success
7. Your dream last night? Forgotten
8. Your favorite drink? Water
9. Your dream/goal? Athleticism
10. The room you're in? Office
11. Your children? None
12. Your fear? Pain
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Rich
14. Where were you last night? Bed
15. What you're not? Mean
16. Muffins? Decline
17. One of your wish list items? Slenderness
18. Where you grew up? Multi
19. What you read last? Internet
20. What are you wearing? Capris
21. Your TV? LCD
22. Your pets? Partis
23. Your computer? Three
24. Your life? Changing
25. Your mood? Regular
26. Missing someone? Always
27. Your car? Van
28. Something you're not wearing? Socks
29. Favorite Store? Moxie's ;)
30. Your summer? Work
31. Like someone? Husband
32. Your favorite color? Yellow
33. Last time you laughed? Today
34. Last time you cried? Unknown
35. Someone you wish to know more? Yes
36. Horrible habit? Overeating
37. Future plans? Happiness
38. If money were no object? Acreage
39. Life-long dream? Wealth
40. Greatest accomplishment? Education

Starbucks sucks.... here's why!

About 3 or 4 times a week I go to Starbucks for a "Skinny Vanilla Latte". The venti (largest) size comes to almost $5 but then I heard that if I buy them using a registered Starbucks card the syrup (a whopping $0.35) would be free. So I registered the card, put $100 on it, and got excited about all the yummy upcoming lattes I would be enjoying for 35 cents less than everyone else :)

Since I have registered my Starbucks card I have used about $55 of the $100.... that's 12 lattes of various sizes. Of those 12 I have had the following experiences:

• 4 or 5 of the lattes have had free syrup. Sometimes the Starbucks representative offers it for free; sometimes I have to ask for it because of my registered card. But at least I get what they promised
• 1 of the lattes they tried to charge me for syrup even though my card is registered and when I pointed that out to them they refused to believe it was registered.
• The rest I never mentioned my card was registered and they charged me for syrup. I always pointed it out to them after the fact but they never offered me the 35 cents or any other kind of compensation.

So I've decided that if Starbucks can't get their crap together in the time it takes me to drain the remaining $45 from my card then I just won't be going there again. I do enjoy my skinny vanilla lattes but I'm sick of them not following through on their promises and the constant guessing game of how much they are going to charge me for my latte today. Oh, and I have contacted Starbucks customer service via their website but no response yet.

Even if you don't care, it's my blog so I'm gonna talk about whatever I want :)

This morning marked the one week anniversary of the day I re-joined Weight Watchers. Over the week I became a Weight Watchers nazi! I was totally hard core about it.... ate enough but well within my limits.... exercised lots. And I stayed away from the scale so I really had no idea what the result was going to be.

So this morning (as I will every Monday morning) I stepped on the scale and saw a loss. Yippee!!!! I went up to Vince and told him how happy I was that I had lost 3.5 lbs. I was doing my little happy dance, got some breakfast, and sat in front of the computer to enter my weight in the WW "online tools". But when I did, then double checked and triple checked the numbers I realized that I had actually lost 5.5 lbs! Even more happy dancing and rejoicing :) I was very happy to have bad math this morning LOL.

What would you do? Courtesy question.

Remember the wedding crasher that came to my wedding? The guy (former wrestling referee... since been fired) we specifically did not invite because he is such an idiot and none of the wrestlers like him? The guy who has cheated on his girlfriend (A) and got the other girl (B) pregnant. Dumped the girlfriend (A) to be with the pregnant one (B) then discovered he got the dumped girlfriend (A) pregnant too. Then cheated on them both (A&B) and got a third girl (C) pregnant (so the story goes). I believe he is not supporting any of the children and the one ex-girlfriend (A) told me he wants her to have her current boyfriend adopt the baby so the fool doesn't have to pay any child support. The guy is irresponsible, irritating, and an idiot.

Now he is supposedly getting married. Vince & I received an invitation a few days ago and we don't want to go. We aren't his friend. I don't even know the fiancee. Vince says we should just tell them we are going golfing that day LOL. It's on the Saturday of a long weekend so it'll be easy to say we have a prior committment. I say we just decline the invitation and not give a present or card. He and his then girlfriend who crashed our wedding didn't get us so much as a card so I don't feel bad about not getting one for him. But is that childish? I want to take the high road but I just don't like this guy! What do you think?

Ok, let's try this again

My pants have been shrinking! At least that's what I kept telling myself. Then I realized what deep down I knew all the time... I've been gaining weight at such a rapid rate that I'm now 35 lbs more than a year ago when I got married. No wonder my clothes aren't fitting me well and every time I go clothes shopping I strangely can only find stuff that fits in larger sizes LOL.

So I'm going back on the only weight loss plan that has ever worked for me.... Weight Watchers. There are 2 things that have kept me from re-joining WW in the last year or so:

1. It's very expensive. Approximately $15/week to weigh yourself and listen to a 30 minute lecture on weight loss tips
2. I don't like the location or leaders at the Lethbridge WW. There was one leader I really liked but she was basically the cashier... never the weigh in lady or lecturer.

So instead of doing the traditional meetings, I am going to try doing Weight Watchers online. No meetings, no public weigh ins, no lectures, but still the same plan. And the online tools are awesome! Once you are familiar with the program it's great one-stop shopping for all food tracking, activity tracking, recipe finder, etc. And best of all, it works out to be about 1/2 the price of traditional meetings. So far I'm on day 2 so no great successes to report yet but I'm hoping this will be the best of both worlds.... a plan that works AND that I can stick with :)

Keep crying wolf and soon no one will believe you

One thing I seriously don't understand in the world of Hollywood is why some people, and it only seems to be black men, cry racism when they are let go from an acting job.

A year or so ago actor Isaiah Washington was let go from the show "Grey's Anatomy". This was around a much publicized situation where he referred to his gay co-star in a derogatory way..... after which Isaiah Washington said the real reason he was let go was because he's black.

Now Harold Perrineau, Michael from "Lost", is saying that he was killed off on the show because he is black.

First of all, when these men were hired, were they hiding the fact that they are black? Did they think the casting people did not realize they were black? If they were worried about their race being an issue, don't you think they would simply have not been hired to portray those characters?

Other actors have come and gone on both shows. When Dominic Monaghan's character Charlie was killed off on Lost I didn't hear him crying that it was because he was English. Or when Jeffery Dean Morgan, who played Denny Duquette on Grey's Anatomy, left because his character was killed off there were no accusations of the producers getting rid of him because he is single.

So how come some people feel it is okay to cry racism when, through what seems to be normal storytelling of their characters, they leave a show? I can maybe understand them not GETTING a role because of race (of course I'm not condoning hiring based on race, but I can understand the accusation). But auditioning, earning a role in a regular television series, successfully portraying that character for years, and then being let go because the character is no longer part of the story, and THEN crying racism? Sorry, that doesn't fly with me. I think it makes them look like whiners and they can only do more harm than good for black people who may have a legitimate racism grievance.

Something I have learned that I am sensitive about....

People criticizing my cooking or lack of cooking. Today I brought a birthday cake into work for everyone in the office who has a birthday this month. Every month 2 people from the office volunteer to bring a cake in for all the birthdays that month. I signed up late last year for June. What I didn't realize at the time was that the end of May, beginning of June was going to be INSANELY busy for me. Just to give you an idea...

• Sunday - changed plans as I got guilted into coming in to work. Worked 4 hours but the server was down the whole time.... waste of time sitting in the office.
• Monday- worked a 14 hour day... until 10pm. Missed Brighton's 3rd birthday party because of it (still haven't given him his present).
• Tuesday - worked 2 hours of overtime.
• Wednesday - the day I was scheduled to bring a cake in to work

So as you can see, I haven't exactly had the time to buy ingredients and bake a cake from scratch. When I realized this I ordered a cake from Safeway. Note that I bought a HUGE cake.... bigger than most bring in. Also, most people actually do buy their cakes instead of making them. So I was doing nothing out of the ordinary.

But as the cake was being eaten, the "model" girl (from a few posts ago) leaned over to her neighbour and said sarcastically "this cake is so good. I MUST get the recipe." This was said in my earshot and I was very offended. After all, I have literally not had the time to bake a cake in the last few days. If she was so disappointed with her free cake she should have declined a piece. I was going to make a cheesecake before it was clear that I wouldn't have time to do so. And I still might..... but she will NOT be invited to have a piece. Bitches don't get any of my cheesecake LOL!

VICKY DOESN'T EAT MUSHROOMS!!!!!!!

There are few things in this world that I feel as strongly about as mushrooms. I don't like the look of them, the smell of them, and especially not the taste of them. I don't have a phobia or fear of mushrooms. I just simply don't like them at all. Because of that extreme dislike, I feel I have just as much right to order restaurant food without mushrooms as someone who is allergic to mushrooms.

On the weekend we ordered pizza and I had my usual.... veggie lovers with no mushrooms. When I opened the box at home at first glance it appeared that they made my pizza correctly. But on further inspection I found small pieces of mushroom scattered throughout my pizza. It looked like they had made my pizza with mushrooms, then realized their mistake and tried to remove them but missed some of the smaller pieces. I was horrified! What if I was allergic to mushrooms? I could have become violently ill because of their mistake. If they realized their mistake before cooking (which they must have done as there no signs of mushroom imprints in the melted cheese) then they could have easily remade my pizza with only a minor delay. Believe me, I would have been happy to wait the extra few minutes for a pizza that no mushroom had ever touched. As it is, I have to inspect every piece of this pizza before I eat it and then re-inspect it with every bite. I have removed a few small pieces of mushroom from every piece so far.

It will be a long time before I order Pizza Hut pizza again. Which is okay because Douro's actually makes better pizza. They are out of the way but the inconvenience has now become more bearable because of their better pie.

Irritating and ironic

I work with a girl who used to be a model. I have never seen a picture of her or one of the movies she was supposedly in but she mentions it all the time. I should also mention that she is neither tall (I am taller than her) nor particularly pretty.... regular but not pretty. Nor is she extremely thin... about average but not thin. So in no way would I have guessed she was a model if she hadn't told me.

The first time she told me I responded with "how interesting" and asked her some questions about it. Then we moved on with the conversation and I thought that was the end of it.

But since then she mentions it about once every 2 weeks... and every time she acts like she is telling me for the first time and there's a big pause while she looks at me expectantly. It's like she is expecting me to fawn all over her and praise her for her former career. I don't think she is even doing it consciously. I suspect she usually gets a positive reaction from people and she feeds off it. But she has now mentioned it so often that it's irritating me and I won't play her game anymore.

So a few weeks ago she mentioned again that she used to be a model and I responded with "yes, you told me about that." And last week when she mentioned it yet again I just looked at her and waited for her to continue her thought (if there was one). I don't think it is my responsibility to provide fawning whenever she mentions her former career.

Here's the funny thing. I only found out about 2 weeks ago (after working with her for almost 8 months) that she has her masters degree in computer science. I would have thought THAT would be something to brag about.... not that someone put some makeup on her and snapped a few pictures. Where's the achievement in that?