Who are you to tell me what's "NORMAL"?

When the Miss USA pageant was on, people were excited and supportive of Miss Indiana because she looked more like the "normal" American woman than a typical beauty queen.

Today, people are posting critical comments saying shes not "normal" at all...as if it's her fault people were making that comparison at all!

Um, how about we just be supportive of all women, regardless of their body shape, and stop being so critical of each other? We aren't all going to be the same and each of us will probably battle with different body shapes and weights at some point in our lives. Do you really think we need more people drawing attention to us?

If you are that insecure with yourself that you have to spend time critizing someone else about how they look, you need to get help! Leave this woman alone and let her be. She's beautiful and more "normal" than many of the previous pageant contestants.

Let's hope the trend continues and people become more tolerant of each other in general!

Cheap food is making us fat?

I wonder how much time and money was wasted to come up with this little nugget of wisdom. I think many people have been saying this for years. It's not a new concept.

When faced with the option of buying lean cuts of meat versus fatty rolls of ground beef, what are you going to choose when you're on a tight budget?

I hear people saying that eating healthy is no more expensive than eating "crappy" but that's simply not true. At least not where I live.

I can't afford to buy fresh fruits & veggies because they are so expensive. They are more of a "treat" when I have extra money than a weekly staple of my shopping list.

Frozen meals can be as cheap as $1 each (or less) but to make meals fresh and freeze them is more expensive, not to mention time consuming. For a single parent who works 2 jobs just to pay the other bills, I can't afford the luxury of fresh fruits & lean meats.

What really irks me is those folks that are on assistance that eat better than I do. I know (hope) that they are in the minority but I saw so many when I worked as a Cashier at a grocery store that I'm a bit jaded.

If the price of fattening foods was more than healthier options, I can guarantee I'd be eating better & probably lose this extra weight.

Weigh In 08/01/11

I've been off schedule because of traveling and people in the hospital so I haven't been weighing in on the right days and not every week. Today I registered 1.4 lbs less than the last time which was actually last Monday I think. Who knows, it's been about a week this time. Almost 18 lbs gone but it's taking a really long time this go around.

Arthritis & The Weather

I've had arthritis since high school but each passing day it seems to get a little bit worse.  I know the extra weight is the biggest factor in the pain but it is really difficult to lose the weight when you can't work out because you can barely walk.

Right now I'm sitting at my computer, searching for a job and stretching out my extremeties. Hopefully some stretching will make things a little more mobile so I can walk without looking like my grandmother after she had her hip replaced.

I think I'm going to create a grid that I can use to track the severity of my arthritis versus the weather.  I might also include activity levels so I can see if there were other factors (extra walking, workouts, etc) that might have impacted the joints.

I love getting old!