Three Tip Tuesday – Life Without The Scale Part Two

 

I really shouldn’t have labeled this post as a Part Two. I mean, sequels are not usually as good as the original.

Except maybe Back To The Future, Part Two. I really liked that movie. But was it better than the first? Not so sure.

This post is more of a follow-up, more of my attempt to get in a few more thoughts that I have on the topic of stepping away from the scale.

I am about to contradict myself but we cannot continue this discussion of stepping away from the scale without me pointing something out:

There are times in your life when knowing what you weigh is kind of important.

Only two years after giving up the scale, I was pregnant with my son. Throughout those 9 months, I was required to step on that scale every few weeks (if not more) at each and every doctor’s appointment.

I went on the scale backwards each time, letting the fluctuating number merely be a well-kept secret between my doctor and my file.

Sounds like a great little plan, yes?

The morning that my water broke I rushed on over to the hospital and arrived ahead of my doctor. And my file.

The nurse needed to know my exact weight in order to administer the correct dosage for the epidural.

In between contractions I explained why I did not know my weight. She did not understand, relate or attempt to sympathize.

She yelled at me.

If you are pregnant or not, you may very well indeed need to know or at least have a rough idea of what you weigh and I don’t want to interfere with that.

But, having a rough idea of what you weigh and stepping on that scale every single day are two totally different things.

If you already have an idea of what you weigh and want to stop living your life according to what the scale says at 6:00 am after you empty your bladder and before the first sip of coffee, let’s talk about how you can keep yourself in check.

Check in with your clothes:

It is no secret that I live in leggings.

And sunglasses but that’s only because they are prescription.

In order to live in elastic waist pants, I just make sure to “check in” with my jeans periodically to ensure that they still fit the way that I want them to.

I am famous for putting the jeans on, walking around the house and then taking them off in favor of my leggings before leaving the house.

During the winter months, I also “check in” with my summer wardrobe, as in slipping on the jean shorts and the occasional swimsuit. Just to make sure all is still kosher.

 If something feels as though it fits “different”- EVALUATE.

If your jeans are loose, is this a good thing? Did you need them to be loose? Were you looking to go down a size?

If your jeans are snug, tight or just feel different, have you changed your eating habits or workout routine? Can you pinpoint what you have done differently?

Could it simply be where you are in your menstrual cycle? I know that for me, day 5, when everyone else is feeling bloat-free, I am at my most feeling-like-a-sausage encased in my own skin. Not the best day to check in with the jeans.

If you can find where you have overindulged, recall skipping more than a few routine workouts or know it’s been a while since you had your veggies, make the appropriate adjustments.

Sometimes though,  maybe our shorts from last season shouldn’t fit. Sometimes there isn’t a dietary change to make.

Sometimes we are eating more or storing more “weight” around certain parts of our bodies because nature wants us to.

And, sometimes, our physical activity changes the shape of our body and requires more energy from food. This isn’t a bad thing.

What is a bad thing is if your clothes feel tighter and you have been eating less. Did you know that by eating less you can actually slow your metabolism thereby causing your body to store calories rather than burn them? Oh boy, this is totally a topic that deserves a post unto itself.

Regardless of how your skinny jeans are looking and feeling, please remember to love yourself anyway.

I know this sounds so cliché but it is true. You must learn to love yourself. At any size.

It is great to be loved and desired by someone else, to be told you are lookin’ fine in your jeans, that you are beautiful and pretty and the greatest thing since sliced bread.

You need to know this and believe this about yourself for yourself.

If you cannot love yourself as you currently are, fitting into your jeans or having someone else loving you and appreciating you seems rather meaningless.

Remember when I said the American Dream isn’t all it’s cracked up to be? I think that part of this so-called American Dream is this belief that if you could only be 5 pounds less, if only you could wear a size 2, you will be happy forever.

Just not the case.

As we all know, I am now divorced.

I tried very hard to save that marriage and every book I read at the time instructed me to dye my hair and consider losing weight to attract my husband back.

But I was already blonde enough and thin enough.

And if you are sitting there wondering what or who defines “enough”….I do.

What a disaster it could have been had I blamed my appearance, had I not loved myself enough to know that my pants size was not the cause for the demise of my marriage.

I don’t often touch on the details of my divorce as they really don’t apply here.

What does apply here is having some self-esteem, knowing you are enough even on those days when your jeans feel a tad snug.

And should there ever come a day when someone else fails to see that you are the greatest thing since sliced bread? Well then, let’s just have pity on their soul….they are probably on some fad diet where bread is taboo.

No one can live happily ever after without carbs.

 

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Have you ever encountered a time when you needed to know your exact weight and didn’t know it?

Ever go on the scale backwards?

What do you wear more often – leggings or pants with a button?

Ever gain weight because you ate too little?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mother’s Day Happiness

Oh yes. Mother’s Day was quite good to me.

There is something very exciting about a tower of butter and syrup as you wait for the arrival of your most special breakfast of the year.

The breakfast menu is quite unique and extensive but I am a creature of habit and went with the same thing I have ordered the last three years:

Blueberry Walnut Whole Wheat Pancakes Topped With Scrambled Egg Whites and Sliced Banana

The little man chose a short stack of golden brown pancakes with a side of eggs and bacon. He selected this combo over the Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Pancakes. Hmm…To each his own.

I think he just likes the idea of the eggs and bacon for the thrill of placing the order. He barely touched the plate – which is just fine with me. At least he can recognize when he is full.

I could have called Mother’s Day a happy one just based on our breakfast together. But he had a few other things in store for me.

Using his own money, he marched himself into the Pandora store the other night looking to get me a charm for my bracelet. Since Pandora doesn’t sell anything for $10, he went into a different store in the mall and found a cupcake charm that fit perfectly into his budget.

I love that he took it upon himself to find me a gift using his own money.

However, as I always tell him, it is NEVER about how much you spend or if you spend anything at all.

It is the thought that counts.

With this in mind, the best gift I received involves the artwork and poem he created at school in honor of Mother’s Day.

We now have an image to associate with his vision of me being “JUST A RUNNER WHO LIKES ICE CREAM.”

Hysterical,yes?

I can’t get enough of it. It makes me laugh, smile and question where my pants are.

Kids tell you how it is. So if you ever thought I exaggerated our dessert issues, here it is in black and white. I am so glad he finds his taking my cake amusing and serious enough to include in a poem.

All mother’s like to be pampered on Mother’s Day. My idea of pampering on this holiday is getting a break.

Some quiet. Some alone time.

Lucky for me, our favorite diner is down the block from Hebrew School, which so nicely took place shortly after our breakfast.

With two hours to myself, I went for a leisurely run. I chose to run through the neighborhood where we had lived when my son was first born.

As I ran, I thought about the thoughtful gifts I received and how fast time has gone since he was a baby.

I was running the streets I used to walk up and down while pushing the stroller – sometimes carrying him and pushing the empty stroller since he never wanted to sit.

Back then, I liked the neighborhood but we were always looking to move. It was our “starter house”.

Giving thought to our discussion about The Great Gatsby the other day, our starter house was just a stepping stone in our pursuit of the American Dream. There was certainly a bigger and better house out there in order to for us to achieve true happiness and define our success.

As I ran past our old house, I noted that the same family that bought our home from us several years ago is still living there.

They are in the middle of renovations and based upon those little decals people put in their car’s rear view window, they have three kids.

While one never knows what goes on behind closed doors, it is possible to assume that this family has achieved their American Dream, finding our “starter house” perfect for their family of five.

The thing is, and what one can realize now, a house does not define happiness.

It is the people inside it that matter. It is the small thoughtful gifts, gestures (and pictures the kids make at school) that give true happiness.

Not the brick driveway, white picket fence, new windows and roof or the color of the granite you choose for your hallway.

I wonder if they kept our pretty floors?

I often wonder if things would have been different had we not moved from our “starter house” in search of bigger and better in pursuit of the American Dream.

They say everything happens for a reason though, right?

On a much lighter note, I think everything does happen for a reason – something made me randomly check my mail yesterday(we know I don’t check the mail all that often).

Look what arrived for me!

MY AWESOME SHIRT FROM THE FABULOUS CAIT CHOCK!

If you haven’t checked out her artwork,blog and shirts, you must! As described on her site, she is a runner, writer and artist. She designs the funniest, cutest, most creative running related artwork and slogans I have ever seen.

Thanks Cait – LOVE IT!

I cannot wait to wear my Runner Chick shirt with my cute running skirt in my next race.

If only I could see the expressions on the faces of the men I will outrun.

Now that would be true happiness.

I need to know:

How was your weekend? How was your Mother’s Day?

Run any races? How did it go?

What do you like to order when you go out for breakfast- sweet or savory?

Did you see The Great Gatsby?

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday! I am so ready for the weekend, especially for our Mother’s Day breakfast tradition!

The boy and I actually ended up at our favorite diner yesterday for lunch on our way to his orthodontist appointment.

I need more giant egg white omelettes in my life. This was seriously delicious.

It was such a random decision to stop at the diner that I wasn’t prepared with an idea about what to order. I quickly chose an omelette with asparagus, peppers and onions loaded with lettuce and tomato on the side.

And in case anyone is wondering, we totally got in trouble at the orthodontist again.

1. We forgot to bring his night brace to the appointment
2. They can see he doesn’t wear it often enough
3. He doesn’t brush his teeth well enough in the right circular manner

My response to the orthodontist after scolding me?

“I am lucky he showers on a daily basis and wears clean underwear.”

Needless to say, it has been a long week and I could use a break from the routine.

I don’t mention it often but in addition to raising my charming little boy and worrying about him doing his homework, eating balanced, taking a shower and brushing his teeth in the right direction, I am also busy doing my own school work.

Something very interesting occurred to me the other day while I was studying.

While I was highlighting and making notes in the margins, I realized that this may be the first time in my school history that I am truly interested in what I am learning.

Each section of the four courses I am taking have a series of questions to answer. As I sat there with the notes and questions, I realized I was more interested in absorbing the information than seeking out the phrases that would answer the questions.

I was always a great student. But even so, I know I always looked for the quickest way to get done. The quickest route to answering all required questions and finishing all projects and reports as fast as possible.

I really didn’t care about retaining information.

I see the same traits in my son. He is so smart but reads the required text only to answer the required questions. I try to explain to him why it is important to read everything and then answer the questions but he wants no part.

I can’t blame him, I was a kid once too.

The adult that  I am now is quite different. I found myself yesterday NOT answering the questions.

Instead, I really took my time reading the text and powerpoint lectures so that I would truly learn and understand the material.

The questions can wait.

How ironic that the movie version of The Great Gatsby opens this weekend.

I recall being REQUIRED to read the novel in 11th grade.

I also recall buying the Cliff Notes so that I didn’t have to WASTE MY TIME reading the entire novel.

My mother never approved of Cliff Notes. In fact, she MADE me read the book.

And while I remember enjoying it, I really only wanted to be able to answer my homework questions and ace the exam.

I recall doing well on the exam and I even UNDERSTOOD all of the symbolism – or did I?

Can a 16 year old truly grasp the life lessons in The Great Gatsby?

My 16 year old self would have defined this Gucci bag that sits in my closet as true happiness and achieving the American Dream.

My 34 year old self would sell this bag on Ebay in a heartbeat (and may list it very soon) and use the funds to pay a month’s worth of bills.

I should probably reread the novel now.

After everything I have been through and experienced since high school (including living two minutes away from the West and East Eggs when first married), I will probably understand, appreciate and better relate to the symbolism of the American Dream, wanting what you can’t have and money not being able to buy happiness.

 

I need to know:

Are you going to see The Great Gatsby?

Do you remember reading the novel?

Do you sell anything on Ebay?

Have a wonderful weekend and a very Happy Mother’s Day!