TGIF! Woo-hoo!  What’s up, guys?  Yesterday was a crazy day I tell you! I got up super early to do an hour of strength training, then I packed some snacks since I knew I would be training at work for 5 hours, went to training (where I was happy I had brought snacks since while they did provide lunch, it was not vegetarian!), I went with my soon-to-be-sister-in-law to get her wedding dress tailored and then I went to meet ex-co-workers for a drink.  Note to self: Stop at two glasses of wine, max!  Let’s just say low tolerance + a 3rd glass of wine = Miss Jittery Chatterbox with an Icky Stomach.  LAME x 12.

Walking Round In Circles & Sisyphus

And now on to something rather interesante!  Did you read today in Science Daily here that the cliche “walking around in circles” actually stems from a legit phenomena?  Yep!  It appears that without a landmark or some fixture in the distance to lead the way, people cannot walk a straight line in unfamiliar territory!  They will eventually end up walking right back to their starting point!  Why do I find this so fascinating?

It just goes to show that we need a concrete destination so that we don’t end up where we started! Granted, our health goals are not necessarily “unfamiliar” territory — but if I may extrapolate a bit, I think we can see that having guiding principles and actionable purpose in our lives can really help us to reach a goal destination.  How many times have we set out to achieve a health goal but have then found ourselves, months (years?) later, at the same exact starting point?  Talk about frustrating!  I know how it feels to be like Sisyphus, pushing a boulder up a cliff just to get to the end and have the boulder tumble all the way back down to the bottom.  Sometimes our goals can seem like interminable challenges with glimmers of progress that are later shattered by set-backs.  This is why I think it’s important to have small, actionable goals, that all lead up to the bigger goal you have in mind.

• Create a watch tower in your mind to guide your way.  Maybe it’s a modest goal to lose five pounds in two months — but write that goal down and keep it in sight, literally!  Don’t just keep it in the back of your mind, have it posted on your fridge, and write down how you plan to achieve that goal, day by day! Each small goal should work towards a larger goal, your end destination, which should also be clearly defined, written down, and given a reasonable time frame to accomplish.
• Allow your friends and us bloggers to be your points of reference as well.  If you feel you are getting lost and heading right back to where you started, reach out (c’mon, don’t be a dude and not ask for directions when you’re clearly lost!)!

Noteworthy In the News/Blogs

• Girl Get Strong‘s, “The Surprising Secret About Packaged Foods that May be Keeping You Fat” (8/21/09) here — Say what?!  Read this one my friends.  Apparently the FDA gives companies quite a bit of leeway on the calorie counts etc. listed on their packaged foods, so if you are watching your calories you might actually be eating more than you think!  Just another reason to make every effort to eat less and less processed crappola, eh?
• Science Daily‘s, “Research Supports Calls To Study Health Benefits Of Nitrate, Nitrite” (8/21/09) here

Give-Away Round Up

• Win some O.N.E. Coconut Water here
• Win a Lift Your Sole necklace here
• Win $50 to www.livingroomsdirect.com here

Do you guys find yourselves like Sisyphus, working towards a goal and always finding yourself back at ground zero?  Do you think making smaller goals is helpful?  What’s on the agenda for this weekend?!

<3, The Cranky One

But back to boyfriends.  Let’s reflect on a recent Valentine’s Day occurrence.  My sweetheart of a boyfriend got me my favorite See’s candies (you’ve seen them pictured in this blog here) and in an effort to be conscious and supportive of my hard work, he indicated that one-a-day wouldn’t harm me.  I’m sure you can surmise what followed…

One week later

Me: Man, I could use some chocolate…

Boyfriend: Eat some of your See’s candy babe!

Me:  What See’s candy? *giggles*

Boyfriend: I thought you were going to have one a day…

Me: Yea, I thought about that when I was on my third consecutive piece the other day…

But let’s move from me to the general “we” now.  When we have boyfriends, we go out to eat. A LOT. Now you’ve seen my Sumo Watch blog, so we know that some restaurant meals pack on more than a day’s worth of calories, so always be conscious of what you’re eating.  Don’t appropriate vacation mentality to dining out.  In other words, “oh but I hardly go out to eat I’m going to get what I want” phrases are null and void if you go out to eat more than once a week.

Oddly, we’ve heard from Cosmo and other stupid chick magazines that boys prefer chicks who eat burgers at dinner instead of salads because it’s “sexy” to see a girl “that eats.”  B-S if I’ve ever heard it.  Girls, get your salad or your whatever.  Stick to your goals and don’t let Cosmo Magazine featuring a skinny chick on the cover ironically tell you to order a burger to please your dude.  My boyfriend already knows that there are only a few restaurants I will actually eat at.  He knows that I will order whatever fits into my plan for the day.  I am likewise compromising in knowing that if he really wants to eat at BJ’s Restaurant, and I really can’t find anything there worth the calories, I will eat at home before and watch him eat his deep dish of delectable-ness while I sip on water.  We do what we have to do.  And as for the whole time-suck that guys can tend to be — It’s mutual.  Get your workout in even when you have a hot boyfriend waiting to see you. He’ll still be there and he’ll be happy that you’re happy.  Plus I would much prefer to believe that a dude finds it more sexy that a girl has both a strong will and strong physique than that she will eat a burger and fries in front of him.

Hmm what was my point? Oh yea.  Don’t expect your boyfriend to commiserate with you — he probably can’t.  You can always have a vent-fest with me!  We can manage to not pack on the pounds if we stick to our goals and have a plan.  Just beware of See’s candy gifts because even I can’t help you with that one…