WW trepidations

So, I have now lost 7 pounds on Weight Watchers, and I am impressed, because despite trying for years on my own, I have never managed to do that. All sorts of exciting dreams of pretty clothes that actually look good on me are floating in my head. But I'm not there yet (and losing weight will not make my head, hands, or feet any smaller [the opposite, probably], nor even out other parts of my anatomy). And it seems like most people who lose weight with Weight Watchers proceed to gain it all back, plus much more. What's with that? I gather that is par for the dieting course. But then, we aren't supposed to diet, we are supposed to make lifestyle changes. So Weight Watchers must not be guiding their clients on that transition very well. They definitely seem to be on the diet path, rather than the lifestyle change path. (Of course, their solution would be that everyone should stick with them for life, and pay the not inconsequential monthly fee, too.) So I'm trying to make these changes lifestyle changes. I don't think I could eat like this for the rest of my life, because one must eat out and one must eat super rich and gooshy food occasionally. But I am hoping that I can keep that to special occasions, and limit the serving sizes when I do. So far, I have eaten out and done okay (I guess). I haven't had the gooshy food temptation yet, mostly because I do not have any in the house and haven't had time to think about making any. Also, since the WW thing is new (and costly), I am trying to make it work, so no gooshy food. But what happens with the cookie dough munchies strike? Okay, so I do have a plan for that. But what about Christmas and Thanksgiving, for pete's sake? Part of the joy of Christmas is Mom's birthday, with cake and steak - it's a perfect meal, really. And you can say that I should just have a small piece of cake, but now really, is that what I will want? No, I will want to indulge in it, which means having a large gooshy piece of cake and eat it all and want more (at inappropriate times, even if not immediately). Sigh. We'll be driving on Mom's birthday, anyway, but that just raises the question of when and where the cake will be. There must be cake.

And Halloween is Wednesday. Scary!

Ads that depend on poor math skills

The Weather Channel shows me a little weather report whenever I turn on my computer at home. It's nice and useful and funded by ads, such as the following one from Lowe's: "Get $70 off instantly. $5 off purchases of 1 gallon of Valspar paint or $20 off 5 gallons."

Can't I just make 5 individual purchases of 1 gallon each and save $25 off 5 gallons? To save $70, should I make 14 individual purchases of 1 gallon each to get that $70 off, or should I buy 15 gallons and save $60, and then buy two more to save $70? If I bought those 17 gallons individually, would I really save $85? Did anybody read this ad before it was published? Or does a gallon cost $5, or 5 for $20? That would be a nice savings.

short

Did you know: Teri Polo, an actress who has been on Northern Exposure and Sports Night, among other shows, dropped out of high school to become a model. She dropped modeling after a few years because she couldn't get a long-term contract because of her "height restriction." She was signed to Elite petite division. She is 5 feet, 8 inches tall.

The Day It Should Have Been Done

Today is the day when the Report From Hell was supposed to be done. But it's not. It's in much better shape than it was in a few weeks ago, but it's not done. I wrote a horrible discussion section in a hurry yesterday, working from a nice, long outline, and got most of it done so I could give it (mostly) to my boss before he left on a business trip, so he could look at it before I sent it to the other coauthor, who will rip it to shreds. And my boss will also rip it to shreds, because I didn't get to even read it, let alone proofread it, before giving it to him. I know it sucks. I know it is way too long. Oh well. After doing that, my motivation today was in the dumps. I worked on references for the discussion section, which took all morning, even though I knew what they were already. Weird. And in the afternoon, it was all I could do to make myself work on fixing up the glossary, which is still not done. So I didn't get my big stressful thing done, but my boss doesn't seem to care. I hope that means he really is okay with it. I've been working on it, and it's better, but I wanted it out of my hair, at least temporarily, by today. Rats. It's hard to imagine what I did all week, but I recall working on it and being frustrated with it and all.

And then I joined Weight Watchers with my sister (because she asked, and I love her, and I need to lose weight more than she does), so now I am hungry. I cannot believe that my beef stew, homemade and chock full of veggies, is really 10 points. It was a nice big bowl, but I don't think 10 points is right. I haven't entered the recipe, and I don't know that I want to, because their point assignments are stupid. Sweet potatoes and regular potatoes get the same number of points, when everyone knows that sweet potatoes are much better for you than regular potatoes. Baby potatoes get few points, when they are worse for you. Sweet potatoes (baked, with salt) get fewer points than Sweet potatoes (cooked), or cooked without salt. Huh? So I didn't enter 10 points for my beef stew. I entered 5 points, and now I get some extra points because I also got some exercise. But do I really? I'm going to go use them, so I hope I really get them. The question is, what should I eat? And before you suggest anything silly like vegetables at 8:30 at night, let me just say this: no. I need some carbs and fat and protein and stuff. Just not too much...

Finished a Faulkner

I finally finished reading "Light in August" this morning. I took me more than a month, during which time I read another book that was a lot more fun. Yep, that is a classic, all right. You can tell by all the horrible things that happen to people and the way Faulkner gets to make up grammar and punctuation and all. It felt like most of his characters really hate women. And he doesn't really seem to like them much, either, although he does show a smidgeon of understanding near the end of the book. I certainly don't want to jump right into "The Sound and the Fury," but there is something about Faulkner. His writing is compelling and slow and beautiful in its way, with its made-up words and not quite omniscient point of view. I don't really understand what makes half his characters tick, if any, but there is still something there. I don't know if I like it or not. I'm not sure it is a book that asks me or anyone to like it. I think I'll wait a year or two before reading the other one.