The Curvy Catholic

Movin' on - but not too far!

2010-10-09T20:00:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

I've decided to start a new blog - this one's gettin' a little old.

The new one probably won't be a whole lot different, but it's got a different background and a funny picture at the top and stuff like that.

So check it out! It's called My Brand New Weight Loss Blog - http://mybrandnewweightlossblog.blogspot.com/.

Thanks for reading "The Curvy Catholic" - hope you'll enjoy the newer incarnation of it!

Father Ted explains it all for you!

2010-09-24T10:05:00.000-07:00

Just read a couple of articles today about "squatters" who take over abandoned blogs. So thought I'd better check in to let you know:

This blog has NOT been abandoned!

Like Father Ted's funds - it's just resting in my account!

Yeah ... that's the ticket!

Blogger's vacation? and speech suggestions needed!

2010-08-16T08:04:00.000-07:00

Hmm, yeah, I know, I was going to post more often and now here I am, blithely checking in after only, what, two weeks?

Sorry!

But this seems to happen with every new blog I start.

I get all enthusiastic - "THIS time I'm gonna be the best blogger in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD YAYYY!!!"

I post every day, or at least regularly, for a few weeks.

Then on my regular posting day, I sleep in - Aww, no one will notice if I miss ONE DAY, right?

Then another day, I get all caught up in ... well ... LIFE. Biking, or reading a really good book or (embarrassingly enough) reading someone ELSE'S really hot blog.

And before I know it, it's been ... well ... two weeks since I posted and I can't think of anything to say!

OK, I DO know something I can write about! I'm supposed to do a humorous speech at my Toastmasters club on August 25.

And I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT I'M GOING TO WRITE ABOUT!

Any ideas?

I promise to blog more often if you come up with anything good!!! ;-) ;-) ;-)

Bottled Gold!

2010-08-02T21:29:00.000-07:00

I've been recycling a lot lately.

I'm one of those people you see at the gas station or the park, busily digging through the trash in search of the Holy Grail of recyclers: glass bottles!

Actually, beer cans and water bottles are just fine, too. Some of the plastic bottles bring 10 cents, most only 5 cents. But hey, every little bit counts, right?

And for those who are too fastidous to dig through the trash, I've noticed that, especially on hot days, people have a strange tendency to buy a bottle of water or soda, take one or two big swigs, then chuck it to the ground - not even bothering to look for a trash can.

What slobs! But hey, more for us dainty types!

I don't really bring in a whole lot of cash this way, but it gives me an extra added incentive to go out and walk every day.

Recycling - Good for the bottle, good for my can!

My folding bike - not so comfy but great against coyotes

2010-07-29T15:20:00.000-07:00

(I posted essentially the same version of this story in today's Folding Bike section of Bike Forums - enjoy!)

So today I got my Schwinn Hinge Folding Bike back from the bike shop (Metropolis Bikes in North Hollywood), where I'd left it for a tune-up, and was pleased to find that they'd not only done a thorough job of checking it over, they also installed a metal bottle cage on the handlebars, free of charge - thanks guys & gals!

I drove it a few miles to Valhalla Memorial Park, a totally cool cemetery with great views of both the Burbank Airport and the Amtrak/Metrolink train station. It's also the perfect place for out-of-shape folks like me to exercise - because there are NO HILLS! Yes, it's totally flat! And bonus - since it was a hot day, the sprinklers were going; making it the perfect place to test-ride my newly restored folding bike!

I took it out of the trunk and unfolded it. The hinges have always been a little clunky to use and they still are, but the Metropolis guys put some oil/lube on them so they worked as well as they're ever going to work. Once I got it set up, I adjusted the seat, put my feet on the pedals, and started to ride ...

... when what to my wondering eyes did appear but a COYOTE - yes, a real live coyote! - headed straight for me!!

Well, I was a little nervous but what that coyote didn't know was that I'd spent a hectic morning chasing a pack of wild Chihuahuas away from my yard at home, and figured, hey, a dog is a dog, right? I'd gotten rid of the evil dogs by running towards them at full speed, yelling and waving a stick, which did the job quite nicely (also works for Jehovah's Witnesses btw ).

Anyway, so back at the cemetery, I figured I'd just do the same thing. Rather than turn wheel and run, I pedaled harder, directly TOWARDS him, shouting, "Bad dog! Bad dog!" That was all it took - he turned around and ran (followed closely by one of the cemetery groundskeepers, who'd been keeping a close eye on the situation from his tractor a few feet away).

All in all, I was quite pleased with my Schwinn Folding Bike's performance. Sure, the seat is still a little uncomfortable and it's a little hard to pedal. But it keeps the coyotes away, which is pretty much all I ask of any bike, folding or non-folding.

Obsession, or Why I Haven't Blogged for Two Weeks

2010-07-28T17:00:00.000-07:00

Yeah, sorry about that. I tend to go on autopilot sometimes, and just can't stand doing any heavy thinking, much less writing, for days at a time.

I know I should be blogging more ... one of my commenters a couple of posts back said I should post every day.

Yeah, okay. Hmm. I don't think so! I have enough trouble hitting this thing once a week!

But in case you're interested, I do have some interesting stuff going on.

a) I've gotten into biking. Again. See, I have this tendency to get really excited about a subject, hobby, activity, religion (or lack thereof) for a while, till I reach the pinnacle of success with it. Then I get bored and move onto something else.

So two years ago, I got really into the idea of getting a bike. I wound up buying THREE bikes in a row:

a Schwinn Explorer from the local bike shop, which turned out to be too big for me, so I never rode it.
an Electra Townie, which was way more comfortable for me, but still, I never rode it.
a Schwinn Hinge Folding Bike, which I ordered from Amazon, thinking, hey, a folding bike! I'll take it with me in the car and ride it whenever I see a nice bike path! Sure! Yeah! I never rode it.

I salvaged the Explorer with a bike trainer, which basically turns the whole bike into a stationary bike. Steve and I used it for a while, till we got tired of it.

The Townie sat in the garage, being wheeled out occasionally to keep it from rusting and to keep me from feeling guilty for spending so much $$ on it.

The folding bike I gave to my mother-in-law, who thought a friend of hers might want it.

But earlier this year, Steve and I made a trip to Kansas City to visit my Grandpa, and made a side trip to Sedalia, Missouri, where I'd spent a very happy three years as a teenager. While there, I showed Steve the places I used to go on my bike, and we were BOTH amazed to find out how far, and how confidently, I'd ridden.

Why had I stopped? Well, I'd gotten older, gotten a car, and gotten fat, pretty much in that order!

So when we got home, I thought about it, and thought about it, and then thought about it some more.

Then I wheeled the Townie out of the garage, pumped air into the tires, plopped my old helmet on my head and (deep breath) went for a ride around the block.

It actually felt ... not too shabby! So I started riding it more and more - not long distances (yet) but have gotten to the point where I can go to the Reseda Post Office and back, without a major amount of sweat.

And not only that, but one evening Steve's mother-in-law casually disclosed that she still had the folding bike, didn't want it anymore, and would I like it back? I said sure!

It, too, had flat tires, and I decided to take it to Metropolis Bikes, a bike shop I'd visited a few times, in North Hollywood, California, for a total tune-up.

It'll be ready for pickup tomorrow. I'll let you know next week how it rides.

Congrats - last two books given away!

2010-07-19T06:29:00.000-07:00

OK, here's what I did. I decided to go back to the ORIGINAL contest comments, find two non-winners who HAD left their emails or at least were easy to contact, and just give THEM the two remaining copies of Michael Spencer's "Mere Churchianity".

And the lucky winnas - to be contacted as soon as I finish this post - are:

and

joederbes

Yayy!! Congrats to both of you! I've sent you emails and as soon as I get your reply & mailing addresses, I'll pack 'em up and ship 'em out.

And if I don't hear from YOU guys in a week - well, let's just say I'm a registered Amazon Power Seller and I KNOW HOW TO SUBMIT USED BOOKS BWAH HAH HAH HAH HAHHHH!!

Internet Forums, and why I'm not writing about them today

2010-07-16T07:10:00.000-07:00

Sigh. I know.

I KNOW.

I promised (both you and myself!) that I was going to write a nice, long, juicy review of various Internet religious forums that I participate in regularly, such as Catholic Answers, OrthodoxChristianity.net, and Ship of Fools.

I was going to tell you how these forums, and so many others, are so attractive in many ways, luring you in with the promise of intelligent, rational dialogue with others who are interested in the same issues you are.

And how, if you spend too much time on any of them (doesn't matter which, they're ALL the same), you will either become the bully or the bullied. And either way, your faith will waver.

I was going to back all this up with specific examples of threads I've seen or even participated in, to show how all this stuff plays out.

Yes, I was GOING to do all that.

Then the temperature went up to 107 degrees Fahrenheit.

So I went to the beach instead.

And you should too, if you can. 'Cause it's WAY too hot to even be in front of this computer!

See ya next week - and don't forget, any new comments on ANY of my blog posts, between now and Monday, qualify for the "Mere Churchianity" contest!!

"Mere Churchianity" - Second Chance for Free Copy!

2010-07-12T06:16:00.000-07:00

Win a Free Copy of "Mere Churchanity"!

Hey, guys and gals! Since AG and IndieRoadie never got in touch with me, I'm just going to assume they no longer want their free copies of "Mere Churchianity" by the late great Michael Spencer (aka "The Internet Monk").

So if you've been pinin' away for one - here's your (second) chance!

The rules: Just post a comment to this post between now and next Monday, July 19, 2010. On that date, around 8 or 9 a.m.-ish (depending on what time my cat Princess wakes me up to feed her -

"talk to the paw" if you want me to be more specific) -

I'll put your names in a hat, or perhaps a Tupperware bowl, depending on what's clean/available, and pick out two lucky winners!

Rule #2 - based on the problem with the first time I did this contest, I'm going to
ask that you post your email address directly in the BODY of your comment, so I can easily contact you when you win.

That's all it is!

Yup, it's so easy! So go for it! Those copies are just sitting on my kitchen table, waiting for some happy reader to enjoy!

Meanwhile, just to whet your appetite and keep you reading: later this week I'll be doing an in-depth review of various religious forums on the Net, why 99.9% of them are hazardous to your faith - and why, in spite of that, we still keep going back to them!

Weekend Update: Last Chance for "Mere Churchianity"!

2010-07-03T06:57:00.000-07:00

Happy Saturday morning, everyone! Hope you're all looking forward to a happy, explosive Fourth of July!

Reminder to AG and IndieRoadie: You have till Monday to let me know if you still want your free copies of Mere Churchianity (you won, remember??

AG and IndieRoadie, want this??

If I haven't heard from you by Monday, your two copies are up for grabs, and I'll announce the Second Chance Drawing - so stay tuned!

Do you live in an area where fireworks are legal? I have very fond memories of running around with sparklers, wielding them as swords against other kids.

Hey - think that's where George Lucas got the idea?

But just to remind you what this holiday's all about, check out this clip from one of the few Robin Williams movies I've ever been able to stomach that tells it all - enjoy!

Fool [for Christ] of the Week/Month/Year/Decade/Millenium (thus far): The Raving (A)Theist! (Part 2)

2010-07-01T11:09:00.001-07:00

In Part 1 of my investigation of the conversion of the blogger formerly known as the Raving Atheist, I said that I wasn't sure his conversion was legit.

After all, he'd been known for posts of such breathtakingly excellent sarcasm in the past that even I, the Curvy Catholic (aka (A)Theist Gal, Stoogeswoman, and other witty nom de ploooooms throughout the entire dang World Wide Web) was taken in - such as his disturbingly well-written non-apology to me for nominating me Godidiot of the Week:

"Christine Lehman is not a Godidiot. I will not longer permit that dishonor to stain her reputation. Upon his return, I shall direct my webmaster to delete forever that cruel and unfortunate post.

For I have looked into the mirror. Shouldn’t we all?"

So when, as noted earlier, I discovered that this highly sarcastic person had announced his conversion to Christianity, I wasn't the only one who was skeptical. Check out some of these comments from that post:

"I personally like to think that this blogger is the greatest troll of all time." (Sam)

Maybe you could provide us with some reasons for your conversion. Until you do that many of us atheists will just assume this is a prank. (Gary F.)

Yet another sheep baa-ing another pointless bleating because he couldn't be bothered to read any of the books that would have settled the matter (the Bible being one of them, Thomas Paine's "The Age of Reason" being another). (Holydust [on Pharyngula])

Now to be fair (and I'm sure R A/T will agree with me), some of the atheists' reactions were more reasonable than others. Not all atheists march in lockstep (anymore than do all Christians). But the general consensus among atheists, agnostics and skeptics was: It's either a hoax, or this guy's gone mental.

I didn't think it was a hoax, but I didn't think he'd gone mental either. People are always converting from one worldview to another, for an infinite number of reasons. Even the blogger Obsessed with Reality, while irritated by TRA's conversion, acknowledged that:

"I say then to anyone comfortable in his intellectually-based atheism: your atheism is a result of your personal worldview, and like all humans, your worldview is malleable, and mostly so when reality throws a hot cauldron full of shit into your life."

But what finally convinced me that it wasn't a hoax was this fantastic interview, conducted by blogger Elizabeth Esther earlier this year. I won't quote too much from it - it's worth a read all on its own! But apparently, it was RT's growing involvement in the pro-life movement that eventually triggered his conversion:

"In time, RT found it impossible to believe that the universe was created out of nothing. There was order, direction and love. Those things all pointed to some larger, unfathomable consciousness. He realized he could not believe that human hearts and minds came into being randomly."

What can I add to Elizabeth's excellent interview? Not a whole lot, I'm afraid. I don't now, and never did, know The Raving (A)Theist personally. We've only recently communicated by email (in which he alerted me to yet ANOTHER of his posts where he referenced me by name - "The Blog Code", an amusing parody of that Ron Howard movie - what was it called again? Splash? No, that's not it. Oh well, it'll come to me.) Anyway, he wrote:

"Christine Lehman, A Theist Gal
She is the militant archangel.
She’s a lethargic, militant hen.
She is that chilling man-eater.
Ghastliest, heathen criminal.
Hell! An atheistic nighmares.
(Another evangelical Catholic.)"

("And there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour." - Revelation 8:1)

ANYWAY!

Raving Theist, formerly known as Raving Atheist, welcome aboard the Barque of St. Peter!

It's a marginally seaworthy vessel with lots of alarming holes here and there. But - the more the merrier! And if we all work together, maybe we can bail out enough water to keep us afloat till we get to that other shore!

AG and IndieRoadie, wherefore art thou??

2010-06-28T08:36:00.000-07:00

Part II of my piece about "The Raving Atheist" will be coming up later in the week. (Thanks for all the kind responses!)

However, just wanted to remind AG and IndieRoadie, winners of last week's "Mere Churchianity" contest, to send me an email at stoogeswoman@yahoo.com to claim your books.

I hope Zach and Brendan have received, and are enjoying, their free copies by now - please let us know what you think of it so far, guys!

And AG and IndieRoadie - if I don't hear from you by next Monday, I will hold a "Second Chance" drawing and give your copies to someone else. So c'mon guys, don't wait too long! I'll be watching my inbox!

Fool (for Christ!) of the Week: The Raving Theist (Part 1)

2010-06-21T17:21:00.000-07:00

I used to laugh, but now I understand.
Shake the hand of a brand-new fool.

-- The Drifters

I used to be known (at least to the handful of people who read my site) as "Atheist Gal". In 2003, I changed my mind and became Theist Gal.

Frankly, I didn't think anyone had noticed, or cared - till one fine morning I discovered that a blogger styling himself "The Raving Atheist" had written the following:

This week’s Godidiot, Christine Lehman of A Theist Gal, was selected not for something she wrote but for what she is — an atheist who converted to Catholicism. Or, technically, a Catholic who converted to atheism who re-converted to Catholicism. Her site used to be called “Atheist Gal,” but she added the space between that “A” and the “theist” after Jesus snatched her back about a year ago.

Wow! I didn't know whether to be flattered or hurt. To be honest, I felt both! Hurt, because - come on, calling someone an idiot? Kind of mean. But flattered? Absolutely - because someone was actually paying attention to my little 5-hits-or-less-per-day website!

Anyway, if you read through the comments section, you'll see that I went to great pains to sound very amused, friendly and world-weary about the whole thing. But you know, there's just so many times you can say, "Thank you sir, may I have another?" without losing all respect for yourself.

So finally, I gave up, wished Raving well, and went on my merry way.

So imagine my surprise when, a couple of weeks ago, I was surfing the Net and wound up reading this, at Elizabeth Esther's lovely blog:

In December of 2008, the popular atheist blogger formerly known as "Raving Atheist" announced his stunning conversion to Christianity. He changed his blogging name to "Raving Theist" and dedicated his site "to Jesus Christ, now and forever."

I couldn't believe it! This had to be some sort of joke! Surely this couldn't be the same "Raving Atheist" who'd once written:

As far as I am concerned, people who wear their faith on their sleeve might as well be wearing dunce caps, “kick me” signs, or propeller beanies. They are shallow, self-centered, self-righteous and ignorant twits who should concentrate on educating themselves rather than imposing their half-baked, half-assed theology on everyone else.

So I checked the link in Elizabeth's article and found that - yes indeedy!! - on December 22, 2008, Raving had posted this astonishing statement:

Three years ago, I promoted and appeared in the atheist documentary “The God Who Wasn’t There,” dedicated to the proposition that Jesus never existed.

TODAY I DEDICATE THIS SITE AND MY LIFE TO THE WORSHIP AND SERVICE OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST.

Um ... wow! Okay. I think. I was, shall we say, cautiously optimistic. I to believe it. But Raving did have a history of - shall we say - extreme sarcasm - as in this post from June 13, 2003, in which he pretended to apologize to me:

Christine Lehman is not a Godidiot. I will not longer permit that dishonor to stain her reputation. Upon his return, I shall direct my webmaster to delete forever that cruel and unfortunate post.

For I have looked into the mirror. Shouldn’t we all?

Yeah sure. And again, read the comments - I kinda realized it was a joke, but it took a while. Cause he was GOOD.

So before I started the "yay-an-atheist-is-a-Christian" victory dance (which all Christians must learn - it's in the Bible, as you know), I decided to email Raving for the straight dope. And in Part 2 of this story, I'll tell you what I found out!

AND THE WINNERS ARE ...

2010-06-21T08:58:00.001-07:00

Hey, good morning, everyone! And thanks so much to the seven wonderful people who commented on my blog last week - thus qualifying for a chance to win one of the 4 extra copies I purchased of Michael Spencer's Mere Churchianity!

The seven contestants are: AG, Brendan, E, IndieRoadie, joederbes, John, and Zach (and please note, I'm linking to your blogs, if you have them - free publicity! yay!).

I've just written their names on little pieces of paper (all the same size!) and put them into an empty vase (since the Tupperware bowl is currently in the fridge, full of leftover pasta).

I'm shaking up the vase (isn't this EXCITING??) and now I'm going to reach in - eyes closed! and pull out the name of the FIRST lucky winner! And that first lucky winner is: (drum roll please)

Zach!

Congratulations, Zach! (Scroll to the bottom of the post for instructions on how to claim your prize.)

OK, time for winner #2, and it is:

IndieRoadie!

Wow, congrats, IR! Let's move on quickly to #3:

AG!

Way to go, AG! Now there's just one copy left - who is it gonna be? (I can't wait!) - let's see:

Brendan!

Yayy! Congrats to all of you! Zach and Brendan, watch your email - I'll be contacting you to ask for your mailing addresses. IndieRoadie and AG, I don't have email addresses for you, so would you please contact me at stoogeswoman@yahoo.com? Thanks!

And ... that's all, folks! I'm really sorry I didn't have more than four copies to give away - frankly, I'm so thrilled to have actually gotten SEVEN people to even READ my blog, much less COMMENT on it, that I would have been happy to give every one of you a free book. Unfortunately, economic circumstances being what they are, four is pretty much my limit.

HOWEVER - now that you've found this blog, I hope you'll stick around. Because later this week, I have a really cool story to tell you, about a popular Internet atheist who, rather quietly, became a Christian less than two years ago.

It's really a wonderful story, and had me smiling happily ever since I found out about it the other day - because as it happens, there's a personal connection between this former atheist and myself! So please, bookmark this page, and I promise to have the new post in place sometime before the weekend!

And to everyone who has managed to plod through this post so far - THANK YOU! Show's over - you may now proceed with the rest of your day!

One obituary Christians hated; and WIN A FREE BOOK!!

2010-06-14T12:19:00.000-07:00

Many bloggers knew (if only by his own blog, Internet Monk) and loved the late, great Michael Spencer.

His obituary was one none of us wanted to read.

And his widow Diane's harrowing blog post today tells us a lot of the reason why.

Yes, it is hard to lose someone you love. And it's hard to see a "bright side".

But if there is a bright side to Michael's death, it is Michael's life. I don't know if anyone this side of heaven is keeping track of how many people his words at "Internet Monk" have helped. But I'm betting the stats number into the thousands, at least. And I'm humbly proud (is that a thing?) to count myself in there somewhere.

So on the bright side of this post (and yes, in a blatant attempt to raise my blog's hit count - hey, that's how you get people to read you, right?), I'm starting a contest:

FOUR BRAND-NEW COPIES of Michael Spencer's newly published book, Mere Churchianity!

How It Works:

1. Post a (non-spamming) comment on this blog post. (Be sure to include your email!)

2. One week from today (June 21st) at, oh, let's say 10 a.m. (Los Angeles, CA time), I will put the names of everyone who's commented (only one entry per person, sorry!) into a Tupperware bowl, and draw out four names.

3. I'll then e-mail the lucky winners for their addresses, and send them their books!

And again, yes, this is partly to see if I can get more people to read my blog.

But you know what? It's also because I read Michael's book when it was released on the Kindle a couple of weeks ago. And I really loved it!

And I think you will, too.

So come on ... what are you waiting for? Post already!!!

(and P.S. - thanks!!)

Obituaries Christians Like (and yes, I'm plagiarizing !)

2010-06-07T09:18:00.001-07:00

I'll say right up front that I'm plagiarizing Jon Acuff's wonderful blog Stuff Christians Like, but it occurred to me this morning that whenever a famous person dies, the first thing a really serious Christian does is check to see if they ever, at any point in their lives, publicly expressed even a minimal amount of faith in Jesus Christ.

Then they breathe a sigh of relief: "whew, I don't have to worry that he/she might be in Hell!"

For example, in the latest round of celebrity, the late Art Linkletter was a "gimmee" - he has long been known as a professing Christian. So he can be presumed to be "safe".

Art Linkletter, well-known Christian: SAFE!

On the other hand, there's a long and, apparently, semi-serious debate at Yahoo! Answers about the eternal fate of poor Gary Coleman. He may, or may not, at some point in his life, been involved in some way with the Mormons. Whether that helps him or not is debatable (of course!).

Gary Coleman: WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN(?)

As I get older, I tend to think God (aka Jesus Christ, late of Galilee and Nazareth) is a lot more patient with us than we think. And that there will be a lot of pleasant surprises in Heaven. Including, perhaps, Gary Coleman.

Q: "Whatchoo talkin' bout, Curvy Catholic?"
A: "Grace!"

Need a plumber?

2010-05-21T16:51:00.001-07:00

But not necessarily like these guys?

Here's the story: I was doing my Shovelglove routine a little too enthusiastically this morning (also without the "glove"), and, long story short, broke a pipe.

Waaahhh!!

But after a few failed attempts to fix it on my own, I decided to bite the bullet and call a plumber. The Stooges must have been looking down from heaven, because I found these guys: Schuelke Plumbing - and they did a great job!

That's Schuelke Plumbing, 1-800-397-0093 - and they ain't payin' me a penny for this fabulous endorsement, nyuk nyuk!

But seriously, they did WAYYY better work than these guys woulda done:

Let's face the music and ... diet? Nahhh!!

2010-05-15T07:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I do have to face the music, come clean, 'fess up, whatever: like 95% of my fellow dieters, I have regained almost all the weight I lost a couple of years ago - I've gone from a low of 180 to - this morning - 213 pounds.

That's 33 pounds.

Sorry, Mr. President!

But I'm not going back to Weight Watchers, because the regain started while I was going there. In fact, if you look back at my posts from last year, I was already well on the way upward and couldn't seem to reconnect with the whole program mentality.

And being unemployed since December (not to mention homebound for two months with acute bronchitis earlier this year) didn't help either.

Despite my best intentions,

there are times when I feel a distinct sisterhood with Peggy Bundy.

But as they say (especially in the Catholic Church, of which I'm a full-fledged Rosary-carrying member!), confession is good for the soul. So now that I've told THE WHOLE WORLD (or at least my husband) about this, I can decide what to do.

Exercise more? Definitely. Especially since the weather's getting warmer. I had been going to 24 Hour Fitness two or three times a week, but now I'm going to start doing some nice, long walks as well. I should be doing SOMETHING - either the gym or the walk - every day of the week.

Diet? Well - maybe not. I may give the "No S Diet" another try. But I do kind of need the "s"'s, especially while watching those damn Scrubs reruns every afternoon.

OK, smart gal, how about this:

No more Scrubs reruns every afternoon!

Aahhh!! Well, we don't have to go that far! But yeah, I definitely need to cut back on my afternoon TV viewing - that seems to be when I get in the most trouble, snack-wise.

Well, I have to cut this post short, as Steve P. is out of the shower and I know he wants to get on the computer. Thanks, sweetie! I'll write more about this later.

Oh, and tomorrow, after church?

Just ONE doughnut for me, 'kay?

When the overly chatty rector starts undressing, it's time to go home

2010-05-06T15:40:00.000-07:00

This morning I decided, on a whim, to attend the 10 a.m. "Holy Communion" Service at a nearby Episcopalian church.

Disclaimer: I'm not now, nor have I ever been, an Episcopalian. As the title of the blog should have told you by now, I'm a Catholic. Byzantine Catholic, to be exact.*

But being a C.S. Lewis fan(atic), I have a soft spot for Anglicans. And since there wasn't a Divine Liturgy at our church this morning, and I was in the mood for a good liturgy, and had noticed this particular Episcopalian church's schedule while driving by on the way to and from 24-Hour Fitness, I decided - today was the day!

CLUE #1 that this was the wrong decision: I pulled into the parking lot just behind a sweet, elderly, white-haired lady, who walked in through a locked gate - and pulled it tightly shut behind her, just before I made it through. And kept walking, without so much as a "Sorry, we have to keep it locked if we don't know you." Which I would have understood. But silence? Hmmm.

CLUE #2: I walked around the block and found another entrance into the church, and sat in a pew towards the rear. It was ten minutes before 10:00 a.m.

And no one else was there. EXCEPT a man standing at the altar, noisily thumping books, fiddling with the tabernacle door, and chatting on a cell phone, all at the same time. Admirable! However, I was there to pray, so I did my best.

But alas, it was not to be, because:

CLUE #3: Said chatty gentleman suddenly started walking down the aisle towards me, talking to me while frocking himself in semi-priestly garb. "Sorry, we're only having Morning Prayer today, because Father's still out at the ranch," he shared with me. Embarrassed, I muttered something to the effect that, since I'd never been there before, I wouldn't really know the difference.

"What?" he shouted, over the buzzing sound of a voice inside his cell phone.

"Um, I said, 'That's OK!'" I shouted back.

He nodded and walked out, still struggling with his clothing and yakking to the unseen voice (distinctly female, so probably not God, although on the other hand, this WAS an Episcopalian church so who knows?).

Anyway, at that point I suddenly realized that this service, if it ever got underway, was going to consist solely of myself and Chatty Cathy, and decided this was probably NOT the best place for me to commune silently with the Lord.

So I left, waving halfheartedly to C.C., who was standing outside the door, sucking on a cigarette and still only partially clad.

Then I drove as fast as my little Toyota would carry me to 24-Hour Fitness, where I communed with the Almighty via the rowing machine.

If any Episcopalians are reading this ... um ... was this Rite One or Rite Two?

*Technically speaking, Roman Catholic married to Byzantine Catholic. But it's all good.

Oh, the Pain!

2010-05-01T13:30:00.000-07:00

For anyone (other than my faithful hubby) who may be reading this, and may care, I just got stung by a bee.

On my toe. The one just to the right of my big toe, on my right foot.

"How did it happen, Ma'am?"

Well, I was walking barefoot in the grass (alas!) in our front yard, reaching up for a nice, juicy mulberry (they've just started to ripen, yum yum!!), when my foot happened to trespass on a patch of purple clover currently being occupied by Aunt Bee, who made her displeasure known.

So watch your step today, friends, somewhere out there, there's a bee with YOUR name on it!

I'm ba-a-a-ck!!

2010-04-30T09:32:00.001-07:00

OK, I have a confession to make. (I am Catholic, after all.)

After my last post here, I started a new "anonymous" blog, here.

As the title said, no one WAS reading it. I needed that for a while, because I had been feeling the need to get some things off my chest (42DD, last time I checked, thank you very much) without anyone reading them.

And let's face it - if you really want to say something online, and have absolutely NOBODY know you're saying it, the absolute best place to do it is in a brand new blog! Am I right? High five!

I'm not going to discontinue the other blog, because I really like the way it looks. Hey, no offense, Blogger, but WordPress is just, well, classier looking. There, I said it! Sorry!

But hey, classy isn't everything, right? If it was, Paris Hilton wouldn't be a celebrity! So here I am, your own 200-pound Paris Hilton, ready to take up the pen (metaphorically speaking) and rock your bloggin' world!

Or something.

Blog ends! (or ... does it? Um ... yeah, prolly!)

2010-02-12T21:33:00.000-08:00

I know, I know - it's always sad when something ends, isn't it?

When "Gone With the Wind" ended, you cried, right? Admit it.

When Dorothy said, "There's no place like home!", you bawled like a baby, didn't you? Didn't you? (Hey, don't lie to me - I can see you, y'know!)

So anyway, for those of you who've faithfully followed this blog, "The Curvy Catholic", all the way from its beginning (all, erm, two? of you), I'm sorry to tell you that this is THE END of this blog.

Waaahhh!!

OK, here's the reason: and I'm being brutally honest and frank right now: I'm BORED with it.

(Whew!) There - I said it!

Yes, the enthusiasm for losing weight via Curves for Women and Weight Watchers has waned, somewhat. Plus I'm not really that enthusiastic on the Catholic front anymore either.

Oh, I still attend church with my hubby, and I do my best not to ruffle anyone's feathers with my semi-heretical viewpoints.

And I do love the people at our church, who are the MAIN reason I continue going, and trying.

And I definitely am NOT giving up on being fit, and exercising. I continue to love and enjoy my two-year non-refundable membership at 24 Hour Fitness, which I bought for myself last year shortly before losing my job ... a gift from my employed self to my unemployed self.

That was probably the smartest move I've ever made in all my bumbling efforts to lose weight and find inner peace.

Because guess what? I LOVE to lift weights, do resistance training, etc.! It's fun and I love the way my muscles feel after I've really gone to town on those dumbbells (and not just the ones at the front desk - nyuk nyuk!).

And in between workout days at the gym, I'm going on walks. Long walks, out in the "cheap showiness of nature". There are a lot of really nice parks and malls and gardens and nature trails out here in Southern Cal, and I'm (re)discovering quite a few of them.

In addition to all that moving around, I'm going back to school - having enrolled in several classes at Grand Canyon University (online). Not the best college in the world (my long-suffering hubby has heard me griping about them more than once), but hey, it's a start.

And - beats workin'! (Nyuk nyuk!) Yeah ... there's that, too. I'm now officially unemployed - downsized from my lofty post as Word Processing Operator at PricewaterhouseCoopers in downtown L.A. since December 11, 2009. I was sure that I'd have a whole lot of free time after that, and be able to spend more time online, writing The Blog to End All Blogs.

However, what's really happened is I've been AVOIDING this blog. My life has changed dramatically, and I'm just not really sure that "losing weight" is my primary goal anymore.

So to make a long post even longer, this is probably IT for my incarnation as "The Curvy Catholic". And again ... waahhhh ...

Yet it may not be my last incarnation. (After all - THIS one wasn't.) I do still have dreams, vague at the moment but ready to take shape in some amorphous future still waiting to happen, of writing The Blog to End All Blogs.

The Blog to make all other bloggers fall down in shame before me.

The Blog that will change the world!!!

Ummm ... yeah, right. Actually, I'd just be happy with a blog more than two people read on a regular basis!

So I'll be thinking about that. And I'll be thinking of you, Faithful Reader(s). And thank you for your support. And if you've read this far, my deepest sympathies!!

And by the way - just one more thing - for anyone who cares - my last weigh-in at Weight Watchers was 195.0.

And I think I'm happy with that. I think I can go on with that.

Goodbye Weight Watchers (or, how the Curvy Catholic killed yet ANOTHER small business!)

2010-02-07T20:51:00.000-08:00

Hmm, well, apparently I am death to certain types of small businesses.

First I killed off Downtown Curves at Bunker Hill.

Then it was It Figures in Sherman Oaks.

Now, as of Saturday morning, approximately 7:30 a.m., I managed to kill off the Saturday 7 A.M. Weight Watchers meeting (in the same strip mall as the late and lamented It Figures).

Let's hope whoever's pulling all these strings doesn't notice that I've fallen head over heels in love with a certain location of 24-Hour Fitness!!

Happy New Year! (or What do you mean, I haven't posted for a long time? Define "time"!)

2010-01-10T16:56:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

Well, it's only been, what, a month and a half since my last post? Less than that, really. What can I say, it's just been a busy time for me.

And yes (sigh) if you're going to drag it out of me, I did get a little discouraged there, for a while. Because my weight just kept creeping up and up and up and UP and I couldn't seem to get the little needle on the scale to bounce in the opposite direction.

But here I am, happy to report that, although I was, indeed, all the way up to ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY FIVE POUNDS last Saturday, I treated that like the wake-up call it was, and took the following actions:

1. Bought a two-year nonrenewable 24 Hour Fitness membership through Costco for $299.

2. Used it.

3. Also went for a couple of long walks around Lake Balboa (in the Sepulveda Basin).

And thanks to those, and my decision to get back on track and start losing again, I am proud to report that at this past Saturday's weigh-in, I did indeed FINALLY make the needle move in the right way. Left, that is. I mean, depending on your viewpoint. I mean, there really isn't even a needle, it's a digital scale and --

What?

Oh yeah, my weight. Down 1.8 pounds, to 193.2. Happy now?

At what point does a "plateau" become "your normal weight"?

2009-12-02T09:25:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't updated the blog for a while, but you know the whole point of this blog was to track my weight loss progress - and for the past three weeks, my weight has been exactly the same: 185.4

Not that I'm complaining! Better to stay constant than to fluctuate or (God help us all) to rise uncontrollably - right?

But to be honest, I've also been spending more time on Facebook and other online networking sites. It's SO hard to keep track of all one's online multiple persona - ain't it?

Anyway, I'll try to do better.

And in a couple of weeks, I won't be able to say I don't have the time. Since my Termination Date (isn't that a nice way to phrase it?) from PwC is FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2009. And after that - it's ME time, bebe!!

When is a gain really a loss, and a loss really a gain? Why, right here, of course!

2009-11-16T08:03:00.000-08:00

To wit: This past Saturday, I LOST the Toastmasters Division 52 Tall Tales competition at the fabulous Jon Lovitz Comedy Club, right in the heart of breathtakingly exciting Universal CityWalk.

BUT - thanks to the generosity of the wonderful Jon Lovitz, I GAINED two free passes to any show at his Comedy Club - all because I prepaid my admission to the Club for the contest. At least that's what the nice lady who handed me the passes said, and who am I to doubt anyone who's giving me free passes to a comedy club run by someone I absolutely adore? Not me!

And - this past Saturday, I finally got an official weigh-in from Weight Watchers, which showed that I had GAINED 0.8 pounds since my last official weigh-in, two Saturdays ago.

BUT - if you recall, last Saturday I weighed myself at HOME and was UP a heart-stoppingly huge number of pounds - up to 186.0! And every time I checked our Weight Watchers brand scales at home during this past week, the number kept going up - and up - and UP!

So in my own happy little mental ward which I call "my brain", I have actually LOST 0.5 pounds! So there!

And this morning we started the Philip's Fast, so I'm temporarily back to veganism for a while. So I fully expect that number to creep down again.

Oh, and in other news, I think we need a new battery for our scales. At least, I keep telling myself that ... ;-)

Going back to veganism - but just till Christmas morning!

2009-11-12T18:36:00.000-08:00

Well, I've just checked out my weigh-ins for the past month and I'm no dummy. Obviously the switch from vegan to non-vegan has had a negative effect on my weight.

Fortunately for me, starting Sunday afternoon (or evening, actually - after Vespers, to be precise), the Eastern Church begins what's called the "Nativity Fast" (also "Philip's Fast").

Basically, you go vegan for most days of the week - giving up red meat, poultry, meat products, eggs, dairy products, fish, oil, and wine - but are allowed to eat fish, wine and oil on Saturdays and Sundays, and certain feast days.

Well, being the rogue Christian that I am, I've decided to arbitrarily add a few more feast days - Monday, December 7 through Friday, December 11th - my last day of employment at PricewaterhouseCoopers! I've been invited to lunch with several people who really, sincerely hate to see me go (mainly 'coz now THEY have to do all my work - nyuk nyuk!).

So I'm just gonna schedule 'em all, every day that week, culminating in what I
fully expect to be the farewell party to end all farewell parties.

Er ... at least, it will be for me, since, like it or not, it'll end all MY farewell parties!

So anyway ... I'm prepared for a pretty shitty weigh-in Saturday morning. But hark! Saturday afternoon, I'm competing in the District 52 Toastmasters "Tall Tales" competition at the fabulous Jon Lovitz Comedy Club at Universal City (California, that is!).

And Sunday - after one last meat-and-cheezy lunch - it's back to the vegan - with a few exceptions - till bright and early Christmas morning!

GOING up but not GIVING up!

2009-11-09T07:27:00.000-08:00

Didn't go to the Weight Watchers meeting this weekend, as Steve and I traveled to San Diego super-early Saturday morning to sing at a friend's memorial service for his dad.

But I weighed myself at home, on my official Weight Watchers(tm) scale, and am sad to report yet another gain. About another pound. Doesn't sound like much but in the past few weeks I've seen my weight slowly but surely creep up from 180 to what it is now, @ 186.0.

Before anyone suggests it, I did a pregnancy test this morning. Negatory, ol' pal, sorry! Nope, it's just plain ordinary why-aren't-you-exercising-more-Chrissy? fat.

I've decided to try a couple of things, as detailed below:

1. TRACK. I'm supposed to be in Weight Watchers, right? So why not actually do what they tell me to do and track my food every day? Sigh. Well, the reason is I really HATE having to track my food every day. And I got out of the habit of doing it. But I'll try, this week only, and see if there's something I'm missing in my eating habits.

2. MOVE. I did this last week and it didn't seem to have any effect; but I'll continue to do my treadmill workout every other day.

3. RELAX. I have to be careful about this one, because it might sound like I'm just giving myself permission to sit in front of the TV and eat bon-bons all day for the rest of my life. (Mmmmm ... bon-bons!)

That's not it! But perhaps I should relax a little and not worry so much about the numbers on the scale. Because here's the thing:

a. I'm eating good food, for the most part. No more marathon binge junkets between KFC and Popeye's anymore.

b. I do exercise fairly often - I have a nice leisurely walk of about half an hour every morning, from the train station to my office. At my job - which is going to end on December 11th. Which leads to:

c. When my job ends, I have faith that I will not just sit around and watch TV all day. The first week I'll cut myself a little slack, but I plan to work out a schedule that incorporates my online classes, working around the house and the garden, and yes, EXERCISING!

But meantime I'm not going to beat myself up if I get a little nuts about food issues for a while. I'm losing my job, dammit - if eating a Beard Papa Vanilla Cream Puff at Famima's once a week helps me deal with that, then so be it!

Facing reality

2009-11-02T21:21:00.000-08:00

Whoa, up another 0.6 pounds Saturday.

And it's time to face reality: the reason has NOTHING to do with food. At this point I KNOW the basics of nutrition and how I should be eating (whether vegan or non-v).

No, it's not the food - it's the movement.

Ever since Curves and It Figures closed down, I've been doing my best to go it alone. But it hasn't been the same. There's something about paying someone else that keeps you honest.

It's the same with Weight Watchers. Saturday after my weigh-in I decided to skip the meeting part and just go do a walk at Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks Park (a great place to walk, by the way - lots of people around, so it's secure - but not so many that you feel crowded).

And it was great - I walked for an hour! So I started thinking, hmm, maybe I should just quit Weight Watchers and do this instead.

But then I realized - if I quit Weight Watchers, there's no way in hell I'd get up that early on a Saturday morning!

So even though I'm kinda bored with the meetings right now, I'll compromise - I'll still go to the Saturday morning weigh-in, and then just go do my walk. And try to do more treadmill workouts during the week.

After all, that thing cost me two hundred bucks - I should get SOME use out of it.

Can't please everyone ...

2009-10-26T08:21:00.000-07:00

Well, my Curvy Catholic pals, your friendly blogger has had the thrilling experience of being interviewed by another, and (IMHO) FAR superior blogger, over at Letthemeatmeat.com!

The whole interview was conducted via a series of email questions, which I answered to the best of my ability. I'm still struggling to articulate all this stuff, so I fully realize I probably didn't sound too intelligent about all the topics at hand.

Still, it was a bit annoying to find that a vegan named elengberg re-blogged it, adding her own rather snarky comments throughout, and accusing Letthemeatmeat.com of using "a fucking idiot to interview".

You might think I'd be more than just "annoyed" at that, but I'm not. See, a few years ago I became a Catholic again, after having been a very loud and vocal online atheist - and was nominated as "godidiot of the day" by some guy called the "Raving Atheist". (Who's apparently still going strong out there in the blogosphere. Mazel tov, dahling!)

So, nothing new here. Just be aware: if you're gonna post anything at all personal about yourself on the Internet, sooner or later, someone will call you an idiot. The real test of your character is how you respond.

Do you freak out and lock yourself in the bathroom and cry like a whiny little girl?

Do you quietly ask your Italian friends if they know anyone who can do you a "favor"?

Or do you just suck it up and accept the fact that, as the late, great Rick Nelson once sang, "You can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself"?

I choose the latter. (R.I.P. Ricky - 24 years as of December 31.)

So now that I've gotten all that out of my system, what's next? Oh yeah ... the weigh-in. Well, I cannot tell a lie - since going back to animal flesh, I have gained back a little weight. My weigh-in Saturday was 183.4. Yikes!

But at least I know why. It's because I gave myself permission to "pig out" (sorry!) for a week, and eat all the foods I'd been craving all summer long. Now that I've done that, I don't need to anymore. I can go back to eating like a normal person. Already started today, with oatmeal and an apple for breakfast. Yum!

Sigh. An interesting week lies ahead. But I feel good now. Like a locomotive that's been stuck on a sidetrack for days and days, and finally gets the green light to move ahead*. I just needed the proper fuel mix!

(*Steve, you'll have to let me know if I've phrased that right - since I'm still in "training" - nyuk nyuk!)

Hmmm ... as a Catholic, what should I do about this?

2009-10-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

Because I agree with every word.

How Veganism is Like Abstinence-Only Sex Education

Sorry, fellow Catholics (and former fellow Vegans!) but it makes sense. I've often thought the Church was unrealistic and extremist about sex. You can't have sex outside of marriage, and you can't masturbate to deal with those throbbing biological urges.

Sigh. I don't know where I'm going with this. I'm still a Catholic! But (just as happened with veganism), I get irritated at the narrow-mindedness and refusal to allow any compromise whatsoever.

Oh, and by the way - 180.4, down a pound from last week. Woo hoo!

Vegan no more! or, How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Cheese!

2009-10-12T08:04:00.000-07:00

Sigh. Well, it actually lasted longer than my mother thought it would.

On June 8, 2009, I proudly announced on this blog that I was now a vegan.

But a few weeks ago, I encountered some of this stuff.

Plus I just couldn't give up sneaking some of these whenever my husband brought them in the house. (In case you didn't know, honey isn't vegan.)

I hung on valiantly, resolving to only indulge in these items very, very occasionally.

But then, last Friday, I realized something. I'd been eating vegan since June, and not only had I not lost any weight (as the veganistas insist you almost HAVE to, if you're a True Vegan (tm) ); but I was hungry ALL THE TIME.

I just kept wanting to eat, snack, munch, nibble - even after what should have been a filling meal.

And I was spending a lot of $$ at work for between-meal snacks - but being vegan I was limited to fresh fruits (apples and bananas), vegetables (edamame, salad) breakfast cereal, soy milk or oatmeal.

I ate them all. AND I WAS STILL HUNGRY.

So last Friday, I bit the bullet. Or, to be more specific, I bit the Ultimate Grilled Cheese Sandwich at my local Organics to Go (the most humane local source I could find for my animal cravings).

That's right. I ate the whole, mouth-wateringly delicious thing.

And guess what I ate the rest of the afternoon, before going home and having supper?

NOTHING. Nada, nil.

My hunger had been satisfied. And I felt GOOOOOOD.

Sigh. Does this mean I don't care any more about the poor animals who suffer horrible abuses on the factory farms?

NO! Absolutely not! I care just as much as I did before!

However, I'm realizing that it's possible to make their lives more pleasant and their deaths more humane - without making MY life more miserable.

It's possible to make good food choices. To insist that those who supply the animal products I eat meet high standards for humane treatment of those animals. To only shop at stores that hold their suppliers to those standards.

In other words - to LITERALLY put my money where my mouth is!

So I guess from this point (at least till the next fasting period - Advent, I think), I'll be what my beautiful niece, Rachel, described herself as when we went out to dinner together on my birthday: a Flexitarian. Most of my meals will be vegetarian, but from time to time, I will indulge in some sort of critter and/or critter byproduct, as long as I can be sure he/she/it has been dealt with as kindly and humanely as possible. (Not goat milk, though. I love the goat CHEESE, but the goat milk ... well, let's just say it's OK except for the GOAT part!)

Or a Frisbeetarian. That looks pretty cool too!

Mondays ... Wednesdays ... when the hell do you update this stupid blog anyway, lady?

2009-10-07T18:23:00.000-07:00

Well, sorry about that! I was pretty busy Monday recuperating from my 2/10ths of a pound LOSS over the weekend.

Yes, I am now 180.0, down from that whopping 180.2 of last week! It was pretty exhausting but definitely worth it to see that scale millimeter down ...

In other news: I won the Toastmasters Downtown LA Area 52 Tall Tales Contest last night! If you don't know what that is, it's ... well ... you've heard of Area 52, right? That restricted place out in Nevada where they hide all the Rosswell aliens?

Well, last night we told stories about them and then one of the Toastmasters actually revealed that he is, in fact, ONE of them! It was very educational and I'm sure Steve P. was honored to be there for the great unveiling!

Oh, and tonight they're bombing the moon. I'm ready to do my part (by getting bombed - get it?).

Back to Mondays? well ...

2009-09-28T08:49:00.000-07:00

OK, let's start with all the positives:

1. I LOST all the vacation weight - now I'm back to 180.2 and feeling great! The trick (for me) was to actually schedule, in writing, my treadmill workouts - like making an appointment with myself that I just HAD to keep!

2. I WON the "Tall Tales" contest at my local Toastmasters! Which means next Tuesday I go on to compete in the district competition - which means I have to stay at work after dark! Fortunately Steve P. is willing to come and pick me up (health permitting - get better soon, sweetie!!).

3. I'm starting college today! Grand Canyon University online, that is! Today is the first day of my first class and I've already done the first assignment (posting a short bio in the "Cyber Cafe"). Hey - that was easy! Where's my degree? nyuk nyuk

Changing My Patterns - Maybe That'll Change my Weight Loss!

2009-09-19T19:25:00.000-07:00

Uh, gulp. To anyone out there who was actually thinking of me as any kind of MENTOR fawgawdsake -

This week's weight GAIN - 4.4 pounds.

(Moment of silence for my temporarily deceased Weight Watching efforts.)

But that's TEMPORARY and I am determined that, now that we're home and pretty much done with all the vacations and the super-exotic Amtrak vegan meals (HAH!!) I can get back on track (get it? Amtrak? back on track? I kill me!) and get the weight LOSS going again!

And I'm making a small but perhaps significant change to help jump-start that effort. Notice that I'm blogging on Saturday evening, instead of the usual Monday? Well, from now on I'm going to blog more often, basically whenever the mood strikes me.

Will still "check in" on Monday but won't be so OCD about it. If something interesting happens and I think, "Ooooh, I should blog about that ... if I can remember it till Monday!", well, what the hell, I'll just get to a computer and blog right away.

Speaking of which - I got a comment last week from a new member of the Conservative Vegan Club (a small but proud group, we are, eh?) -

conserVegan

Check it out! conserVegan self-describes as "Christian, Conservative and Vegan".

Hey - just like me! This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship! Or at least, a profitable cross-linkage for one or both of us (depending on who actually gets more hits, and I suspect it's conserVegan, but I'm gonna see if I can do something about that, nyuk nyuk!

Back in the saddle - well, maybe next week!

2009-09-14T08:56:00.000-07:00

This was the second Saturday in a row that I didn't do my usual weigh-in at Weight Watchers. Last Saturday we were in Phoenix, and this Saturday I was in Hell.

Well, not literally - but it felt that way! I've had the Toothache of the Damned ever since I drank a full bottle of Coca Cola Classic(tm) that my mom gave me for my birthday. (No, I don't THINK she was trying to kill me, though anything's possible.)

Anyway, in spite of all the pain and trauma I've been going through, I'm still keeping an eye on the scales at home, and my weight is still holding steady between 180 and 182 in the mornings.

So this week's weigh-in should be OK - if not a spectactular loss, at least I'm holding my own. Hope you're doing the same!

By the way, our church (St. Mary's Byzantine Catholic in Sherman Oaks) is setting up for a rummage sale on Sept. 26, and I went over there yesterday after church. All the circuit equipment from It Figures is there, looking forlorn but still strong. I have dibs on one of the upper body workout machines, but won't be too upset if someone buys it. Had fun showing some of the kids how the machines worked - and trying to explain to them why anyone would subject themselves to so much torture!

And that's the tooth!

2009-09-10T10:53:00.000-07:00

Eek - sorry I haven't updated the blog this past Monday as usual!

I didn't weigh in last weekend because we went to Phoenix to visit my parents. And probably the less said about that the better (nyuk nyuk!).

Anyway, I came back with a raging toothache - it's not hurting all the time but when it does, watch out! I may need to take out my frustrations on someone!

I'm taking Friday off to go to the dentist - I'm kinda wishing I hadn't had to burn all my bridges with "Downtown Dental" a few months ago as it would be a lot more convenient to just go there on my lunch hour. But on the other hand, I get to take the day off ... yay??

Vegan Meals on Amtrak, and a Vegan's Confession!

2009-08-31T14:05:00.000-07:00

First of all, it's kind of hard to concentrate on this blog post because I'm looking out my window on the 49th floor in downtown Los Angeles towards the San Gabriel Mountains, and seeing what I can only describe as a mushroom cloud. And it just keeps getting bigger. So prayers and best wishes to everyone fighting the fires today.

Let me get my confession out of the way: I fell from Vegan grace this past week. Sigh ... yes, I ate not one, not two, but THREE animal products.

First, on Friday, I added a can of Trader Joe's Tongol Tuna to our regular supper casserole. I don't know why, but I'd just been craving it all day. My rationalization was: it had already been purchased, long before I became a vegan. And it would be disrespectful to the fish to have put it through all that pain and suffering, and then just throw it away. Right? OK, so also, I really like tuna. So I ate that.

Then I went to Follow Your Heart in Canoga Park, which has primarily vegan stuff but also vegetarian. And I gave in to yet ANOTHER temptation and bought real cheese instead of the fake "Chreese"!! (Well, actually, I bought some Chreese too, 'cause I like it. But I digress!). Actually a tiny little container of Goat Cheese from France. I figured whatever they sell at FYH is probably OK as far as meeting basic humane standards.

And finally, last week when we took the Coast Starlight from Van Nuys, California to Olympia, Washington (a great trip, by the way!), I didn't get my order for Vegan meals in on time for the trip up. I was able to find suitable meals at breakfast and lunch, but for supper, I had the Vegetarian Pasta ... which contains cheese.

Sigh. Well, in my defense, I've said all along (and my husband can verify this) that I don't think it's intrinsically wrong to consume animal products, just to do so in any way that causes pain and suffering to the animal. And I'm going to continue to aim towards veganism.

However, once in a while I will probably indulge. You know why? Because I'm a human being, and human beings aren't perfect. (In case you hadn't noticed.) But I will at least do the best I can to find the most humane possible animal products available.

Now, about those Vegan meals on Amtrak ... I did manage to get them on the way back. They insisted on the phone that I select from three different styles - Moroccan, Chicken, and Veal (I made sure they meant FLAVORS, not actual Chicken and Veal!!!). So I picked one of each.

And guess what ... they all looked EXACTLY the same. (Sort of like that Simpsons episode where they show Duff, Duff Light and Duff Special Brew all coming out of the same tank!). Half the plate contains a big fake-meat cutlet which tastes sort of like chicken-fried steak, and the other half contains rice.

And that's IT. That's the "vegan option" on Amtrak! I had this exact same meal FOUR TIMES IN A ROW, and by the third time I was stealing salad from my husband's plate just to get some variety!

Hey Amtrak, guess what? There are all SORTS of Vegan meals you could provide which are easy, cheap, delicious and provide variety to your customers. For example, all your salads could have the option of being served without cheese. You could have the fake meat and rice, but dump some frozen veggies on top.

You could even have soup! In fact, next time I travel Amtrak, I'm going to skip the "vegan option" and just bring my own stuff. Because by the time the second dinner rolled around, I was ready to roll off the train at the next station and start eating the grass!!!

(P.S. - weigh-in 181.4 - up by 0.6 - not too shabby for two weeks' vacation!!)

On the Road Again!

2009-08-24T20:17:00.000-07:00

Hi gang! No weigh-in this week - I'm in beautiful downtown Lacey, Washington, trying my best to write this week's entry on Steve's Netbook, which has a teeny tiny keyboard - actually it's 92% the size of a regular one, but that's JUST small enough that I keep hitting the wrong keys! At least I know where "backspace" is (nyuk nyuk)!

We have been visiting the Pacific Northwest, specifically the Lacey-Olympia-Tacoma-Seattle area, and today had a wonderful time on Vashon Island - among other things, Vashon was the home of the late great Betty MacDonald, author of "The Egg and I" as well as many other wonderful books. We visited her farm and I got some great photos, but we didn't stay long because (a) no one was there who really seemed interested in showing us around and (b) I really, really had to use the restroom!

So we sped back to Vashon (after I bought - on the honor system - two bars of soap labeled "Betty MacDonald Farm" as well as a jar of honey, which I don't know when/if I'll ever use as it's not really vegan - anyone want it?), hit the restrooms at the library, and spent about an hour just walking around and enjoying the ambience.

After that, we drove over to a really cool lighthouse (? Robinson Point? can't recall but Steve is looking it up on the map even as I write), then to an Orthodox monastery, which was nice except yours truly had to wear what basically amounted to a burkah in order not to scandalize the monks. Which I wouldn't have minded except it was really HOT! Muslim men should be really careful around their wives - they're probably seething with heat-induced rage under those things!!

(And it was Point Robinson - thanks, sweetie!)

So all in all a very nice vacation. Tomorrow morning we climb aboard the Coast Starlight and head back to good ol' Southern Cal.

And then ... there WILL be a weigh-in. (Shudder ... !!!)

Git along, little bloggie!

2009-08-17T15:13:00.000-07:00

Dear Blog,

So sorry to give you so little attention this week! Especially since I had a LOSS - a big one, 3.4 pounds! Whoopee!

But you see, Steve P. and I are preparing for our Big! Summer! Vacation! And frankly, I'm kinda stressing out, what with running this way and that, trying to get all the little last-minute details worked out.

And not always succeeding. For example, I tried to arrange for a vegan meal on the train (we're taking the Coast Starlight up to Olympia, Washington - did I mention that? No? Sorry!). But unfortunately you're supposed to call them 72 hours before the train departs - and silly me, I waited till an unpardonably late 69 hours!

So on the trip up, I'll just have to forage for myself. I'm not really worried - a loaf of wheat bread, some peanut butter and jelly, some soup mix, and some powdered soy milk, and I'll be just fine. I figure they'll have fresh fruit at breakfast.

And coffee. I could probably live for 36 hours on a steady stream of coffee!

Anyway, Blog, as I said, sorry about the short entry. Next week will probably be a little sparse as well, since we'll still be on the road. But Steve's taking his Netbook, so I may be able to post some nifty photos!

Take care, little Blog (and all the millions of readers thereof) - have a great week!

Love,

The Curvy Catholic

No fat Vegans? Who told you that???

2009-08-10T13:33:00.000-07:00

OK, so a few weeks ago I became a Vegan, which means I no longer eat anything with animal products in it, if I can avoid it.

Occasionally I use the "non-dairy" creamer at work, which does have casein in it - derived from milk, which makes me wonder how they can get away with calling it "non-dairy".

But I digress! The point of this blog post is, I somehow got the idea that just "going vegan" would automatically result in a fantastic weight loss.

Instead, I've GAINED almost a total of 5 pounds! (Including this past Saturday's weight gain of 2.4 pounds!!!)

However, after sitting down and reflecting on it, I've FINALLY realized where I went wrong.

Turns out it is, after all, quite possible to "go vegan" and still lose weight. See, I'd stopped counting my "Weight Watchers POINTS" every day, and once I did, I was shocked to find out just how much fat I'd been eating.

The Tofurky sandwich on sprouted whole wheat bread was fine - till I added the Vegenaise! Fat City!

And the vanilla soy milk? Terrific! Till I started chugging two or three bottles a day!

The good news is that I made a couple of resolution - to track my POINTS every day this week, and to get on the treadmill at least 3 times this week - and so far I've stuck to them.

And this morning's UNOFFICIAL weigh-in on our bathroom scales shows that it's working!

If I can just sustain my resolutions the rest of the week, I am pretty sure - not 100%, but, let's say 85.5% sure - that next Saturday I'll finally see a fairly dramatic loss, once again.

Up Oh!

2009-08-03T11:52:00.000-07:00

Since my husband loves my puns – or at least CLAIMS to – this week's blog title is just for him.

Because – whoops – somehow I managed to go back UP two pounds – back at 182. OH no! (Up Oh! Get it? Wink, nudge, smirk. Don't make me explain it!)

Oh well, I'm not really worried. The nice thing about doing a weekly weigh-in is that I almost always have a pretty good idea of what's going on and what needs to be fixed.

Last week I didn't really exercise enough. So this week I will hit the treadmill (in the evenings, rather than early mornings) and see if that makes the difference. I predict a loss of AT LEAST 3 pounds next week.

If not – well, worst-case scenario, I'll have to come up with another pun!

And I KNOW you don't want THAT to happen – right? (Nyuk nyuk!)

On a lighter note, we went to yet another great vegan restaurant yesterday - Bodhi Tree in Huntington Beach. We were visiting Steve's brother Joe and his wife Deb.

The four of us enjoyed a great lunch (I had the sweet & sour "pork" – mmm!) and had a great time meandering up to the end of the pier and back afterwards. If you're ever in Southern California, I highly recommend it – it's a lot of fun!

And the weather cooperated by being only in the 80's. Gorgeous!

This morning hasn't been too shabby either. There was a beautiful sunrise this morning – lots of high, fluffy clouds turning various shades of pink, orange and read. Almost made it worth getting up to go to work.

(ALMOST!)

Whew - that was a close one!

2009-07-27T08:32:00.000-07:00

OK, whew! After last week's devastating gain of almost 3 pounds, I re-lost 1.8 pounds this week.

So I'm feeling better now.

But I think most people who've lost a substantial amount of weight have this fear, deep in their hearts, that one morning they're going to wake up after a really good night's sleep and WHOMP! All the weight came back, and brought its little friends.

But that hasn't happened (yet!). And one of the reasons I continue going to Weight Watchers every week, same time, same place, is that I really believe the "accountability factor" (i.e., paying someone else to weigh me so I can't cheat) makes me psychologically less likely to slack off and go back to binge eating.

In other news:

1. Following the sad demise of "It Figures" (the better-than-Curves gym in Sherman Oaks which went under almost immediately after I'd joined ... just a coincidence, I'm sure!), I snagged one of their treadmills at the RIDICULOUSLY low price of $200.00. Seriously, this is a QUALITY piece of equipment! It's out in our backyard and Steve and I are both putting it to good use.

And Princess likes to sleep on it when it's unplugged, so it's fun for the whole family (nyuk nyuk!)

2. Don't know why I didn't mention this in the blog before this, but a few weeks ago I joined ! I've already given the first two speeches out of the Competent Communicator Manual.

In Speech #1, the "Ice Breaker", I described and contrasted the four major changes going on in my life recently - the impending job loss and the premenopause (negative) and the weight loss and switch to veganism (positive).

In Speech #2, "Organize Your Speech", I described the "Three Tools for Permanent Weight Loss" (in case you're interested, they're Exercise, Healthy Foods, and .Accountability).

Both times I came home with the "Best Speech" ribbon! (Of course, the second time, I was the only actual speech maker. But hey, I'll take what I can get!)

I've already started doing research for Speech #3, "Get to the Point" - tentative subject is Internet Scams and how to recognize them.

So if any aspiring scam artists out there would like to give me some real-life examples, just leave them in the Comments section. I usually erase them, but this time I'll leave them there and mock you for them next week! So go nuts!

Whoops! Almost forgot to blog today!

2009-07-20T15:42:00.000-07:00

Maybe that's because I had a GAIN this week - 2.8 pounds!!!!

Whoa, yeah, that's kinda my reaction too.

Almost 3 pounds? Where the h-e-double-toothpicks did THAT come from?

Honestly, I have absolutely no idea.

Flora, the Weight Watchers leader who weighed me in, said I was probably "retaining fluids". I must have retained a whole koi pond or something, because that's quite a chunk o' fluids!

Oh well, I'm sticking to my plan and lifestyle choices anyway! So there, body!! (nyahh!!)

Compliments are hard ...

2009-07-13T10:59:00.001-07:00

If you manage to drop enough fat off your frame (like how I lost 0.2 pounds last week, bringing me to an even 179.0), you will start hearing compliments.

Like for example, "Wow! You've lost SO MUCH WEIGHT!"

and

"Your waistline is SO SMALL!"

and my personal favorite

"You're just SHRINKING!"

All of which are, on one level, really nice to hear. And I'm not meaning to sound ungrateful with any of what follows.

However, if you've been fat for any length of time, you know that there's a tendency to be suspicious of compliments. Because usually the compliments you get as a fat person are, well, shall we say, "diplomatic".

Like:

"You look so GREAT today!"

or

"You're so fashionable!"

and the classic

"You have SUCH a pretty face!"

So we do have a tendency to be suspicious of compliments in general, no matter how genuine and well-meaning.

There's also, with the first set of compliments, the unspoken implication that you look SO MUCH BETTER than you used to! Which isn't really a compliment to your Formerly Fat but Fine Self, now is it?

So if you compliment a Formerly Fat Friend, and she doesn't respond with the enthusiasm and gratitude you think she should have, cut her some slack. It's probably nothing personal.

Maybe she's just not quite ready to hear it yet.

Back to the '70's, baby!!!

2009-07-06T09:17:00.000-07:00

Weighed in at 179.2 - it's been DECADES since I've been in the '70's, baby!

So let's CELEBRATE!!!

Hooray for summer!

2009-06-29T14:01:00.000-07:00

Just a miniscule loss this week - from 180.2 last week to 180.0 this week. Still, a loss is a loss, right? I'm not complaining!

It's FINALLY summer here in the beautiful San Fernando Valley area of Southern California, and I'm jumpin' for joy! Yeah yeah, I know my hubby hates it - poor guy - because he works in a place with little/no air conditioning. So my sympathies, sweetie.

But see ... I'm a morning person. And there's just something tremendously wonderful about it being over 60 degrees already at 5 a.m.! This morning when I got up (primarily to look for our "lost" cat, Princess, who, from what little I can gather, spent most of the night in the neighbors' back yard, patiently waiting for THEIR cats to be fed so she could mooch some), the stars were still out (as was Princess, nyuk nyuk!).

There were just a few little clouds scattered throughout the dark blue sky. The sun was still below the horizon, but you could see that the light was on its way. As I pumped the pedals on my exercise bike, I heard first one, then two, then a whole flock of birds chattering away about the best places to find worms.

I saw a baby possum skittering through the ivy at the back fence, patiently looking for unguarded garbage to nosh.

And it's hard to explain, but I really understood the cliche about how "it's always darkest before the dawn." See, all night I'd lain awake, tossing and turning, from (a) my worry about Princess (which turned out, as usual, to be completely unfounded), and (b) an annoying headache which had been troubling me, off and on, for the past 24 hours.

But in this early morning light, with a whole new day about to be born, all my worries seemed to drift upwards towards the distant stars ... and stay there.

Happy Monday, everyone!

Back to the Back!

2009-06-16T09:25:00.000-07:00

This has been an, ahem, interesting week. Thursday afternoon I suddenly had a horrendous muscle spasm in my lower back, causing me to seek relief in all sorts of interesting positions involving the floor, the couch, the coffee table, etc. None of them really worked for long, but if nothing else, I got a really good look at our living room carpet. (Um, I think it's time to replace it - or at least invest in a really good steam cleaning service!)

And the litter box odors that aren't that noticeable at 5 feet up are VERY noticeable at 5 inches!

Fortunately, after about 24 hours of unrelenting pain and torment, the spasm subsided and I was able to make my way, moaning and groaning, to my WW weigh-in, where I was pleased to find I'd lost a whopping 2.4 pounds! Pretty sweet, after such a long period of maintenance, to finally start droppin' the flab again.

Let's see if it lasts. And yeah, I'm hoping it wasn't just from the pain and loss of appetite. I don't think it is, as I weigh myself every day and had been seeing a slow but steady drop all week. But I won't be too upset if it goes up a little next week.

I must say, being from Missouri (both literally and figuratively!), I'm pleased to see such immediate results from my decision to "go Vegan". I've tried this in the past, with varying levels of success, but obviously didn't succeed for long, since I keep having to start over. Maybe this time it's working because (a) I'm more motivated and (b) I have a support system (hi, sweetie!).

Anyway, I'm back at work now, surrounded by incompetents but trying to keep it real (nyuk nyuk!). Hope your week was a little LESS interesting than mine!

Hey, this Vegan stuff really works! and a fun hike through Chatsworth history

2009-06-15T08:18:00.000-07:00

Wow, folks, after just one week of being a Vegan, I lost 1.8 pounds!!

My official current weight as of Saturday morning is 182.6, in case you're keeping track.

Not only do I feel great, but my husband and I did a moderately serious hike yesterday! Things did get a little hairy there for a while, as you can see in this video:

However, we got back on track and had a great time! Where we were was this neat old stagecoach trail in Chatsworth, California - all the way up to this sign:

Part of the trail is called the "Devil's Slide", and boy, is that ever accurate ... I kept thinking I was going to slide all the way down from the top!

But fortunately I had a sure-footed guide (my hubby) to lead the way (and catch me, just in case)!

All in all, it was a great weekend, and a great ending to my first full week of Goin' Vegan!

P.s. Steve confessed that he was afraid I was going to become one of those tree-huggin' hippie liberals. It's true - there does seem to be this, shall we say, interesting mental image that comes to mind when you think of "vegans":

As for me, every time I think "Vegan", I think of "Vulcan" - or worse yet, "V-ger" from the first, worst Star Trek movie. (I won't post a photo - that sorry piece of you-know-what doesn't deserve any more free publicity!)

So anyway, either I come up with a different name for "a person who tries to avoid consuming animal products" - like maybe CCV (for "conservative Catholic vegan) -

OR - we just shout it out loud: I'm a conservative Catholic vegan and proud!

Decisions ... decisions!

The Curvy Catholic ... Vegan???

2009-06-08T07:24:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right, friends and neighbors (and husbands, lol!) - I, the infamous Curvy Catholic and Stooges Woman, made a major life decision over the weekend.

I'm goin' vegan!

It's one of those decisions that seems to happen in an instant, yet if you look back, it really was percolating under the surface for a while.

I broke the news to my husband and, while he's somewhat nonplused, is supportive. (The fact that I promised not to make HIM give up his Trader Joe's Mini Tacos and Turkey Meatballs helps, I think.)

Also, I promised him I wouldn't preach to him. And I won't!

However, I didn't promise I wouldn't write about it in my blog - nyuk nyuk!

So here, in a nutshell, are just a few reasons why I've made this decision, with links you can check out on your own, or not (because I'm not preaching!):

1. In spite of what our enthusiastic Weight Watchers leader keeps telling us, apparently dairy - particularly cow's milk - is not quite as good for you as the milk industry would want you to believe. Cow's milk is linked to all sorts of health problems in human beings - for example, chronic sinus and ear infections. (Link for you to check out, if you want to: http://www.all-creatures.org/aip/nl-15sep2003-milk.html)

2. Not only that, but the poor critters themselves don't seem to lead particularly happy lives. Now to be honest, I'm not 100% opposed, in principle, to eating meat or using animal products. If the animals in question are treated humanely and euthanized in a painless way, then I think it becomes more of a philosophical issue, rather than a humane one. The Compassionate Carnivore makes a good case for humanely raising meat.

3. But you know, even from a humane standpoint - which IMHO all Christians should have - it's hard to deny that animals kept in "factory farms" and killed in slaughterhouses are not being treated as humanely as they could be. And that, if there were less of a demand for meat products in general, then, naturally, ipso facto, ergo sum - fewer animals would suffer these abuses. Right? (Link to check out: http://farmsanctuary.org/issues/factoryfarming/)

4. I know there's a tendency to stereotype vegans and animal rights activists as "liberals", so I thought I'd see if there were any good conservative reasons for opposing factory farming - and I found one! Did you know that one of the biggest employers of illegal immigrants in the U.S. is - you guessed it - the meat industry! Particularly in slaughterhouses. (Link to check out: http://www.manataka.org/page1434.html)

It's a cliche to say that "illegal immigrants do jobs that Americans don't want to do", and with the economy tanking, I seriously doubt that's going to be true anymore, if it ever was. But boy, I don't know about you, but even if I weren't a vegan, I don't think I'd be too thrilled about having a job where I spent the whole day killing animals who didn't want to die. Even if you were killing them as humanely as possible - like in a vet's office or an animal shelter - there's gotta be some kind of toll on your spirit.

So even from a right-wing, humans-first viewpoint, there's a case to be made against killing animals for food - or at least, against the factory-farm-to-slaughterhouse routine.

Now I know that there's sometimes a disconnect between vegans, who tend to congregate on the "left", and pro-lifers, who tend to be on the "right". But you know what? I think there's common ground.

If we truly believe that all life is sacred, that all creatures are God's creatures, then we must treat EVERY life - human and animal - with as much respect and dignity as we possibly can.

That includes unborn human beings, floating peacefully in their mothers' wombs, blissfully unaware that they are about to be torn, limb from limb, and discarded as "medical waste".

That includes just-born baby male calves, blissfully unaware that they are about to be torn away from their mothers' sides and turned into veal, or thrown into a ditch and shot.

It includes disabled human beings whose relatives would just love to have them "humanely euthanized" so they can collect their inheritance.

It includes a holding pen full of pigs, each one just as bright and friendly as your favorite pet dog, waiting to be turned into pork chops.

It includes every chicken, every cow, every goat, every turkey and yes, every human being - no matter how unloveable they might be or how "convenient" their deaths would be for someone else.

That's it. That's my reasons. And if I come up with any more - or if you post any really good arguments to the contrary in the "comments" section - I promise to deal with them next week.

(P.S. - weight loss this week - 0.8 pounds! yay!! Also, some sad news - "It Figures", the Curves-alternative I joined a couple of months ago, went out of business. Their website is down, but I encouraged them to consider retooling it as an "online personal trainer" site; so I'll keep the link over there on the right, and if it reopens and/or changes, I'll let you know. Thanks, Kathy, Danielle & Tommi, for your help getting/keeping me fit!)

Up AGAIN, dagnab it!!

2009-06-01T08:45:00.001-07:00

OK, you know what? I need to step away from all the other topics I've been focusing on lately (like my upcoming "Three Stoogettes" movie) and pay more attention to my continuing efforts to lose weight.

'Cause I have NOT been doing well, lately. It's been up one week (like 1.2 pounds up this week) and down the next (let's hope!), but overall I have not lost ONE pound since January of this year.

So I'm going to step up my efforts from now on, and really make a commitment.

I know exercise is the MAIN key to my fat-busting efforts - and I'm doing something, every day - but I also know that I've been slacking off a bit in my nutritional efforts.

Weight Watchers (like all other legit weight loss plans I've seen) recommends that you keep a food diary - write down everything that you eat (bit it write it, drink it ink it, chew it review it, etc. etc., as the Weight Watchers mantra goes).

Well, here's my problem - I HATE DOING THAT! I hate having to keep track of a piece of paper or a notebook or an electronic menu or anything else that distracts me from that

sweet, sweet candy ...

BUT - I should do it, I guess. I have kind of been thinking that since I bring basically the same food with me to work every day, I don't have to worry too much about counting the points, just assuming that they're adding up to 23 (my limit).

But you know what? I have a funny feeling maybe I'm going over by, oh, maybe one, two ... five ... twenty ... who knows?

Anyway, I have these teensy weensy little notebooks I got at the MOCA gift shop a couple of weeks ago. They fit right in my pocket and I also found one of those tiny little "golf pencils" (kind like

this one) which also fits in my pocket. So I'm gonna make a commitment.

I'm going to "Bite it? Write it! Drink it? Ink it! Chew it? Review it!" all week. JUST this week. And see if it makes any difference at my weigh-in next Saturday morning.

Hey - it sounds crazy, but it JUST MIGHT WORK!!!

Memorial Day Quickie!

2009-05-25T13:50:00.000-07:00

I'm going to keep this short because - hey, it's a holiday!

I'm home with my hubby, celebrating my 1-pound weight loss on Saturday (yay!), as well as honoring our brave men and women in the service. (Hardly on a par with me losing weight, I know! Sorry about that!)

Anyway, we're both puttering around the house, working in the yard. Would you believe I just spent a whole hour on my hands and knees (not to mention other parts of my anatomy, at various times, ouch!) clearing out weeds from an ugly little patch of ground by the driveway? I have big plans for that little patch this summer.

Not sure quite what, just yet - but frankly, anything will look better than what's there now!

I'll post pix as the work progresses. But not today - I'm too lazy to dig out the camera!

So - happy Memorial Day, y'all! See ya next week!

Another good thing about losing my job ... (a dental rant)

2009-05-18T10:50:00.000-07:00

Wow, when you lose your regular source of income, you really find out who your true friends are ... and who's just into you for the money.

Today I found out my dentist of @10 years (name on request), falls into the LATTER category.

I had had my checkup and cleaning last week, and he'd told me I needed to have some expensive work on the veneers on my bottom front teeth.

The estimate he gave me showed that my part would be between $2,000 - $3,000 - that's over and above the part that my dental insurance would pay.

I told him I just couldn't commit to that, because (as I kept telling him, over and over, then and today), I'M LOSING MY JOB DAMMIT! and I can't take on any huge new debts! So he says, OK, we'll just do the one filling (last week he was saying I only actually needed one filling) and maybe you can do the rest later.

So this morning I show up at 9:45 a.m. for my 10 a.m. appointment, and finally get into the chair at 10:30, all psyched up to get the usual Novocaine and the scraping and the drilling and the filling (say that last part in a Bill Cosby voice, it sounds totally cool), only to be informed, first by him and then by his perky assistant, that they have to SHOW me, AGAIN, why they really need to do all that other stuff that I had already told them I couldn't afford to do!

Seriously, Dr. Mungcal, are you even paying attention to your patients anymore? I know you're all super successful and #1 Dentist of L.A. and all that great stuff, but you know what? It's patients like me, who came to see you when you first started, that put you there. Yet you can't even show a little tact and understanding towards me at this, a major turning point in my life?

Grr. Well, anyway, climbing down from the Rant Tree now. But I felt really angry about it. To the point where I allowed my feelings to come out.

Yes, that's right - I started to cry! In public, which I really hate. But you know what? Sometimes you just have to let people know that they're making you feel bad.

So with thinly disguised looks of disgust, the perky assistants allowed me to climb out of the chair and leave.

And leave I have ... for good! I've got a copy of their "recommended treatment plan" in my purse. NONE of the cavities he said I've got have caused me any pain or discomfort yet. So sometime in the near future, I'll make an appointment with my husband's dentist, show it to him, and if he agrees that all this work is really necessary ... well, we'll just have to work it out somehow.

See, I don't really mind the fact that he recommended this work. It's that even after I refused it, and explained why, he STILL kept trying to push me into it, with the ol' dental "guilt trip" about how if I don't get all this work done now, my teeth will all fall out and my gums will rot (or words to that effect).

And the really annoying thing is - yeah, he's probably got a point. This work probably should be done, if not now, then perhaps in the next few years. But it's the WAY he pushed it, trying to make me feel guilty for not spending money that I simply can't afford to spend right now, that upset me.

Deep sigh.

Well, at least now I know the awful tooth now - dentists simply have no fillings whatsoever!

P.S. Gained back the same 1.4 pounds I lost last week - oh well! Pretty soon I'll have plenty of time to work out!

Sacked! or, what I've got that Bob Cratchit didn't

2009-05-11T11:03:00.000-07:00

Well, last week I lost 1.4 pounds - and my job!

Yes indeed, I was called into my company's office at around 4:30 Tuesday afternoon and told that my department was being "phased out".

Translation: "You're fired!"

Actually, it wasn't that cold, or that bad. Unlike Dickens' poor Bob Cratchit, I'm getting a pretty decent severance package, as well as AT LEAST three months' notice. So all things considered, I'm reasonably unflustered.

And also unlike Bob Cratchit, I've already got a job offer - helping my pal June Taylor sell doggie lingerie to local pet stores!

Now, I've sold stuff online before, but have never actually gone into a store and tried to convince a real, live person to give me money. So it'll be a learning curve. But I figure, hey, what have I got to lose? The worst that can happen is I'll suck, in which case I'll go back to my list of sure-fire moneymaking ideas, like, for example:

1. Wine taster for alcoholics - slogan: I drink it so you don't have to!

2. Food taster for the morbidly obese - (see #1).

3. Reality show participant for a new program, "Who Wants to Be Downsized?"

etc.

Hey, folks, I got a million of 'em, nyuk nyuk, rimshot!

But seriously, folks ... I'm kinda sad, and annoyed by the inconvenience. But look at it this way - yeah, I got fired - but so did my boss! (nyuk nyuk!)

(P.S. need I even add that last week's dilemma - which fitness club to join - is now resolved, in that I'm not going to join either one? I'll just work out at home, thanks. And who knows? Maybe I'll even tell you how I'm gonna do that, in a future blog post!)

It Figures or 24 Hour Fitness? A moral dilemma for your Monday

2009-05-04T09:34:00.000-07:00

Up @ a pound - I'm at 185 now. And I attribute this gain to the change in my exercise program.

As you may recall, my beloved Curves of Downtown Los Angeles closed a couple of weeks ago, and at the time, I thought, "Oh well, at least I can now join It Figures of Sherman Oaks, which has a similar circuit training setup, as well as treadmills, stationary bikes and other types of fitness equipment available."

Well, my initial enthusiasm for the opportunity to join It Figures has waned a bit. (And at this point, my husband will chime in, "Hmm … IT FIGURES!"

Here's the problem – and I had a feeling when I joined that it might be a problem, which is why I got the month-to-month membership rather than signing a long-term contract (always a good idea, by the way, with any sort of commitment like this).

It's the schedule. It just doesn't work well for me.

See, when I had the Curves available, right next to my office, I could go there first thing in the morning, or during my lunch hour, or even (when they had longer hours, up till a couple of months ago), on my coffee break when I was super-stressed and needed a quick break. It was great!

I can't really do that with the It Figures of Sherman Oaks. It's located in Sherman Oaks (hence the name, duh!), so really the only time I can go there during the week is in the evening, after work and on my way home.

But wait, there's more (problems, that is)!

See, one of the cool things about It Figures is that they offer regular exercise classes. And they have one every afternoon – right in the middle of the circuit training area – from 5:30 to 6:30. Which means, for all intents and purposes, that if you want to do circuit training, you pretty much have to wait till the class is over, at 6:30.

Which I kind of have to do, since I simply can't get off work early enough to make the class.

Last week I faithfully went in at @ 6:15/6:20, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and puttered around on the treadmill or the stationary bike for the @10/15 minutes it took for the class to finish up. Then I was able to start the circuit training.

But even then, due to having to chat up the class participants as they were exiting, check phone messages, etc. (she's the only one there, so obviously very busy), Danielle wasn't able to get everything back in place (like the exercise balls & the step) till @ 6:45.

Now since I'm the one that wanted to use them, I suppose I should have just gone and gotten them out for myself. But I didn't know if I was supposed to, and also, being horizontally impaired (I'm only 5'2"!), I couldn't reach the shelf that the balls were stored on (it's wayyy high!).

So I just did the basic Curves-type workout, and that was, well, meh, it was okay. But not really as exciting as it was the last time I was there.

Maybe because last time I was disillusioned enough with Curves that I was getting the "grass is greener" effect. Hmmm ...

Well, anyway ... this morning, I took advantage of a 7-day guest pass membership at the 24 Hour Fitness in downtown Los Angeles. Which isn't exactly next door to my office, but at least is within a reasonable walking distance.

And actually, since I started getting off the subway at the 7th and Metro station and walking up to Bunker Hill, it's literally right on my way to work and only about 5 minutes from my office, at my walking speed.

So I went there this morning, and after a couple of false starts with the coin-operated lockers*, I spent about half an hour wandering from one strength training machine to another, lifting various weights with various parts of my body and actually feeling like I got a pretty good workout.

So … bottom line … I may drop It Figures and pick up 24 Hours. Which is too bad, because It Figures is actually a great IDEA for a women's gym. And it undoubtedly works wayyyy better for women who actually live and work in that area, as they can probably get there at non-class times and do whatever they need to do. But for me … it's just not working out.

Oh well … IT FIGURES!!!

*Guess what I learned? If you put your stuff in one of those coin-operated lockers, and put in your 50 cents, and then take the key out, and then realize you forgot your towel, and then put the key in and open it up again, and get your towel out, and close the locker door – you can't open it again unless you put in another 50 cents!

Which is kind of difficult when your purse is INSIDE the locker!

Which is why I had to borrow 50 cents from the nice lady at the front desk, who was happy to help me, but only had dimes.

Which is why I had to go to Famima! and get the dimes changed to quarters.

All of which helped me to get my heartrate up nicely, thankyouverymuch.

Perhaps that's a good motivation for me to actually buy my own lock!

... hello, It Figures!

2009-04-27T10:31:00.000-07:00

All right, friends and neighbors! Dry your tears and wipe your eyes. Just because my Curves closed, and just because I gained 0.2 pounds last week (current weight: 183.2), does NOT mean that all is lost!

Remember a few months ago, when I told you about my visit to It Figures in Sherman Oaks? Well, as they say, when God closes a door, He opens a window.

So with the unfortunate demise of my flawed-but-oh-so-convenient Curves (waah!), I now have the opportunity to put my money where my mouth is, and see if It Figures will really provide me with better results.

I think it will, if I can overcome the inconvenience factor. See, it not only has better equipment, but also has a variety of equipment. If I don't feel like going round and round (circuit training), I can use the treadmill or the stationary bike.

And even when I do feel like going round and round, I'll warm up on the treadmill or the bike before and after each workout - and working out for a full hour, instead of the 30 minutes I was doing at Curves. (Since I'll be going there after work, instead of during, I don't have to worry about rushing through to get back to work on time.)

So there are very definite advantages to this change. I am in high hopes that this will break the weight loss plateau I've been in for about six months now. Not that that's a problem - some experts think it's better to lose for a while and then maintain for a while. So as long as I'm staying about the same weight, that's fine!

But I do think I still have more to lose, so here I go!

* * *

In other news, sweet hubby Steve P. and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary this past weekend (yay!). We went to the Queen Mary Hotel in Long Beach. There were a few glitches, but overall, we had a very nice time. However, if you're thinking of staying there, be advised: Even if you make a reservation for a room with a harbor view, as we did, you may not GET that room with the harbor view. I understand Seinfeld had a similar problem with a car rental company:

Goodbye, Curves ...

2009-04-20T10:04:00.000-07:00

An open letter to the staff of Curves for Women, in downtown Los Angeles (on Bunker Hill)

Dear Mickey, Lu, and Vicky (pictured):

I just went downstairs for my workout, and got the sad news that your location is closing as of this week!

I am really sorry to hear this. As you may remember, I have been an "on again off again" member since you first opened, but during the past year I have stuck to it, and really benefited.

As of last week's weigh-in at Weight Watchers, I've lost 42 pounds!

And it's not just the weight loss - I also feel much stronger and healthier overall - mentally as well as physically. I often tell my friends that your Curves is a "stressbuster" for me - whenever things are going badly at work, or I'm bored or upset, I take a break - and do a workout! And I ALWAYS feel better afterwards!

I have decided not to join another Curves location after you close. Some friends of mine own a club in Van Nuys called "It Figures". I've visited there as a guest, but told them I wouldn't join as long as my Curves was still available.

Well, now that you're closing, they'll be getting a new member at last!

But I will miss seeing you and Lu and Vicky, and having my workout so easy to get to - right downstairs from my office!

Thank you all for everything! I have really enjoyed and benefited from my membership at Curves in Downtown Los Angeles!

Christine Lehman - aka "The Curvy Catholic" :-)

(P.S. - last week I gained 0.6 pounds - but since I was expecting to gain at least two pounds from all the kielbasa, I consider that a win!)

Christ is Risen - Let's Eat!

2009-04-13T14:07:00.000-07:00

Christos Voskrese, y'all!

Yes, it's Easter again and what a wonderful celebration we had! That's me and my beloved hubby Steve, up top there, on the patio outside our beloved St. Mary's Byzantine Catholic Church in Sherman Oaks, California.

And ... during the last week of Lent (aka "Great and Holy Week" in the Eastern tradition), I lost a whopping 4.2 pounds - yay for me! (I'm quite vainly pleased to report that the pretty flowered dress I'm wearing in the photo above is size "L" - no "x's" anywhere on my bod!)

Which is good, because in another Eastern Christian tradition, we're commanded to FEAST this week. So what with the kielbasa, the Pascha bread, various cheeses, Ukrainian eggs*, etc., I'll probably be gaining most of it back.

Not that there's anything wrong with that! After all, there's more to life than watching your weight, counting POINTS, curving, etc. - all of which I have every intention of going back to, next week.

But for today, I'm celebrating the fact that "Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!" in style - with a jalepeno hot dog from Famima! Mmmmmm!!!

* We didn't actually paint them ourselves - unfortunately, neither of us had the time. But thanks to modern technology:

--- we didn't have to! (nyuk nyuk!)

Great and Holy Week Begins!

2009-04-06T08:57:00.000-07:00

Well, I was up 1.2 pounds last week - not so good.

But I should be able to make up for it this week.

It's Great and Holy Week - the days leading up to Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the great Easter Vigil of Saturday, and Resurrection Sunday - Pascha.

And now that the solemnity of that week is upon us - including a liturgical service of some kind EVERY SINGLE NIGHT between now and Saturday, which means no time for dinner - perhaps I'll manage to drop that 1.2 pounds again.

Just in time for -- the Pascha Kielbasa!!!

On Purgatory and swimming pools

2009-03-30T10:10:00.000-07:00

Down half a pound, now at 185.4 - yay!

In my alternate Web persona as "theistgal", I have come across threads on two separate forums asking what Eastern Christians/Catholics believe about Purgatory. One thread is at Orthodox Christianity.net and the other at
Catholic Answers.

This is one of those arguments that will never end till we get there and find out for ourselves. Frankly, I am suspicious of anyone who says they know, for a fact, what happens to us after we die. I think we just have to make the best guess we can, based on the best information we can find, and hope God is merciful. (And that He has a really, really good sense of humor!)

But when I think of Purgatory, I think of ... Sunnyside Park, in what's now called the "Waldo" area of Kansas City, Missouri. Sunnyside is a really nice, big park, with walking trails, tennis courts, a playground ...

and it USED to have two small but wonderful swimming pools, which have been replaced now by "spraygrounds".

They weren't your standard rectangular pools. They were round. There were two of them. Both were concrete, painted sky blue. One was the "baby" pool - wading pool, no more than about 6 inches deep at the most. The other was the BIG pool - 3 feet deep and intended for us BIG kids (well ... bigger than the babies, anyway!).

But you couldn't get into EITHER pool till you walked through -

The Antiseptic Foot Bath!!!

Yes, that's right - you had to wash your filthy dirty feet before going into that clean, chorine-filled water.

To me, that's what Purgatory is - the place to wash off all the dirt you've accumulated before you enter Heaven. After all, it does say, somewhere in the Bible, that "nothing unclean may enter Heaven" - but it doesn't say there's no way to GET clean, before you get there.

And I'm relieved to find I'm not alone in this opinion. C.S. Lewis, an Anglican, also believed in Purgatory as a place to get clean. In his "Letters to Malcolm", he wrote:

Our souls demand Purgatory, don't they? Would it not break the heart if God said to us, 'It is true, my son, that your breath smells and your rags drip with mud and slime, but we are charitable here and no one will upbraid you with these things, nor draw away from you. Enter into the joy'? Should we not reply, 'With submission, sir, and if there is no objection, I'd rather be cleaned first.' 'It may hurt, you know' - 'Even so, sir.'

Hence ... the Purgatorial Foot Bath! Enter into the joy, my friends - just wash your feet first!

(P.S. I'm sad to say that the pools at Sunnyside Park were dismantled a few years ago. I was fortunate enough to be in town, shortly after they'd been torn up, and found a few small pieces of concrete scattered around the area, still spattered with that sky-blue paint ... and still smelling of chlorine.

It's Spring! It's Spring! The Bird is on the Wing!

2009-03-23T12:13:00.000-07:00

Absurd! Absurd! The Wing is on the Bird!

Tee hee! I read that a loonnnng time ago in an olllld Dennis the Menace comic book, and it always stuck with me.

But anyway, it's now officially Spring! Yahoo!

And I'm up this week, but only a little (+0.2, total 186). Not too bad, considering all the Italian food I've been scarfing down this week.

Hey - when your employer is economizing on catering, and then one day, out of the blue, you're told that there's leftover Italian food in the break room - well, what could I do? I'm only human! (nyuk nyuk!)

Anyway, I'm wrestling with a moral dilemma, so perhaps someone reading this has had a similar situation and can give me some advice.

I got an "email chain letter" which reads as follows:

I am supposed to pick 12 women (who have touched my life) and who I think would want to participate. I think that if this group of women were ever to be in a room together, there is nothing that would be impossible. I hope I chose the right twelve. Please send this back to me (You'll see why). In case anyone is not aware, Saint Theresa is known as the Saint of the Little Ways. Meaning she believed in doing the little things in life well and with great love. She is also the patron Saint of flower growers and florists. She is represented by roses.

REMEMBER to make a wish before you read the prayer. That's all you have to do. There is nothing attached. Just send this to twelve people and let me know what happens on the fourth day. Sorry you have to forward the message, but try not to break this, please .. Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive. Did you make a wish yet? If you don't make a wish, it won't come true. This is your last chance to make a wish!

St. Theresa's Prayer:
May today there be peace within. May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others. May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content with yourself just the way you are. Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us.

Now, send this to 12 women within the next 5 minutes. And remember to send this back. I count as 1...you'll see why. Suggestion: copy and paste rather than forwarding.

Now normally, when I receive something like this, I just hit "delete" as fast as my little fingers can pound. But here's where the "moral dilemma" part comes in:

It's from my boss.

Gulp!

So what would you do? I'm gonna set up a poll - please vote within the next 5 minutes or your wish won't come true! (Nyuk nyuk!)

Seven themes for a Monday morning

2009-03-16T08:08:00.001-07:00

First: I lost 1.4 pounds, woo hoo! Official weight: 185.8! Yippee skip!

Second: I have gotten into what I think is an excellent habit: getting off the subway (L.A.'s world famous Metro Red Line, in case you didn't know) one stop before my "official" stop and WALKING. I walk every morning through the heart of downtown Los Angeles and it has really made a difference - not only in my fitness level but also in my morning mood. By the time I get to the office I feel awake, energetic, and - hungry!

Third: Which is why it's a good thing I've developed yet another healthy habit: Oatmeal for breakfast - every day! Usually it's the Weight Watchers brand (Maple sugar, 2 Points, with 8 grams of fiber, yum), but if they've made it by the time I get there, I really prefer the buckwheat oatmeal at Organic to Go at California Plaza (near my office). Only problem is, they recently changed their hours and don't open till 7:30 - and apparently don't even start cooking the oatmeal till then either! And since I get into town at 7:20 a.m. for my Big Morning Walk, that doesn't do me a whole lot of good. So, default Oatmeal Option: Starbucks!

Fourth: Still loving my eBook readers: the eBookwise and the Amazon Kindle 1.0. However, the eBookwise dropped dead this weekend, while I was right in the middle of my tenth rereading of "The Mists of Avalon" (that's right! I'm a Catholic and I read "The Mists of Avalon"! What can I say? I like good writing, no matter what viewpoint it comes from).

So anyway, I was just at the point where Igraine and Uther had gotten married and Morgaine took over the narration, and little Arthur was running towards her, crying, with a bump on her head, and WHOOPS! There goes the battery! I thought I'd be able to recharge it, but nope, it didn't seem to be taking a charge. So I've sent an email in to the trusty folks at eBookwise and will keep my fingers crossed that they'll exchange it, so I can find out what happens next.

Fifth: Yeah yeah, I already know what happens next! But I'm a rereader, OK? I like to pretend I haven't read it before, each time. My other favorite rereads: "David Copperfield", "Gone With the Wind", "Little Women" ... and yet I've never been able to read "Moby Dick" more than once, all the way through. I've tried. I get through the interminable list of quotations at the beginning, and the "Call me Ishmael" ... narration, and Ishmael's fun first night with Queequeg. But then, right around the time they're going to that church and that preacher starts in, I lose interest and go on to something else. ("Chapter One. I am born.")

Sixth: It's Monday and I'm happy. That's probably the biggest change in my life. After all the years of being alone, depressed and fat, I'm married to a wonderful guy who, with all his flaws (and he doesn't a whole lot, at least nothing I can't handle, nyuk nyuk), is the best thing that's ever happened to me. And being married is great - nothing like what I thought it was going to be. We're almost up to two years now and I can honestly say that it's better than it was at first - and it was pretty great at first, so that's saying something!

Seventh: We're planning to spend our second anniversary at the fabulous and reputedly haunted Queen Mary in Long Beach. Will let you know if we see any ghosts. I'll just be happy if I can see the ghostly screen of my eBookwise reader by then!

At Long Last Loss!

2009-03-09T12:20:00.001-07:00

Yes, after a couple of weeks in the doldrums of "no change", I've finally lost 2.2 pounds, one again shocking the Weight Watchers computer into wagging its li'l finger at me and warning me about losing too quickly. For shame!

Oh well ... I'm doing my best, li'l computer, but you know, weight loss is an inexact science at best. And programming my body to lose in exact increments of two pounds at a time is a little tricky.

However, I'll upgrade my system to Chrissy 2.0 and see if that works. I've heard these newfangled computer programs can do wonderful things!

Still enjoying both my ebook readers! Today I decided to bring only the Kindle with me to work. Mainly because the eBookwise, while beloved, is also somewhat heavier. And I'm enjoying the experience of traveling light.

So how is your day going? Hope all is well. If you're experiencing the economic downturn in a personal way, let me offer my sympathies and, if you don't mind a little Catholic/Christian theology (this is, after all, the Curvy Catholic!), please remember Matthew 6:19-21:

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Where is your treasure? Perhaps it's time for an "account transfer". ;-)

Better late than never, and falling in love with ebooks!

2009-03-02T19:56:00.000-08:00

Hi! Sorry to be late! I usually try to update my blog first thing Monday morning, but today was awfully busy!

Weight first - it's exactly the same as last week. I won't tell you what that is, so as to encourage you to scroll back to last week's entry. I need the hits!

About the post title - a couple of weeks ago I discovered the joys of ebook readers! I was sitting next to a woman on the subway who was reading an Amazon Kindle. When I got to work, I started reading everything I could find about it.

Unfortunately, the price tag - over 350 smackeroonies - discouraged me. I really wanted it BUT just couldn't justify it.

And then - I found the eBookwise 1150! At only $135.95 it was obviously way more affordable than the Kindle. And everything I read about it at places like the MobileRead forums (where I'm registered as "stoogeswoman" - drop by and say hi!)* led me to believe it would be a good alternative.

Did I say "good"? Make that GREAT!! Because I really, really love it! I've put about 50 books on it and there's room for more!

I carry it with me and read it on the subway -- and now I'm the one inspiring other people to research ebooks!

But does that mean I gave up on the Kindle? Not hardly! What I did was get a used Kindle 1.0 (a real steal at $200!) and it just arrived in the mail today. It's very different from the eBookwise - for one thing, much lighter in weight, and the buttons are in different places, so it'll take some getting used to.

The main advantage to it, however, is that it has a direct connection to Amazon - so I really have to be careful, in these tough economic times, not to blow our entire bank account on ebooks!

(Um, sweetie ... just pretend you didn't read that ... ok?)

(*P.S. here's my thread at MobileRead with a slightly more detailed review of my two beloved readers!)

Kind of in Limbo, not to mention DOIN' the Limbo!

2009-02-23T12:31:00.000-08:00

189.4 - up 0.4. Not surprising, since hubby and I went to a Mardi Gras dance this weekend!

It was held at St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church in Fontana, California (sister church to our own St. Mary's in Sherman Oaks).

The food was EXCELLENT: real Southern fried chicken (not that fast-food crap!), cornbread (yum) and jambalaya with sliced kielbasa - MMMMM! Really good!

Not to mention really SPICY! Which of course meant that we had to imbibe lots of cool drinks to compensate!

The dancing part wasn't so great. Steve and I are not, um, shall we say, accomplished dancers? Actually, we kind of suck. And we also kind of suck at compensating for each other's goofs.

It didn't help that the music was SO LOUD WE COULDN'T HEAR A THING WHAD'D YOU SAY HUH HUH HUH??? I know, we're old, but still ...

At one point we actually came close to having a fight, about which I won't go into detail except to say we've made up, but we did leave the dance early because THE NOISE THE NOISE OMG IT WAS DRIVING US MAD! MAD, I SAY!!!

It's so nice to be at work, where it's vewy vewy quiet today. Perhaps a lot of rabbit hunting. ;-)

Happy Valentine's Day, Mr. President!

2009-02-16T08:25:00.001-08:00

P1000292
Originally uploaded by stoogeswoman

Um, ok, well, Valentine's Day is over and it's President's Day, so that's why, so um ...

Hee hee! Sorry. I'm a little waterlogged today! It's POURING down rain here in beautiful downtown Los Angeles, California. I did my usual walk from the 7th & Metro subway station to Bunker Hill, and boy, is it a good thing I keep an extra pair of shoes in my desk, 'cause by the time I got here, I was walking on water - and NOT in a Messianic sense!

Oh yeah, weight loss 0.2 pounds, 189.0 - gotcha!

We had a really nice Valentine's Day - our church had a dance-slash-spaghetti dinner. Spaghetti and disco balls, yummm! And yes, my sweetie and I actually did dance! If you really want to you can find a few photos in my Flickr photostream which Steve's mom snapped on my camera while we were out on the floor. If I feel ambitious - and warmer! - later on I'll come back & post one here myself.

Boy, is it COLD! And WINDY! What I want to know is this: if you live somewhere other than sunny Southern California, what's it like where you live? And if it's over 50 degrees right now, can you find me a job? I'm ready to move!!!

Cute Cat Saves Economy!

2009-02-09T08:23:00.001-08:00

Well, at least that's my hope, as I embed the following video for your Monday morning pleasure:

That's my hand reaching up from the bottom left, adorned with a wristwatch given to me by sweet hubby Steve. We have both gotten in the habit of getting down on the floor and playing with Princess in the evening. As you can see, her "official" play area is small but potent! That mat is hollow and can easily be filled - and refilled - with the highest grade catnip available to mankind!

Which makes it a lot easier for me to let you know that I gained back a little of the loss from last week - 1.6 pounds, so back up to 189.6. Oh well! Down a lot one week, up a little the next, that seems to be my pattern, so I'm not worried about it.

Also, here's something else that cheered me up - I found an old file on my computer with my measurements from last April, when I started all this. My hips then were 55 inches - and today they are 47!!!

Even if I never lose another pound, I'm thrilled with that result!

What a weekend!

2009-02-02T08:55:00.000-08:00

Well, the good news is I lost 2.2 pounds - weight is now 188.0, yay! I hate to say it, but I think going back to Curves was a good decision. It may not be the best place to work out, but it's the most convenient place for me right now, and if I alternate it with my Fabulous Downtown Lunch Hour Walks, I should see some good results.

Now for the bad news - my husband and I were puttering around the house yesterday, enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon and even seriously contemplating some, ahem, romantic activity, when ... RING!!! It was my mother-in-law - she'd just fallen asleep at the wheel and plowed into a parked car!

So we had to drop the romance, and get down to business*. First we drove over to the scene of the accident. Wow, it really looked awful. I had thought, ok, going slow, hitting a parked car, probably nothing serious. But mom-in-law's car is a Honda - and she ran into the back of a Suburban! The Suburban had maybe a couple of scratches - but the poor little Honda was smashed all the way in on the front!

The windshield hadn't shattered but it was a maze of cobwebby cracks, and BOTH airbags had deployed. That's what caused mom-in-law's injuries (looks like they're mainly going to be deep bruises - apparently no internal injuries, thanks be to God!), but man, imagine what it would have been like without the airbags. Shudder!

After spending hours in the ER waiting room, surrounded by other sick and/or cranky people (all of whom took great and noisy pleasure in watching the Super Bowl - including a resident who kept wandering out of surgery, in full scrubs, to check the score), we went home, only to get another phone call saying she might be released tonight.

So poor hubby went back (letting me sleep the peaceful sleep of the guilty-but-not-guilty-enough-to-get-back-out-of-bed), only to return an hour later after being told they were keeping her overnight. Hospitals! Gotta love 'em, right?

Anyway, if you're a praying sort (and if you're reading a blog called the Curvy Catholic, one hopes you would be!), please keep mom-in-law Anne - and devoted hubby Steve - in your prayers today. I think everyone will be OK, but we're all sleep-deprived zombies this morning!

Did get some nice videos at an Eastern Orthodox Vespers this weekend - here is a nice one from the very beginning - listen to the bells ringing in the background:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYnQ8RTw0_8

(note - it's still being uploaded as I post this - sorry if it doesn't play right away. I'll come back later & see if I can fix it.)

So - how was YOUR weekend?

(*though any marriage that can't survive a situation like this probably doesn't have any romance to it anyway!)

Down a pound - and back to Curves????

2009-01-26T13:42:00.000-08:00

Yes, that's right - I lost a whole entire pound (weigh-in: 190.2) last week. And yes, that's right - after all my fussin' and feudin', I'm back to working out at Curves regularly.

What can I say? The proof is in the pudding - more specifically, in the pudding-like flesh that was developing under my arms!

See, I quit Curves for a whole month, and went for a nice long walk every day on my lunch hour - which felt really great and wonderful (not to mention FREEEEE!).

But - with all that walking - I didn't lose any weight! (well, except due to the "D-word", but I ain't countin' that!) I did maintain my weight loss - so maybe the walking is best for when I want to let my body absorb the loss of flab, and work what's left into more pleasing shapes.

Yet during the last week, before I caved in and went back, I was definitely feeling the lack of movement in my muscles. And craving my Curves circuit!!!

Sigh. For better or for worse, the Curves workout, for all its flaws, does seem to have an effect on the fat.

So for now - at least for another month - I'll do the 3-times-a-week circuit, and just do whatever I can to keep it from being boring.

And I'm definitely NOT going to stop walking! Especially when I can use my wonderful digital camera, given to me by my wonderful husband, to take kick-ass videos and post them to Youtube - like this one:

Unfortunately, as noted in the Update I added to the description, that video had a sad aftermath - I found out that there was indeed a fatality in that accident I saw. A woman named Gwendolyn Coleman, age 58, of Burbank, CA, was struck and killed by that DASH bus while trying to get across the street.

And if I hadn't gotten in good enough shape to walk that route every morning, I would never have known about it. It wasn't splashed all over the news or anything. If you're not a celebrity, nobody cares in this town. But I care. Rest in God's peace, Gwendolyn, and may He bless your family and friends.

Irony, thy name is Curves!

2009-01-19T08:36:00.001-08:00

OK, I was up a little bit again this week - weighed in at 191.2.

So I says to my husband (shown here napping with Princess, the cat who adores him and imitates his every move), I says, "Hey, maybe I'll try going to Curves again this week. You know, just to see if it really makes any difference."

And my husband says to me, he says, "Hey, yeah, that's a great idea!"

So I goes in to work, all psyched up to do my first Curves workout in - what? - a month?

I gots my shoes, I gots my socks, I got my hideous purple shorts - in short, I am ready to WORK OUT, baby!

Only to get to the door and see the following sign: "Closed in honor of Martin Luther King Day."

Whoopsy daisy! Forgot about that li'l detail, yes indeedy!

Oh well, as Scarlett O'Hara* famously opined, "Tomorrow is another day!"

And I really do feel the need to change my workout again. Yesterday I did about 40 minutes on the Tony Little Gazelle out in the driveway. And it felt really good! So although I've been enjoying my daily walks in L.A., I think it's time to switch back to Curves, for a while at least. Get those biceps and triceps and quadriceps and quintupleceps in shape again.

So get ready, Curves of Bunker Hill - I'm comin' back! 'Cause tomorrow is another day! (And also 'cause I'm still paying you $39 bucks a month, so I should probably get something out of it.)

*apologies to the politically correct amongst you for referring to Scarlett O'Hara on MLK day - not to even mention the dawn of the Obamanation tomorrow! Mea culpa, y'all!

When is a gain not a gain?

2009-01-12T09:15:00.001-08:00

225 Pounds
Originally uploaded by stoogeswoman

When the previous week's loss was caused by the "D-word", that's when!

No, I won't repeat the way-too-TMI info from last week (you can read it yourself anyway!). Let's just say I'm 99.9% recovered from that disgusting parasite, and move on - shall we?

Anyway, as predicted, I did gain back some of my faux weight loss from last week - two pounds, to be exact - but I'm actually counting it as a loss. I weighed in at 190.6, and two weeks ago my weight was 190.8. So if you don't count that unfortunate episode, I actually LOST 0.2 pounds.

And I'm back on track! And one thing hasn't changed since last week - I am grateful for my renewed health, and trying to maintain that attitude. Losing weight is great, as long as you're doing it because you WANT to and not because your body just won't keep anything in.

Hmm....well, I did say I wasn't going to talk about that anymore, didn't I? Nyuk nyuk!

Here's something more interesting - I have been going absolutely nuts with the digital camera my wonderful husband gave me for Christmas! And as promised, I'm going to start posting at least one photo here every week. How about the requisite "Fat Me and Not-So-Fat Me" photos that seem to be a part of every halfway decent weight loss blog? Here's the first one:

This was sometime early last year (2008). My husband and I went to the Getty Museum to see the Icons of the Sinai exhibit. My weight then was about 225 or 230 - I'm not 100% sure because at the time I wasn't worrying about it too much - just enjoying being with my handsome hubby out in the sunshine!

Now here's a more recent photo -- see any difference? This is from about two weeks ago - at @ 195 pounds:

Not bad, eh? I do kind of miss the long blonde hair; but notice I'm no longer wearing the ankle-length skirt? Wow, I actually have LEGS under there!

And the difference between these photos is about a year - and about 30 pounds. Not a bad way to spend the year.

I still have a long way to go, but I feel so much better -- and healthier now. I haven't really changed that much *inside* but my *outsides* are lookin' pretty good, I think! (Tsk! brag brag brag!)

By the way, I'm still struggling to figure out this photoblogging stuff, so please excuse the crapulence of my formatting here. I'll get it worked out! Oh, and if you're wondering, "Where's the CATHOLIC stuff, dagnab it???", check out my channel at Youtube - I've uploaded a few videos there showcasing my wonderful Byzantine Catholic Church. Enjoy!

When you're slidin' into first, and you're feelin' something burst ...

2009-01-05T08:36:00.000-08:00

Sigh - yeah, that's right, folks - like the sensitive-yet-bratty kid in the classic 1989 movie "Parenthood", I'm suffering from a bout of ... DIARRHEA!

Happy New Year! (toot toot!)

If you're of a sensitive nature, you may not want to read any farther ... consider yourself warned! (Of course, if you were really that sensitive, you wouldn't be reading MY blog - nyuk nyuk!)

I had taken the whole week off work and was looking forward to a happy vacation at home, puttering around doing "housewife"-type things (well - everything except cleaning!). I had bought some new yarn and printed out a couple of interesting patterns and planned to spend some quality time knitting, alternated with brisk walks in the park and daily exercise on my Rebounder.

But at 2 a.m. on Wednesday, December 31, 2008, all those plans came to an abrupt halt. I woke up with that unmistakeable feeling that something, somewhere deep inside, was very, very unhappy and wanted to "Get out. NOW!"

I went in the bathroom and spent a very miserable 45 minutes or so alternately spewing from both ends.

And from then on, just got worse - because not only was *I* sick as that poor proverbial dog - my husband woke up and discovered he was coming down with a really bad cold. Sneezing, sore throat, coughing, the works.

So instead of a romantic New Year's Eve toasting each other with champagne, we spent the next 48 hours in our respective illness-induced stupors, kept from total paralysis only by the insistence of our cat, Princess, that we continue to feed and/or pay attention to her. At about 7:30 p.m. we toasted each other with Mucinex and Pepto-Bismol, and tottered off to our respective sickbeds.

Still - as I told my husband at one point during the Twilight Zone Marathon on the SciFi Channel (the only thing that kept our minds from totally atrophying during the ordeal), if I had to be sick on New Year's Eve, I couldn't think of anyone else I'd rather be sick with.

Oh, and the weight loss? Well, for a couple of days there I was down to 185 - which didn't cheer me up as much as you might think, since I knew full well it was all water and would come back as soon as I recovered. I did feel well enough to go to the WW meeting on Saturday morning. However, I kept my shoes on as sort of a "handicap". I weighed in at 188.6, which did get me that much-desired 7th 5-pound star (actually, Flora gave me 9 loose ones, since my WW bookmark is sadly decrepit from being carried around in my purse all the time).

I was glad to get it, but to be honest, I felt a little bit like the Mark McGwire of weight loss! But I'm sure I'll feel better next week when I regain all of it plus an extra five pounds for insurance.

KIDDING!!! (I hope!) But seriously, this did give me a much-needed reminder that just "losing weight" isn't the be-all and end-all of life. Sometimes losing weight is a BAD thing. Focus on staying healthy. Focus on eating good things that are good for you. Focus on exercising every day. And let the weight take care of itself - it always will, anyway.

So how about you? Hope your New Year's was better than mine! Leave a comment and let me know!

2008 Year In Review!

2008-12-30T09:58:00.000-08:00

I know, I know - I really hate those "Year in Review" filler pieces, and I bet you do too. But hey - everyone else is doing it. So why not the Curvy Catholic?

Here goes - my PERSONAL top 5 news stories of 2008!

5. Curvy Catholic loses over 10% of her body weight!

That's right - and with this week's weight loss of 1.8 pounds (yay!), she's finally in sight of that elusive, apparently extremely hard to obtain, 7th 5-pound star from Weight Watchers, to add to my official Weight Watchers bookmark!

4. Curvy Catholic disses Curves, several times!

(Not really "news", per se, if you've been faithfully reading this blog!)

3. Curvy Catholic's cat, Princess, maintains control of her territory!

Yes, Princess's section of Reseda, CA is safe from marauding neighborhood cats, dogs, birds and crickets, thanks to her untiring efforts to mark every square inch of our back AND front yards. (Ants, however, seem to be immune.)

2. Curvy Catholic's house is invaded by ants!

Yeah ... ever since the torrential and FRIGID downpours of the past couple of weeks, it's been Ant City U.S.A. around here. Helpful household hint: Cinnamon does NOT get rid of ants. (Smells nice, though.)

And -

1. (drum roll, please:

Curvy Catholic buys clothes without the letter "X" in the size!

Yep, that's right! And last week I actually bought a pair of size 10 Hanes undies at Walgreens ... off the rack! And they fit! Wowserino!!!

Down side of that: at first I went nuts buying everything I could find that fit me, because it DID fit me. But you know what? There's an awful lot of UGLEE clothes out there lately! I spent most of today at the Northridge Mall, and only found ONE top I would consider wearing in public (then ditched it because the line was too freakin' long).

Sigh. So here's one of my New Year's resolutions (I'll give you some more next week) - I'm gonna at least TRY to knit at least ONE nice top for myself, sometime in 2009. ("nice" being completely a matter of my own opinion!)

Meanwhile - hope your New Year's Eve celebration is peaceful, sane and happy! And if you're one of the many people who will be alone on New Year's Eve - well, I've been there, many times. Don't despair - it could be worse, and it won't last forever. Trust me. New friends are out there, just waiting to meet you, in 2009.

(P.S. Forgot to mention another COOL 2008 story - which will impact this blog in 2009: My wonderful husband gave me a digital camera for Christmas!!! Let the award-winning photoblogging begin (as soon as I get the software loaded, nyuk nyuk!)!)

Merry Merry and Happy Happy!

2008-12-22T12:57:00.000-08:00

Merry CHRISTMAS, that is! And/or whatever other holiday you may choose to celebrate. But for me, it's Christmas, first, last and always.

I know the late Pope John Paul II said that Christians are "an Easter people". Well, maybe that's how it should be. But I'm a Christmas person, and can't seem to overcome that. (Sorry, Papa!)

But it just seems to me that the whole point of Christmas is that God loved us so much He became one of us. And that's something to celebrate! The fact that He later died and rose again is awesome too - but then, if you accept that Jesus is God ... well, come on - what else do you think would have happened? Am I right? Or am I becoming "Heretic Gal" again? (nyuk nyuk!)

Lost 0.6 pounds last week - am proud to say my weight is now 192.6. I'm proud to say it because if I keep noshing on these See's Candies people keep handing me at the office, it's not gonna stay that way! But at least I'm keeping the Weight Watchers Online computer happy.

Oh, and I did something kinda different this morning - instead of taking the Red Line into downtown, I actually (gasp) DROVE all the way in, and parked underneath the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. It's about a mile from my office, a nice little walk (in the rain ... in my sandals ... ) which I'm going to count as my fitness for the day, since I don't really feel like going out again - even to Curves.

So Merry Christmas, computer! Merry Christmas, Bedford Falls! And Merry Christmas, all you millions of readers!

2008-12-15T08:42:00.001-08:00

Happy dayz, li'l WW Online computer - I gained 1.3 pounds, so no worries about that too-quick weight loss stuff!

So how are you doing today? Hope you're finding some pleasure in the holiday season. I know it's been said many times, many ways, but Christmas is just my favorite time of the year, no holds barred. So I hope that's turning out to be the case for you too.

Did three workouts at It Figures last week and really had a good time. It's a great gym, and I'm definitely considering getting a membership there. The only reasons I'm hesitating are:

1. I'm still working off the one-year contract at Curves, which doesn't expire till April; so am not sure I'm ready to get another one-year contract.

2. Since it would require me to go there on weekday evenings, rather than during the day on weekdays, I can already picture myself making all sorts of excuses for not going.

3. In my heart of hearts, I really don't want to join another gym, so much as I just want to have the information to do the workouts whenever and whereve I can. Of course, the paradox to that is that I GOT a lot of that info from Tommi and Kathy at It Figures, so ...

4. I hate change. If it ain't broke, why fix it? Etc., etc.

Of course, apropos of #2, the truth is I'm avoiding going to Curves now anyway, so it wouldn't really be that much of a change.

Sigh. Oh well, I've decided that I'm gonna give myself a break for the rest of the month - just do whatever the heck I want to do, and, like 99% of the rest of the human race, make all sorts of major life-changing decisions on January 1st.

Oh, by the way, it's POURING down rain here in beautiful downtown Los Angeles - which would be really wonderful except it's cold, too. However, now that I have a window and can look out at the mountains, I'm looking forward to the day it clears up and I can see snow!

Fitness crossroads or just boredom?

2008-12-08T08:53:00.000-08:00

Weighed in at Weight Watchers on Saturday at 191.6, a loss of 2.6 pounds - which once again caused pain and distress to the poor Weight Watchers Online computer when I entered it. No problem, little computer; since cumulatively I've only lost 4 pounds since the beginning of October, I'm definitely NOT losing weight "too rapidly".

And I really don't have to ask my doctor for ideas about how to slow down my weight loss. I already know how to do that: CHRISTMAS!!!

Yes, it's that time of year when fat is everywhere! Kitt, one of the cantors at our church, handed out huge chocolate Santas to all the kids at St. Mary's yesterday. Strangely enough, he didn't offer any to those of us us grownups who could really benefit from a little extra energy at this time of year. (I'm sure those kids' parents really appreciated it, though, nyuk nyuk!)

Anyway, Saturday I went to "It Figures", the women-only gym in Sherman Oaks that I raved about in a previous post after a bad experience at Curves Van Nuys - even though I hadn't actually worked out there. Well, now I can say it's even better than it looked from the outside (and if you want to see what it looks like from the outside, check out their great
website/blog).

I got the grand tour from Tommi (the one in the videos) and was really impressed with the variety of machines, weights, and other miscellaneous fitness equipment they have available. Not only do they have all the stuff I've been thinking I'd like to work out on (like free weights, a treadmill, elliptical, exercise balls, exercise bands, etc., etc.), but they also seem to have a lot more know-how than the nice ladies at my Curves.

And I never knew how to use the exercise ball or the band before! In fact, I'm embarrassed to say that a few months ago, I actually BOUGHT one of those exercise bands - and wound up donating it to our church's rummage sale, because I never could figure out what to do with it. Now I know several different moves to do with it (check out the "Cowboy Walk"!), so I'm definitely going to get another one. (Not at a rummage sale, though - I'll splurge and pay the whole ten bucks for a new one!)

And that's not a slam at Curves-Bunker Hill - as I've said before, in this very space, I actually appreciate their more laid-back approach. Now that I have a better idea what kind of workouts I want to do, I feel more comfortable going in early in the morning and doing my own thing. In fact, I did that this morning - armed with some of the moves Tommi showed me on Saturday - and was pleased to find I got a much better workout than I have in several weeks.

I'm going back tomorrow night to get more info on the membership aspect. That's where I may back off a little. Yes, I do tend to get bored with the Curves machines pretty quickly these days, and yes, I do want access to a place with more and better equipment, not to mention better-trained personnel. However, as I understand it, It Figures doesn't have a month-to-month option, only the usual one-year contract.

I wouldn't mind if I knew it was something I'd use regularly over the year. However, since that's what I have now at Curves, it might be better to wait till that's up next April.

But - I wanna decide NOW! I'm so impatient! Hmm, maybe *that* should be my New Year's resolution, huh - getting more patient? After all, unless the economy REALLY tanks, I can afford two memberships. After all, I'm not spending as much money on other leisure activities. I used to do an awful lot of sitting around, watching TV, reading, knitting, and EATING.

I don't do that anymore - and I think it's a good sign that what I'm seriously considering here is not whether or not to give up working out completely (as I did the last time I quit Curves), but rather where I can go to work out even more!

And so this is Christmas (the first day of December, anyway!)

2008-12-01T08:46:00.001-08:00

Happy day-after, everyone! Did we all survive the long Thanksgiving weekend? We did - just barely! Holidays are always a mixture of fun and frustration, aren't they? Perhaps I don't need to say any more.

Thanks go out to the California Cat Center (http://www.californiacatcenter.com/) which not only took great care of our little Princess but even made a YouTube video about here! Check it out here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSnMQLzMeDY&feature=email)!

As for my weight - well, for the first time since April, I didn't go to a Weight Watchers meeting OR to Curves, all week! Yet, strangely enough, I managed to stick to a reasonable program of eating and exercise, and according to my official Weight Watchers scale at home, my weight this morning was 196.

Since the home scale tends to be about one pound higher than the one at the meeting, I'm going to say that's 195, which means I gained a little over half a pound. However, when you consider that it was THANKSGIVING - and that I pretty much dug in and ate all I wanted that day - it's pretty amazing that I ONLY gained half a pound, eh?

Plus, the hotel where my husband and I stayed (the La Quinta Inn, in Phoenix http://www.lq.com/lq/properties/propertyProfile.do?ident=LQ704&propId=704) had a fitness center (actually, a little room with two treadmills, an elliptical and a stationary bike), and we actually used the treadmills every day we were there. Apparently we were the only ones who did! Which was fine with me - we had it pretty much all to ourselves.

I haven't used a treadmill for a long time but I think my walking almost every day is starting to pay off - I was able to go 30 minutes at 3.0 miles per hour without gasping for breath - even ran a little. I liked that!

This morning I was going to go back to Curves but it was cold and I wimped out and decided to have a nice hot breakfast instead. Might go on my lunch hour. But to be honest, I'm kind of at a crossroads about Curves. I really like being able to exercise in a way that doesn't require me to change clothes (i.e., walking)! Well, we'll see - maybe by the time 12:55 rolls around I'll be ready.

2008-11-24T09:55:00.000-08:00

My husband and I are traveling to Phoenix, Arizona on Wednesday, to spend Thanksgiving with my parents. And since I just lost 1.4 pounds (down to 194.6), I thought I’d take a break from the weight-loss stuff to talk a little bit about my religious beliefs.

Actually, there’s a connection between the two. I don’t remember who said it – perhaps Lewis or Chesterton – but the ideal behind having a Christian society is to “make it easy to be good”. In other words, because we’re all prone to sin as the sparks fly upward (and I know who said THAT!), we should do the best we can to remove “occasions of sin” from our lives.

For example, if you have a serious problem with Internet porn addiction, it might be a good idea to remove your computer from your life altogether – or at the very least, install some porn-blocking software and give the password to someone else. If you have a drug problem, throw out all the pills from your medicine cabinet and insist that others lock theirs up when they come to visit.

And if you have an overeating problem – well, you’ve probably already figured that one out, right? But it’s not enough just to remove all the bad stuff from your life – you have to replace them with GOOD stuff. So if you’re addicted to the sensuality of porn, get re-addicted to the sensuality of the Mass or the Divine Liturgy. If you’re addicted to pills or food, get addicted to the Eucharist – daily, if at all possible. Etc.

Well, that’s also what I’ve been learning from Weight Watchers: not only should you remove all, or as much as you can, of the high-fat, high-calorie junk foods from your house, from your office, from your life – but you should then surround yourself with GOOD things to eat. So when you get the urge for a double mocha java, you have all the ingredients to make a healthier version of the same thing.

Another thing: some people insist they can be good (i.e., sinless) without all the “rules and regs” of an organized religion. Some people also insist they can lose weight without an organized weight-loss program like Weight Watchers. Well, let me know how that all works out for you. I know my weaknesses and my limitations. I need to be surrounded by rules and regulations, like that proverbial fence that G.K. Chesterton wrote about at the end of his little book, “Orthodoxy”. Only when I’m inside the safety of that fence do I feel truly free to spin around and enjoy my freedom.

Just a minor setback - don't panic!

2008-11-17T11:12:00.000-08:00

This is kind of ironic, but you know how last week I lost 3 pounds? Well, when I posted it to the Weight Tracker on Weight Watchers’ online site, I got a prissy little message: "Danger, Will Robinson! You're losing too much, too fast! Slow down or suffer dire consequences!"

Because, see, Weight Watchers doesn't want you to lose more than 2 pounds a week. Which is fine, and actually very safe 'n sane, since most reputable weight loss scientist types say the same thing. However, WW's online tracking computer doesn't seem to grasp the concept of "average" (as in, don't lose more than an average of 2 pounds a week). They also don't 'splain to you how to program your body's computer to stick to that exact schedule. So if are lucky enough to lose, say, 2.1 pounds in a week, the alarms go off and the authorities are notified.

Fear not, little Weight Tracker! Calm down - all is well! You'll be happy to hear that this week I regained 2.4 pounds of that humungous loss. So chill out! Have a beer!

Or perhaps a hamburger. Since it was probably the hamburger – and the hot dog – and the red and green M&M's – and the cotton candy – and the potato salad, all served with love by my company’s HR department to honor those of us in Office Services – which were responsible for this teensy little gain. In my defense, it was a lunch meeting and there were no low-fat alternatives at all! Well, except the cotton candy, which didn’t have any fat – just lots 'n lots of sugar. (Mmm ... sugar!)

However, I’m not too upset. This is going to happen from time to time, but since I’ve established some good, healthy habits – for example, walking every day for at least half an hour; going to Curves at least two times a week (didn’t go on Friday as I had the day off, and after my adventure with Curves Van Nuys, if I can’t go to Bunker Hill I’ll just do something else); bring my own food – meals and snacks – to work with me so I won’t be tempted beyond my endurance*; etc.

And I just bought some fun exercise equipment for use at home, which means I can work out any time of day or night – even when I’m barefoot ... or naked! Howdy, neighbors! (nyuk nyuk!)

One thing I bought is the Urban Rebounder – a mini-trampoline with a stabilizer bar so I don’t fall off onto the concrete. I love it! I can just get on and bounce any ol’ time and it actually provides more of a workout than you’d think while you’re on it – you definitely feel it a few minutes after you stop. I was actually out of breath after only about 10 minutes! (And no, I was not naked at the time, Mr. Snoopypants!)

Also got a Tony Little Gazelle (similar to an Air Walker). Haven’t put it together yet so I can’t review it; however, will try to do that by next time.

Another thing I’ll try to do next time is put in something about church and Catholic stuff – seems only right, as I am, after all, the Curvy Catholic and not the Curvy Rastafarian!

(*well, except for last week. But I’m hoping that was the proverbial exception-proving-the-rule!)

Nancy Drew Finds The Mysterious Staircase!

2008-11-10T08:48:00.001-08:00

Wow, loyal followers! Not only did I lose THREE POUNDS this week (weigh-in 193.4), but I FINALLY got that photo of the Mysterious Staircase of Bunker Hill developed.

And seriously - I'm probably making a mountain out of a molehill, but for some reason this fascinates me. I'm really into the history of Bunker Hill (the one in Los Angeles, in case you're just joining us), and can't help wondering - first of all, is this indeed the same staircase I found in the LA Public Library's database?

(cropped version here shows the staircase to the left of the "PARKING" sign)

The best evidence for it being the same staircase is: it's in approximately the same position (perpendicular to the newer Bunker Hill Steps, same distance from the Central Library).

If it is the same staircase, it's only the top half, as the original goes all the way to the ground and this one is cut off by the ground floor of the parking garage.

The best evidence against it being the same staircase? Just a gut feeling - if they went to all the trouble of ripping up all those buildings and digging huge holes for the new skyscrapers, why would they leave just this one staircase? So it may have been built later, then abandoned when the Bunker Hill Steps were completed.

But then ... why cover it up with dirt? Why not just keep it as an alternate route to the Hill?

No - I really think it's the same one. And if I'm right (which I almost always am, except when I'm wrong - nyuk nyuk!), then all I can say is an awed, Bart-Simpson-in-3D-style, "Coooooolllll, mannnnnnn" ...

Procrastination, thy name is Curvy Catholic!

2008-11-03T09:08:00.000-08:00

Weighed in pretty much the same as last week - 196.2.

Haven't yet got those great photos of the Mystery Staircase developed yet. I intended to do that over the weekend but other things kept intruding - for example, our annual Parish Luncheon at St. Mary's Byzantine Catholic Church in Sherman Oaks, California.

Annual - and probably LAST! Not because it doesn't make a respectable amount of money, but because it's a whole lotta work - and those of us who do the work don't really want to have to do it again if we can avoid it! (I'm sure my husband, the Designated Dishwasher, heartily agrees!)

Plus, being in a somewhat depressed state on Saturday morning anyway (due to a really annoying conference with my supervisor and our two HR people on Wednesday, which, as I predicted to the HR person who's friendly to me, turned out to be a referendum on MY job performance, not HER rudeness to me which CAUSES me to sometimes have problems doing my job), I really didn't have the patience I needed to deal with the unusually rude babushkas who showed up at my "religious goods" table to criticize everything I was selling, gripe that MY prices were way too high, and scream that the prices I was charging for THEIR "heirlooms" were too low!

Augh! If I ever get to be that crabby, I hope someone will shoot me. Of course, I AM sometimes that crabby and no one has yet, so maybe I'm safe (nyuk nyuk!).

Curvy Catholic and the Mysterious Staircase!

2008-10-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

Weigh-in first - down 0.6 pounds to 196.4.

Though I don't have a digital camera (yet - Christmas is coming!), I snagged one of those disposable Fujis at Ralphs the other day, and yesterday walked over and took several photos of the Mystery Staircase.

Actually, I think I have figured out what it is. According to this photo (from the L.A. Public Library's WAY cool photo database!), there used to be a parking lot at 5th and Flower. Look towards the bottom left, then up to the left of the sign that says "Parking" - see it? That staircase going uphill from the back of the parking lot?

Well, I think that's the one I found - at least, part of it! It's in a sort of alleyway between two buildings - the 444 S Flower Building and the parking lot underneath the Stuart Ketchum Downtown YMCA. It's almost completely covered with dirt and unused.

Actually, that's not quite true. I noticed a lot of beer cans and cigarettes scattered around, so it obviously IS being used - by people I probably wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley! So if I need to take any more photos, I'll make sure I'm not alone!

Oh, as for my depression? It seems to have lifted, at least somewhat. The exercise helped. Last Tuesday, it was so bad I spontaneously decided to take the rest of the week off. And you know what? That was the best decision I could have made! I stayed home, but I didn't just sit around on the couch eating bon-bons and watching soaps. No way, Jose - I WORKED!

Yes - I worked in our back yard, went to the Green Thumb Nursery, got some plants, chopped down a pesky bush and an annoying little tree, puttered around the house and just generally had a fine "housewifey" time. And yes, it was a little depressing coming back here to work yesterday, but not nearly as much as I'd feared it would be.

Now tomorrow may be another story. I've finally got my long-awaited meeting with my former boss, my current boss, and the HR person. Not something I'm looking forward to but I'll just have to wade through the muck as best I can.

Up two; down ... just a little

2008-10-20T14:42:00.000-07:00

Regained a couple of pounds from that spectacular loss last week - but still weighed in at 197.0 which is great, considering where I started. I'm very upbeat about the fact that I seem to have broken through that 201/202 plateau at last!

I'm also pretty sure the huge weight loss last week had to do with the fact that I've been moping around with a bad cold (bronchitis?) for about three weeks now. It's getting better, but what with that, and my tendency towards SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), not to mention my ongoing dislike for a certain person in my office who I'm bound to work with till one of us quits or wins the lottery - well, truth be told, I'm feeling kind of down these days.

Mondays are the worst. I know, the Garfield cliche. But really, this morning I just felt so awful. I went for a walk at lunchtime and perked up a bit when I discovered what appears to be a HUGE abandoned staircase, just a few steps from the relatively new Bunker Hill Steps. I stumbled across it (figuratively!) while looking for a shortcut back up to Hope Street.

It amazed me - it's covered with dirt and my speculation is that it was abandoned once the Bunker Hill Steps were opened. Yet it's still there, and makes me wonder what else is still around us of the old infrastructure, just a few feet under the dirt. (If I get a chance to go there again with a camera, or find anything about it on the Net, I'll post it next week.)

So that cheered me up a bit. But then I had to come back to work. Ugh.

I guess what really depresses me is that we're playing all these games, trying really hard not to talk to each other. If you've got someone like that in your office you know what I mean. It gets to a point where you wonder which one of you is going to fold first. And I'm not that good at cards.

Sighhhh!!

At Long Last Loss!!!

2008-10-11T16:28:00.000-07:00

OK, ready for the BIG NEWS of the week?

No - not about how much I lost in the stock market.

No - not about how my (ex) boss was so snotty to me that the stress got to me and made me ACTUALLY snotty (i.e., as in getting a cold).

And no, not about how "Desk Girl" from Curves Van Nuys apparently read my blog entry from last week, and called "Desk Girl" at Curves Bunker Hill to complain about my heretical 1-minute workout ways (to which D.G. C.B.H. replied with a polite but appropriate "phbbbbhhh").

Nope, the BIG NEWS of the week is - I LOST SIX POUNDS!!!

That's right, campers and loyal followers! I've finally dumped that six-week plateau and am now down to 195 - the FIRST time I've been below 200 pounds in AT LEAST 10 years!!! My total official weight loss since I started in April is - 29.4 pounds!

Hurray for me! And big "thank yous" to:

1. Flora and Christy and all the gang at at Weight Watchers - Sherman Oaks;
2. Curves Bunker Hill, especially owner Mickey, who understands that not every round exerciser can fit into the same square hole; and
3. last but not least, my sweet hubby Steve, for his excellent cooking and loving support!

This is a (relatively) short entry because I'm still feeling the effects of that cold. Thanks a bunch, THERESA ]:-( .

More next week, I promise!

If you can't say anything nice ... say it on your blog!

2008-10-04T17:42:00.000-07:00

First - weigh-in today was 201.8. That's where I've been for the past 5 or 6 weeks now, so it looks like I am in one of those much-ballyhooed plateaus. That's OK, though - it could be worse! And I'm pleased that I seem to be able to maintain what is, after all, a loss of 10% of my weight over six months. That's something to celebrate!

Second - last Wednesday I decided to stay home from work because my sweet hubby was sick (bronchitis, ick) and I wanted to hang around and take care of him. However, I decided, and he agreed, that I should try to do my Curves workout anyway.

Since I wasn't about to go all the way downtown to my own fabulous Bunker Hill Curves, I remembered there is one in Van Nuys, right next door to Four and Twenty, a restaurant where we often go for breakfast on Saturday mornings. I phoned to make sure it would be OK for me to come in, even though I hadn't had enough advance notice to get a travel pass, and the nice-sounding lady on the phone said sure, come on over! So I did.

At first everything was fine. There were only a couple of other ladies in there working out, and everyone seemed pretty relaxed. As I always do at my own Curves, I let the two other ladies know that I was doing one minute at each station, rather than the regulation 30. They seemed a little surprised (which should have tipped me off), but friendly and interested, so I didn't worry too much about it.

Now here's the thing - when I work out at my own Curves, I prefer not to engage in chit-chat with others. And that's the way most of the other early birds at my Downtown location feel. We're all getting ready for a busy work day and this is the last "me time" we'll have for several hours. So it's understood - you don't talk to others unless you know them, and you know they don't mind.

This place, unfortunately, wasn't like that. The chatter was nonstop. I wouldn't have minded so much, except I was having a LOT of trouble hearing the recorded voice that says, every 30 seconds, "Change stations now". So I probably wound up doing more than one minute at a couple of the stations.

But even that would have been OK, except for what happened when a group of about 3 or 4 additional ladies joined us and started working out. Again, when one lady plopped herself on a machine fairly close to me, I let her know that I was doing (or at least TRYING to do!) one minute. Like the others, she too seemed surprised - but this time, not in a friendly way.

"You know," she snarked, "it really doesn't make any difference if you work on the machines a minute, instead of 30 seconds."

"Yes, I know," I replied. "It's just the way that works best for me."

"So you're just stuck in your ways," she responded bitchily. (Yes - I'm a Catholic and I'm saying "bitchily"! We French-Irish-German-Fox Indian Catholics are a feisty bunch!)

I didn't really know how to respond to that, so I just smiled, said "Yeah", and at the next possible opportunity, moved across the room to an area which was less bitch-intensive.

And as if one of the members hadn't done enough to make a visitor feel unwelcome, the heretofore-nice lady at the front desk decided to get into the act. "Christine," she called, beckoning to me.

Now keep in mind - I WAS STILL DOING MY WORKOUT at this point! But I thought perhaps something was wrong with the paperwork I'd filled out upon arrival, so I stopped and went over. And to my humiliation, she proceeded to tell me that the snarky lady who'd just bitched off to me was a former instructor there (and apparently still held some position of influence). Unless there was no one else around, 30 seconds at each station was mandatory at this Curves. And the kicker was - not only should I not do my workout that way in front of the others, but - in these United States of America, where freedom of speech is guaranteed by our Constitution -

I COULD NOT EVEN TALK ABOUT IT!

That's right - I had apparently committed a major faux pax by letting the other women there know that other Curves locations allow their members to spend more than 30 seconds at each station!!! The audacity!!!

Well, I was actually in tears at this point, but determined not to let them see me break down and cry. Plus - I REALLY WANTED TO FINISH MY WORKOUT! I only had about 10 minutes left to go anyway (not counting the time I'd been called to the principal's office). So I swallowed my tears and, I am proud to say, finished my workout and CONTINUING to do 1 minute at each station. God bless America!

But my Gethsemane wasn't quite over yet. I was grabbing my bag and water bottle out of the cubbyhole, ready to beat a hasty retreat, when Desk Lady approached me again. This time she was pushing a sheaf of photocopied pages towards me - from what I could see, they were pages from Gary Heavin's book describing the basic Curves program.

One sentence had actually been highlighted in yellow - and as soon as I saw it, I realized I was in the presence of an actual Fitness Fundamentalist. That sentence advised me that the optimal workout time on the Curves machines was 30 seconds. Apparently, "optimal" to the good folks at Curves Van Nuys has been redefined as "mandatory"!

I resisted her efforts to make me actually put my hands on this propaganda piece and take it with me. She withdrew it, but then tried to tell me that they also had a copy of the Curves stretch chart (because of course, us benighted denizens of Bunker Hill had probably not seen that either). Thanks but no thanks.

Still ready to cry, but determined to make sure they knew they weren't dealing with some Downtown homeless lady who'd just stumbled in from Skid Row, I choked out, "Goodbye - and be sure and check out my blog, 'The Curvy Catholic'!"

Then I went out to my car, bawled my head off for about five minutes, dried my eyes, and went into Four and Twenty for a good breakfast. I was going to write about this incident immediately upon returning home, but decided to wait. See, I'm a Catholic, so I really wanted to see if I could think of at least one nice thing to say about them.

And I have! Here goes: Thanks, Curves of Van Nuys - you really made me appreciate Curves of Bunker Hill!

Oh, and P.S. - if you're in the Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks area, and are looking for a place to work out, check out a great place called It Figures!

Like Curves, they promote a 30-minute circuit training workout (30 seconds or 1 minute at each station) - but unlike Curves, they have cardio and weight training classes.

And their highly skilled personal trainers would definitely not try to force you to work out in a way that doesn't work for you. Check them out - and tell 'em the Curvy Catholic sent ya!

Curves and Weight Watchers, Part II - the long-awaited Weight Watchers update!

2008-09-30T09:16:00.000-07:00

First of all, thanks to the cellarer for commenting on my last post - wow! someone other than me and my husband is reading my blog! I feel like a real blogger now! (hee hee!)

Second, this week's weigh-in - back to 201.6. I seem to have been gaining and losing the same pound for the past several weeks, but that's OK - sure beats the alternative of gaining multiple pounds over the same period of time, which I am pretty sure is what would be happening had I not changed my eating and exercise habits last April.

Which brings us (finally!) to - the Weight Watchers review!

The first thing to understand is that Weight Watchers, like Curves, is a commercial organization. That is, it exists primarily to make money. Which is just fine - as an American and a supporter of the free market system, I have no problem with that.

However, it's important to understand because, as with Curves, there are good things and bad things about it, and if you're paying money into a weight-loss organization, you should feel perfectly free - no matter how much pressure the nice ladies at the weigh-in desk put on you - to resist doing the things you don't feel comfortable about.

For example, there are all sorts of THINGS for sale at Weight Watchers. Not only food (mainly snacks - my favorites are the Cheddar Twists, 2 POINTS a bag!, and the Oatmeal, also 2 POINTS each), but also Gadgets Galore!

Special measuring spoons (because the ones you have at home aren't quite as shiny?), special walking kits (because putting on your grungie tennies and slogging around the block on your own doesn't really count unless you're wearing a Weight Watchers pedometer) - oh, and those Weight Watchers pedometers? I must confess I bought one, but the awkward thing is I couldn't see it out of the box till I paid for it, and once I saw it, I realized that I never would have bought it if I had seen it.

It's shaped like a miniature (but not really that miniature!) alarm clock and you're somehow supposed to wear it next to your hip while you're walking. Shurrrr - and I've got a bridge in Brooklyn for sale, if you're interested!

And it's not cheap either - I can't remember the exact amount but it was over twenty bucks, I can tell you that! I did use it a couple of times but got tired of the bruise it left on my hip.

Now - enough complaining! I am one of those people you can always count on to find something wrong. But I'm also one of those incredibly annoying people who can always find something right (think "Pollyanna"). Anyway, the good things about Weight Watchers are (in no particular order):

1. Choice of plans - either "Flex" (where you eat anything you want as long as it adds up to the proper amount of "POINTS" each day - "POINTS" being a mathematical calculation involving calories, fat and fiber) or "Core" (where you can only eat foods on the approved list, but as many of them as you like, and they're all very healthy and good for you).

2. Almost endless variety of food you can incorporate into your plan. Even if you're "Core", you get 35 extra "POINTS" each week to use as you wish, so if you want to go out & share a bowl of Fettucine Alfredo with your sweetie on Saturday night, you can.

3. Emphasis on good nutrition and exercise. This is admirable, and not all of the big weight loss plans are as scrupulous about providing you with good information about the benefits of veggies, lean meats, etc., as well as encouraging you to GET UP OFF YOUR FAT BEHIND once in a while!

4. Weekly Meeting/Weigh-In - I think that's the most important and VITAL part of this whole Weight Watchers thing. I mean, sure, you can try to do it by yourself - maybe even join "Weight Watchers Online" - but the downside is that there's no one else around to applaud your successes and commiserate with your failures. And you definitely get that aspect when you go to the live, in-person meetings, and weigh in with an actual, physical, live person every week. It's my opinion that the weigh-ins keep you honest and make it easier to stay on the program.

For example, in my not-too-distant past, I would look forward to getting home after work and pigging out. (Melted cheese makes EVERYTHING taste better!) But now, the only day I let myself get *close* to pigging out is Saturday - AFTER my morning weigh-in! And even then I try to keep it within reason.

Because I keep thinking, "I have to weigh in again in less than 7 days - how will these deep-fried onion rings smothered in sharp Canadian cheddar affect me?" And since the answer is pretty obvious, I either do without the high-fat snack or make something similar but healthier (Hungry Girl is a big help in this sort of thing!).

So overall, in spite of any nitpicky little problems I might have with it, Weight Watchers (in harmony with Curves) has been working for me! And if you're savvy enough to do your own research and figure out what you can/can't live with, it could work for you too. Give it a shot! (Another nice thing about WW - you can pay month to month!)

We interrupt these reviews of major weight loss programs to announce …

2008-09-26T08:42:00.000-07:00

that the Curvy Catholic has decided to remain Catholic!

I know, only about 3 people read this blog so who cares, right? But just in case any of those 3 people were in suspense, here’s the deal:

For several months now I have been reading and absorbing everything I could find about Eastern Orthodoxy. There is much of substance and beauty there.

Unfortunately, there’s also a whole heck of a lot of confusion, in this humble Westerner’s opinion. The more I read, the harder it is for me to figure out just who separated from who in the Great Schism.

The Romans say the East left; the East says Rome left. But to me, and I suspect to a lot of other people who aren’t 100% committed to either side – it looks like they left each other.

Frankly, I think the Great Schism was nothing more or less than an unusually nasty and messy divorce. There was fault on both sides.

I know, I know … the Crusades, the Filioque, etc. … Believe me, I sympathize with the passionate feelings of the Orthodox who, even today, still carry the bitterness of their ancestors towards Rome. And I agree with them – the Popes and Bishops of that time were not exactly John Paul the Great.

But there’s nothing I can find anywhere in the Bible that says you automatically stop sinning once you start following Christ. Just because members of the Catholic Church acted like total stinkers from time to time doesn’t mean the Catholic Church has no claim to be the True Church of Christ.

(Oh, and to the Catholics who fling charges of “caesaropapism” at the Orthodox, that works both ways.)

John Paul II, a great Pope who I admired very much (and who died on the exact same day that my wonderful little cat “Princess” was born … but I digress), loved the Orthodox Church and believed it was our “Sister Church”. I know most of the Orthodox (at least the ones who regularly post at online forums) chafe at that description, but I think it’s true. So the idea of leaving Catholicism for Orthodoxy was an attractive idea.

For one thing, I’ve been attending the Byzantine Catholic church for several years now (it’s where I met and married my wonderful husband). It’s where I learned to love and appreciate the way of Eastern Christianity. So that’s why I was attracted to the idea of “going all the way” to Eastern Orthodoxy.

But you know what? Last Sunday I took a little holiday from my beloved B.C. parish and revisited St. Casimir’s, a Lithuanian Catholic church in Silverlake, California. I used to go there regularly on Saturday mornings and always loved it, not only because it’s beautiful but because the priests who run it refused to let Cardinal Roger Mahoney (God grant him many years) bully them into discarding their Communion rail. Yes – you can still kneel to receive the Eucharist there! As far as I know there are only a handful – if that many – of churches in the Los Angeles Archdiocese where that’s the case.

So anyway, last Sunday I went there for 8:00 A.M. Mass. And was struck anew by the beauty, reverence and, above all, SILENCE in that Mass. Not a forced silence, as is sometimes the case in churches attempting to be “modern”, where they just stop talking right after the Homily, as though the priest’s words are so brilliant that the unwashed masses must sit quietly in order to take it in. But a real, genuine, peaceful and completely natural silence.

That silence was there all the way through the Mass, behind the quiet murmurs of the priest and the people. I could hear birds chirping outside; cars going busily to and fro in the distance (what I called, as a child, the “Traffic River”); and all the sounds of civilization, just far enough away to remind us that the “real world was out there, but not close enough to hinder us from recognizing Reality itself, there on the altar.

And after this Mass was over, I returned to St. Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Church in Sherman Oaks, California, where I helped my husband cantor at the 10:15 Divine Liturgy. And it was a beautiful Liturgy, and I felt completely at home there.

I am so blessed to have more than one church where I can feel “at home” – and both those churches are, as the expression goes, “in communion with Rome”. So it occurred to me that my summer-long research and speculation about “doxing” had come to an end. Because, like Dorothy at the end of “The Wizard of Oz”, I realized that I already had everything I wanted, right here in my own backyard. I didn’t need to go “over the rainbow” to find it – or rather, to find Him. Because He’s already here, on the altar of the churches I already know.

So, long story short, the Curvy Catholic is still curvy – and still Catholic!

Back to weight-loss issues (and my promised review and update of Weight Watchers) after the weekend!

Curves and Weight Watchers updates - Part I

2008-09-21T15:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm up again, by 1.2 pounds (weight: 202.2) but am not too worried about it. That does seem to be my pattern - down 2 pounds one week and up 1 the next. So next week should be better.

And anyway - you know what? Even if I stay at this weight and never get down any lower - that's OK! Because I know that I'm doing all the right things now. I'm developing good exercise and eating habits, which are vast improvements over how I used to eat and move (or rather NOT move!) in the past.

Now as promised, here's some stuff about Curves and Weight Watchers: First of all, I'm continuing to do both, and I think that works out pretty well. Three Curves workouts a week - Monday, Wednesday, and Friday - and a Weight Watchers weigh-in and meeting on Saturday.

I know I bitched a lot about both the Curves and the Weight Watchers people when I first started this blog, and there are still a few problems with both. But I've learned something: you get out of them what you put into them. There's NO perfect weight loss/exercise program - you have to decide what you want to do and then do it!

My problem with Curves was with one particular person who I felt was pushing me a quick weight-loss program that I didn't want to do. Well - all I had to do was say "no", which I did. And I still see her, Mondays and Wednesdays anyway. She's really a very nice lady - just didn't understand what my personal situation was. I go there early in the morning now, do my workout, wave goodbye to her and leave. Nice and simple.

(Oh, and in case anyone cares - for my workout, I do one minute at each station once around, rather than 30 seconds and twice around. I prefer not having to use any of the machines more than once. But that's just me - other people prefer the 30 seconds, so if someone else is there doing 30 seconds, I just smile and get out of their way!)

The nice thing about the 3 Curves workouts a week is - they're not my only workout. I do long walks on the alternate days. But I know that I need to stick to the discpline of Curves 3 times a week - the walking, or any other form of exercise I do on the other days, is "extra". And it's neat because I'm finding that thanks to the workouts, I seem to have more strength and endurance for the other things I want to do!

Next week I'll go into detail about Weight Watchers, and tell you why I love it - and how to get the most out of it!

Bad taste alert!

2008-09-15T10:02:00.000-07:00

I'm sure it wasn't intended as a really bad-taste joke at the expense of the hapless train conductor involved in Friday's horrific Metrolink accident in Chatsworth, California.

However, it sure came out that way.

One of my coworkers is in the habit of sending out a "thought of the day" every day. I gather she gets them from our national office - and probably doesn't look at them too closely.

Well, today's thought of the day was:

"It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop."

Uh ... hmmm.

Isn't that kind of what the Metrolink conductor's being accused of - going slow but not stopping for that red light?

Unintentionally tacky, at best.

(And more seriously, if you want to help the victims, there's a whole lot of injured people who could use your blood, so if you have any to spare, why not call the Red Cross and set up an appointment today?)

(Oh, and I did lose weight this week - down to 201, which means I've pretty much lost all the weight I put on during my vacation. Curves and Weight Watchers are turning out to be a great combination! I'll write more in detail about both next week.)

Downtown Goats!

2008-09-10T10:31:00.000-07:00

(I know it's not my usual posting day - or reason - usually I only post a day or two after my weigh-in. But this is just SO cool I had to tell you about it!)

"Have you seen the goats?" has become the catchphrase of the week in downtown Los Angeles - Bunker Hill, to be specific.

Check out this link at the LA Times which explains it.

What's going on is that the city has hired 100 goats to clear the brush on Angel's Knoll, a small park next to the historic (but tragically and annoyingly closed) Angel's Flight Railway.

It's a wonderful sight to see as you're coming up the escalator from the subway at Fourth and Hill (always assuming the escalator is working!) - and here's a wonderful photo from Flickr taken by a user named eitheror:

What a great way to start - and end - an otherwise dull and ordinary workday! So here's my question: instead of building yet another office building downtown, how about creating a nature preserve? I for one would rather see a bunch of goats every morning than some of my coworkers (nyuk nyuk!).

Birthday Blast(s)!

2008-09-08T11:34:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Sorry I haven't posted for a couple of weeks. As you weight-loss veterans may have suspected - yes, I did gain a little weight! Not much, though - Saturday I was up to 202.8, so only about a pound and a half. ("Only" - nyuk nyuk!)

And that's not the reason I didn't post. To be honest, I just forgot! See, last Tuesday was my 50th birthday -

[pause, wait for applause - whoops, sorry! Forgot I don't have a Teleprompter!]

Anyway, I went to Phoenix, Arizona for a couple of days to celebrate with my parents; and then came home and celebrated again with my wonderful husband.

And somewhere in there - I just forgot to post! Oh well, no worries - I'm back now! Like your worst nightmare! (hee hee!)

Re: the weight gain - I really don't feel bad about it at all. And I'm not surprised by it either. Remember a few weeks ago, when I said that I was cutting back on my CURVES workouts during August? Well, I'm convinced the weight gain is the direct result of that.

But now I'm back to work, back on my regular schedule, and back to my 3-times-a-week CURVES workouts. So I fully expect a loss at my next weigh-in!

Oh, speaking of losses - I'm kind of in mourning for our old "Thinner" brand scale. Actually, it's still in the house. However, my wonderful and thoughtful husband decided to buy a new scale - specifically the Weight Watchers scale.

And it's really nice! Very pretty and functional. However, I've gotten used to the old one weighing me in at about two pounds less than the official WW scale (you know, the special digital ones they use to weigh you in at meetings). The new one, however, weighs me in at least one pound HIGHER than that official weight! So I have to kind of psych myself up to accept the new numbers.

The positive side is that from now on, whatever I weigh at home before leaving for the meeting, I'll know that I won't weigh any MORE than that at the meeting! So maybe it'll work out OK after all!

P.S. Wonderful/thoughtful hubby also gave me a brand new Cuisinart programmable coffeemaker for my morning commute! There are still a couple of bugs to work out, but I did leave home today with a commuter mug full of hot, delicious coffee. Perfect for these bitter cold Southern California mornings!

THANKS AGAIN, sweetie! I love you!

WHERE'S THE REST OF ME??

2008-08-24T14:01:00.000-07:00

So I weighed in at 201.4 yesterday, which means I have lost MORE THAN 10 PERCENT OF MY WEIGHT HURRAY FOR ME!!

I'm very proud of myself, although to be fair, it's my body that did most of the work. So hurray for my body! Thanks, body/buddy, and sorry about that bowling episode the other day.

See, I signed up to participate in this Bowl-A-Thon next Wednesday at work, so since I had some time off on Friday, and since I haven't actually bowled for at least ten years, I decided to go practice at a nearby alley. (Aptly named, since the one I went to kinda resembled an alley - dirty, trashy and kinda smelly.)

But I digress! Anyway, I bowled nonstop for a full hour and it felt really good - till about an hour after I got home, when my muscles started singing ("Ow-leluja - Ow-leluja!"). They're still sore, so I'm hoping I'll be able to bowl when I'm actually SUPPOSED to.

Though since my highest score, out of 5 games, was only 83, they might not care whether I do or not. I'll let you know how it went next week!

Up a little, but that's OK - just stay away from JC Penney's mirrors!

2008-08-16T11:57:00.001-07:00

Oy vay! Well, I'm up a pound (204) from last week. But that's OK - it seems to be a pattern with me. I'll be down one week and then up a little the next. So next week should be pretty good. Mark my words!

I had a rather traumatic experience in the fitting room at JC Penney's the other day. Not sure what they do differently with their mirrors, but I'd like to believe they're buying them secondhand from carnivals. Because that's the only explanation for the appalling appearance of my upper thighs that would make me feel better.

See, I've read about the phenomenon of "loose skin" on people who've lost a lot of weight - but I wasn't prepared to actually see it - on myself! Not too good for one's self-esteem!

I won't go into too much detail as I don't want to make anyone lose their lunch. Let me just point out, in my defense, that I didn't get this same CLOSE-UP VIEW OF THE FAT at either Sears or Macy's - only at JCP. So if their mirror-buyer is reading this, here's a message for you:

PBPBHBHBHBHHHHH!!! Nerts to you!

Another Monday morning ... but not too bad

2008-08-11T08:08:00.000-07:00

I know, it's the biggest cliche in the world, right? "I hate Mondays!"

I really don't hate them all that much, though, especially today, since I'm taking the afternoon off work ALL WEEK LONG! Hurray!

So what am I going to do with all that free time, you ask? Well - not really that much. It takes me about an hour of commuting time to actually get home and by that time there's really not that many places I can go shopping, etc. without hitting the afternoon rush hour traffic which I took the time off to avoid.

Still - it's nice to know I'll only have to be here for a short time. Sort of like taking a realllyyy long lunch hour!

And since I am indulging myself during these last 3 weeks of August by taking a lot of short days, I've decided not to go to Curves on Monday-Wednesday-Friday as usual. Instead, I'm going to go on Tuesday & Thursday, then do something different on weekends. Like walking. Or perhaps half an hour on my "stationary bike" in the back yard.

I put the "quotes" around it because it's actually a real bike -- I bought it last year but was afraid to ride it because it was too high for me to stay balanced on. So there it sat in the garage, gathering dust and spiderwebs. When I went out one morning and saw the words "Some Pig" in one of the webs, I figured I'd better do something!

I found a neat device called a "bike trainer". It's basically a stand which attaches to the back wheel, holding it firmly in place. So you can ride it to your heart's content without actually moving an inch!

I set it up out back next to our Tuff Shed, where there's an electric outlet. I can put my ancient 13" TV/VCR combo with separate attached DVD player on a table in front of it, pop in a "Green Acres" or "Father Ted" DVD (or even "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", as I did yesterday), and pedal away! It's really a fun way to get in my every-other-day exercise.

Nothing against Curves, but as anyone who goes there regularly knows, once you get into the exercise habit, there does come a point where you want to do something different. So this is my "something different" - for now. In the fall, like the kids returning, grumbling, to school, I'll return, grumbling, to Curves 3 times a week.

(Oh, the weight loss thing? Down two more pounds, to 203!)

From "Women" to "Misses" in four months!

2008-08-02T12:43:00.000-07:00

Wow, everyone! Not only did I lose two pounds this week (weighed in at 205 today, yay for me!), but I also made what I consider a much more important breakthrough:

I found clothes that fit me in the MISSES section at Sears!

WOO HOO! No longer am I relegated to the [fill in your favorite euphemism for FAT] WOMEN's section of major department stores! I can actually fit into size 18 (skirts) and size "Large" (t-shirts), respectively!

I had a ball trying on all sorts of clothes the other day and thrilling to the fact that most of them actually fit - and walked out with two nice new skirts & tops.

And not ONE of them had an "X" anywhere on the size label!

Now, the cynic in me says, "Hey, it's Sears - their sizing is probably way more, shall we say, 'generous', than other stores." And I know that's true, and size is just a number, and it doesn't really matter what size you wear as long as it fits, looks good, and you're healthy.

But come on - SIZE 18! Woot woot! I've gotta crow about it a little bit! I've been shopping in the "plus sizes" for at least 20 years, y'all - so this is a major deal for me.

Yes, I'm definitely still a "BBW" (Big Beautiful Woman) - and that's fine, for now. But I'm actually beginning to believe it's possible that someday, maybe I can remove that first "B"!

Staying the same, in spite of cheesy delight!

2008-07-28T10:50:00.001-07:00

Weighed in Saturday morning at 207 - same as last week. Which was actually a relief, given that I reverted to a pre-Weight Watchers snack - I'll give you the recipe in case you want to try it yourself:

SINFUL MICROWAVE CHEESY DELIGHT

1. Take a slice of your favorite cheddar cheese (in my case, Canadian Cheddar from Trader Joe's).

2. Cut it up into a few easily meltable pieces and put it in a microwavable bowl.

3. Add a couple of shakes of Parmesan cheese (a tablespoon or two works nicely).

4. Microwave on high for about 2 minutes (depending on your microwave).

5. Leave in the microwave for another couple of minutes to let it cool down.

6. Remove from microwave and enjoy!

I got the idea when I used to make casseroles and would have extra bits of burned cheese along the sides of the glass dish. I think you'll agree there's nothing better than the taste of really, really burned cheese on a glass dish!

Actually, this is not really a bad (i.e., high fat/caloric) snack. Parmesan cheese is @ 25 calories per tablespoon (1.5 grams fat) and you use more of that than the cheddar.

The main thing against it is it looks kind of gross to passing strangers; so it's really the kind of thing you eat when you know no one is looking.

ENJOY!

Is this your FINAL ANSWER?

2008-07-19T15:04:00.000-07:00

Dear Heavenly Father,

Just got Your message this morning! Thanks for letting me know -- in no uncertain terms -- that I am absolutely, positively, NOT PREGNANT! (At least, not yet!)

So -- not meaning to pry -- but does this also mean that I am absolutely, positively, starting menopause and therefore will NEVER become pregnant? I'd kinda like to know for sure, because as I understand it, I'm not actually considered fully "menopaused" (if that's even a word) till I go 12 months without a period.

This time it was just two and a half months, which I realize might not seem all that long to You (what with a thousand years being like a day and all that good stuff), but was plenty long enough for me to start getting my hopes up, just a teeny bit!

So are there going to be more "uncertainties" like this for the next few years? Should I use my new Costco membership to stock up on home pregnancy tests? Just wondering!

Anyway, like I said, thanks for letting me know for sure so I can relax -- till next month, that is!

Lots of love from Your humble servant,

The Curvy Catholic :-)

(Oh yeah, and also, even though I'm a little disappointed not to be preggers, thanks VERY much for letting me weigh in at 207 pounds this morning -- a loss of 2 whole pounds since last week! That made me feel a lot better!)

Ups & downs, as usual!

2008-07-14T08:43:00.000-07:00

Back up again on Saturday, but only by 0.8 pound - so I'm at 209.

Not too unexpected, given that I consumed almost an ENTIRE BOX of the Breyer's Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, which we'd bought for the 4th of July! (Sigh!)

Oh well, "ups" in my weight and "downs" at church - had a big dustup in the choir loft Sunday morning. I won't go into detail - let me just say this: "Musicians! Ptooey!" (And since I'm a musician too, I definitely include myself in that "ptooey"!)

And as for the other issue - no, still no visit from "Aunt Flo"! Curiouser and curiouser ...

Well, since I've already brought up "church stuff" I may as well bring up some more. As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I've become interested in Eastern Orthodoxy. Saturday evening my husband took me to a local Antiochian Orthodox church for Vespers. To be honest, I didn't really care much for their style - almost everything was either spoken (rather than chanted) or chanted in a kind of Arabic "ululating" way that I couldn't follow.

I don't count that against the Orthodox, though; it's more of a personal opinion than a criticism. I've been to another Orthodox Church in the area which uses a more Russian style of chant - much closer to our Byzantine (Catholic) style - and I am very comfortable there. So I won't be making any decisions for/against Orthodoxy based on my aesthetic preferences.

But - I have been reading a LOT of books lately about Orthodoxy - mostly "pro" (apologetics). I agree with a lot of what they say: I definitely think the Roman Catholic church bears AT LEAST 50% responsibility for the "Great Schism". I definitely think the office of the papacy has been expanded far beyond what it was originally envisaged to be. I understand and agree with the problems with the "filioque" ("and the Son") in the Creed.

The only thing I'm not 100% in agreement with is the rejection of the doctrines of "Immaculate Conception" and "original sin"; and the idea that there can't ever be "development of doctrine" - I've read too much Newman (and Knox, and Chesterton, and Belloc!) to fall comfortably into line on that one.

So for the foreseeable future, I'll have to remain perched on that fence called "Eastern Catholicism", ready to jump to either side if necessary but willing to keep sittin' as long as I can.

P.S. - found this really good blog posting listing 10 Reasons to Become Byzantine Catholic - definitely worth reading!

Finally! and No, Not This Time!

2008-07-07T13:54:00.000-07:00

First of all - FINALLY after 3 weeks I have started losing weight again!

I weighed in at 208.4 on Saturday morning, so I'm now officially (at Weight Watchers, anyway) down a total of 16 pounds.

Curves has me at approximately the same weight, though I'm happier about the fact that they're finally (again, finally!) showing that I've lost some inches too - approximately 1 inch of blubber removed from my frame overall! So watch where you step (nyuk nyuk!).

Also visited my doctor on Thursday and had a couple of tests done. And the answer to "am I pregnant?" is --

No, Not This Time!

That's based on the urinalysis, pretty much the same test you can buy at the drugstore. Interestingly, she also did a blood test for my FSG or something like that, and according to her email to me this morning, the answer to "So am I in menopause?" is --

No, Not Yet!

Hmmm! So what's going on here? No "visit from Aunt Flo" since the first week of May - yet I'm neither preggers nor permanently off the rag? What's the answer?

...

Anyone?

...

Bueller?

...

Holding at a steady pace

2008-06-30T10:53:00.000-07:00

Last Friday's weigh-in was exactly the same - 210.8. Neither up nor down. So I guess I'm at one of those much-talked-about plateaus.

So I decided to just enjoy the weekend and go "off plan" - not drastically, just in the sense that I ate what I wanted and didn't keep track of the points.

Steve and I went to Carlsbad Saturday morning and stayed overnight. We visited with my parents, who were in from Phoenix hoping to see the beach (and cruelly disappointed by our hotel's promise of an "ocean view room" - yeah, great view if you had a periscope!).

But it was a nice weekend, marred only by our severly overindulgent worries about our cat, the aptly named "Princess", who we'd left all by herself for the WHOLE NIGHT!!! something she's never before experienced in her short but eventful life.

She seemed fine when we got home Sunday afternoon - a little annoyed but graciously allowing us to kneel at her paws and beg forgiveness. All hail the Princess!

Oh, as for last week's post - still no period! I haven't made a doctor's appointment yet, but I suppose I should. I kind of don't want to, though - a superstitious feeling that I'll "jinx it" somehow if I actually schedule a test. I'd like to enjoy that feeling of "maybe ... possibly ... perhaps!" a few days longer.