The Curvy Catholic ... Vegan???

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!!

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!

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)

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

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

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!

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: