The Skinny on the Real Me

I’m heading to the gym after this because work and traffic irritated me today and I need to run it off, but I figured I may as well throw down some lines, because, as mentioned, work and traffic irritated me, and I’d like to write it off too…

Weighty Suggestions: A lot of people ask me how I stay skinny. Or, rather they yell at me, “You are too damn skinny!” So, I gained a tiny bit of weight over the summer to quiet everyone up (though some are still waiting for more weight), and I did it pretty easily. So instead of giving the obvious suggestions on how to stay lean, here are the key ways to gain some weight instead:

1) Amp up the weights and resistance during workouts. My leg muscles are still lean and fit in the same jeans, but they have a lot more definition right now. So, apparently something worked.

2) Try every Hefeweizen and Sake in Portland. This summer was all about trying every kind of those (mostly in moderation, I swear). My favorites were definitely Algauer Hef at Sapphire Hotel on Hawthorne in Portland and a Sake I had at Masu last weekend. Sapphire Hotel also has great food, couches, board games, no smoke, and a quiet atmosphere. I would live there, but it doesn’t really have hotel rooms. Darn. Masu has a super cheap and amazing happy hour for food too. Too bad the summer and football season are coming to an end…I will probably be ‘too skinny’ again in a couple months.

3) Eat at restaurants all the time. So expensive and bad for you, but I’ve tried a ton of great restaurants and gotten a lot of quality time in with a ton of friends through breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Okay, so real ways to stay skinny: Don’t do numbers 2 or 3 from above (obviously), workout and be active as much as possible…challenge yourself to do new things that get you out of the house or off your feet, stop watching TV all the time, get off your computer, drink a lot of water, have water with every meal and drink more if you are still hungry…then wait and see if that fills you up before eating again, do not drink soda or alcohol…both are high in calories and pretty bad for you anyway, don’t stock your house with processed, fatty, or white flour foods…aka CAREFULLY shop the perimeter at the grocery store…this really works and you will feel a lot better too, get up and take walks at work if you have to sit all day, park far away in parking lots so you have to walk, find excuses to fidget, dance in your car, dance at work, dance in your house…yes, I like to dance, drink nonfat milk, eat food high in protein and fiber, eat random things like that for breakfast too instead of crap (you need to fill yourself up at breakfast…maybe people will make fun of you for eating organic spinach and feta pockets, edamame, or turkey wraps, but, you will feel fuller and have more energy). And lastly, be lucky and have a good metabolism like me…as my dad says…if he misses a meal he loses six pounds (okay, sorry this last one will probably only work for those related to me).

Does that help? Pretty much, being healthy requires adopting that you will live your life a certain way, that you will amp up your workout or activities if you are feeling out of shape, etc, etc. You need to realize that diets and quick fixes are temporary and that committing to changing your lifestyle is probably the only way you will achieve permanent results.

Let’s Gump this and say, “That’s all I have to say about that,” and I realize it’s not always easy. But start by making little changes and then you will just see and crave living and eating healthy as a way of life.

The Perfect Date: I had the most perfect date on Friday night. There was smiling and laughter the whole time. Okay, so who cares if it was with my two and a half month old niece Taylor? My God, not since Cedar’s birth seven years ago had I realized how crazy in love you become with these little precious things. I got five hours of mostly alone time with her while Lexy and Ben ran their church Halloween party. And I figured out she really likes to be carried sideways, facing out, on my arm, swinging back and forth (it‘s a good workout). I’ve also determined that she is probably going to get her way with me for the rest of her life. Anyway, we had fun and I highly recommend getting a date in with this one if you are in any way related to her (as some of my readers are).

Happy Anniversary: To my stuff. Yep, a year ago this week, all my belongings except what I could fit in my car came back to Portland. As all know, I arrived two months later, though maybe I truly only arrived as all of me late this summer. So, while I always thank everyone else for being there for me in 2008 and helping me to figure myself out again, I will thank myself and say…thanks for finally arriving, Real Me. I missed me, ha.

Alright, song of the moment is Romeo and Juliet by Dire Straits. It’s kind of a magical little tune that makes me think that may I actually want a boyfriend again one day soon, and I like it better than the new Killers remake.