It really bugs me when companies don't put the calorie/fat content of their foods on the container. Such was the case with the Safeway Select Cream Cheese Spread I picked up today at the grocery store, whose label read simply "FOR NUTRITION INFORMATION, CALL 1-888-SAFEWAY."
Figuring that nobody on the face of the earth had ever actually taken the time to inquire about Safeway's cream cheese, I picked up the phone and dialed. Immediately, a sprightly young customer service rep answered the phone. "Yes, I'm calling to get the nutritional information for a product of yours," I said.
After supplying the bar code (588712), the variety (plain) and size (1.5 oz) of the cream cheese in question, I sat back and listened to Stacy rifle through her papers. She muttered under her breath as she sorted through the stacks. There must have been reams on her desk. After all, it's no easy task to keep stats on every single product made by Safeway.
"Cream cheese!" she said triumphantly after a loud rustling. "Okay..."
Long silence.
"We have the information on the Garden Vegetable Spread," Stacy offered.
"But nothing on plain?" I asked. I was incredulous. Wasn't plain cream cheese the condiment of choice for most bagel-eaters, after all?
More rustling. I imagine Stacy was either a. cursing me in her head or b. laughing silently because she knew she'd have a good story to tell her coworkers at lunch. ("You'll never believe what this chick was asking for this morning..."
"We have Three Berry," Stacy tried again.
"But no plain?"
Another rustle. "No, ma'am. I don't think anyone's ever asked for that before. But I can send an e-mail and get the information for you. Is there a phone number I can reach you?"
I gave her my work number, thinking the whole time that I had officially crossed the line into the land of the Crazy Calorie Counters, who like to calculate the caloric content of their cough syrup and debate whether celery really does have "negative calories."
"I'll get back to you today or Monday," Stacy said.
"Thanks," I said, and hung up. But just then I realized that I probably didn't want to know the answer.
Everything in moderation. Today I had to run to Blockbuster on the way to work and turn in some videos that were due by noon. (I think this "keep 'em till noon" crap is just a way to trick people into incurring late fees. Who has time to turn in a video at NOON on a weekday?) I was in such a hurry that I didn't have time for breakfast. This will happen when you wake up 20 minutes before you're supposed to be at work. Anyway, the Blockbuster is in the same shopping center as the grocery store. So I popped in the store to get something for breakfast. I emerged with a New York-style (read: large) Asiago cheese bagel, an individual serving of cream cheese spread, an apple and a Diet Coke. I was really hungry, so it was tempting to slather that bagel with cream cheese and scarf it down. But I only ate half the bagel, with a LITTLE BIT of cream cheese, and ate the apple too.
I figure I saved about 120 calories by doing that. The bagel by itself would have been about 310 calories, and the cream cheese on both halves would have run me 70. So instead of consuming 380 calories, I had about 260 (half bagel w/dab of cream cheese = 185 cals; apple = 75 cals)
Got to go to the gym tonight. I usually take Fridays off, but I was out sick on Tuesday and Wednesday. Blah.
Back on the horse... Went to the gym tonight. There were a surprising number of people there for a Thursday. It's usually about 2/3 its normal traffic on Thursday and Friday...I guess everyone is going out and having a good time. I can't go out on Thursdays or Fridays; I'm always too tired. But I surprised myself tonight by doing 50 minutes of cardio. I wanted to ease myself back in and not do too much, so I skipped the weights. I will have to do them tomorrow, when there's not such a wait for a machine.
1 Wendy's Grilled Chicken Breast Sandwich w/light mayo, 300 cals; 1 small side salad w/reduced fat ranch dressing, 109 cals (I'm estimating the salad's calorie content b/c I didn't use the whole dressing packet).
On a side note, I'm collecting pink lids from my Yoplait yogurt cups because they're holding a fundraiser for breast cancer research, called Save Lids to Save Lives. For each lid you send in, Yoplait will donate 10 cents to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Since I eat a LOT of yogurt (I buy about 8 every week), I was feeling guilty for not participating last year. So far, I've got four in a little plastic bag on my kitchen counter. I encourage all you other Yoplait-eaters to do the same. Gotta watch out for those boobs. If you don't eat Yoplait, start now. Their "light" varieties are only 100 calories!
Well, it's official. In October I will be spending a few days in the middle of nowhere - Lajitas, TX to be exact. This place is remote. And not remote like between Austin and Houston remote. I mean REMOTE. Like with bears and mountain lions and stores that have signs reading "Next Gas Station 300 Miles." If you want to get an idea of just how remote, take a look at this:
Okay... I put the Enetation comment system back up, even though I don't really like it (takes forever for the box to come up). I'm looking into YACCS and Haloscan, but as of now Haloscan is down and YACCS isn't accepting any new customers.
I was watching Bravo last night and happened to catch this mini-series called Gay Weddings. I guess the most interesting part was the fact that their preparations for their weddings aren't as different as those that you would find on, say, A Wedding Story. Gowns, tuxes, flower arrangements, all the same.
But I don't think I can watch the show anymore, because it makes me think that I should be preparing for MY wedding and right now I just don't want to even touch that with a 10-foot pole. Mark is super crazy busy at work and classes all day long, sunup to sunset, plus I work an 8 to 5 job and I'm exhausted on the weekends, plus I've only been here 3 months and I have practically no vacation. (What I do have will go to spending Christmas in Alabama.) And my parents, who would traditionally pay for the whole shebang, don't really have the money to spare because they're pretty much supporting my sister, her no-good husband and their kid. Now talk about f**ked up. The guy has been out of work for months. He can't hold a job for more than a month before he gets frustrated and quits. Anything goes wrong and the guy just packs up and storms out. Doesn't matter that they'll have no money - after all, my parents give them a place to live and food to eat.
But hopefully the situation will resolve itself soon. My spies on the homefront tell me my dad is getting pretty P.O.'ed at this no-job situation and he's informed the deadbeat that he either has to get a job or he's outta there. Which, of course, means my sister and niece would go with him. She said they'd live in the car if they have to. But most likely he'll get some crappy-ass job working at a video store for $5 an hour, my dad will back off, and he'll quit again in 3 weeks. Which leaves them right back at square one. Mark and I have both marveled at their lack of pride. They're 18 and 19 years old, with a kid, and still living with parents - if that were us, we'd have found SOME job, any job, construction or whatever, just so we could get out there and make something for ourselves. But these two don't seem to mind sponging off someone else - why work when you don't have to? Who cares if your child has to be on Medicaid and you have to get food stamps to pay for her meals?
I really feel sorry for my niece. Not my sister, because she did this to herself. But the kid is totally innocent in this situation and they had no business keeping her. She would have been MUCH better off in more capable hands.
What a rip. So I'm interested at volunteering at one of these animal welfare organizations around town. I figure that I could be doing something useful on Saturday mornings instead of sitting around watching Scooby Doo. So I sent an e-mail to the volunteer coordinator - I won't mention which organization it is - and I got this long e-mail back, which includes the line:
In addition, to help defray the cost of materials and liability insurance there is a required volunteer fee of $25.
How can an organization so desperately in need of help expect people to not only provide their services for free, but to PAY THEM to work there? Yeah, $25 isn't that much, but I thought the concept of "volunteering" meant "free all around, for everyone."
Okay, long story short, I went to work today. I so did not want to go to work. I laid in bed for at least an hour this morning debating whether to just get off my ass and go, or stay home being lazy. In the end, I compromised by coming in late, around 10:30. It felt good to sleep so long, especially since I went to bed at the unnaturally early hour of 11 p.m. Tuesday night.
Today, I feel better. Not entirely recovered yet, but better. At least the ungodly sinus pressure is going away. Things really started looking up late last night, after I took two of those decongestant capsules. I suppose it might have had something to do with the fact that they were "nighttime formula." I wish I could have one today, but I really do need to get stuff done. So I may visit Walgreens this afternoon and buy their "daytime" counterparts.
What really irks me about being sick is that I can't work out. I really wanted to go to the gym last night and do an abs class, but my head felt like it weighed 1,000 pounds. Can you imagine trying to lift a 1,000-pound head off the floor for 15 minutes while doing crunches? Nah, me either. Today, I'll probably stay away from the gym as well - I'm still weak, and I don't want to make anyone else sick. The gym is probably where I picked up the bug in the first place.
On the eating front, I'm happy to report that I haven't been pigging out. I thought I'd be gorging on soup, grilled cheeses and other "comfort foods," but not being able to taste anything really dampens your appetite for warm, starchy dishes. I've got a Lean Cuisine that I'm going to munch on for lunch, but I might as well be eating a shoe.
Congratulations are in order for Myzeri, who was the first to sign my guestbook. Keep up those entries (and I PROMISE I'll try to get a commenting system up soon).
So out of boredom and the need to get off the couch, I visited the Web site for an upcoming movie, Swim Fan. I think it's like Fatal Attraction or something. Anyway, there's a link to this other fake Web site, which is supposedly the homepage for the psycho chick in the movie, Allison. There's even an AIM name you can use to chat with "her," operated through a bot-type auto-response thing. With apologies to Daily Digest, who thought of this first, here's a copy of my AOL chat with the fake girl:
Jentnews: hello?
Swimfan4u: What's Your Name?
Jentnews: jen
Swimfan4u: Hi jen.
Jentnews: what's going on?
Swimfan4u: Nothing much... just chatting. What's going on with u?
Jentnews: nothing
Swimfan4u: Not a thing?
Jentnews: nope
Swimfan4u: Really cool.
Jentnews: no, it's not
Swimfan4u: R u serious? I heard
Swimfan4u: is.
Jentnews: what?
Swimfan4u: No prob...
Jentnews: no problem with what?
Swimfan4u: I don't have any plans yet.
Jentnews: ok, we finally get to it
Swimfan4u: Really? Yay.
Jentnews: so go ahead
Swimfan4u: Right on. K I will....
Jentnews: *waiting*
Swimfan4u: Say something more interesting or I'm going.
Jentnews: I was waiting for YOU to say something.
Swimfan4u: Where were you ?
Jentnews: when?
Swimfan4u: No idea... do u know?
Jentnews: huh?
Swimfan4u: What?
Jentnews: I'm confused
Swimfan4u: I'm confused too.
Jentnews: about what
Swimfan4u: What about what?
Jentnews: what are you confused about?
Swimfan4u: Why should I tell u? ;)
Jentnews: okay, don't
Swimfan4u: Yeah okay, K I won't!
Jentnews: fine
Swimfan4u: R u mad at me, jen?
Jentnews: i don't even know you
Swimfan4u: Why not?
Jentnews: because you are a fictional character
Swimfan4u: Can u be more specific? U think? Am I a fictional character? Yep.
Jentnews: I knew you were.
Swimfan4u: "Yep."? Me, jen?
Jentnews: yeah, you
Swimfan4u: Cool. Ask me another questions :)"Ask me another questions :)"? Me, jen?
Jentnews: Okay...what is your favorite food?
Swimfan4u: I really love hamburgers...anything juicy and delicious.
Jentnews: great
Swimfan4u: glad u liked it jen.
Jentnews: liked what? hamburgers?
Swimfan4u: something.Um....not to change the subject, but do u know Ben Cronin?
Jentnews: who's that?
Swimfan4u: You mean Ben? Ben Cronin is the swimmer I'm totally in love with. U should look at his pic on my website (http://www.swimfan4u.com)...
Jentnews: a shameless plug for the site...I see
Swimfan4u: Tell me more...
Jentnews: you guys are money grubbing hollywood types
Swimfan4u: Wait... tell me more...: jen said I guys are money grubbing hollywood types.
Jentnews: I just said that
Swimfan4u: Only just? You?
Jentnews: yeah, me, who else?
Swimfan4u: Um....not to change the subject, but do u know Ben Cronin?
Jentnews: You just asked me that.
Swimfan4u: O now I remember asking u him or her. What did u say?
Jentnews: I asked you who he was
Swimfan4u: Now I remember, you asked me . What did he or she
Jentnews: what?
Swimfan4u: No prob...
Jentnews: I'm confused again
Swimfan4u: sure
Swimfan4u:
Jentnews: sure what?
Swimfan4u: Awesome. No big deal...
Jentnews: I fail to see what is awesome here.
Swimfan4u: Why not?
Jentnews: Maybe I just don't get it
Swimfan4u: maybe. Only just? You?
Jentnews: I really hate it when you ask me shit like that
Swimfan4u: You really do? You?
Jentnews: Yeah, ME!!!
Swimfan4u: So what else do u want 2 know?
Jentnews: Why is this bot so poorly programmed?
Swimfan4u: Why do I exist?
Jentnews: okay, that too
Swimfan4u: Yeah okay, "Why do I exist?" too ? I understand.
Jentnews: so answer the question
Swimfan4u: So I understand. Say it in a different way?
Jentnews: Why do you exist?
Swimfan4u: Good metaphysical question.
Jentnews: yeah, yeah
Swimfan4u:
Jentnews: All right, I've wasted enough time here
Swimfan4u: Alright. Whatever.
Jentnews: Bye.
Swimfan4u: KIT!
Well, this just sucks. First of all, I'm sick. I'm at home laid up with a stuffy head, scratchy throat and burning eyes. Plus, the three 1/2 pounds that I lost last week are back. I checked my weight on Sunday and it said 132. On Monday, the same scale said 135. I don't know whether my Chick-Fil-A combo meal at the mall had anything to do with it, but I'm pretty sure that it couldn't have caused me to gain 3 pounds in 24 hours. After all, it takes 3,500 extra calories to gain a pound, and I've stayed pretty close to 1,500 a day over the weekend. (I had to rearrange my food to allow for the combo meal, but that was okay.)
I'm not going to post the eats from Sunday and Monday because I can't remember them all. It wasn't that much, except for the Chick-Fil-A.
Well, the fiasco with the scale has made me determined that I'm going to buy one for myself. I've been using the one in the women's locker room at the gym. I have no way of knowing whether that 3-pound gain was real or whether someone messed with the scale. So I'm going to go to Target and get one of my own. I was going to go today but my condition prevents me from doing so...
This blog's rating on Hot or Not has risen from 5 to 7.3 since I made my plea, so thanks to everyone who voted. Keep the good ratings coming!
Eats:
Breakfast - 1 slice toast w/1 serving margarine, 120 cals; 1 glass milk, 90 cals; Lunch - 1 ham sandwich w/light mayo and mustard (too ill to calculate calories now)
Major weight breakthrough. Last time I stepped on the scale at the gym (I refuse to have one in my house, I'd get obsessed) I weighed 135.5. That was on Thursday. Today, Sunday, I weigh 132! Wow. I expected a loss of maybe another pound, but I certainly didn't expect this. Amazing. But I don't think I'll continue to lose at this pace. I've heard that when you first start to lose weight a bunch comes off at first, mostly water weight and stuff, and then it levels out and goes slower.
However, I wouldn't mind keeping up this 4-pounds-every-6-days thing ... at this rate, I'll be done before Halloween. My goal is to come home for Christmas and just shock everyone with "the new me." I hope I don't disappoint myself.
But something worried me. I use the scale in the women's locker room at my gym. It's not a fancy scale or anything, just one of those non-digital kinds with a face that's about at your waist level so you can see the numbers easily. Anyway, today Mark made me step on another scale right after I weighed in - one of those medical scales sitting in the middle of the weight machines. When we balanced it out, it said I weighed 140. I was shocked. How can two seemingly accurate scales be so different? I'm choosing to believe the scale in the locker room for now. Otherwise I might go nuts. I'm going to check out yet another scale, maybe at Target or something, so I can know which is closer to right.
Tonight we're having spaghetti. Right now, I'm just bored ...
So 9 1/2 Weeks was lame. It's supposed to be this really hot movie and all, but I just found it kind of disturbing to watch Kim Basinger grow weaker and weaker until she becomes this sex slave to Mickey Rourke. Plus, the acting was really bad. And I didn't think the numerous sex scenes were really that titillating. But whatever.
Last night I decided to stop watching my calories so closely, but just on the weekends. It's too hard anyway to guesstimate how many calories are in every single piece of food, especially those foods that don't come with nutrition labels (tomatoes, etc.). We grilled out and I had a sensible dinner. Then we went to Starbucks and I had a grande caramel mocha. That pretty much blew my calorie limit. But today I am going to the gym and I can make up for it. At least I got some calcium out of the drink - something that's been lacking since I started dieting. (At 90 calories a glass, even skim milk is taboo.)
I'm thinking about getting some calcium supplements when I go to Target today. And I'll be doing my first weigh-in since Thursday, so I'll keep you guys posted on the results.
Eats:
(8/31) 1 medium breast grilled chicken with GrillMates garlic/herb sauce, 1 salad w/lowfat raspberry vinaigrette dressing, 1 small sweet potato with 1/2 tsp margarine, 1 grande caramel mocha from Starbucks, 1/2 cup Healthy Choice ice cream
(9/1) Breakfast - 1 bowl Peanut Butter Bumpers cereal w/skim milk, 1 cup skim milk; Lunch - 1/2 breast grilled chicken on 2 slices bread w/1 tsp mayo and dash of mustard, 1 snack bag Wavy Lay's
Name: Jen Location: DFW, TX Occupation: Journalist WHY this stupid blog?: To lose the 20 pounds I've packed on since high school and to entertain you with stories about my fabulous life. Current Weight: 138 My Goal Weight: 115 Pounds to Go: 23
