I love numbers, especially discount numbers.

Friday, May 17, 2013

That’s why “shopping” for me means “where’s that clearance rack?”

I keep my clothes a very long time.
Case in point: Here I am in Rome in 2011 with my grandchildren


Here I am in 1996 – same city, same dress, same husband, but darker hair and an extra 25 lbs under that dress. At the time I blamed the wind for billowing out that skirt - excuses, excuses.


DH is taking the picture along with the wife of the guy I’m with. They’re long time friends of ours. We’ll be cruising with them again next week.

Even though I don’t really care about fashion, I like to buy some new stuff occasionally if only so my vacation photos will look different from year to year.

Now we’re taking a 2 week cruise on the Danube – Vienna to the Black Sea.

DH needed some new pants. While he was in the dressing room I got:
4 tops and 1 pair of pants
Original price: $193.98
I paid: $43.16

OK, only 2 items are suitable for spring cruising, but we’ll have a winter vacation too. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m very patient. I can wait to wear my new clothes, especially at that price.

I’m the fashion industry equivalent of the “gleaners” who follow the harvest machinery in the fields so nothing goes to waste. Of course, gleaners are given free access, clothing manufacturers at least get something from me.

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Little by little plain yogurt is overtaking the flavored variety in my daily food plan.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

I’m the Queen of Gradualism in all things – weight loss, fitness improvement and now sugar reduction.

I love my organic yogurt but my flavor of choice is French Vanilla. I buy it by the quart and eat 8 oz or more per day. I add my own fruit to it too.

Recently I bought a quart of “plain” by accident. Unfortunately, I have to like my food and I don’t like plain yogurt. I was surprised to see that it had half the sugar of my favorite, but that still wasn’t enough of an incentive for me to eat it.

I’m too thrifty a person to throw it out and DH won’t eat any yogurt. So I mixed one tablespoon of the plain stuff with the French Vanilla (still 1 cup total). That totally disguised it so I continued the experiment bit by bit.

It’s been about a month but my mixture is now half and half. Now I buy a quart of each variety. My taste buds are still happy and I’ve reduced the sugar content by 8 grams. I don’t know how long this will continue, but I like the trend.

This would be too slow for a lot of people, but when I began my weight loss journey, my calorie deficit was only 250 calories per day. When I started running I increased my running intervals by 15 seconds per week. I’m a very patient person.

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Where would Venus de Milo shop?

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

On my blog yesterday I asked “Is that a curve or a muffin top?”

I love Sparkers, especially reading blogs and comments.
AugustDragon’s comment got me thinking about measurements of women in centuries past, specifically Renaissance times.

Great technology’s ghost! There are actually websites about this!
For example: (Caution: This is classical art – think nudity)
While the women in these paintings would never be found on the cover of Shape Magazine, neither would they be in a Lane Bryant advertisement. Although some SP toning videos would be beneficial, in our increasingly super-sized society, these gals wouldn’t even stand out.
www.femininebeauty.info/medieval-bod
y-size-preferences

However, you can’t get measurements from a painting, so I went back further in history to the Venus de Milo sculpture.
She measures 34 - 31.5 - 40.2. Yes, that information is online too! That would make her a size 4-6 in tops and 10-12 in pants (depending on the manufacturer).
She’s also 5’4” tall. (no weight of course – she’s marble after all).

What is noticeable is the pervasive “pear shape” of all the artists’ visions of women.
It took 20th century creativity to invent implants.

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Is that a curve or a muffin top?

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

It depends on your perspective, doesn’t it?

For the record: It doesn’t matter to me what anyone wears. I would never even notice unless you show up in ripped jeans and a tube top at a formal wedding.

Then I read about this - H & M using a “plus size” model in swim suit campaign.
This “event” has been highlighted in many segments of the press. It interested me not so much because of the article’s substance but because of the comments it generated.

For example:
1) Size 12 isn’t “plus size” Marilyn Monroe was a size 12.
Reality: In today’s sizing Marilyn would wear a size 4 or 6 at most.
In the 1960s regular sizes were 8 – 18 after that you were a “plus size”
Going by measurements, today those sizes correspond to 0-10 so for some manufacturers 12 and up is “plus size.”
For a reality check, look at Simplicity patterns which held the line against sizing creep.

2) Finally, they are featuring “real women” in advertising.
Hey – we’re all REAL WOMEN! Tall, short, fat, slim, buxom or flat chested.

3) Finally, they are featuring “normal” weight women in advertising.
”Normal” is being redefined as we continue to gain weight. Does that mean we just accept it? Our perception of normal is becoming skewed as our entire society becomes larger. We are redesigning our infrastructure to accommodate this change – clothing sizes, larger furniture, reinforced hospital equipment, buses with stronger undercarriages etc. How far can we go with this?

You can google many articles about this event. I’m sure that H & M is thrilled with the publicity. They are in business to sell clothes after all.

Here’s one of them
style.time.com/2013/05/08/hm-
praised-for-using-size-12-model-in-swi
mwear-campaign/

This comment to the article makes a different, very significant point.
”underweight is too passe, it's all about being overweight now!
It's quite hilarious people get outraged when brands use skinny underweight models but applaud when plus size models are used, because the former aren't normal or good as role models, but the latter totally are. what a double standard!
Unhealthy is not gorgeous! whether is it underweight or overweight! and if you want to say 'real' women are gorgeous, then it should apply to every woman”

That comment did make me wonder why there are no models between underweight and plus size. Can’t they find any size 2 – 10s?

Now back to those bathing suits. I wear a “2 piece” all the time (also called a “tankini”) for the same reason I no longer buy a “jumpsuit. It simplifies bathroom visits.

For me clothing choice is also age related. I don’t think I’ll ever hear “Wouldn’t those booty shorts look great on you Grandma?” even though a regular size would fit just fine.

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How important is winning?

Monday, May 13, 2013

Probably because I recently wrote about competitive vs. fun sports for kids, I was especially attentive to attitude as I sat at our grandson’s soccer game.

DGS #5 is quite talented. He was recruited for a travel team (under 12) as soon as he turned 10. DD#2 elected to have him stay with the rec league, but that had problems too. After he scored a few goals, he would be benched so the game would remain competitive. Sometimes that could happen within 10 minutes and he wouldn’t even get the minimum playing minutes that rec teams were known for.

Long ago two of our three children were involved in competitive sports and 2 competed in SERIOUS piano competition. (DD#2 did both) When waiting for the awards, more than anything, I wanted my kids (or their team) to win something. It’s the same way with me. I want to win something, whether at a race or in the morning when I get on the scale. I want my effort to be validated somehow.

Fortunately that feeling passes quickly. When getting on with my day, going out for lunch after a game or a race or just signing on to SP after my morning weigh-in, that temporary win (or loss) isn’t so important.

After a piano competition long ago, my 8 year old daughter told me that “it doesn’t matter if you win or lose because you have to do it all again anyway.” She meant practice and compete.

That was a very perceptive attitude for a kid. This morning my scale showed an upward leap. Since I weigh every day, I know this isn’t a big deal, just the result of a lunch of Greek food and dinner at a Mexican restaurant. It isn’t often that I eat out twice in the same day.

Whether my scale is being friendly or not (win or lose), I have to “do it all again” anyway if I want to maintain a healthy, active lifestyle.

Regarding DGS#5 – The coach had a perfect solution. After DGS scored 2-4 goals, he could still play but he had to only pass the ball to a teammate. If there was no one around then he could take a shot himself as long as he did it with his left foot. The result was improvement in his all around skills and a better, more competitive game for all.

There’s a difference between short term and long term wins. I’m in this for the long term.

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