12.03.2010

shades of thinness

Hey all,
How is it going?
Good I hope.
Back on the bandwagon today.
I did my elliptical and had a 650 calories burn.
I ate 1520 calories...so right on target.
I bought my little brother a Christmas gift.
It's hysterical.
It's a chia obama.
Where do they come up with this crap I don't know.
But this goes right along with our yearly ritual of handing over gag gifts so there you have it.
Found it at Kmart....of course.

So a few things that have happened over the last couple of days that didn't really merit their own blog but have been interesting none the less.
First thing,
My husband is on a 'diet' in the capital D sense.
This is the first Diet he has EVER been on.
He is 42, and was a green beret.
Used to eating whatever he wanted.
Well, it has caught up to him and he has about 20 to 25 lbs to lose to be "normal".
Now this is where I will point out that his dieting advice to me when I started was that I just
'shouldn't eat'.
After all, russians in gulags were skinny.
Then he would bring ice cream home and eat in front of me...etc.
He basically had no sympathy for my sensibilities.
So imagine my glee when the day before yesterday (on the first day of his diet)
He tells me that he was going to eat breakfast and nothing at all till dinner.
I said
Mmmmmooookay....but don't get so hungry you shove things willy nilly in your face.
So he eats a nice big omelette that I gave him a calorie count for...around 300 calories
So. I go run errands, go to the gym, and then go grocery shopping (I left him alone for about 5 hours)
I come in ready to make him the mother of all salads.
He looks at me and says
" I don't need dinner"
I said..."Oh, well, hon...you can't starve yourself"
HE said "I am not starving myself.."
I just ate a sleeve of ritz crackers and a half a block of cream cheese"
I said "what happened"
He said "I got hungry'
lololol.
So I am sitting over there enjoying my delicious salad...
when he says
'Why don't you take that somewhere else?"
I say
"What's wrong?
Why don't you just NOT EAT!"
bwaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
lol.
okay....I got up and took it away and won't do that again.
But man...that's been a long time coming.

So, I have been helping him over the last three days.
trying to.

Then there was last night.
I went to lowes.
I wanted to pick up some bags of sand to weigh down my posh outside Christmas tree...(It's windy here)
So, I go to load them in my cart and some dude walks down the aisle and says 'can I help you?"
I said
Sure, I just wanted to get some bags of sand..
He says "here let me get those"....
So he puts four 50lb bags of sand in my cart and then says..
"you'd think I work here..."
I say "You don't"
He says "no"
I say "thank you'
So....he says do you need help PUSHING YOUR CART.
lol.
I say NO thank you
I go and buy them.
I am going out in the parking lot and I spy the dude across the lot..
He walks all the way across the lot and says..
Do you need help loading those.
I say sure
(now this is after I have my Ted Bundy moment...you know the one...dark parking lot...decent looking guy waits for you to open a trunk and BAM he wHacks you in the head and then kills you and humps your dead corpse...btw, I never said I wasn't paranoid)
So he is piling my four bags of sand into the back of my van asking me if I am ready for christmas and driving in the snow and what are the bags of sand for and I say my 'outside' tree and he asks about decorating...and I say
Oh yeah, MY HUSBAND is really tall so he puts the topper on the tree..
dude says 'OH'.
lol.
It was nice.
can I tell you how many times I was helped with heavy objects by strange men when I was fat...
0
Since I got thin
4 times.
In about an 8 month period of time.
This all happened once I hit around 155 lbs.
I got a flirtation here and there at a higher weight..
But the hurrying up to hold the door.
The hefting of dog bags, sand bags and posts...
under 155.
Shades of thin..
Get thin enough, you get stuff lifted for you.
I am in a quandary about it.
pissed, flattered....strangely bemused...a little creeped out.
You name it.
hope you all are having a good day,
Talk to you later,
Hugs,
Chris

13 comments:

als said...

AAAAaaaaahhhh, that felt good!!! I was living vicariously through you with that story about your husband... thanks for sharing that!!! :D

And isn't it interesting how differently you're treated when you're smaller? I can understand all the emotions you're feeling! :P

Helen said...

So, I laughed all the way through this post. So much good here.

Funny how people, especially husbands, can't take their own advice sometime, eh?

I hope you know you ALWAYS deserved help, even when you were heavier. But if they're only going to help you now that you're thinner, I say let them do it!

Anonymous said...

LOVED this post! Chuckled thru the whole dieting husband part.
That was a long time coming, but sure felt good! In a nice way...chuckle.

My husband, the thin man, is going thru the same thing. Always skinny--had trouble getting enough weight on his bones--now, well, he's actually not much overweight (6 foot, 195 pounds), but his belly has gotten soft. And he's had to move up to size 36 jeans. :O

He's fairly traumatized by the whole thing and sadly clueless about dieting=-and, of course, won't listen to me. He does admit to a whole new awareness of the difficutly with losing weight. Cause now he's ALWAYS HUNGRY and he never used to be hungry.... Poor babies..

Of course, it does occur to me--how it must look to outsiders. It appears that he has gained weight just as I have lost it--when before I was huge and he was skinny. They probably really do think I had been eating his food back then and am just now letting him eat. lol. Jack Sprat and his wife. groan.

And the offer to help--well, you know that I know about those mixed feelings. I find it odd that I can be so offended and so pleased at the same time. shrug.

Great post. Thanks. I needed that chuckle re: the hubs. chuckle.

Deb

Vagabonds Mercantile said...

It's happened to me too. Strange men being extra friendly. When I was fat I was invisible. People look me in the eye now, I never have to hold a door open and everyone seams more polite.

Val N. said...

Loved this post. Especially the husband part. I will say that men have helped me with stuff, even at my heaviest, although I will also say, I know I am a flirt at any size. Direct eye contact and a smile, and it's "Do you need help with that?"

I like your sister blog, btw. I've been food in the basement for a couple of years now, and have a healthy store built up. Feels good.

Karen Butler Ogle said...

LOL at hubby. My hubby has been trying to drop a few pounds too even though he looks fine and isn't really that over weight. He always starts cutting back a little when his jeans get a little snug.:)

Maude said...

Is it terrible that I laughed out loud at the Ted Bundy part? I know it's true that you have to be careful, but your description cracked me up. Congrats on being followed around by a random guy! Does wonders for the ego.

And I just have to say how grateful I am for my husband. He has actually never made any "helpful" comments, which I appreciate more and more as I hear what other people's husbands say. It sounds like you have a nicely level playing field at your house these days!

Beth said...

Lol at your husband. Dieting isn't for the faint at heart, is it?! It's tough!

And recently I had a young man flirt with me and it was only about two hours after it happened that I realised that he'd been flirting with me. I'm so used to being invsible... I kept thinking about it all week, baffled and wondering if I'd imagined it...

Retta said...

Dittos here with the shoe-is-on-the-hubbys-dieting-foot-now. Kinda funny. Mine is finally getting more sympathetic! He used to drop pounds in a blink whenever he wanted...not now.

I was wondering what your Green Beret sweetie thought about these Ted Bundy wannabees following you around being so helpful. Or is this "our little secret". ;-)

Loretta
=^..^=

Christine said...

@ loretta..nope I told him...he just got this weird little look..I always tell him. I don't want to keep anything 'secret'..even harmless silliness.

'Yellow Rose' Jasmine said...

Poor hubby. He'll have yet another whole new appreciation for your efforts.
Yes, lots of weirdness does follow weightloss. You and I are in the same ballpark right now due to a loss for me over the last 6 months or so (using much of your advice!). I recently had a very tall, large man guess that I must weigh no more than 95 pounds. I was at a party and some strange moment came up when it was relavent. I was so shocked I almost fell off a barstool!

Christine said...

lol@ yellow rose jasmine...
95 lbs. wow!
lolol.
tell him it's a hardship but you manage. lol.

outdoor.mom said...

men and diets - lol!! chia obama?! my husband would be interested in that one ;-) Sounds like all is well over there. Keep warm!! It gets cold in the winter without the extra layers!!