Sooooooooo Annoying!

Wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world?

Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Now you have to come from an era where Dumb and Dumber reigned supreme during your formative years in order to get that joke. As it turns out, I come from that very era. I also happily sat in the front row of the theatre to see Dumb and Dumber II 20 years later. There is a little awkward confession for you.

Now, for what is REALLY annoying.

Have you ever been a designated driver? Maybe you drew the short straw for the big night out. Maybe you were pregnant, thus you were DD by default. Maybe you were in recovery and hadn't properly adjusted your circle of friends yet. Regardless of what the reason was you probably stumbled upon the one concrete fact that every designated driver in the history of designated drivers has begrudgingly realized. Drunks aren't all that fun when you aren't drunk yourself. Their jokes aren't all that funny. Their slurred speech isn't all that understandable. Their disjointed gait isn't all that entertaining. Their request to have you hold back their hair while they vomit isn't the least bit cute. When you aren't riding the same train they are, it just isn't the same.

The same can be true with people on the healthy train. Have you ever been to lunch with a vegetarian? One that isn't just content to be a vegetarian (which in my experience is all of them, sorry if you are a vegetarian). They have to have a 37 minute rant about all the reasons that being a vegetarian is better than consuming flesh of living souls. Unless you are like minded and riding that same vegetarian train, this is SUPER annoying. People that are on any kind of diet can have this tendency. It is not intentional. And, I sincerely hope that it is not judgmental. But it can certainly come across that way. See, people on a diet, or a new fitness regime, or people making healthy lifestyle changes (those particular buzzwords we use to convince ourselves we aren't being deprived anything, especially that double cheeseburger with curly fries) are on a new path that is consuming every part of their psyche, every part of their energy, and every part of their time. They are thinking about it ALL. OF. THE. TIME. So, when you offer them a treat, when they are visiting your home, purely out of hospitality and good manners and they scrunch up their face and turn up their nose in disgust like you just put a rotten potato in their face, please don't take offense. They are making a concerted effort to stay strong on their new path. They have drunk the Kool-Aid and there is no stopping the momentum of that train right now. When you want to knock a few back on a Friday night and they say No Thank You and spend the evening nursing their water bottle with a wedge of lemon in it instead, try not to take it personally. If you are having dinner with them and they begin to talk about how many points it is, by all means, you have my permission, just bitch slap them. (ear muffs) Sometimes people need a little slap back to reality.

Now, flip side of the coin. For those of us on that newly painted, freshly fueled, healthy train, try to keep it in check. Just because you have made this grand leap into better lifestyle choices doesn't mean that everyone close to you in this life is going to do the same thing. Don't rant about your quest unless someone actually asks you about it. Complimenting you on how great you look is NOT the same thing as asking. How did you do it? Now that is asking. Try to be courteous when you turn down treats. Don't be judgmental of people that can eat dessert, bread, and beer without consequences. You don't know what other things in life they struggle with. Maybe they have never enjoyed sex. Maybe they feel like failures as parents. Maybe they are closet alcoholics. Maybe they have other health concerns. There are lots of worse things in this world than having a slightly slow metabolism and an insatiable love of all things food. Looking good while having a worse problem is a small consolation. Be proud of your journey and your choices without being preachy about it. Look for support from people that ARE on the same path as you. Have those lengthy conversations about exercise, food, and all the emotions that go with them with those people. Start a blog. I can testify, this is a good way to voice all that stuff. People choose to read it, or they don't. Either way, you get it out there. You have a place to voice all that crazy workout stuff. All that LOVE/HATE food stuff. All the ups, all the downs. Or, better yet, comment on this blog, I {LOVE LOVE LOVE} hearing from you. (P.S. If you didn't catch it, that was me asking about your journey) Don't forget to have some fun once in awhile too. And don't dismiss your friends that politely offer you desserts or naughty drinks, remember that they loved you through thick and thin and every size in between. Be classy about the whole thing. You'll be glad you did.

I started listening to podcasts in the car instead of music on the radio. Sometimes I get tired of the radio. I'm weird, I know. Guess what the first podcast that I listened to was. Nope, not Ted Talks. Guess again. Nope, not Serial. I listened to Shaun T's Define Your Life. I love this guy even more. He is human x10. Some of his stuff is a little touchy feely for me, but that is probably an area of my personality that could use a little work, so, so be it. These podcasts are partially about working out, but it is more about how your life and past experiences shape who you are and how you can use them to either drive yourself or to wallow around in self-pity. Shaun T has had his fair share of struggles. One being his sexuality, turns out he is gay. He continually says that this fact does not define him. He doesn't open with it, he just states it matter-of-fact 40 minutes in. He grew up with a single mom (something we have in common) and supportive grandparents (something else we have in common). He has been overweight, believe it or not. The list goes on and on. What I took away from listening to him today is two things, ok, three things: 1) Don't judge people. This one is hard for me. I am constantly working on it. I am never all the way there, but I am working on it. 2) It is important to not to hate yourself. When I fired this blog back up a few weeks ago, that was one of the first things that I told you. I no longer hate myself. I doubt myself sometimes for sure, but I DO NOT hate myself anymore. 3) Tanya was not trying to steal my man, go figure. This may be a new form of support for me. I can do it in the privacy of my car, I get to feel cool because I'm being all techy and stuff, and Shaun T is nothing if not uplifting (his grandfather was a preacher, it may come from that).

Sorry about the length of today's post... I hope it wasn't too annoying! Ha! I crack myself up. Here is a virtual high five (watch the elbow) to all of you on the healthy train. Keep after it. You are A-Mazing!!!