Friday, January 28, 2011

Fluffiness, Calories Burned, and A Lecture...


I just can't decide if Oliver is fairing so well this winter.

 Seriously.  He wasting away before my very eyes.
 I decided to weigh him a week or so ago.  Translation:  I made Studmuffin weigh himself, then weigh himself holding this big ole ball of fluff...I was not feeling any desire for him to see my weight, then tack the cat's on top of it!

The poor fella is down to 16 pounds.  I am not at all sure if he will make it through the winter at this rate.  We are due for another cold snap come Monday night.  I would fatten him up on some good bacon or some such, but he turns up his nose at human food.  No, he is ecstatic to dive into his cat food every morning, then follow the kids to the dog bowl when Kelsey is fed.  He has no compunction about burying his nose in her Pedigree Healthy Weight food and going to town.

Go figure.

Speaking of unsightly jiggly in the wiggly.... 

It was 75 degrees today.  I made my former walking partner be my current walking partner and we went to burn a few calories...I'm not sure if I burned more calories walking or yacking my jaw.  I was home with a sick kid today, so I fear she had to take in a LOT of stored up words....We are expecting snow and ice come Monday and Tuesday with it staying well below freezing until Friday.  With Oliver's weight dropping at such an alarming rate, he may have to be camped in the garage for a few days.

Speaking of burning calories and wasting away:  I bought a new Jillian Michaels DVD this week.  Apparently I had an extra nine bucks burning a hole in my pocket.  Actually, I have lost my hand weights.  I ask you, how does one LOSE hand weights?  I have been doing Jillian's 30 Day Shred DVD, and I really felt that I actually needed the weights to truly justify "replacing hours in the gym with a 20 minute workout."

So, when I went to buy groceries Wednesday, I ran to the sporting goods section in Walmart...Well, not really RAN.  It was more of a lengthy hurried stride.  Which is pretty much my normal. I hurriedly walk everywhere I go....

I walked away with new hand weights and Jillian's Yoga Meltdown.  

Here's news for you!  I hate working my arms.  I consider hauling my 16 pound cat from the garage to the front door a sufficient arm workout.  Her Meltdown workout has excessive push ups.  

I swear, if she made me do one more push up to a side plank (only they aren't push ups in yoga, but I can't remember, or spell the real name.  And I'm too lazy to google it) I was going to go grab one of my brand new purple 5 pound weights and throw it through the TV.

Only my arms were too weak and wobbly to throw a weight at the TV.

Here's the good news:  The workout is tough.  I really didn't expect to be sore from a yoga workout, but it turns out that if you go an extended period without doing much with your core, and you bust out this thing, you will feel muscles deep with in your belly that you never even realized you could flex.  Only you will not realize they are there until the next morning.  Every time you breathe.  Or move.  Or sit down.  Or laugh.  Or cry in pain...

Just sayin'.

If you're looking to shed some inches I would totally recommend any of her workout DVD's.  

You can get serious results in 30 minutes or less.  And let's be real.  Who can't squeeze in 20 minutes for a workout?  Most of us spend that much time on facebook and blogging and staring at the TV, crashed out on the couch. 

 So, now that I've lectured you on your lack of exercise in life, how's about I move onto another bandwagon altogether?

I despise plastic bags.  I live in windy Oklahoma.  I challenge you to drive down the road and not see a dad gum plastic bag on a fence.  Or a high line pole.  Seriously.  They are the bane of my existence...

I actually ditched plastic bags way back in 2007. I spotted reusable bags in my local Walmart and immediately snatched them up.  I still have some of those original bags.  I have even washed them in my washer.  They lost their shape, and are kinda floppy, and the clerk has a devil of a time folding them out, but they are still usable!

My mother in law gave me an ACE hardware bag the other day.  I was sitting in Braum's eating a junior deluxe burger with my family, and had brought the bag in with plans to buy some groceries before we left...

The tag caught my eye,  and I had to share the statistics with you.  I think it will change how you look at plastic bags forever.  Here's a link to the maker of the bag if you want to learn more.

14 plastic bags contain enough petroleum to drive a car a mile.

380 billion plastic bags or wraps are thrown away in America each year.

17 cents per bag in disposal costs, wasting millions of tax dollars.

Is that not ridiculous?  Go ahead and carry your own bags in your trunk.  Carry them in with you to the store.  You will get a nice little warm fuzzy feeling that you did a small thing to make a difference today.

This lecture is now concluded.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

I want to do the 30 Day shred too after I finish my races!

Unknown said...

oh, and I hate plastic bags!

Paula said...

Can I join the rant for a sec? Okay, I get plastic occasionally for bathroom trash can liners and for cat litter disposal...but this is RARE. What irks me is that the clerks don't fill my real bags up. They "hurry" through them so they can stuff the plastic or at least they try to. I stand over them and tell them to keep filling the bag. They look at me and see that I am serious then toss in a tiny can and try to move to a new bag. I don't let them. I don't care if the bag is heavy. Really people use your shopping bags as part of your weight training. They are made to carry the weight. And another thing, I often run into a store and use my bag as my cart...I fill it then take it to the register and they empty and refill it, but often mention the weight and try to put the things into two bags. Ugh! and that's all I have to say about that.

Megan said...

I always hurriedly walk too.

I also use the plastic bags for trashcan liners. I do have a nice little collection going under the sink so I suppose that I could switch to the inexpensive reusable shopping bags...because really they do pay for themselves!

Paula's comment made me laugh about the cashiers never wanting to put enough in the bags. I really never pay attention to their sacking ability/inability and usually watch to make sure they are scanning stuff correctly. Then when I get to my car and start loading everything I can usually be heard saying, "OH, COME ON! SERIOUSLY! YOU PUT ONE ITEM IN THE BAG!" Which is probably another reason that I prefer self check out, because I know that bag is going to be be full when I'm done with it!

By the way, Crest in OKC uses paper bags. Which you rarely see anymore.

Sarah Kamolz said...

OH NO! I'VE GONE CRAZY TOO! I have my bags and take them shopping with me, and when I happen to go to the grocery story without bags I demand a paper one, unless I'm at Walmart, and OH HOW I HATE PLASTIC BAGS! Jacob and I, like you, use fabric napkins! Hello! Why throw all that paper away when I can do another load of laundry! Geez! And paper plates? OH NO! There is nothing wrong with washing the ones you already own that you can use over and over again! In fact, the church was having a meeting the other day about Wednesday night meals for the Awana kids. Can you believe someone was planning on bringing paper plates for them to eat off of? I MEAN ESPECIALLY SINCE WE HAVE ENOUGH KIDS TRAYS FOR EACH ONE OF THOSE TOTS!? REDICULOUS! Our church even has a huge dishwasher thing that washes like 15 of those trays in half a minute! Sometimes, I just don't get people! Haha! Lol! P.S. Jake and I are doing P90X and although I love and hate the burn and the soreness, I love knowing that if I burn in my chub, there is hope! Haha! Okay enough rambling for me! LOVE YOU!

Unknown said...

I think the clerks get a commission on how many bags they use....

Allegro ma non troppo said...

I mow the lawn. There. Workout.

I hate that reusable bags are also made from plastic, although they look kind of like fabric. They're just polypropolene instead of polyethelyne or something like that - some people think the reusable ones are WORSE for the environment, but I can't remember why.

Don't ever iron them...

I'd like some sturdy, flat bottomed fabric bags. Wonder where I could get some...

Andi said...

Crazy Sister, I've seen lovely canvas flat bottom bags at book stores! For a bigger price tag of course. I think the deal with reusable bags is that they are REUSABLE. Am I genius, or what? However, I'm kind of serious because I've had most of my bags for several years. How can that be worse than thousands of plastic bags I would have used? It probably emits more gases to make the heavier PPE bags than flimsy plastic. But that's pure conjecture.

And, I will definitely refrain from ironing my bags. Of course, I hardly iron my clothes so I was pretty safe there anyway!

Me said...

Andi, thanks for the multi purpose ramblings today. Your blg caused me to dust off and resume using my hand weights, check the weight of my dogs and dig out my reusable grocery bags. Plus on top of all that you gave me a great laugh or two, or three... thanks love your ramblings.

Jen @ Domesticated Nomad said...

Um, yeah. So out of all that what stuck in my mind was Braum's. I used to live in Braum's territory, but alas, I moved and can no longer have it. It used to be the closet restaurant to my house. I also enjoy that Braum's and Jillian Michaels wound up in the same post. :)

Marilyn said...

When I take my bags in, the clerks hate it. I don't understand what the big deal is. At one time, cardboard boxes were kept by the front of the store and groceries were put in them to carry out. If you chose, you could bring them back the next time you shopped. Only in recent years have things been so throw away. Thanks for all of the information about the cost of plastic bags.