Category: Lifestyle

March 2014 Update

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Can you believe it’s already March? I actually did a double-take before I threw out my February desk calendar just to make sure it was actually March.

February was a crazy month for me, so I apologize for the lack of posts. Being short-staffed in the office with no ability to hire anyone until April has been incredibly fun, but admid the chaos of stressful days, it wasn’t all bad. I was also able to be part of my oldest friend’s wedding which was nothing short of a fairytale ending (literally… it was Disney themed since she loves Disney.) I couldn’t pick up my dress from getting altered until the night before the wedding thanks to snow so I was thrilled it fit. Plus I had a blast getting my hair done and makeup airbrushed. I even got fake lashes. I went super simple with my nails because I didn’t want acrylics. It was all well worth it, but I have to say I’m super happy to be able to relax and be home before 9PM again.

wedding copy

My focus for 2014, simplicity has been going well. My mountains of paperwork {okay… that may be a bit of an exxageration} have been tamed. I even started scanning in my old Filofax pages. I also took some time to organize iPhoto which was basically like one of those closets that’s become such a disaster you avoid opening it. I’ll be posting something about how I eventually decided to set it up at some point.

For March, the plan is to focus on a few things:

  • Returning the broken/damaged parts of my bed and finally getting it put together.
  • Getting back on track for my goal of reading 52 books this year. According to Goodreads, I’m 3 books behind schedule.
  • Continuing to perfect my digital planning system.
  • Working on getting my finances back under control. Again, I don’t have much of a balance on my credit cards, but I’d rather there be none.

What are your plans for March?

Signature Update

My NuMe Nightmare

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Hi everyone,

Today, I’m sharing my experience with NuMe, a company that gets quite a bit of buzz on the internet for their hair care products.

I’m going to backtrack a bit for a second. I’ve been using the same Conair hair dryer since before I was in high school. In the past 10 years or so, I’ve never had any problems with it until it started making a weird noise about 2 weeks ago. After 10 years, I can justify getting a new dryer, besides I have a horrifying memory from my middle school years of one of my friends bringing her hair dryer downstairs glowing orange {like the glow of molten metal} and ever since then, I’ve been terrified of any malfunctioning device that could potentially set my hair on fire {especially given my inability to smell smoke}, so I immediately started looking for a new hair dryer.

I’d been looking online and have had my eye on two hair dryers for quite some time now. The Misikko HANAair hair dryer ($194.99 on sale…) and NuMe’s Signature Ionic Dryer ($219 on sale…) Naturally, these were “investment” pieces, and I wasn’t exactly ready to drop $200 on a hair dryer, so I was happy to find a 70% off promo code for NuMe.

And that’s where the nightmare starts…

Upon checking my receipt, I realized the promo code only took off 60% not 70%. I immediately contacted NuMe’s customer support via email explaining the issue. This was the response I received:

Thank you for contacing NuMe. In response to your question, codes are only valid for single use, and are applied to all eligible items in your cart at the time you complete your order. Once used, your code is considered redeemed, and cannot be used again, even if the total amount of your card did not meet the full promotional value of the voucher or coupon you are using.

Basically, they stated that because the code was used, they couldn’t issue me a refund. But wait? Didn’t I order it from you? Weren’t you the company that charged my card? Of course you can issue a refund. I replied explaining this, and got this response:

Thank you for contacting NuMe. Insider70 was an offer that has expired; however, it was extended as a courtesy but with a 60% off instead of a 70% off. We apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused. Please keep in mind that offers are subject to change without notice.

So now they are saying the code was expired, and they gave me the 60% off as a courtesy. Had they just come out and said this with some sort of notice like “This promo code has expired, but we have taken 60% off as a courtesy,” I’d have been satisfied. Instead all I got was an email saying they’d forward my feedback to marketing.

During this ordeal, I actually reached out to them via their Facebook page as well, and they apologized asking me to private message them. I did so promptly, but sadly never received any response.

I wish I could say that was the end of my NuMe nightmare, but it gets worse.

My Signature Ionic Dryer arrived on February 12. I was excited to have a “working” hair dryer that didn’t pose any risk to setting my head on fire at any moment. The dryer comes with 2 concentrator nozzles. Naturally I tested everything out of the box. Hair dryer works – check. Everything is included – check. Concentrators fit – WRONG.

The concentrators did go on the hair dryer, but before I could move the hair dryer to my hair, they’d slipped off the slippery “soft touch finish” and landed on the floor. My first thought was that I must be doing something wrong. Maybe I’m not pushing them on far enough. Maybe they interlock somehow. All my efforts failed, and I contacted support once again.

The same gentleman I’d previously been dealing with responded to my new request, and explained they’d send out replacement concentrators. At this point I was hopeful. This was the first time I felt like NuMe support might not be awful. That hope was shortlived though.

The concentrators arrived fairly quickly. Sadly they also did not fit. These wouldn’t even fit over the nozzle part of the dryer. In fact, they were so small, they fit INSIDE the original nozzles I had received.

I once again contacted support explaining the issue. This was the response I received:

Thank you for contacting NuMe. We apologize that you are having trouble with your Hair Dryer, please be advised that these nozzles were tested prior to being sent and proved to be in working order. We recommend switching out the Hair Dryer as that may be the problem, or we can approve your return for a refund for the purchase price. Please advise

Now this first bit shocked me. I’m not sure which dryer they tested it on, but it certainly wasn’t the one I had (one of the only two models they sell).

At this point, I explained that if the dryer was defective, I would be happy to just to return the dryer and get a refund. While at it, I included this picture in my response to illustrate how well the replacement concentrators fit:

IMG_2874

The next response I got was even better….

Thank you for contacting NuMe. Please be advised that according to these pictures the nozzles you initially recieved were for the Classic Hair Dryer which is why they fell off, the 2nd set of nozzles should work fine with your Signature Hair Dryer; however, as advised we will accept your return, please return all items to :

NuMe Style
7028 Valjean Ave.
Van Nuys Ca 91406

Also, please be advised that we will not send a Pre-Paid Label you must return the items at your cost, please obtain a tracking number when doing so to avoid the item being lost or stolen and to reassure that a refund will be issued.

So now he’s telling me the nozzles I received IN THE BOX originally were the wrong ones. {Wait what?} NuMe ships the Signature Ionic dryer with the concentrators for the WRONG dryer?! The replacements which didn’t even fit were for the right one? And on top of that they expect ME TO PAY to return their defective product?

At this point, I’ve dealt with being overcharged, shipped a faulty product, spent week dealing with customer support, and now I’m being asked to pay for returning a defective product. I do not think that asking for a prepaid shipping label after all that is that much to ask for.

I’ve written back asking to have my issue handled by a supervisor. I fear, however, that this issue will need to be escalated to the Better Business Bureau.

As someone who works in the customer support field, good support is something I really pride companies in, but I’m also fairly lenient when it comes to understanding support is a tough job. You’re faced with policies that may not always be fair to the customer. I want to give this gentleman the benefit of the doubt. However  I really do hope that NuMe changes their support model in the future, and I hope that in writing this, it will save someone the trouble of this potentially happening to them.

I, for one, know I will not be purchasing anything from NuMe again. I will also not be recommending the company to any one who asks me for recommendations. It really is unfortunate considering I had hoped this to be the first purchase of many. As for my hair dryer, I’ve ordered a Conair Infiniti Pro Hair Dryer which was under $35. Lesson learned – more expensive isn’t always better. Hopefully this one works out better than NuMe.

Update: I’m not sure what happened – whether it was my Facebook posts, tweet, this blog post, or just NuMe realizing the error in their ways, but they did agree to send me a shipping label. They claim they are shipping one [the label] again, which is news to me because they haven’t shipped one before. I’m also not sure why they wouldn’t just email one to print out, but in any event, I’m hopeful that this will be the beginning to getting the issue resolved.

Update 12/9/2014: I’ve been using my Conair Infiniti Pro Hair Dryer for around 8 months now, and I love it. It worked much better than the NuMe dryer and for the price, you just can’t beat it. Plus it’s by far the best looking hair dryer I’ve ever owned. When I pulled it out of the box, I couldn’t help but marvel at the color. It reminded me of a fancy car paint job.

Signature Update

My Secret Life of Blogging

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I have a confession to make. I’m a closet blogger. Is that an actual term? Probably not.

I’ve told very people I know in real life that I blog. I’m sure they could find this blog if they wanted to. After all, I have quite a few of my social media profiles linked to the site, and every so often, I see that people are getting to my blog by directly searching my name or something. {I’d hope the only people searching my full name are people who know me.} My blog’s public, it should be expected that people are going to find it. I want people to find it otherwise I wouldn’t be posting to a blog.

The thing is, whenever someone I know tells me they’ve found my blog, I’m immediately horrified. It’s like they’ve somehow stumbled into my diary of secrets – my secret life of sorts. It’s not like anything I post on here is horribly embarrassing though, so I started wondering why it bothers me so much.

I own the fact that I’m awkard and weird. Anyone close enough to me knows I’m slightly obsessive over certain things or that I enjoy technology and planners. I spend an inordinate amount of time finding really geeky ways of doing things to make my life easier. I’m super focused on my career, and my pets mean the world to me. If people I know already know this, why do I care if people I know read what I post on here?

I think my fear is that maybe my friends have never really grasped how weird I actually am. Now I say weird lightly. I believe everyone’s weird in their own ways and that’s perfectly okay, but I worry that they’ll see this blog and think, “Wow, she has an unhealthy obsession with Filofaxes!” or “She’s thought way to much about this particular program”.

It’s not just weirdness though. Part of me is waiting for that one day when my blog is really successful and I can say something like, “ What? You haven’t seen my blog yet?!” I love reading super put together blogs, but those people have been blogging for a long time, and they do it for a living. Blogging isn’t my main main job and this blog is fairly new, so the reality of having some crazy popular blog isn’t probably coming anytime soon.

Let’s face it though. This is me. This is my blog. Maybe I should start embracing it more.

Signature Update

2014 Goals

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Last year, I wrote out a ton of goals and lost them. Somehow I managed to do a pretty good job at completing most of them though.

This year, I went with a different approach.

For 2014, I decided to have 1 main focus and a few goals.

2014’s focus will be to

simplify

how I do things.

what I buy.

what I already have.

You get the idea.

Goal wise, the plan is to do the following:

  • Read 52 books
  • Identify {and do} 3 tasks each day
  • Exercise at least 3x a week
  • Drink 56 oz. of water a day
  • Run a 5K
  • Purchase my bedroom furniture
  • Connect with people and actually go out and live a little
  • and last but not least, not neglect this blog as I have been doing.

Happy New Year! Thank you all for reading! Here’s to making 2014 even better than the last!

Update: Apparently the trend this year is having one word to focus on for this year. I had no idea when I wrote this post, but apparently I’m going along with the trend.

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What I Learned in 2013

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2013 definitely taught me a lot about myself. For the first time in my life I found out that I have hobbies outside of “liking animals.” {I don’t think that actually counts as a hobby, but I never had anything better to tell them.}

Tone It Up introduced me to a world of fitness and clean eating. This time last year, I’d have laughed at you if you told me there’d be a treadmill in my family room, and I’d have weights under my TV.

I also discovered hoop dancing. I knew that I was going to try it, but I didn’t realize how much fun I’d have with it, nor did I ever think I was going to be any good at it. For anyone who ever thought they couldn’t hoop as a kid, I highly recommend trying an actual hoop made for adults. I can hoop for hours with a good hoop, but I can’t hoop for 5 seconds with the one I had as a child.

When I wasn’t exercising, cooking, or hoop dancing, {and I wasn’t at work…} I was probably reading for most of the year. Sitting outside with a drink from Starbucks and my Kindle became the norm for a while there.

Not all my hobbies were great though. I seem to have developed a bit of a shopping addiction. I wore a uniform from the time I was 6 until I was 17. I owned maybe a total of 6 pairs of shoes and wore a t-shirt and jeans every day. Now, I have a whole closet full of just shoes and an overflowing walk-in closet with more clothes than I know what to do with. I may have a problem…

I think I grew the most in terms of my career though. {And considering how much time I spent on it, I suppose it should be…}

When I was in college, I did my best to be invisible which is pretty hard when your super-outgoing mother’s worked there for your whole life. This year it became clear that I’ve unknowingly managed to undo all that hard work though. Maybe it’s the training demos I’ve been doing, or maybe after 5 years, my name is finally getting out there, but I find myself saying “Hi” to people quite a lot now. In fact, I even found myself introducing my mom to a few people at this year’s holiday party {again a pretty big deal when she’s been there for over 20 years…} I think the most surprising part is that I don’t mind this as much as I thought even being as awkward in social situations as I am. If anything, I’m pretty proud that I’ve managed to somehow stay connected despite being on the other side of the pond {aka my University’s pond that sits between my building and the rest of the main buildings on campus}.

I also realized Instructional Systems Design was not the right program for me, and I’m now in the process of pursuing another path that will hopefully lead me back into technology NOT training. {Note to self: If you don’t want to teach, don’t take courses related to designing teaching programs…}

I think the most important thing I learned this year however was to just be me. I may not be planning a wedding on Pinterest. I may not be posting baby pictures on Facebook. I may still be looking for Mr. Right, and still in school, and I may be living at home to help my mom pay bills – All things that I thought I’d have figured out by now, but I do have a wonderful, well-paying job that’s willing to pay for graduate school. I have some pretty great people in my life who have stuck by me no matter what, and I have some amazing animals that wake me up with kisses even when I look like hell and don’t want to get out of bed. I’m happy and grateful for what I have and what I can provide for others, and that’s what really matters.

Here’s to the end of a wonderful yet unexpected year!

Signature Update

A Look Back at 2013

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I’ve never been one to have goals, but there’s a first time for everything right?

I started 2013 with a plan. I had a list of overall goals for my life. I also made a list of specific goals for 2013. I even broke that list down so that I had specific things to focus on for each month {inspired by The College Prepster}. Plan-wise 2013, should have been my year.

At least until I lost my goals…

Word of advice to anyone: If you type up ANYTHING, and especially something as important as goals, don’t save them as an untitled.txt and leave them on your desktop.

I guess even the most OCD, organized computer user has bad habits. In my case, my two habits of not saving files with proper names and always wanting a clean desktop created a recipe for disaster, and my goals were deleted.

Or so I thought…

Today while searching my computer for that wonderful yearly goal planner broken down by month {from Philofaxy}, I found two files:

  • A word document called Overall Goals
  • and a text file called GoalsandProjects

I quickly opened them up, and it was like looking at a time capsule.

My goals for 2013

  • I will read 13 books – Check. In fact, I’ve read a total of 64 as of today.
  • I will paint my bedroom and bathroom. – Check. {Well… I paid someone to paint them.}
  • I will organize my bathroom. – Sort of, but not in the sense I was going for, so I’ll say no.
  • I will participate in at least 1 photo challenge per month. – Massive fail. I couldn’t even make it through one month. On the other hand, I did try to be the one to bring my camera to events {even if I didn’t remember to take pictures… baby steps right?}
  • I will use one, and only one, planner. – You only have to read this blog to know I failed miserably at this one too.
  • I will remember birthdays. – Sort of? Facebook reminded me of most…
  • I will drink more water and less caffeine. – This is definitely a work in progress. I’m back to coffee in the mornings, and I treat myself to ONE energy drink to get me through Friday afternoons/nights, but I’m also drinking much more water.
  • I will exercise at least once a week. – I think it’s safe to say this one’s a success. In fact, I’m probably working out 3 times a week or more excluding my morning mini workouts.
  • I will create a blog. – Well this one’s a no brainer… here it is!

Overall, considering, I pretty much lost these goals and didn’t pay attention to them midway into January, I’m pretty surprised at how well I did. I mean, 6 out of 10, without even thinking about it… That’s shocking.

The Goals and Projects file was a bit more of a brain dump, but it was fun looking back at what I was planning to do like making detailed cleaning schedules to force me to clean {like that’d ever work…}, organizing the house one room at a time, creating a study plan {Ha! Who was I kidding?}.

The most detailed section was work by far, and I have to say, it’s truly amazing to see how far we’ve come. Working in customer support, it’s really easy to get caught up in the day to day routine. Meetings become monotonous, and you really don’t notice all that your accomplishing until you look back at a list and realize that thing you take for granted today was just an idea in your mind a year ago.

Finding 2013’s goals was a great way to look back at the year. 2013 might not have gone as expected, and it was definitely a hard year for me in every way possible, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve changed so much in such a short amount of time, and I’ve grown in more ways than I could imagine. Now it’s back to the drawing board to work for 2014’s goals, and this time, hopefully I won’t lose them.

Signature Update

First Impressions of the Fitbit Force

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Main copy

Happy Friday!

I’m pretty excited right now because my Fitbit Force got here a day earlier than I thought! I got a Fitbit Flex in June and was planning to do a review on it, but I just didn’t get around to it, so today’s post will be a bit of a review on the Flex and my first impressions of the Force.

So to start this off, I preordered my Flex and it arrived in June. After a LONG wait, I was beyond excited when it finally came in the mail. I set it up, and it’s been on my wrist ever since (aside from when it was charging). It took a bit to figure out all the taps, and I’m still not entirely sure I have them figured out. I usually just tapped until I got the alarm to go off, or got it to buzz for sleep mode. {Not a fantastic design there…} My main issue, one that everyone else seemed to have was with the wear and tear of the wrist band. After 2 months of wearing it, it was a wreck. It actually started to separate around the window that the tracker shined through, and I had contacted Fitbit who quickly sent me a replacement band. {I honestly wonder whether the bands were on backorder for so long because they had so many issues with them.} (Note: The pictures used in this comparison show the original band I received. I decided to continue using it until it fell apart. It’s nearly split completely at the base now.)

Anyway long story short, despite the band issues, I loved my Flex. No single device has motivated me to stay active more than this thing, and for that, it’s worth it’s weight in gold. When I heard about the Force, it was a no-brainer. I preordered it as soon as I could. I did have some hesitation after realizing I can’t wear it in the shower, and I can’t change the band, but I decided I’d hope for the best.

So about the Force. {and pardon the bad lighting in these pictures…}

Packaging (shown above) was VERY similar to the Flex. I again got the Black.

Bandcomparison copy

Fitbit Flex on the left/bottom. Force on the right/top.

bandwear

Original black Fitbit Flex band (6 months of wear); Fitbit Force, unused black Fitbit Flex band

Upon taking it out the packaging, I was surprised to see that the band does look to be made of a slightly different material than the Flex. {This may be a good thing… *fingers crossed*} Also gone is the recessed Fitbit logo that tended to collect dirt. In it’s place is a slightly raised logo that’s barely visible. {I like.}

logoclasp copy

Fitbit Flex on the left, Force on the right.

cordcomparison

The Flex’s cable has a sort of pocket to hold the tracker, whereas the Force doesn’t.

The charger is sporting a slightly longer flat cable instead of the Flex’s round cable.

Set up was a breeze. I simply set up a new device to replace my Flex, and everything was done in under 2 minutes.

Easy as pie.

screen

Right now my only gripe is that I can’t seem to find a way to get the screen display to stay on. The line you see next to the MI is the screen animation starting to wipe away the stats. It took me forever to get my camera to focus in time to get a picture. I’m not sure it’s possible or if I’ll even want it to, but for watch lovers, having to press a button to check the time may be a pain. {In trying to find a way though, I did discover it has a timer…} Update: After reading the Force 101 tutorial, the timer is for sleep. Why a timer, I have no clue. Not exactly intuitive on a watch-like device. Maybe Zzzz’s would have been more appropriate than a timer.

Now I’m off to package up my Flex which will be going to my very lucky mother who seems to be getting lots of gadgets lately thanks to me.

Do you have an activity tracker? I’ve always wanted to try the Up because it looks so much more stylish.

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November 2013 Goals

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Hello lovelies!

I’m still in shock that it’s already November! Where did the rest of the year go? Anyway, it’s been a while since I’ve done any sort of goals post, so today I’m back with my goals for November.

#1 – I’m participating in Monica’s (from Run Eat Repeat) 2013 Pile on the Miles Challenge. My goal is to run/walk a total of 118 miles this month. Now that I have a treadmill, I really have no excuse to get myself in shape to be able to run a full 5K. For those of you who do run, you’re probably laughing that my goal is a 5K, but this girl has never even run a full mile in her life. {True story: In middle school, I was the one to discover that I could walk a mile not run and still qualify for the President’s Physical Fitness Award. P.E. class was never the same again.}

#2 – Now that I have an actual bill for this treadmill, reality has sunk in that I really want to pay off my credit cards and also pay off this treadmill well before they start charging me interest. That means I need to stop buying everything under the sun. Wishlists are not “BUY ALL THE THINGS NOW” lists, but that’s how I’ve been living.

#3 – I will wake up every morning and complete my Bootycall. For those of you who don’t follow Tone It Up, it’s not what you think. It’s basically waking up and getting your body moving first thing. For me, the most I’ve been successful with is 10 minutes of HIIT, but hey, it’s something, and I feel great. On the weekends, I’ve been typically swapping it out for a run.

That’s it for November. Three goals this month. {I’m trying to set myself up for success.} There’s also a bit of a fitness theme for this month which has been a huge part of my life lately.

Good luck to everyone in completing your goals, and happy November!

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Has Fat-Shaming Gone Too Far?

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Hi everyone,

Today, I’m going to take a break from the normal content of my blog to actually talk about something quite controversial right now – the topic of fat shaming. Now, if this isn’t your cup of tea, you’re welcome to stop reading this. My aim in writing this post isn’t to bash people with body types, lifestyles, health issues, or even opinions that differ from my own. This just happens to be one thing I actually have an opinion on, and I’d like to share it. If you don’t agree with me, that’s perfectly fine. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinions, and I fully respect that.

For those of you who don’t know, the internet has been buzzing about a photo posted by Maria Kang, a mother of three, showing off what I’d say to be a pretty amazing body for any woman who had a baby 8 months earlier with the caption, “What’s your excuse?” Now I commend her for the way she looks. I don’t even have any kids, and I definitely don’t look like that. However, many people on the internet found the picture and caption insulting. This isn’t the first of this either. In fact, not too long ago, Matthew Inman of the Oatmeal was criticized for his character the Blerch when people claimed he was responsible for fat shaming after a fan dressed up as the character at a comic convention. {For anyone who doesn’t know of Inman’s comics, most are written in a very in your face and shocking way, but I don’t think fat shaming was what he was going for.}

When I saw both Kang’s photo and Inman’s Blerch, I didn’t find them shameful. I found them inspiring. Here’s a woman who lives an incredibly busy life, has had 3 kids, and still has time to take care of herself! {Really, what is my excuse?} Inman runs ultra-marathons, and he still has that evil voice in the back of his head screaming about cookies and watching Netflix. {just like me!} So are we now saying that anyone in the fitness industry is partaking in fat-shaming because they are trying to promote a healthy lifestyle? Are Karina and Katrina of Tone It Up shaming “fat” people by posting inspiring stories of TIU girls who’ve transformed their bodies each week? Is Cassey Ho of Blogilates shaming people when she advertises a shirt stating “Muffin tops are for muffins only?” Or are these just healthy, active people simply trying to inspire other people interested in improving themselves?

Now, you see, I’m small. I’m 5’1″, and I typically weigh under 115 lbs. I’m sure anyone who’s ever struggled with their weight is probably cringing. {Of course a skinny girl would be writing this…} But just as people stereotype people that don’t have an hourglass figure, they also stereotype “skinny” people. I’ve lost track of how many times people have remarked, “Wow, you mean you actually eat?” At times, even my own family members have forced me to put extra food on my plate “because I’m too small.”

I’m here to say being small does not equal being healthy. I may be a size 0, but I want to fall over and die after jogging a quarter mile, and that’s not healthy. Health isn’t always as black and white as how big or small you are, and health isn’t based on one simple number. Health is based on a combination of factors. I once had a PE teacher who ran constantly. Her classes weren’t your average B.S. gym class either. You learned things in her class, and you left sweating and sore for days. In her lessons on BMI, she told us that based on her BMI, she would be considered obese, but that was purely because most of her weight was muscle. Someone who runs at least 8 miles a day who actually truly taught P.E. was technically obese according to BMI.

I don’t think Kang and Inman were specifically targeting “fat” people. I mean, do you think that healthy people, or skinny people, don’t have excuses?  They don’t wake up and think, “Gosh, it’d be so much nicer to sleep in?” or see a piece of cake and think “That piece of cake looks amazing?” They both admitted to struggling in the past. I routinely plan to fit in morning workouts and routinely sleep instead. I might make protein pancakes for breakfast only to have a Whopper with cheese and chocolate cake for dinner. The point is, people like Kang or Inman recognize that these things working against us do exist. We simply find ways to work with our excuses and motivate us to do better rather than letting excuses consume us.

I’ll be the first to say I’m lazy when it comes to working out. I want to run a 5K someday, but sitting here writing this blog post in sweat pants seems so much nicer than going outside for a run right now. When I get home after work, watching Netflix seems way easier than putting on workout clothes and putting in a workout DVD. Living a healthy lifestyle takes work. It’s a commitment, and no it’s not always enjoyable or easy, but I keep trying because I enjoy taking care of my body.

Now I know there are a lot of people saying that society pressures people to look a certain way. I’m not going to disagree with that. I really respect companies that put weight requirements in place for models to ensure they aren’t too skinny. I work out and try to live a healthy lifestyle for ME and no one else. I like being able to see the changes in my body that pushing myself brings about. I love the feeling I get after a workout. I love how I feel when I eat better. {but I also love the occasional Snickers bar… – Everything in moderation} On the other hand, I also worry about messages we’re sending to kids about it being okay to be inactive and not eat healthy. I grew up in a house where you played outside until it was dark there and you had to eat your all vegetables before you got up from the table. Is it more important to teach kids how to live a healthy lifestyle or teach them to ignore it because it’s okay to live in front of the TV eating Cheetos every day?

What honest really prompted me to write this were the excuses other people have been giving to Kang’s photo. Now first of all, no one is saying you have to look like Kang, so I’m going to take those excuses out of the picture, and I realize some people may have legitimate excuses like disabilities, but the ones I’m seeing are not like that. I’m talking about excuses like being too self conscious to work out at a gym, not having enough money to work out, or a bad childhood. Many skinny people also dislike working at a gym. I happen to have anxiety in social situations, so I actually prefer to work at home. If you don’t have enough money, guess what? Your own body is a great piece of gym equipment. A bad childhood doesn’t mean you have to let it affect you for the rest of your life, it’s a reason to go to counseling.

I’m not sure where “fat-shaming” will go. My current feeling is that it’s already gone to far in that people are confusing inspiration and success stories with shaming. I can say I enjoy inspiring photos and silly comics like Kang’s or Inman’s. When I want to have a piece handful of candy or complain that I don’t have time to work out, it’s things like this that keep me going because I know I’m not alone and it is possible. If you’re fine with your lifestyle, by all means just don’t pay attention to these people. If you want to improve your health, realize you aren’t alone. Even the best of us struggle, and there’s entire community of people who have your back and are willing to push you back up when you have an excuse or your own Blerch is screaming at you to stop.

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Taking a Quick Break

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Welcome back everyone,

Today I’m sharing a quick update. While I’d love to have My Week post here instead, I honestly just don’t have the time at the moment. I know I sound like a broken record, but this week is probably the most chaotic of the year.

For those of you who don’t know, I help to supervise around 15 college students that work as a tech support help desk for the university. By Wednesday, 14,000 students will have returned to campus, and consequently, this week is hectic. Students are wondering why they can’t log in, see their courses online, or get their internet working in their dorms. Professors are scrambling to get their courses ready in time for the first day of classes, and staff are running around like crazy trying to please everyone as much as they can.

Work turns into phones ringing off the hook and customers stopping by for help as well. Tons of questions flood into the office, but the usual work doesn’t stop either meaning how-to articles need to be updated, product demos need to be presented, and weekly reviews still have to be done on top of the flood of other things. The majority of our department just hopes to make it to “10th day,” the 10th day of classes when everything finally starts to calm down. Right now we aren’t even at day 1, and it’s already crazy.

So this week is chaotic already to say the least, but let’s add to the fact that I also go back to school. This semester I’m taking a graduate course on the Adult Learner. I’m oh so thrilled…

Anyway, I just really have no time this week between my own class, keeping things running smoothly in the office as usual, and also keeping the frantic campus community happy, and that’s just work and school…

So I’ll return to posting next week hopefully when it will be a bit calmer, and I can actually remember to eat and breath.

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