Honeeeesttyyyy...is such a lonely word...

except in the blogosphere, where honesty is popular and gets you cool things, like the Honest Blogger award I just got from Polar's Mom.


Thanks, Polar's Mom! (By the way, *totally* agree with everything you said about Freddie Mercury. Genius). I'll get to my honest statements in a minute, but first, an update on my week.

My post-holiday austerity plan has hit an unexpected snag. My stomach is acting up. Waaaayyy up. I don't know why, but I suddenly seem to have lost my ability to digest a simple salad. For the past two weeks I've been hauling greens with me to work for lunch, and boy.... it's been ugly. And painful. Gastroenterologist appointment this coming week. Stay tuned, those who are digestively obsessed (like me).

The good news is that I'm still walking, still going to the gym and have tried to push myself onto the elliptical as much as possible in the past two weeks. The skinny jeans are not as loose as I want them to be, but they ARE looser. Even the curmudgeony b/f, now known as M, has admitted as much.

Shopping on Monday, and for some reason I was driven to take a picture of my shopping cart as I waited in line to pay.

What do you think? Too much food for two people for a week? Be honest. There's definitely a lot of cat food! Note the Digestive Gold enzymes prominently in front -- my latest attempt to soothe the bacteria beast in my gut.

I also have a ton of Chobani in there... some guy had his long, skinny hands on the last big tub of plain no-fat Chobani, but couldn't make up his mind. He kept lifting it off the shelf, and then setting it down, then lifting it up, putting it down..I held my breath the whole time. The minute he actually released it fully and let his hands fall to his sides, I rushed up and said "I'll take that if you don't want it." I'm pretty sure I startled him into handing it over, but I was in a panic. With my stomach mounting total rebellion, there's nothing I can eat if lose my Chobani breakfast.

The brown wrap package in front is some flounder, by the way.

So, 10 honest things about myself:

1) You know from my last blog award posting that I'm not a fan (speaking personally, of my choices) of surgical interventions for weight loss (ie gastric bypass or lap-band surgery). But would I ever have surgery to get excess skin removed if I get to the point where I have a ton and I don't like it? Hell. To. The. YEAH!! Hypocritical of me? Probably. But I say, cut the damn skin off.

2) I spent waaaayy too many years of my life waiting -- hoping -- for the things and experiences I wanted to magically arrive at my doorstep, rather than going out there and making those things happen. I still sometimes default to this passive mode when stressed or depressed.

3) I made a conscious decision about two years ago to become an optimist. Not Pollyanna, but a positive thinker who deals well with reality.

4) My love for my cat is generally considered abnormal by friends and family. They are jealous. And wrong.

5) If I won the lottery, I would love to build an orphanage in Haiti with a school attached. And an animal sanctuary in upstate New York, and a fund to save wild horses in the West. And many many other things animal and children related.

6) I hate my hair. Not the color, because that's easily changed. No, the thin, flat, stringy texture. I can make peace with many things about myself, but can never get past my stupid hair (thanks a lot for the crap follicles, Mom).

7) Part of me is secretly disappointed with my entire weight loss performance over the past year.

8) If I lost my job tomorrow (bizarre how excited I get at the thought) I would become an NYC bike messenger! Seriously, I have long thought that I should get a more active job and that would help me shed more pounds.

9) My favorite thing about M is that he will hug me anytime, anywhere, for any reason or no reason, even if I'm sick as a dog and spewing things, or crying like a banshee and have a nose full of snot, or fresh from the gym and dripping with sweat. (He probably prefers to hug me at other, cleaner moments, but he's manfully stepped up to the plate many-a-time.)

10) I can beat many men at arm-wrestling. Yes, this is true. Started in grammar school, never stopped. Most recent victory: Christmas 2009, gave my 32-year-old macho colleague a lesson he'll never forget.

Note on #10 -- I swear I'm not a carnie freak, although I am very strong (a doctor once called me an 'outlier'). I think the weird ability to arm wrestle well is due to a unique family build. My legs have really hefty Samoan-size thighs, while my calves are like Babe Ruth dainty. Same structure on arms -- long, upper arms, short stubby lower arms. I think it gives me extra torque or something. That's my theory, anyway.