I hope my arm doesn't rot and fall off

Sorry about my continuous complaints about my cast and being one-handed. I know I'm being over dramatic, but I've never had a cast or a broken anything. I kind of hate it.<br /><br />Every time I whine about some inconvenience of this cast I think of the woman that had her face, eyes, and hands eaten by a chimp Which for some reason that day it was on the news last week I couldn't say the word chimp. I kept saying "shrimp". "Did you hear about the woman that had her face eaten off by a shrimp? I mean shrimp! No, c-h-i-m-p!" It was like I had a stroke or something. Really weird (and maybe a tiny bit funny if such an event can be funny).<br /><br />Sorry about all the typos in my last few posts. I need to remember spell check!<br /><br />Now, back to my whining...<br /><br /><b>The cast drama </b><br />I'm trying not to sweat when I go for my walks or go to the gym, but it's impossible! To get my heart rate up to 120-130, which is actually sort of low, I sweat. Normally this is a good thing but my cast is getting super gross. Right now it's wet, sticky and clammy inside. I wake up in the middle of the night and want to rip it off. Then I remember, it's attached to my arm for the next three weeks.<br /><br />I keep imagining some yucky, stinky fungus growing inside of it. It comes off in three weeks for x-rays but the doctor said the best case scenario is my arm will go back in a cast for two more months. Worst case, surgery (which horrifies me). I'm praying for a one-month miracle.<br /><br />In other sad news I had a conversation with a trainer at Bally's today (my regular gym). He told me if I have a cast for three months, my arm will shrink 30-40%. Yikes! To build it back up, it will take two months of hard work (exercise) for each month I have the cast on to get it back to where it was before the cast. Another "yikes!".<br /><br />He did agree that I should keep working out the good arm. I'll be out of balance and freakish looking for a while, but there's not much I can do about it. <br /><break...typing and="" bit="" killed="" little="" my="" neck="" shoulders="" that=""></break...typing><br /><br /><b>Not cured of my food issues but I'm better</b><br />Since I started wearing my BodyMedia almost 24/7 and then my accident about a week later, my eating is "almost" under control. I say "almost" because I've been logging every bite and have stayed right around 1500 calories, which is how much I think I should be eating. <br /><br />BodyMedia thinks I should be eating 1900. That would probably work if I could get in some "vigorous" activity, but that's not happening much these days when I'm trying <u>not </u>to sweat a lot. When they say vigorous that's with a heart rate in the 140s. Not happening.<br /><br />It's not that I've lost interest in food, I definitely still enjoy it. It seems like when I cut out most sugar right after I got the BodyMedia, that it really helped me get control of my cravings. This is nothing new to me. I've known this was my problem for years, sugar, either processed or too much fruit is my kryptonite. So why is it always such a surprise to me that if I stop eating sugar the cravings subside? I do not have the answer to that question. Selective memory I guess.<br /><br />Unfortunately Sunday I bought a big box of Yasso frozen Greek yogurt bars (Costco). They're good, but not so delicious that I'd want to eat the whole box (or so I thought). 11 grams of sugar per bar and 70 calories (Dreyers fruit bars are 20 grams of sugar each--too much!).<br /><br />I ate four Yassos in one sitting last night, AND then three servings of fresh crab (Costco again - 70 calories a serving) AND a perfectly ripe mango (another 160 calories). Total late night snack, 650 calories. I think that's called a binge. Total for the day was 1971 calories. My first binge since July 27. <br /><br />I guess as long as I learned something from last night it's sort of okay (not really, but I'm working on accepting myself as the flawed human that I am). The lesson is don't eat any sugar late at night. Pretty basic rule. Veggies or protein are okay. Sugar and carbs at 11pm, not okay.<br /><br />Great recipe<br />From MizFit's Sunday <a href="http://mizfitonline.com/2011/08/14/lunch-is-on-me/">post </a>- <a href="http://www.readyseteat.com/recipes-AppleBaconChicken-Salad-5526.html">Apple-Bacon-Chicken</a>. It's been my dinner the last two nights. Delicious! I had a few substitutions - Canadian bacon, instead of regular bacon, no oil other than a little Pam, Greek yogurt with a spicy sweet mustard, and a little Stevia. Served over a bed of spinach. Also the apples were organic Fuji's. Sort of a pain to make with one hand, but worth it....so good.<br /><br /><br />

I hope my arm doesn't rot and fall off

Sorry about my continuous complaints about my cast and being one-handed. I know I'm being over dramatic, but I've never had a cast or a broken anything. I kind of hate it.Every time I whine about some inconvenience of this cast I think of the woman t…

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A Hater's Take on ESPN's New Book

I didn't realize that this had come out until I saw it publicized on an entertainment website. <i>A tell-all book about ESPN? Cool! </i><br /><br />Some of the excerpts the website had seemed very juicy, so I knew I had to read it. Was this going to allow everyone else to realize the many reasons why ESPN is so overrated at the moment?<br /><br />Well, not really. But I did read it, and here are some things I took out of it:<br /><br /><b>The Start of ESPN is Pretty Boring</b><br />A father-son team got the idea to do a 24-hour sports channel on this new thing called cable back in the 1970s. Of course, when the more responsible adults took over, father and son got pushed out of the way.<br /><b> </b><br />Much of the beginning of the book is this overview. The book is done in interview form, so you're hearing many sides of the story from all the people that were involved at the time. The man you hate in this section is Stu Evey, who is looked at as the guy that got the gasoline powerhouse Getty Oil to purchase this idea. He gets all the power and just turns into the man who parties too much and doesn't agree on anything the ESPN bosses suggest. Once you get through the 1980s era of the book, it starts to get more interesting.<br /><br /><b>This Is Sportscenter</b><br />They spend a lot of time explaining the forming of those awesome <i>SportsCenter</i> commercials that started to air in the 1990s. I found that to be especially interesting. But many of the <i>SportsCenter </i>anchors couldn't stand the idea of the ESPN "campus" full of athletes and, most reviled, mascots. Because it wasn't true at all!<br /><b> </b><br /><b> Boozing and Floozing</b><br />The excerpts of the book that I read on the website were taken out of the first chapter of the book. Back in the early days many of the workers at ESPN were doing some not-very-nice things behind the scenes, mostly because Bristol at the time was an incredibly boring town and there was nothing to do. That's not too surprising; if that excerpt had been taken from, say, ten years ago, that would be especially eye-opening.<br /><b> </b><br /><b> Executive Hate</b><br />Many of the top people on the job at ESPN are introduced with flair, "He was smart as a whip," or "He was a genius at doing this," or something like that. But as the book goes along, many of the decisions that the executives made got them a lot of negative opinions on the part of their peers and underlings. Eventually as the executive leaves the company, people look back and go, "He did good stuff, but man he was a jerk." And this wasn't just for one or two of these guys - it was for many of them!<br /><b> </b><br /><b> These Anchors I Love Are Human</b><br />Many of these <i>SportsCenter</i> anchors that I had watched for the past 15 years had done nothing on the air to make me think they were nothing short of awesome. But reading these books and listening to them talk about certain people or events that took place and hearing them swear (yes, this is an uncensored book) and talk about those things made me realize that ESPN does a good job making them look awesome. It was a little sad to read those quotes for me. Especially sad was to read about Mike Tirico, who I'd always liked, but then reading a few stories about him made me realize he's a pretty big jerk.<br /><b> </b><br /><b> They Missed My Favorite Pairings!</b><br />The book spent a lot of time on <i>SportsCenter</i> and rightfully so - it is the flagship of ESPN. And they spent a lot of time on some of the great pairings on <i>SportsCenter</i>: Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick or Robin Roberts, Charley Steiner, and Bob Ley. But I was hoping that they would cover a little bit on my two favorite pairings of the 90s: Stuart Scott and Rich Eisen, and also Dan Patrick and Kenny Mayne. These were the 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock anchors, and they were the first anchors I watched when I started following ESPN. They were familiar people to me, and it made me sad when there was someone else anchoring <i>SportsCenter </i>instead of them. I was heartbroken when Rich Eisen took his talents to the NFL Network.<br /><b> </b><br /><b> Formulating the Classics</b><br />As an ESPN lover for much of my adult life, it was fun to see the origins of some of my favorite ESPN-related items. <i>ESPN The Magazine</i> was, obviously, an attempt to thwart <i>Sports Illustrated</i>'s hold on sports print, but it also tried to take the hip, cool approach to the old, crotchety <i>SI</i>. I guess I'd never thought of that before (I liked both magazines, but my Dad got me <i>ESPN The Magazine </i>in 1999 and I just kept subscribing for the next seven years). I also finally found out who wrote the Answer Guy section of the magazine. That had been bugging me!<br /><b> </b><br /><b> </b>I loved when the origins of <i>PTI </i>and <i>Around the Horn</i> were discussed. The executive producer of <i>PTI  </i>had a close relationship with Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, and only because he was on board with this project did the two of them agree to do it. And since this executive producer, found outside ESPN, had many awesome ideas that helped give the show its energy - like the rundown on the side of the page (which now has been stolen by both <i>SportsCenter</i> and <i>Baseball Tonight</i> and more), and the countdown of subjects. They did also talk about how Tony Reali got the host gig at <i>Around the Horn</i> after filling in for Max Kellermann a few times and then just taking over the role after Kellermann left for more money. <br /><br />I also got reminded about  few other ESPN series. Anyone remember <i>Dream Job</i>? Or <i>Playmakers</i>? Or <i>Mohr Sports</i>? Oh yea! I remember those. And then I remembered why they didn't last long, too.<br /><br /><b>It made me hate the ESPYs more</b><br />The ESPY awards has a separate budget from ESPN, and it's more about glitz and glamour than Bristol. And the book talked about that fact - a lot. It would be talking about one event, and then it felt a need to add a few more ESPY stories into the book, when it really didn't need to. I got tired of those stories fast, since it didn't add anything to the book. I remembered why I didn't like watching the ESPYs, that's for sure!<br /><br /><b>We Get it, ESPN blew<i> Monday Night Football</i></b><br />I hadn't realized that ESPN getting <i>Monday Night Football </i>was a terrible blow to them, but this book made sure to tell me that fact for about 40 pages in the last section of the book. Apparently ABC wasn't interested in doing <i>MNF </i>any more, and ESPN balked at their offer to get both Sunday <i>and</i> Monday night games, and NBC swooped in and got Sunday night. Because they had a better report with the NFL, the marquee Monday night games were now transferred to Sundays.<br /><br />This was covered <i>a lot </i>in the book. It also talked a lot about the men in the booth - Mike Tirico, Joe Theismann (then Ron Jaworski), and Tony Kornheiser. Did it need to talk about them that much? No.<b> </b> <br /><br />By the way, apparently Kornheiser is a thorn in ESPN's side. He's had multiple run-ins with authority because of what he's said or done. I'm surprised he's still on ESPN after all of that!<br /><br /><b>Disney</b><br />I guess I shouldn't have been surprised at all the Disney talk, but I was. Much of the book discussed business dealings after ABC and ESPN got together under the Walt Disney Company, and Michael Eisner and Bob Iger were interviewed. I got a kick out of how they really wanted to synergize Disney into ESPN, like talking about the most recent Disney movie in <i>SportsCenter</i>.<br /><br /><b>I Finally Know Who To Blame For My "Hating" of ESPN</b><br />His name? Mark Shapiro. He had started many things I enjoyed - <i>SportsCentury, PTI, Around the Horn. </i>But later in the 2000s, he began to do a lot of things that I realized I didn't like. Then I read quotes like this:<br /><b> </b><br /><b> </b><i>"When Mark came in, he brought an arrogance. His regime or style, however you want to put it, was basically the turning point for ESPN <b>going from the good guy to the arrogant guy</b>. ...That's what Mark brought to the company."</i><br /><br />Also:<br /><i> </i><br /><i>"Mark Shapiro ran a dictatorship, and ESPN still suffers from it today."</i><br /><br />He decided not to bring Al Michaels and John Madden to ESPN's <i>Monday Night Football. </i>He didn't get the NHL to renew its contract with ESPN. He pushed Dan Patrick out the door. And he did more. Does ESPN seem more arrogant? Absolutely. I wish it didn't, but that's how it is.<br /><i> </i><i></i><br />The book was an interesting read, that's for sure. It didn't leave many stones unturned - it also included many of the mistakes that ESPN personalities had made, and covered sexual harrasment and racial themes of the company as well. But did it help solidify my hate? Not really. I still go to ESPN when I am watching TV at home. I still probably will. But now there are many other sports outlets where I can get my news. And I probably will continue to ignore ESPN until something awesome happens there.<i></i>

A Hater's Take on ESPN's New Book

I didn't realize that this had come out until I saw it publicized on an entertainment website. A tell-all book about ESPN? Cool! Some of the excerpts the website had seemed very juicy, so I knew I had to read it. Was this going to allow everyone else…

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Friend Making Monday: The Driving Force

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.alltheweigh.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/FMM1111.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.alltheweigh.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/FMM1111.jpeg" /></a></div><i>If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: <a href="http://www.alltheweigh.com/"><b>www.alltheweigh.com</b></a> so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links over there too so everyone has the opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!</i><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>FMM: The Driving Force</strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><strong>What is the driving force behind your weight-loss?</strong><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">I really liked today's topic from All the Weigh.  I think it's important to remind myself why I am doing this whole weight loss thing in the first place.  </span> </strong><br /><strong><br /></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">The overall driving force behind me trying to lose weight is so that I can truly feel like I am living life to it's fullest with confidence.  There are kind of 2 parts to that answer.  </span></strong><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">First I'll address the confidence part.  I believe that if I was thinner, I would have more confidence to take a stand for things in my day to day life.  For example, I don't often put myself out there at work because I just don't feel confident in myself.  However, I'm not talking about waving a magic wand and suddenly I'm thin and instilled with all of this confidence.  No.  I'm saying that I know once I lose this weight, I will <i>know </i>that I can achieve anything I set my mind to because of the sheer challenge that this weight loss has been for me.   </span></strong><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">The next thing to address is living life to it's fullest.  There are a lot of things I haven't done in the past because of my weight.  This is because I just didn't feel adequate enough as a person to participate in those things, or because I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of many other people I know if, for example, I couldn't fit in a seat or something like that.  This issue even goes down to the more superficial things - like the desire to wear clothes that are more age appropriate for me, as well as stylish.  By avoiding social opportunities or not having the ability to dress how I really want to - I'm not living life to it's fullest.</span></strong><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">So, what is your driving force behind your weight loss mission? </span></strong>

Friend Making Mondays Friend Making Monday: The Driving Force

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and an…

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