Skinny Me

Well I did it! I made it all the way through March without cheating on my no candy/desserts/soda goal! I'm not going to say it was really hard, but it wasn't easy either - sometimes I would forget about my goal, and once I was even in line to buy a bottle of soda at the movie theater before I remembered and turned around to put it back in the fridge.

About two weeks ago people started commenting that I was looking skinny. At first I thought it was because I had picked a good outfit, or they were just being nice, but the compliments kept coming in unexpectedly. Even today the accountant who comes to our office once a week said "Gosh Melissa, you are just looking so skinny!" I thanked her and told her about my recently completed goal.

It turns out I did benefit from the goal - I lost at least 4lbs! I know 4lbs doesn't seem like much, but it was a nice surprise. I had been holding constant at the same weight for a while and had not been below that weight since....well, I'm not really sure, but I think it was before I left for South America (which was in May '06). Better yet, I am now 13lbs lighter than the heaviest I ever weighed!

I really think my skinnier appearance is due to more than just avoiding sugar. Doing aerial acrobatics has helped me tone up a lot, but I hadn't really lost weight due to the muscle I was gaining. My jeans were already feeling too big on me before abstaining from desserts for a month, but now I for sure can't wear them without using a belt, and even my smallest belt is too big for me.I'm thinking I may have to reward myself with some new clothes this month!

Everything Breaks In March

I've had a case of bad luck this month so far... hopefully it was just leading up to the "Ides of March" and is now over with! Things that have broken:

1. The heater in our apartment. I really think the pilot light went out, but I have no idea how to light it myself, and honestly, I'm afraid of blowing something up, so I contacted our apartment manager (who is the daughter of the owner). She's always had her cousins or someone else she knows do all the repairs around here, so contacting her was my obvious solution to the problem. Except this time she didn't help me. She told me to call the gas company because they can light pilot lights for free. I called them a week ago, and still have to wait another week for the first available appointment time they had. My apartment is FREEZING!!
2. My phone (Blackberry). It refused to fully boot up after installing an update for an app. Every time I tried to turn it on it would try to boot up, but click off and try again. And again. And again. Instead of getting a new Blackberry or HTC Evo through my company's plan (which I had been on for nearly a year), I decided to branch out on my own and get an iPhone. It's pretty. But I don't have all my numbers imported, so if you text me and I don't know who you are, don't be offended.
3. My right front tire. Went flat while driving to a friend's house after dinner on Wednesday evening. No big deal - I pulled over and replaced my tire with my full sized spare in my trunk. Did it all by myself and was back in the driver's seat only 14 minutes later!
4. My left front tire. Yep. Happened only hours after the right front tire went flat, but this one decided to go out with flare by blowing out while I was going 70mph on the highway on my way home from my friend's house. I ended up having friends rescue me with their AAA membership and was towed to the parking lot of a tire place where I had to leave my car overnight and return this morning when they opened. I now have one new tire and am still driving on my spare until the shop can get a second tire in from their warehouse.

I REALLY hope that's the last of it... I can't even eat junk food to make myself feel better. =)

Catcher's Trapeze Reel

Most often when I go to trapeze I work with the same catcher. His name is Matt. Over the past couple of months he has had people film him catching, and he put together this reel. I make three appearances: I'm the first flier on video, and then show up again at minute 2:22, and 2:41. Well, to be completely honest I'm in the video more than those three times, but those are the only times where I am doing the flying; the other times I'm standing up on the board (the place where we take off). Enjoy!

And So It Begins

Several weeks ago I became aware of how much sugar in the form of candy and desserts I was putting into my body. I have a serious sweet tooth!! While I have been subconsciously justifying my sugar consumption because of the frequency in which I exercise (three times a week minimum - thanks to my aerial acrobatics addiction) I decided it was time to put a stop to it, and see just how much better, healthier, and stronger I felt without it. Today is March 1st - the first day of my one-month aversion to candy and desserts. I'm not eliminating ALL sugar - I realize there is natural sugar in fruit, and I like to use juice cocktails in my home-made smoothies; stuff like that can stay. What doesn't stay is the chocolate, cookies, cakes, etc, etc. that I usually go hunting for after dinner. This means:

• No indulging in the Easter candy that is ALREADY in every grocery store (even though the holiday isn't until April 8th!!).
• No partaking in the oh-so-common Mormon "dessert parties" where there's nothing to do but talk and eat junk food (the talking is okay, clearly).
• NO GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!! I am sad about this one. I ordered 4 boxes of cookies that haven't come in yet - they will have to find a corner of my freezer to sit in until April. Sigh...
• No soda. This wasn't a part of my original plan (because I really don't drink soda all that often) but as I was sipping a coke during lunch today I realized that I could easily fall back into that bad habit as a substitute.

So there it is. Dessert/candy/soda free for a month. I got this.

Are You Speaking My Language?

(I have been thinking about the topic of this post for a while now; I honestly didn't plan this as a Valentine's post. I should also explain that I have been thinking about love languages in regards to relationships other than romantic relationships- this post should be read as such.)

I have never read the book The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman, but of course I have heard people talking about the different languages and had a pretty good idea of which language was my language based on the way I saw myself reacting in different social situations. I had an experience recently where I was beginning to feel hurt/neglected by a close friend and had to remind myself to take a step back and realize that this friend was not out to hurt me, but more than likely I was feeling this way because we speak different languages.

Wanting to learn a little more about the way I express and recognize love, I looked up the 5 Love Languages quiz here. The beginning of the quiz explains that you will get a "thorough analysis of your emotional communication preference. It will single out your primary love language, what it means, and how you can use it to connect with those closest to you and effectively enhance the relationships in your life." After taking the quiz I think there is a slight flaw - I think that the results show how I recognize or feel that I receive love, but don't necessarily reflect how I try to show love to others.

My results showed that I actually have TWO languages that tie for the number one spot: Quality Time, and Physical Touch (I scored 9 out of 12 on each).

Quality time confirmed what I had already figured out on my own: when I feel like people don't have time for me, I feel unloved. Simple as that. In this case I think quality time is important to me on both the receiving and giving side of relationships. When I care about someone I try to spend time with them, which is probably why part of the description struck a chord with me by saying "distractions, postponed dates [plans], or the failure to listen can be especially hurtful."

I was kind of surprised that I scored just as high in the Physical Touch category, but after I read though the description I realized that it was more accurate for me as the receiver of physical affection, rather than as the giver. I don't consider myself an incredibly touchy person, but when a friend offers me a hug, plays with my hair, touches my arm to get my attention or more recently, when a friend put her hand on my back to check up on me while at a party (and subsequently let me crash on her couch because I was too wiped out to drive home), I find that that physical touch means a lot to me!

I scored quite a bit lower on the remaining three love languages, yet the quiz suggests that we should "not dismiss those other languages as insignificant." I scored 5 out of 12 on Words of Affirmation, 4 out of 12 for Receiving Gifts, and 3 out of 12 on Acts of Service.

I know I like words of affirmation when I feel they are honest and unsolicited from the giver, but think I'm pretty poor at giving words of affirmation to others. There have been times I have found myself holding back a compliment for no reason at all.

Receiving gifts can be fun now and then but too many make me feel indebted to the giver. However I love finding the perfect gift for someone - something that shows that I have paid attention to things they like or need, but it's not something I do on a regular basis.

Receiving acts of service typically makes me feel uncomfortable - especially if I think someone may be offering to help me because they think I am incapable of accomplishing a task on my own. This is completely my perception as the recipient only; I'm sure people offer acts of service just to be nice, or because it's their love language...because on the flip side it is one of my languages as the giver! I like serving other people when I care about them! If you're sick and need someone to force fluids down your throat, need a last minute babysitter, need a ride to the airport, whatever - I'm there. Perhaps it's because in many instances of service I am able to spend quality time with the friends I'm serving.

Overall I think the quiz was pretty accurate in defining the way I interpret (receive) love. It was also good for me to re-realize that even though I may sometimes think friends aren't doing the best job of making me feel loved, it doesn't mean that they aren't trying hard to express their love for me through another language!