I haven’t been very motivated to post anything this last week. I feel as if I’ve just been working long days and then going home tired.
Early in the week, I was asked by a colleague to write a professional opinion on a Code interpretation question. I was flattered to be asked, but knowing my opinion would be reviewed by several other people in my field, I focused on it to the detriment of other things I needed to get done at work.
When I finally submitted my opinion for review, no one could find a flaw in my research, presentation of fact, or conclusion. I’m sure I provided way more information than they expected (or maybe even wanted). One reviewer described me as “the researcher’s researcher.” While that sounds good and it’s nice to get compliments, I’m such a perfectionist that taking on projects like this can be very stressful. I’m always so afraid I might make a tiny mistake or miss something, however miniscule…heaven forbid!
The bottom line is I went a bit overboard (okay, a LOT overboard)…and I’m not sure whether I was trying to impress the others or whether I was just very concerned that I would look stupid if I made any kind of a mistake. Maybe it was a bit of both, but I think it was mostly the latter. Logic tells me that there’s got to be a happy medium between "absolutely perfect" and "completely stupid"…right? I just don’t know how to find that balance. I have been discussing my perfectionist tendencies with Dr. D, but it is hard to imagine that I will ever be able to relax when I’m involved in this type of thing.
I am happy to say that my food has been VERY good this week, but I've only worked out once this week so far, on Wednesday, so I'm a bit disappointed in that. I was just too busy and then too tired to do much. The weather promises to be beautiful tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to a nice walk with B.
I’m really tired now, so I’m off to bed. Take care, everyone.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
My opinion on Biggest Loser
I love watching Biggest Loser each week and afterwards reading everyone’s reactions to the show. It’s fun to see which bloggers don’t like which contestants, and who everyone hopes gets voted off each week.
But I’ve always had a problem with the basic premise. You win if you have the largest percentage of weight loss from where you started. It obviously favors those who weigh the most from the very beginning. (And let’s be honest, this is usually the men.)
Take two people, both of whose “perfect” weight is 150 lbs. But say person 1 was only 100 lbs overweight in the beginning; and person 2 was 200 lbs overweight. If they both get down to 150 lbs:
250 – 100 = 150 40% loss
350 – 200 = 150 57% loss
(I've never been good at math so if this is not correct, please let me know!)
The most unfair thing is that if the person who is the most overweight doesn’t get down to his perfect weight, he could still win the competition. This has never made sense to me. I also think they are encouraging some of the contestants, especially the ones who are not as overweight as the others, to do crazy things with their health in order to win. In my opinion, some people get way too skinny in hopes of winning the prize. I think they are even setting people up for eating disorders.
Now that the show has been on for a while, I think they should take a step back from the same old format and do something that makes more sense. Maybe they should chose contestants who are all the same gender and who all have about the same amount to lose. Then give them a specific goal weight; I’d even like to see them be assigned a weight that they are not allowed to go under or they will forfeit the competition. If they all reach their goal weight without going under (sounds kind of like Price is Right in reverse!), they could split the prize.
Just my opinion…People should be encouraged to be healthy, not crazy!
But I’ve always had a problem with the basic premise. You win if you have the largest percentage of weight loss from where you started. It obviously favors those who weigh the most from the very beginning. (And let’s be honest, this is usually the men.)
Take two people, both of whose “perfect” weight is 150 lbs. But say person 1 was only 100 lbs overweight in the beginning; and person 2 was 200 lbs overweight. If they both get down to 150 lbs:
250 – 100 = 150 40% loss
350 – 200 = 150 57% loss
(I've never been good at math so if this is not correct, please let me know!)
The most unfair thing is that if the person who is the most overweight doesn’t get down to his perfect weight, he could still win the competition. This has never made sense to me. I also think they are encouraging some of the contestants, especially the ones who are not as overweight as the others, to do crazy things with their health in order to win. In my opinion, some people get way too skinny in hopes of winning the prize. I think they are even setting people up for eating disorders.
Now that the show has been on for a while, I think they should take a step back from the same old format and do something that makes more sense. Maybe they should chose contestants who are all the same gender and who all have about the same amount to lose. Then give them a specific goal weight; I’d even like to see them be assigned a weight that they are not allowed to go under or they will forfeit the competition. If they all reach their goal weight without going under (sounds kind of like Price is Right in reverse!), they could split the prize.
Just my opinion…People should be encouraged to be healthy, not crazy!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Garden time
I’m one of those persons who doesn’t like change, and I’m also not very techno-savvy…so I really had to push myself to change my blog template. It took me an hour to find one I liked and then to figure out how to do the process. I’m kind of happy with how it turned out.
Yesterday, I spent the afternoon puttering around outside, getting my pots ready for tomatoes and other veggies. I don’t have a “normal” garden. Instead I have a retaining wall that is made up of 3- to 4-foot long pieces of 24-inch steel pipe on end, about 25 of them, filled with dirt ("my pots"). They are in the sun almost all day, and the pipe itself holds the heat, so they are great for vegetables. We always get tons of tomatoes, sugar snap peas, leeks, onions, and radishes. But I’m not sure if it’s too early in the year to plant my tomatoes...it still gets down to the low 40's or occasionally even the upper 30's at night. I usually wait until after Mother’s Day, but this year I’m anxious and excited to get started. Maybe I’ll split the difference and plant next week.
B & I took the Big Walk this morning with our friends Pam and Kermit and Olive, always a good time. I’m becoming good friends with Pam, who is about my age. We’re both totally focused on our dogs, so we’ve decided to go on a “girls-n-dogs” weekend at the beach in mid-May.
Well, time to get something done besides walking and reading blogs. Have a great weekend, everyone!
Yesterday, I spent the afternoon puttering around outside, getting my pots ready for tomatoes and other veggies. I don’t have a “normal” garden. Instead I have a retaining wall that is made up of 3- to 4-foot long pieces of 24-inch steel pipe on end, about 25 of them, filled with dirt ("my pots"). They are in the sun almost all day, and the pipe itself holds the heat, so they are great for vegetables. We always get tons of tomatoes, sugar snap peas, leeks, onions, and radishes. But I’m not sure if it’s too early in the year to plant my tomatoes...it still gets down to the low 40's or occasionally even the upper 30's at night. I usually wait until after Mother’s Day, but this year I’m anxious and excited to get started. Maybe I’ll split the difference and plant next week.
B & I took the Big Walk this morning with our friends Pam and Kermit and Olive, always a good time. I’m becoming good friends with Pam, who is about my age. We’re both totally focused on our dogs, so we’ve decided to go on a “girls-n-dogs” weekend at the beach in mid-May.
Well, time to get something done besides walking and reading blogs. Have a great weekend, everyone!
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