Where you all hate me...but hate HFCS more! Or just me. But not me. Begging is not attractive. Not me!

I have been trying to make some pretty huge lifestyle changes lately. Mostly, trying to practice what I preach. Because, fuck, I am preachy.

Around the new year, probably closer to Christmas, the boy and I both gave up soda. We stopped buying it first. Then we stopped ordering it when out. Then we both just gave it up all together. I often bitch about the horror of high fructose corn syrup. Not really on here because I try oh so hard to not alienate all of you with my radical food ways.

But. I want to talk about this. Soda was the last thing that I consume on a regular basis with high fructose corn syrup in it. And I fully expected the typical reaction (the one the boy had)...weight loss. Nope. Didn't happen. A lot of that had to do with the steroids and my bodies love for it's fat roll. A lot of it had to do with me not introducing a workout program yet.

So, I quit high fructose corn syrup...and, really, processed sugar in general. Which meant mostly soda, except for ketchup and mustard (did you know that? Me either. Only stone ground mustard here. Still looking for organic ketchup.) 

We were a soda house. Mountain Dew, Vernors (I still miss you, my dear), Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, you name it. We drank it. Cold Turkey. Done. I was a 1 - 3 cans a day drinker. The boy was higher, though I am not sure by how much.

On SuperBowl Sunday, I got a 20 oz Dr. Pepper. I drank 1/3 of it and poured the rest out. I couldn't even stomach it.

I drink a cup of English Breakfast tea every morning and nothing but water now. I am not counting alcohol here. I mean, of course. That doesn't count, right?

Strange things have happened. I definitely went through withdrawal. I was crabby and tired and my muscles ached. I still am having problems with my muscles aching. I used to have heart burn/ nausea almost daily. It happens maybe once a week now. My hair isn't falling out. I used to pull out handfuls in the shower, even more when I combed it after my shower. Today was the first day (almost 2 months later) where literally no hair came out when I combed it. I lost some in the shower, but still. I was pulling out HANDFULS. And I was taking all the vitamins and shit everyone says to take. My hair is thicker now.

My nails are growing way faster (I only notice this because I keep them cut nail-biter short so food doesn't get caught under them.) I have to trim them twice a week.

I have a lot more energy. I am sleeping a lot less, which sucks. But, I require a lot less sleep too.

It blows my mind that THIS change could create THESE changes. I always blamed my stomach issues on all of the ibuprofen and pain killers I took through the years of dealing with my back problems. 

I always thought the hair loss, was, I don't know...something else. 

My nails have always grown kind of fast, but this is unreal. 

And I realize that the last two things are pregnancy things and I am going to be honest, my brain went there first. But, no. The only change has been giving up soda. 

I am exercising more, though not back to running. I am walking 4 - 5 days a week about a mile and a half. I am stretching all the time trying to get back to running. I miss running. I used to be a runner before all this back shit and the doctors told me I couldn't. 

We ate out three times this week. But, tonight I made root vegetable "pasta" with lentils and homemade Italian Sausage. (there is a demo video I made for Big Jed. It may end up being shown here. Did you know how easy it was to make sausage? I will soon, maybe, show you.)

Big Jed and I hope to run a 5K in May. I am having a nervous breakdown about how close that is, but I want to do it. I really, really do. 

It is hard to change, but I feel like I am doing it the way I need to. I am not dieting. I am not trying some radical new workout program. I always fail at those (Zumba, for example.) I need to set really small goals and reach them and work from there. 

I don't have a whole lot of weight to lose...my goal is 30 lbs. 40 would be awesome...but 30 lbs is my goal. If I lose 20 lbs I will be happy. I just love the changes that are sticking. The choices I am making. I am really happy with what I have done so far.

So, if just one person reads this and eats more whole foods and goes for a walk, I will be happy. I am happy that I did just that. Maybe I am not losing weight, but I feel good. I feel healthy. I will get there. 

But, fucking fuck. High Fructose Corn Syrup. Just. Stop. Please? Pretty Please? I love you all so much. 

Gah. Preachy. Please?

I am not a hippie, but this country is full of ass holes.

You know how I always say I don't want to talk politics on this blog and then I go right on and do it anyway because it's my blog? I am about to do that again. I am not even sure this is a political issue as much as a social issue. And when I discuss social/political issues, I stay away from the "I am right, you are wrong" mentality because I try hard not to be an asshole. Even if I think you are wrong, it is your right to be wrong.

On this issue, though, if you don't agree with me, you are wrong. Very wrong.

The issue is building a mosque near ground zero. To be exact, the issue is people who have an issue with it. I don't understand. A handful of really bad people from the same cultural background did a really bad thing. I do not understand how this means that all Muslims are evil and bad. Muslims died in the towers too. Or does no one realize that? They have every single fucking right to worship near the sight of that tragedy. Just as much of a right as anyone else.

Here's the thing. It's discrimination. It's not right. And it pisses me off.

Maybe I am a closet hippie or something, but why all the hate? Why is it so hard to just accept that we are all different and that is OK?

Let them worship wherever they see fit. It is their right and I don't want to live in a country where they can't. It makes me stabby. Which is probably proof that I am not a closet hippie.

Sarah Palin, you are dead to me. Seriously. I think you are brain dead.

I would like to start this post by telling Criminal Minds to go fuck itself. Because, seriously, I watch that show because I want to see some smart mother fucker deducing shit from next to nothing, catching the bad guy at the last possible moment, then saying something all full of wisdom on the plane ride home. I DO NOT want to spend an hour crying. If I wanted to do that, I would watch Lifetime. Or Oprah. Bad Criminal Minds, bad. (Picture me swatting it with a newspaper here, because that is totally what I am doing in my head.)

In case you forgot since yesterday, this term is kicking my ass. KICKING. MY. ASS. That is all I am going to say on that because I am liable to start simultaneously whining and chugging beer and the last thing any of you need is another drunk, whiny blogger. I am not sure who the other drunk whiny bloggers are, but I have read some really really bad blogs out there and I just sincerely hope they are drunk because if they are sober and writing that shit, just wow. Today one of the blogs I read linked to another blog calling them mature and smart and shit. I was like, sweet! I love finding new blogs to love. It is kind of my hobby. So, I click on the link and HOLY CRAP it is the most inane bunch of drivel (I love that word. drivel. ha.) I have ever read. I have almost no faith left in humanity at this point, and that shit makes it hard to get out of bed.

Speaking of hating humanity, Sarah Palin is coming to town on Friday. If I have any Republican readers out there (which, seriously? Why do you like me?) go ahead and stop reading. Especially if you are one of the people that SCARES THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF ME and thinks that she is going to change the face of politics. Did you see the Katie Couric interview? DID YOU SEE IT? Because, what is going to change the face of politics is intelligence. And reason. And intelligence. Even if that woman agreed with every political belief I had, I wouldn't vote for her. No fucking way.

OK, I have lost all sense of what this post was supposed to be about. Oh, right, I am going to try to assassinate Sarah Palin. OK, not really. I don't believe in guns and even if I was close enough to perform some sort of awesome "I will kill you with my pinky move," I know no such moves. However, one of my fellow classmates works at the Aladdin Shrine Center where she is giving her speech that she did not write, think of, or even understand. There are Secret Service everywhere and he is all kinds of freaked out because he asked me to give him a ride. Immediately upon asking me, I started telling everyone that would listen that I was paying him to assassinate her. Seriously, I yelled it in the hall at school. And a lot of people from school work there. My hope is that I pull up to drop him off and he is taken down by the Secret Service. Seriously, how funny would that be?

I just had the best idea ever. I have an Obama/Biden magnetic bumper sticker. So, what if I get like 100 of them and just COVER my car in them. Like, even the roof. And then pull up to her pro-life rally. I am also going to need some pro-choice paraphernalia. And maybe something funny about how stupid she is. And hunting from helicopters. I am totally serious. Local readers, let's rally.

He is never going to let me drive him to work. I may also be the worst friend ever.

Mad Props and Wanda Sykes

So, I may have had a few beers. And I may be slightly biased because I voted for him. But, dude, I love Obama. I have spent the past few hours watching the White House Correspondents' Dinner footage.

Wanda Sykes=hilarious.

Also, Obama made me laugh. Like a lot.

In my twenty something years, I have voted in 3 presidential elections. Two of them were against Bush. I will not make this blog political. I refuse. Because I am stubborn on politics. I don't want to turn this into that forum. But, I freaking love that man. I trust him. As much as you can trust a politician. That may be naive. And I don't care. I want to believe him. I want to trust him. I want everything he says to be true.

But, you know what? I don't care if I am wrong. It feels good to believe. It feels good to have hope. It feels good to see a president laugh when Wanda Sykes completely makes fun of him. It feels good to see him make fun of himself. And the people around us. It feels good to see humor in the White House, to see them laughing with us.

I want to see this country flourish again. To see people stand up and fight for what is right, to make people finally hold the elite accountable. To see this country realize that the middle class is fading away. To fight to bridge the gap between the wealthy and the poor. To fight for human rights. To fight to unite this country again. To stand up against things like torture, instead of promoting it. To stop being so selfish and self centered. To care about our fellow man or woman. To recognize when the people around us are in need and to help, to not just sit back and do nothing. To care about the world around us, instead of caring about ourselves.

Maybe I am too optimistic.

Maybe I shouldn't have shared.

Maybe I am guilty of these things sometimes.

Maybe I should get mad props for posting twice in one day.

Maybe I should never say mad props, even though I think it makes me sound totally awesome.