The Apron, revisited

As I wrote before, one of my biggest worries about losing weight is being left with empty folds of skin all over the place, especially from the dreaded apron of fat or panniculus. I wouldn’t hesitate to have surgery to remove any excess skin, you understand, but I would much prefer to not have to risk surgery or spend that kind of money if there’s anything I can do to prevent it in the first place. (Yes, I know…the best prevention would have been not gaining weight in the first place but that’s obviously not a place I can go back to.)

Janice Elizabeth Small, the weight loss coach I mentioned in that earlier post, has a number of sites, including Think Slim and her Q&A blog, http://www.dietingstop.com/blog. I”m trying to keep things as simple for myself right now so I’m avoiding reading too much about weight loss right now — experience tells me that if I start delving too deeply, I get overwhelmed and discouraged and that’s the one thing I can’t afford to have happen right now — but the Q&A blog in particular has a number of interesting posts related to obesity and the issues of loose skin.

The article I’d mentioned in that previous post is How to Avoid Loose Skin Problems After Weight Loss. Other interesting posts from Janice include:

15 Simple Metabolism Boosting Secrets, which suggests that you

1 Eat little and often
2. Eat breakfast
3. Eat enough
4. Eat Lean Protein
5. Eat Fibre
6. Spice up your food
7. Drink Coffee
8. Drink Green Tea
9. Get active
10. Walk it off
11. Build those muscles
12. Go hot or cold
13. Drink Iced Water
14. Watch the alcohol
15. Take up yoga

(Read the full post on her blog for explanations of why each of those tips helps boost your metabolism.)

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Getting down to work

To continue on from my only October post, Haven’t got a clue, shortly after that post, I got notification that my Secret clearance has come through. That opens up my options a little bit, as I can now apply for jobs that require that level of clearance.  I also got an e-mail from a contracting agency the Monday of the last week of my contract (last Monday of October). We talked, we met, and ultimately they put my name forward for a new contract. Unfortunately, the morning of my interview, I got a call from them saying that the client picked someone they’d interviewed the previous day and so I didn’t need to go in for the interview.

Alrighty then.

I spoke with the manager of the place I had been working again before my contract ended. They’re hoping for something to come up early next year and he kept repeating how much they would love to have me working there again. But it all depends on the economy — the company froze all spending the minute the crash happened and who knows when that will turn around. I gave him a newly printed business card and we both promised to keep in touch.

At that point, I decided to do what I’d intended to do all along, which is take a couple of weeks to do absolutely nothing. Got another call from the agency, about a different contract, and they’ve put my resume forward for that. It seems to be one of those slow-moving ones, but at least this agency actually keeps in touch with you on a regular basis, unlike the one who placed me in my last contract — haven’t heard from them since I wrote to the agent asking if there was anything else on tap the last week of my contract. Anyway, hopefully I’ll get an interview for that contract. I’m lapsing into some bad habits being home all the time and I’d like to be working again. Haven’t heard anything more about another contract that another agency was putting me forward for. *sigh* It’s the nature of the beast, but that doesn’t mean you have to like it.

So, I’ve managed to blow through my two weeks of self-defined vacation doing nothing useful — faffing in all its glory — and now I really should start actively looking for something else. Not feeling it today, though. Applying for jobs usually requires creating customized resumes and cover letters, which can be mentally taxing and I’m not sure my head’s in the right place right now.

The Me Project: Day 2 begins

Have to stop this waking up at 1:30 am rut I seem to be stuck in. It gets my internal clock all messed up.

Was going to go for a little walk this morning, but hate to walk without music and can’t find my MP3 player. Then realized I still haven’t cleaned my fridge or kitchen cupboards so that can be my workout for the day.

As I wrote before, one of my biggest worries about losing weight is being left with empty folds of skin all over the place, especially from the dreaded apron of fat or panniculus. I wouldn’t hesitate to have surgery to remove any excess skin, you understand, but I would much prefer to not have to risk surgery or spend that kind of money if there’s anything I can do to prevent it in the first place. (Yes, I know…the best prevention would have been not gaining weight in the first place but that’s obviously not a place I can go back to.)

I’m trying to keep things as simple for myself right now so I’m avoiding reading too much about weight loss right now — experience tells me that if I start delving too deeply, I get overwhelmed and discouraged and that’s the one thing I can’t afford to have happen right now. I might as well start out as I mean to go on, though, and reread those articles I’d mentioned in that post. Additionally, Janice Elizabeth Small, the weight loss coach I mentioned in that earlier post, has a post called 15 Simple Metabolism Boosting Secrets that suggests some things you can do to boost your metabolism and make weight loss a little bit easier.

Off topic: A couple of days ago, I changed the theme on this blog. I’m not as fond of this theme as I was of ChaoticSoul but this one at least has next post and previous post links on each post, which is the reason for the switch. I’m annoyed that you can’t customize WordPress blogs a great deal unless you install a copy of WordPress on your own site, but that’s the price you pay for a free blog.

Musique du jour:

Who am I kidding? I’ve been listening to Tokio Hotel’s “Durch Den Monsun” on autorepeat for about five hours now. Crazy, I know. But it’s occupying that part of my brain that wants to go have a nap. I’m nearing saturation point on it, though.

Word of the day:

Faff
The Urban Dictionary defines it well: “To muck about, wasting time doing something not necessary.” As in “I’ve been faffing about so much that I’ve accomplished nothing in the last two years.”