The Power of Shoes

The average woman, in her lifetime, spends about $40,500 on shoes. And I would guess that several of us Winos will have spent well over that by the time we are six feet under.

Why is footwear so compelling to us and why do we wear the shoes we do? (And why do I crack up every single time I watch the "Shoes!" video on YouTube?)

Because shoes are much more than things to walk in. Shoes are a form of expression. They bring out certain characteristics in us. They make us feel—and maybe even act—a certain way.


Let me explain. Pictured above are the pairs of shoes that I wear most often.

• My chucks bring out my inner hipster (and my dog obviously loves them, too!). When I wear them, I feel the urge to peruse used record stores looking for unreleased Velvet Underground singles.
• My ballet flats make me feel feminine but practical. They are usually the shoes I wear to work.
• My flip flops are synonymous with laid back. Thinking about them conjures up images of basking in the sun and reading at Dolores Park.
• My heels make me feel sexy. It's impossible for me to wear them without wearing lipstick and gettin' low, low, low, low.
• And my boots are warm and comfy. I imagine pairing them with a cute winter coat and going Christmas shopping.

A few nights ago, I spent $130 on a new pair of shoes to add to the repertoire. Observe:


I bought this pair of top-of-the-line running shoes to wear as I start training for my forthcoming Half Marathon. I just started training last week, and it's been tougher than I expected. We have team workouts twice a week—but on the other days, it's up to me to motivate myself to get out of bed at the crack of dawn to run, run, run.

The shoes have helped. The night I got them, they sat on my nightstand while I slept. When my alarm went off at 5:30am and I saw those shoes staring back at me, I got up, slid my feet into them, and headed out to run 3 miles. When I got home from my run, still wearing the shoes, I was hungry. I had passed a McDonald's on the way home and couldn't help but salivate at the the smell of the warm hashbrowns that permeated the air.

Nope—not in these shoes! I had decided. So instead I made myself a 100-calorie english muffin and egg white sandwich with a glass of orange juice.

In the days following, I have continued to sleep with the shoes on my nightstand, and I have continued to notice that they provide just the push I need to stay on track and work towards my goal.

The average woman spends over $40,500 on shoes in her lifetime, so clearly, shoes have some sort of power over us. But if a pair of shoes can get us to change our actions for the better... well, maybe the power of shoes is even greater than we realized.

EXACTLY 100 Days Left!

I have a twinge of OCD directed at the passage of time. It concentrates on rounded numbers, but also halves and quarters. It is a strange affliction that I can mostly control but it is often always in the back of my mind.

For example, I went through an extreme phase about 5 years ago when I would only leave the house to go exercise on quarter-hours. If it was 12:15pm -- good to go. But 3:37pm? Gotta wait until the clock says 3:45pm. I was also very enthusiastic when I went back to my college town recently for the first time in 10 years. I'm not sure what made me more excited…..to see it all again after so long, or the fact that it happened to fall exactly 10 years later. I'm glad I didn't have to deal with how to handle it 8 or 11 years later. Exactly a decade was good.

Similarly, the countdown to my wedding is always with me, for many reasons. Mostly for the list of things that need to get done by certain points time. But also….how long until?! At exactly 6 months to the day we had been engaged and would be married, I said to my fiancé, "Honey, I made reservations for our 6-months-since-engaged; 6-months-until-the-wedding anniversary!" His response…"Huh?" Something came up, and we ended up not making it out on that exact night, so forget it! I'm not celebrating unless it is on this exact middle day in time!

It isn't like I'm counting down every single day to the wedding, luckily. Because that would really bug. But technology is doing it for me. Every time I log on to our adorable wedding website, or one of our registries, or I get a spam email from theknot.com, they love to remind me how many freakin days are left! It's like they are trying to freak me out! Well, the "days until" countdown didn't effect me until this one: 100 Days Left!

WHAT?! Only 100 days? But there is so much to do! Pretty soon, like tomorrow, we will be in the double digits! I am already waking up at 3am in the middle of many nights worrying about getting the picture list to the photographer, among many other annoying details. Now that it is EXACTLY 100 days, I am in panic mode!

But the main 100 days OCD number crunch that has come to mind is my Weight Watchers progress. I have a very nice lead into the final stretch, but still a lot of mileage to go. Compared to the sprint at the beginning, my weekly weight loss has slowed to less than a pound per week. So here we go….if I lose 1 more pound every 10 days, that divides exactly evenly into 100, so that should be my goal. 10 more pounds. But what if I divide it by weeks instead of days, or hours and minutes? 10 in 100 must be the most I can do, right?

There is no exact calculation to pulling off the rest of the details in 100 more days, or pulling off 10 more pounds in exactly 100 days. What is going to make this all happen is focus. Focus on ordering the monogrammed cocktail napkins…..focus on not going over your points this week and making all your workouts. And don't wait for exactly 2:45pm to do it!

Savvy Shopper : Pickles!

Perhaps pickles are not the most common item on your shopping list, but I was surprised to find out that some pickle varieties equal unnecessary points! When looking at the label, it seems harmless enough - low calories + no fat = a Weight Watchers win!

In general, pickles are a safe bet as an add-on to a sandwich or burger, but it depends on the kind and, of course, the quantity. For example, adding just 1 Bread & Butter Stacker to your sandwich puts on 1 extra point which might be worth it for the taste. But what about adding 3? That's 2 extra points right off the bat - leaving less room in your daily allowance for, you guessed it, wine!

Peter Piper's Notes on Pickles:
1. The serving size for all "spear" varieties is 3/4 of a spear. Who eats 3/4 of a pickle spear?!
2. All "dill" varieties are your friend - bread & butter, your foe.
3. Vlassic owns the pickle shelf space in the local Safeway stores - perhaps it's time for a little friendly competition?

Serving Sizes:
Stackers = 1
Chips = 2
Snack-ems = 2
Spears = 3/4 spear

DISCUSS!

The infamous quote by Kate Moss, now a wearable T! Is this a true statement....or not?....DISCUSS!

#FAIL

Week after week, us Winos have been very good at reporting a variety of progress -- mostly encouraging news from the battle lines, but challenges as well. In order to stay true to, well, truth, I am compelled to share a recent development: OUR WORST WEIGHT-IN YET.

This past Wednesday, we all predicted little movement on the scale -- like we knew we'd been bad. Four of us Winos consistently weigh in together at Wednesday evening Weight Watchers meetings and often bet what the cumulative total of our loss will be. An early predictor of our impending defeat was detailed during our back-and-forth email guesses that afternoon of what our total loss would be: 3.5 lbs; 2.8 lbs; 2.1 lbs…..if only!

Instead of posting even a little bit of a "loss" towards our Backstreet Boy goal, our group actually gained 2.8 collective pounds last week. Epic Wino #FAIL.

After the weigh-in disaster, I asked the Winos what actions were haunting them as they looked back on some of their choices that might have made an impact on their week's number. "An entire chocolate chip cookie 6 inches in diameter"; "A huge deli sandwich the day after a decadent dinner"; "I didn't resist the cheesecake. (And, in fact, may have had 2 pieces.)"

For me, a couple stand-outs came to mind. My biggest #FAIL this past week was not eating enough before I went to my bi-weekly weight training class. By the end of it, I was so famished I was seeing stars. So that I wouldn't pass out during my bus ride home, I bee-lined it for a nearby taqueria. It crossed my mind to text my fellow Winos to tell them what I was about to do (order a burrito with the works), so that they could talk me out of it and offer better choices and encouragement. Instead, I ignored my inclination to get them involved and I went for it. I logged the points after nearly finishing it (and a side of chips), and felt it weighing me down the next day.

A final reality check occurred Thursday morning. Upon awaking to a fresh week's worth of points, I found the bag of pita chips I'd had a little party with right before bedtime. My punishment: logging the points in the next day so I would have to deal with the consequences of 2 unneeded servings of pita chips during this week. Guess what those pita chips amounted to: half a bottle of wine. #FAIL!

Five of us Winos will be together celebrating this Saturday night. We’ve already mapped out some very nice Weight Watchers choices and scheduled in dance party time to burn some calories. I am also bringing a measuring cup so we can accurately count our wine intake. Not trying to be a killjoy….just trying to get us back into the negative numbers so we don't encounter another Epic Wino #FAIL. The real #FAIL : I'm already half-a-bottle's worth of wine behind for the night.

Saying Aloha to Weight Loss

Aloha is a Hawaiian word that translates in English to both hello and goodbye.

When I started Weight Watchers about three months ago, I happily said aloha—hello—to the program. Optimistic and excited, I achieved quick success, losing 12 pounds in just under a month. Based on my calculations, at that pace, I would be able to hit my goal weight by mid-Summer. And to reward myself, I would go on a trip to Hawaii—somewhere I have never been, but always fantasized about, thanks to mainstream media. (I'm obviously referring to Saved by the Bell Hawaiian Style.)

It has now been three months, and I have lost... 12 pounds. When I realized this, I was completely discouraged. I was ready to quit. I was ready to say aloha—goodbye—to Weight Watchers all together.

But if I quit, I'd have to give up on my Hawaiian dream. Not ready to do that just yet, I figured out another (unlikely, if you know me) way to get there. I signed up to run the Kauai Half Marathon, which will take place September 5, with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training.

This will ensure three things:
1) I will continue to work towards my goal weight.
2) I will get to Hawaii at last.
3) And the best part: I will change the life of someone with blood cancer by raising $4,000 between now and the race.

In English, aloha means hello and goodbye. But aloha in the Hawaiian language means affection, love, peace, compassion and mercy—all things I am going to need as I embark on this challenge... things the people battling blood cancers need daily. If you can, please help me to accomplish the daunting task that lies before me by visiting my personal fundraising page and donating whatever works for your budget.

Aloha.

The Cream Puff Effect

The week started with a 4 course meal at Gary Danko, including a beautiful duck entree, an amazing cheese course and a rich chocolate souffle.  This unbelievable meal and the accompanying hangover was answered by an enormous turkey/avocado sandwich from the deli on the corner.  Then came the Yank Sing appetizers prior to an agency happy hour, followed by pizza during a lunch meeting the next day.  The weekend brought a surf and turf dinner of grilled steak and prawns swimming in butter solidified with several bottles of amazing wine in Sonoma.  I was awoken the next morning with the sweet, buttery aroma of fresh, homemade cinnamon buns.  The afternoon BBQ in Berkeley resulted in a scrumptious grilled hot dog only to be washed down by a dixie cup full of beer.

And as if all this were insufficient, my week was punctuated with a Beard & Pappa cream puff during a morning meeting.  Is it even possible to resist this creamy, flaky goodness?  I think not.

What's a poor Weight Watcher like me to do with all of this amazing food at my fingertips???!  It's like the indulgent start to my week with a divine dinner at Gary Danko snowballed (or in this case, cream-puffed) into caloric chaos.  Because I knew I had already used my flex points on Day 1, was there really any reason to try to make up for it the rest of the week?

In a meeting a while back, I heard someone explain that they only consider their food intake in 15 minute increments.  In other words, if they just stuffed half a cheese plate down their throat before dinner, they didn't write off the whole meal, but considered the next 15 minutes to be a clean slate in which to do better.  Usually if I have a moment of indulgence, I try to stick to this principle and let go of the mistake quickly in order to move on to the next chance to make a better choice.  I try not to fall into the "oh-fuck-it" spiral and get lost in endless abandon.

Not really sure what happened this week, but now that I'm stacked with a fresh plate of points, it's time to start over.  In the meantime, I'm pretty excited to hop on the scale and scope the extent of the damage in t-minus 5 hours.  NOT.