Rant Wednesday: Is a compliment that has to be qualified, really a compliment?

Hey, Everyone! Happy Hump Day.

I will jump right into today's rant. Have you ever given or received a compliment that was qualified and is that really a compliment?

For example, have you ever told someone they are cute to be big? Or cute to be dark-skinned? Or, smart to be a college dropout? Or a good person to be a felon? The list goes on and on.

What is up with that?! If someone is something good, why does it need a qualifier?

I once had someone tell me I was smart to be pretty. I wasn't sure if I should be insulted or flattered.

My questions for you are:

1) Are qualified compliments, really compliments?
2) Are you flattered when you receive a qualified compliment, or insulted?
3) How do you respond?

I try to work off of the concept of always assuming positive intent so when this happens I just say thank you and move on. I don't believe people mean any harm when they say these things. But, I also don't believe they are thinking about what they are saying. Is it just that those of us who think about this are being way too sensitive?

What do you think?

Share you comments, experiences, and advice.

Have something to rant about on a future edition of Rant Wednesday? Email me at michaidanawrites@gmail.com

Monday Fitness: Public Weightloss Journal - Entry #9

Happy Monday, Everyone! Hope your weekend was amazing.

I will get right to it. Today's weigh-in is the exact same from last week. 162.8. I am happy to maintain but the goal is still to continue to knock down the lbs. Down 10 and 20 more to go.

Last week was one of those crazy weeks where the days and the evenings were busy and time flew by in a bit of a blur.

I am NOT proud to say that I did not get in any days of exercise in the past week. I had a plan but did not stick to it when my days got busy.

In the evenings, I was wiped out. Now, a new plan is needed for this week. There is a lot going on after work hours, but I can't let that be the reason for no exercise this week. My family's extra activities are all amazing things so we need to maintain them.

What do you guys do when your schedule is nuts with work, rehearsals, and other events? How do you recognize this and stay on track with exercise?

This kind of schedule used to get me off track with food because I would stop and grab whatever is available but I have gotten much better about that.

Now, it is staying on track with exercise that is needed to help with my health goals. What is your advice for me and others who may have the same challenge?

Share your advice and experience so we can all learn from you.

And, thank you, as always! Looking forward to updating everyone again next week. It will be the 10th journal entry :)

Rant Wednesday: Comments from others on the 2016 NBA Finals

Hey, Everyone! Happy Hump Day.

So excited for the Cleveland Cavaliers. I was listening to my favorite show, Doug&Wolf, on AZ Sports 98.7 FM, on my way in to work this morning and they mentioned a parade going on in Cleveland today. I can only imagine how amazing it is.

This victory was exciting to watch! Both teams put on a great show and it was quite a Game 7.

That being said, here are just a couple of things that I want to rant about regarding this season:

1) Lebron haters - Lebron has taken so much heat (pun intended) over his career decisions. This has bothered me from many standpoints that I won't go into now but it would be nice if everyone just put to bed, their consistent negative views about Lebron, as a leader, and as a Great.

The negative commentary about all the finals he had been to and only won the two in Miami, had gotten old as well. Championships are awesome but look at how many Hall of Famers have played the game and never won 1 ring. Does that diminish their greatness? A friend of mine summed it up best when he posted to Facebook after the game and said something like, "Now, can all of the Lebron haters please SHUT UP."  LOL

We also have to give a major shout-out to Kyrie Irving!! Without his performance and without that clutch 3, it could have easily gone the other way. 

2) Steph Curry - Before losing this finals, most people had a "Steph Curry for President" type attitude about him. Steph Curry is remarkable and someone that I enjoy watching. The 73-9 season has been incredible. Now, that the team lost, some fans are speaking negatively about him and have seemed to flip on their opinion.

I also do not like the talk about their season record being diminished by not winning the finals. I am not sure why it is seen that way. I am assuming because the Bulls won the championship the year they went 72-10. In any loss there is plenty of blame to go around. However, their greatness is not diminished. It is just time to regroup and get right back in the game.

3) Fixed Games - This topic is never ending when it comes to any sport. When games don't go a certain way it is said the the refs are paid off and games are fixed to make more money. While I have no idea if that even has a little truth to it, all I will say about it is no one complains when the "fixing" is in favor of their favorite team. This is one of those situations when we can only "control the controllables." The alleged paying off of refs does not factor when a team is shooting poorly.

Thoughts on the game? The comments? The players? Post your comment below and thank you, as always, for tuning in to Rant Wednesday. Be sure to come back and check out next week's rant.

Monday Fitness: Public Weightloss Journal - Entry #8

Happy Monday, Everyone!

Quick shout out to the Cleveland Cavaliers for winning the 2016 NBA Championship!!! The game was so amazing. I will talk more about it in my Rant Wednesday blog. Check it out and weigh-in on the subject.

Well, on to today's weigh-in! I am excited to be down a smidge from last week. Today's weigh-in is 162.8!! For those who tuned in last week, you may recall that I had been at 164 for 3 straight weeks.

While today's weigh-in is down just 1 pound from that, for me, it is a big deal! It is over the 164 hump. My current goal is still to get under 160. Once that goal is achieved, I will work on my next goal of under 150.

This week's focus is on exercise. At least 30 minutes every day. Tonight is dance practice so that will take care of the exercise. Tuesday and Thursday's plan is Zumba World Party on the Wii.

Wednesday and Friday will likely be walking and hopefully I will be able to get a little swim time in this week, as well.

Thank you to everyone for the continued encouragement. I am so excited. I am looking forward to these continued posts. If you missed the very first one, you can find it here.

My prayer is that someone is encouraged that if I can do it, they can do it too. The key for me has been to find a nutrition plan that works for me and to use this blog for accountability and communication with others to share their knowledge and experience.

Wishing everyone a productive and healthy week! See you next Monday.

Have a story you would like to have featured on a future edition of Monday Fitness? Email me at michaidanawrites@gmail.com

Rant Wednesday: Orlando should never have happened

Like many of you, my heart is so heavy for what happened in Orlando on Sunday. So many of our brothers and sisters lost their lives in a senseless, hateful, and violent act by one person.

It is hard to put my thoughts into words, regarding the act itself, and regarding some of the postings and comments that have been made by others as a result.

I will try to stick with just 3:

1) This is not about gay or straight..... our brothers and sisters lost their lives, bottom line. It is horrific and it hurts. Using this tragic situation to focus an agenda on your thoughts of gay versus straight is not okay, in my opinion.

2) This is not about Muslims..... one disturbed person took a horrific action. Using this horrible act as a way to enforce a hateful position against Muslims is wrong, in my opinion.

3) Spread love ..... an amazing lady that I follow on  Facebook posted, on Monday, that when she was traveling recently she met a Muslim woman who said "America hates me." How sad is this?! The lady who posted this said she was able to put her arms around this woman and assure her that not all Americans think like that.

People, we have to spread love the best way we know how. This world is in desperate need. I am unsure of what more to say.

Please pray for our brothers and sisters and the families that are grieving.

Please try as best as you can to keep life into perspective and focus on what is important. Please hug your loved ones regularly and let them know they are important to you.

Please be kind....say kind things....do kind things. Don't add to the horror of this tragedy by further hurting others with misguided opinions on things and personal agendas.

This is not about you and your agenda. It is about tragic loss of loved ones and their families need for support. #spreadlove #Godblessourworld

Monday Fitness: Public Weightloss Journal - Entry #7

Hey Everyone! I hope you had an amazing weekend and you are ready to take this week by storm.

I will get right to it. I need some advice. My weigh-in this morning is 164.0. I am at the same weight for the last two weeks.

The good thing is this means I have maintained and not gained any weight back. The not-so-good thing is I am in that lull where I have not made additional progress.

I need some advice on how to get over the hump so I can drop the next 10lbs.

I know many of you have conquered this. How did you do it?

On a major up note, my family and friends have begun to notice the changes. I was blessed to have 4 people last week comment to me that they see the difference in my face.

And just this morning, two compliments that I am looking great. Now, please understand that I don't share this to sound awful. I share this because it is a blessing and I am thankful. 

There are many people, like you, that are encouraging me and holding me accountable so I am a truly grateful lady.

I am a firm believer in the saying that no man is an island. So, a major thank you to all of you!

Let me know what advice you have to help me get over the current lull in weight loss. In the meantime, I will keep up good eating habits.

My only guilty pleasure these days is chips and salsa :)

Have a story you would like me to feature on future Monday Fitness blogs? Email me at michaidanawrites@gmail.com

Rant Wednesday: The young man was high or vulgar

Yesterday, something disturbing happened to me and I am having a hard time shaking it from my mind.

WARNING: Before reading any further, the content is a bit disturbing so please do not continue reading if it could possibly be bothersome. I will not use any curse words or profane language but will just say enough to help understand what this young man said to me.

Here is what happened:

When I pulled up to a stop light yesterday, I kept hearing someone yelling, "Hey" from two lanes over. I looked over to see who was yelling and it was two young men hanging out of the passenger side of the car.

When I said Hello, the young man in the front passenger window said "Hey, What that black P%$^y be like."

Needless to say, this was quite shoking. Even though the young men were a different race than I am, I was not angry, I was disturbed.

Also, because they are young, my mind went into mom-mode. My response was "Boy, how old are you?!" To which he responds that he is 18. My next statement to him was "Then you are too old to be acting this immature."

His next statement disturbed me further. He said, "Oh come on, girl, I'll coke you out."

My heart sank behind this because these kids were either very vulgar or they were high. I was two lanes over so was not able to see who was driving the car or see a license plate on the car.

Before the light changed we exchanged a couple of more statements. I told him I don't do drugs and he shouldn't either because drugs will kill him. His last statement before the light changed was "Come on, let me get your number." We drove off in two different directions.

For the rest of the day this conversation played in my mind and I kept wondering if there was something I could have said that would have been helpful to those young men.

I also kept wondering who in the world was driving the car and listening to this disturbing dialogue and not putting a stop to it.

Last thing is I just pray those young men are okay and they get their minds right. This kind of thing simply shouldn't happen. There is no excuse for it!

What would you have done in this scenario?

Monday Fitness: Public Weightloss Journal - Entry #6

Happy Monday, Everyone! I hope your weekend was relaxing and enjoyable.

With some great help, I moved to a new apartment this weekend so it was busy and exhausting :)

Over the past week, with the moving, I got off track on my nutrition plan. Not way off track, but had a few snacks and things that I would not normally eat.

Weigh-in today is 164.0 so pretty much the same as last week's 163.8. Next milestone goal is still to get under 160.

The lesson I learned this week can be summed in the famous saying "If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail." - Benjamin Franklin

With the hustle and bustle of moving, there were times where I got hungry or my energy was down and I opted for quick food options.

While, I did not completely go off of my plan in the last week, there a few things I had that are not in my plan. For example, I had two sodas this weekend. And I also had two fried foods. Other than that, I think I had a couple of potato chips.

Everything else I ate or drank was within my plan. Now, that the move is out of the way, I feel back on track already.

What do you do when you look up and realize you have gotten busy and failed to plan? Share your stories and advice with us.

Have a story that you would like featured on a future edition of Monday Fitness? Email me at michaidanawrites@gmail.com

Rant Wednesday: Graduation Ceremony Etiquette

It is that exciting time of year where many are graduating from high school, college, and post-graduate degree programs.

It is an amazing accomplishment that deserves recognition.

The part of the ceremony that is the subject of today's Rant Wednesday is the lack of etiquette that is sometimes displayed at graduation ceremonies.

Here are three issues that stand out:

1) Over-Cheering - Now, don't jump all over me for this one. It is understandable to want to scream to the rooftop for your graduate. They have worked hard and have overcome obstacles. Some stories are way more involved that we can imagine. That being said, the issue with the over-cheering is not the celebration itself. It is, however, the fact that someone else's family will miss the chance to hear their graduate's name being called due to the excessive celebrating of another family. It is not fair to rob that family of the same joy.

2) Seating - This is a major issue at many ceremonies. While the attendees cannot do much about it, the best we can do is be respectful by allowing room for others to sit down (not using a seat for your purse or other belongings) or by giving your seat to someone who may be disabled, elderly, or a mother-to-be.

3) Talking during speeches - Believe it or not, some of us actually like to hear all of the speeches. :) Talking during the ceremony prevents others from being able to hear the speaker. It is also disrespectful to the speaker who has spent time and thought preparing to address the graduates and families.

Again, graduation is a phenomenal time and it deserves time, attention, and respect! Let's be courteous to one another so we can enjoy graduation to its fullest potential.

Can anyone relate or have stories to share?

Have something you want to sound off on in a future edition of Rant Wednesday? Email me at michaidanawrites@gmail.com.