Sarah says: Naked Grape is a good name for this wine. It's grapey. It's drinkable. Not too sweet, not too bland. It's a little bitter going down, but leaves a pleasant flavor in my mouth. It's nothing special though, just normal white wine. I don't mind it, but don't love it.
jon says: if this wine was a movie i would have fallen asleep. thank goodness we were watching "ferris bueller's day off", one of the few things that came out of the 80's worth a darn, i mean aside from us :) so i think that this wine's name is the best description of what is in the bottle. i feel like some wines have a lot more going one then just smashed up grapes and this was simply that nothing added. this is a safe wine and completely unremarkable.
Overall rating: Horizontal thumbs.
Sarah says: I hate being naked. Ok, I’ll just say it. I have a negative body image of myself. There, it’s out there. No turning back now. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure that I am not alone here. Society today has ruined our minds into thinking stick thin is normal. I know that this isn’t true – but I can’t seem to get it right in my head. I’m working on it though. I’m slowly weeding the word “skinny” out of my vocabulary, and inputting “healthy” instead. I struggle, when someone tells me I look skinny, I’m super happy at first, then comes the guilty. (By the way, don’t tell me I look skinny, just tell me I look good)
Years ago, (either late elementary school or early middle school) I realized I hated my body and I declared myself to be fat. I honestly cannot remember a time where I was comfortable in my own skin. Throughout middle and high school I secretly bounced back and forth between crash dieting and binge eating. I was probably around 5-10 pounds overweight in high school (which doesn’t sound so bad, but being 10 pounds overweight in high school is a death sentence!) Not only was I a nerd, but I was slightly chunky too. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to embrace my nerd-ness; so I got good grades, that doesn’t make me a nerd, it makes me smart! But I’ve never gotten comfortable with my weight.
In college, I gained the freshman 5 (or 15 depending on who you are talking to), and probably a few more during sophomore and junior years of college. Now I was just plain old overweight, and hating myself. Jon must have still liked me because he proposed. I had still been attempting to diet and lose weight, but never had any success. I was not going to be fat on my wedding day, so I enlisted the help of a personal trainer. This was both the best and worst experience of my life. With Jeremy’s help, I learned how to count calories and really work out. He pushed me, hard, and wouldn’t let me stop when I complained. I lost weight, and it was awesome. That part was good, the obsessive nature it created in me, probably not so good. I became obsessed with seeing how low I could push the calorie mark, or how long I could work out for. I know there were weeks at a time that I was eating no more than 900 calories a day, and working out at least 2 hours a day. I also remember spending days eating basically toast and distilled water – so that there was no sodium in my body at all, because sodium causes you to bloat. (I’m not proud of these things, I’m just explaining how crazy it got). That was before a real job and kids, so it was easy to do these things.
I looked fantastic at my wedding. Everyone told me how great I looked, and I loved it. Unfortunately, I managed to gain a bunch of weight back within the first year of marriage. Then I got pregnant, and boy oh boy, did I take advantage of that. I ate and ate and sat around. And I gained a ton of weight. I’ve never said the number out loud (and I won’t be typing it either), but let’s just say it was A LOT. Jon looked at the scale at the doctor’s office during my last visit before labor and said “Holy crap!” Yeah, it was that bad. After Liam was born, I attempted my no calorie, lots of working out plan, but, it doesn’t really work when you are nursing and have no energy to care for a newborn, let alone workout. So, I stayed fat. Then got pregnant again, and thus gained weight again.
It wasn’t until Mary was about 1 that I decided to try losing weight again. This time I was smart about it. I knew I couldn’t commit to a trainer, or stop eating, or work out all day, but I took some of the good things I learned and put it in place in my life as a working Mom. I successfully lost weight and have kept it off for 2 years. Go me! Unfortunately, I still have body image issues. Loads of people tell me how great I look, but they don’t see me naked. There are parts of my body that still need so much work. There are areas that I’m pretty sure won’t be the same again without some sort of miracle, or plastic surgery. I’ve pondered a tummy tuck – but at this point I’d rather spend my money on a vacation with my husband.
I still don’t like my body, but here’s what I have figured out. I’ve figured out that I love food, and giving it up isn’t realistic for me, I end up going food crazy later. I’ve figured out that I need to work out several times a week (for 30 min at a time, not 2 hours), not only to maintain a healthy weight, but a healthy attitude too. I’ve figured out that it’s my opinion that matters the most, not others. I go through phases of being more relaxed and other times when I’m very strict. Lately, I’ve been working out more than normal, maybe it’s because I know I’ll be spending time on Memorial Day in a bathing suit, maybe it’s because I know with the warmer weather I’ll be showing more skin, or maybe I’m just going through an energy spurt. I’m not worried about it because I know how to manage it so it doesn’t get out of control like before, in a few weeks I’ll take a break and be “normal” again.
I also do my best not to influence my kids with my body issues. Liam eats… a ton! I have found myself worrying, and even saying to him, that he needs to slow down so he doesn’t get fat. I’m working on avoiding such negative comments. I’ve also found myself forcing them to clean their plates, now I tell them it’s ok to be full and not finish sometimes. Our appetites feel different on different days. I encourage them to be active with me, but don’t force them to work out. I offer them fruits and veggies, but let them make their own decisions (broccoli or carrots?)
I don’t hope for much more for me (ok, maybe I’d like to lose 5 pounds more). I’ve reached a good point. I’m not really comfortable with my body, but I know that I’m healthy. I hope more for the younger generations, that they won’t deal with the stress of thinking that being thin will make them fit in, or be cool. I hope that girls won’t think it’s more important to be skinny, than it is to be healthy. I hope that one day we won't say phrases like "You look great, you're so skinny!" or "Omg, did you see how much weight she's gained?". I hope to Mary's generation that the number on the scale won’t mean anything. As an accountant, I think I have the right to say, it’s just a number… there are lots of them, and they are all cool!
jon says: i love it when you are naked!
jon says: i love it when you are naked!
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