Weight Woes...Sorta

Tuomo bellyaches: So I weighed in this morning at 206.8 lbs (93.5 kg), down by .4 lbs (180g), missing my 10 pound milepost by .4 lbs. Boo hoo hoo, ooh hoo hoo...

At least now I know for sure that the scales at the gym are more reliable...

I guess the reason why I'm feeling a bit frustrated is that the weight has been coming off so slowly. Admittedly, it didn't exactly pounce on me overnight either, but I feel desperate about weighing at least less than 200 lbs. At the same time, nor is there any self-imposed deadline by which I have to fit again in my 34" jeans, so I have to do some serious self-reflection on why I'm so adamant about being at my "ideal" weight (whatever that us). I guess one point of frustration is that I have a closet full of dress pants that I'd like to start wearing again on a regular basis and not only on days when I don't feel particularly bloated or when I think I can wing it by pulling in my belly all day long :-) They do fit me better now than way back in December when I had to wear them to two job interviews, and man was I in pain, so that's better than nothing...!

Besides, not that the path ends at reaching that ideal weight: that's when it really starts because this time, I'd really like to keep my weight at check and not to have to rejoin Weight Watchers ever again, even as a lifetime member...

Next week is going to be particularly challenging with our friends Nicole, Sean, and Nate coming over for a week as our first (summer) guests. Sean and Nate are annoyingly slim, in the sense that ostensibly they seem to be able to eat anything in sight without any effects on their waistlines. I guess this week will then have be a week of damage control. Maybe I'll sneak to the gym a couple of times on my way to or from work for a thirty minute cardio workout...

Yeah right, and pigs will fly :-)

CNN News Item of Inspiration

Tuomo writes: So there is life after ESC... but what am I to write about? Hmmm... Oh I could always yammer on the topic of weight loss: I haven't said a word in weeks! :-)


After almost three months I haven't even lost my first 10 lbs! How frustrating :-( On one hand, there have been two trips that have jeopordised all efforts. Then there's been the issue of not going to the gym or doing any form of exercise. As Dave pointed it out, my previous stints at Weight Watchers have been most successful when I've gone to the gym. I've been going to the gym pretty regularly (as well as paid attention to my daily points except...) for the past two weeks, so I expect to see some results... like NOW! :-)

Last week, i.e. after one week of exercising (circuit training) and possibly thanks to a salty supper, I actually put on weight - 0.2 lbs, or 90 grams! This week, the scale in the bath room didn't budge showing 208 lbs (i.e. weight gain) until yesterday when it showed 206.4 (i.e. wight loss). This is the weight the scale at the gym has been showing me since Tuesday - admittely while I'm totally in the nude (not a pretty site!). At home, we've come to the conclusion that our Weight Watchers brand scale is worth diddlysquat because we gain and lose weight as we move the scale around - or even shift our position!

It's going to be interesting what the verdict is going to be tomorrow morning. I'm so close to losing my first 10 lbs - and my second golden star, which I didn't yet earn last week... But then we didn't stay for the meeting anyway, so that made me feel better about the .2 lb weight gain :-)

Those who know me know that I'm very easy to get excited about things. The same holds true for documentaries, articles, reports, what have you on weight loss. Today while getting the house ready for the first guests of the summer (!), I was watching CNN (nothing else going on on TV between 10am and 4pm...) and a segment on a guy who has lost more than 100 lbs. His story made me feel good about losing weight and got me refocused on the positive aspects of weight loss. If he could do it, then goddamnit losing 20 more pounds can't be impossible - just challenging :-)

Also check out this guy's blog in the side bar!


So wish me luck with tomorrow's weigh-in. I had two samosas for dinner, and I'm sure that with all the fat and sodium (but they were oh so yummy!!!) all my efforst for this week were pretty much ruined... or maybe not... Stay tuned!

Eurovision 2008: The Day After, or the Jetsam and Flotsam

Tuomo writes: The party's over, time to wrap things up and start thinking about next year...

Thank goodness there's the Internet and message boards; I used to be so depressed the day after Eurovision with no one to discuss the results and speculate - until I got to college and found my ilk... And now I got to blog about this... It was worth growing up :-)

A couple of words on the results, starting with the Top 10:

1. Russia (272 points) Поздравляем! Apparently a dog-and-pony show with pyrotechnics isn’t enough these days: you need an ice skater too :- I still think Dima put on a better show in 2006: even the song was better than this one without a refrain...
2. Ukraine (230 points): No surprise…
3. Greece (218 points): No surprise…
4. Armenia 199 points: No surprise…
5. Norway (182 points): Norway the best Scandinavian country in 2008?! This song is starting to grow on me, but I still fear that at any moment the lyrics will turn into Christian rock…
6. Serbia (160 points): Sure, the host country always does well…
7. Turkey (138 points): Well of course :-)
8. Azerbaijan 132 points: So close behind Turkey. Go figure :-)
9. Israel 124: I still can’t believe this, but oh well…
10. Bosnia-Hertsegovina (110 points): As Dave put it (and he can be picky, so his word carries a lot of weight here!), the most original performance and a fun song, too. Besides, Finland gave this one 8 points (3rd best) in the semi-finals voting... Did the chicken get to run around on stage, too?

And then last but not least a few (hopefully well and wisely) chosen words on the others:

Latvia: 12th?! Oh and guess what: 12 points from Ireland. Quelle surprise! Thank goodness all the other mock entries were either eliminated (Ireland, Estonia) or placed lower than this (Spain). Let’s hope this nips the trend at its bud NOW. No more funny ha ha numbers, please. Ever.
Sweden: 18th?! This uber-produced, perfected and bleached beyond recognition number placed 12th in the semi-finals but made it to the finals only thanks to jury votes (instead of televotes) – and bumped Macedonia (10th) in the process. All along, Sweden was supposed to be such a shoo-in to the Top 5. Oh the irony of placing 18th. Oh and 18th last year too with 51 points vs. 47 points in 2008.
Romania: 20th?!? What’s wrong with you people?? :-(
Finland: 22nd!!! And not last… Dang! Let’s hope this puts an end to Finns believing that one can’t lose with heavy rock (“Hevillä ei voi hävitä!”) – BECAUSE YOU CAN! Try rock like Turkey… or bringing hunky javelin throwers à la Russia. And maybe have Ransu or Ti-Ti Nalle sing for Finland :-)

Now, honestly - what am I going to blog about next…? :-)

Good Evening, Bonsoir (3/3)

Tuomo & Dave write/écrivent: Here are finally the results of the Langley jury for the final – what a task! Voici enfin les résultats de la vote de Langley pour la finale – quel travail!

United Kingdom: one point; la Rouyaume-Unie: un point
Finland: two points; la Finlande: deux points
Turkey: three points; la Turquie: trois points
Sweden: four points; la Suède: quatre points
Bosnia-Herzegovina: five points; la Bosnie-Herzégovine: cinq points
Greece: six points; la Grèce: six points
Iceland: seven points; l’Icelande: sept points
Armenia: eight points; l’Armenie: huit points
Ukraine: ten points; l’Ukraine: dix points

And finally… our twelve points from Langley B.C. go to (drum roll)
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Romania! Et finalement nos douze points de Langley B.C. pour La Roumanie!

Thank you very much, have a nice evening everybody, and see you next year! Merci beaucoup, bonne soirée à tous, et à l’année prochaine! :-)

Eurovision 2008: Results of the 2nd Semi-Final

Tuomo writes: First of all, congratulations to all the songs from the second semi-finals that made it to the finals. Once again, here's a quick commentary on today's/tonight's results (in order of performance); note that I/we haven't seen any of the performances live either:

Iceland: Yayy!
Sweden: Duh! :-(
Turkey: Whew :-)
Ukraine: Duh!
Albania: Ok...
Latvia: Tonight's WTF HTH :-(
Croatia: OK...
Denmark: This one fell in the category of Bubbling Under, so glad to see that it made it to the finals. Now, will we witness some serious nordisk samarbete on Saturday night when, after so many years of one or more Scandinavian countries missing, all are together again on the same stage...? :-)
Georgia: Ok...
Portugal: Really?! HTH? Though good for Portugal. The competition does need more diversity: just say no to glambots :-)

Totally saddened by Switzerland's failure to pass; apparently he had forgotten how to sing :-(
And no Hungary either... Dave's intuition was correct... Too Disneyesque I guess...
No Bulgaria. Macedonia. Or Belorussia. Oh well...

De gustibus non disputandus est :-)

Interesting Links on Eurovision Voting

Tuomo writes: I love ESC to death - I could spend hours listening to the songs and reading on trivia, but still there are people who have elevated ESC into a science (or seen something scientific in it to study). Good for them! :-)

I just came across two websites that I have to read more carefully myself, but I thought I'd share them immediately with any of my/our readers (what... 5? 6?). Derek Gatherer (how appropriate!) has done a study on ESC voting patterns. His study has corroborated our worst fears and come to the conclusion that there is a voting block, commonly referred to as the Balkan Block, but wait - there are in fact several others!

To read and - gasp - learn more, click on the two links below:

1. Comparison of Eurovision Song Contest Simulation with Actual Results Reveals Shifting Patterns in Collusive Voting Alliances
2. Eurovision Song Contest Predictions for 2008

And don't tell me you all have already read this and that it's old stuff for you! Then why wasn't this triv... I mean... information shared with me?! :-)

Good Evening, Bonsoir (2/3)

Tuomo & Dave write/écrivent: Here are the results of the Langley jury for the second semi-final; we have to say it was a difficult task to come up with tonight’s points. Voici les résultats de la vote de Langley pour la deuxième demi-finale; il faut avouer qu’il nous a fallu beaucoup de peine à ranger les points de ce soir:

Turkey: one point; la Turquie: un point
Albania: two points; l’Albanie: deux points
Belorussia: three points; Biélorussie: trois points
Macedonia: four points; la Macédoine: quatre points
Bulgaria: five points; la Bulgarie: cinq points
Sweden: six points; la Suède: six points
Iceland: seven points; l’Icelande: sept points
Hungary: eight points; la Hongrie: huit points
Ukraine: ten points; l’Ukraine: dix points

And finally… the twelve points from Langley go to (pregnant pause)
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Switzerland! La Suisse: douze points!

Thank you again, have a nice evening everybody! Merci de nouveau, bonne soirée à tous! :-)