Diary of a poor fat chick.. My journey to financial freedom and skinny jeans

Time for a change..

11/18/2015

Hey people.
Don’t worry I am still around. I am currently in the process of revamping and reinvesting this blog. Time for a change. So should have this up and running by the end of the month. Just wanted to give you all the heads up that all is well.
I have been thinking for a while time for a revamp of this blog. Change is always a good thing.. stay tuned for more exciting things on this blog instead of me yapping away.. LOL

In the mean time.. here is a funny for you.. enjoy

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Time to start my next travel list..

10/8/2015

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If you have been a long time ready you may have read about my “4 places” list. The 4 places I had listed down that I must see in my lifetime. It started in 2005 just I went on my first travel adventure when I couldn’t decide where I wanted to go.. so I wrote down four places and picked which ones I really wanted to see and went there. That first place was the Tower of London. Since then I caught the travel bug and have been exploring the world ever since.

(BTW the other places where Alcatraz, which I saw in 2007, Universal Studios LA which I went to in 2012 and Disneyland, which I saw this year in 2015)

So after that I wrote down four more places to go to… which are, in no particular order

Roswell, New Mexico (preferably during their Alien festival)
Albuquerque, New Mexico (bugs bunny reference
Atlanta, GA for the walking dead
Anywhere that will give me the view of the northern lights… like Alaska or way up north BC..

Anyway I also encouraged the BF to do the same. The first thing on his list is Kansas City, Kansas to watch he favourite football team play at Arrowhead Stadium. Well that dream will come true for him on Sunday and one of mine is about to be crossed off as well. This weekend we leave for a trip to Kansas City for 4.5 days and then Atlanta GA for 5.5 days for many the walking dead tours and stuff like that. TWD is my second favourite TV show of all time. The first being the X-files.. and I have so many plans to visit all the walking dead shooting locations.. like a walking dead road trip (like the picture I found while researching :) )

Having this system I feel works great for those times where you are like.. lets go travel.. ok.. but where..

Unfortunately our credit card took quite a beating these past couple of weeks with the football game and tours.. also Atlanta is expensive for things like accommodation and car rental. The BF and I sat down with our finances last night and although we are not in terrible shape we are not any better than we were a year ago. So we sat down and worked out our budget for the next year. We decided that we wouldn’t do any major trips in the next year to pay off the debt etc etc. If all goes to plan we can have all the debt off (besides the mortgage and car) in less than 9 months.. that’s pretty good..

We just decided that its time.. its getting not fun anymore having this debt.

Having said that we saved up pretty well for this trip and we are both looking forward to doing something both off our “4 places” list

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My open letter to Nicole Arbour

9/11/2015

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So if you have kept up with recent events in the social media world you may or may not have heard of a little video called “Dear Fat People”. Now I only came across it as I was looking up Whitney Thore and I found her response video to it. So I watched the video and kinda wished now I didn’t. I was angry and upset by this video and it’s so called “motivational message”. I do consider myself a strong laid back person and tried not to take that video to heart but after it festering in my mind for a couple of days I was reduced to tears last night and I wanted to write a little letter to that woman to explain it. I know my blog is pretty little and she may never see it but I don’t care.. I have to say it..
So..

"Dear Nicole Arbour..

In response to your recent video “Dear Fat People” I wanted to write you a letter to explain to you that your video was neither funny NOR helpful in anyway shape or form. In fact it did the opposite for me and I’m sure many people who were upset by your so called “satire” video. I am normally a strong person and can handle stupid little girls like you but your video ended up bringing me to tears (more on that later). BTW I say little girl knowing full well your age but you certainly don’t act it.

First a little back ground on me. I am a mid 30’s woman who has struggled with her weight all her life. As a teenager and young adult I was considered skinny but never saw it that way and struggled with depression. During a very emotionally abusive relationship I gained 100 pounds and then when that relationship ended I added 50 more which if cause continued the struggle with depression. I hated myself at one point.. even contemplated harming myself… I continued to struggle since then to lose the weight.. many woman.. err.. people struggle with this. Some of them even take it to the extreme developing eating disorders etc. although still struggling with depression I have learned over the years to accept myself as me and to love myself for how I am. Thankfully I have many family and friends who also love me for who I am. I do eat pretty healthy (I know it could be improved) and exercise a lot.

Now your video claims to a funny satire video and help motivate people into losing weight but your attempt at humour and helpfulness was just a cheap awful way to get people to notice you. You would honestly have the same effect running down the street naked. You have no idea about the struggles myself and many other men and people deal with on a daily basis. You claim in your video that fat shamming is not a thing. Um.. WHAT.. you claim that it’s not a thing.. are you effing kidding me. Fat Shamming is so a thing and its part of a bigger problem of body shamming in general. I have myself have experienced firsthand fat shamming on many occasions but I have also seen it for others like my skinny friends told to “eat a sandwich” and my gym friends told to “get off the roids”.. It happens to many people of all shapes and sizes and its gotta stop. Your video is a classic example of fat/body shamming… PERIOD.. I am sick of judging eyes when I occasionally treat myself as people think that’s all I eat all the time.. WTF..

Now after watching your video a few days ago I couldn’t get one point out of my mind… your story about the “fat family” on the airplane and this brought me to tears and ill tell you why. I travel and fly a lot. I know that even though I am big I am not huge but still struggle every time I fly as to the thoughts of “will I fit into the seats” (never had a problem but it’s still in my mind) or “will I sit next to someone with judging eyes”. I see it all the time people looking at me judging my appearance cause I am overweight and sighing with relief when I don’t sit next to them. And when I do I feel uncomfortable and awful because of it. I am not even that big.. I’m a 18.. It bought me to tears thinking that I may have to deal with that again in October when I travel and It scared me to death. I considering cancelling my trip because of it. People like you, Nicole, just hurt people to make yourself feel better. It’s not motivation.. its abuse…

Also you claim that being overweight can cause health issues. I am not blind to the possibility that I may have health issues in the future and I DON’T need someone like you telling me that but let me rebut your comment by saying this. I have had 3 different physicals over the past 5 years due to various reasons including immigration. I have had those 3 of doctors tell me the same thing “for someone who is “text book” overweight you have pretty healthy”.. and those are coming from Doctors.. where is your PHD since you think you know medical health issues.

Finally do some research before posting your thoughts on plus size. The term plus size is from the fashion world for women who are about a size 12 or 14 (depending on the country). We as “fat people” didn’t make it up.. If Marilyn Monroe was alive today she would be consider plus size.. would you call her fat…

Your video was not funny or motivating. You are just a mean girl with too much time on her hands trying to get attention. If you going to make a satire video make it about yourself.. not about others.. and then disabling your comments so one can respond.. you know you did wrong. Some people have said that “the video has motivated me to lose weight” and good on them but for every one person who says that I guarantee there are 5, 6 – 10 people who are just hurting more because of it and considering hurting themselves to make the pain stop.

There is so much more I could say about your video but I refuse to waist any more of my thoughts on you.

Now getting that off my chest and crying out my pain I will now turn my sites onto better things. I won’t think about you or your nasty video again. I refuse to link anything of yours or even say your name anymore. I will take your video, wrap it into a tiny ball and shove it up my big fat ass where it belongs. If anyone who watched that piece of dirt video is hurting you are not alone and please remember that this video is not you.. you are wonderful, beautiful and totally worth it. Don’t let a poor little sad mean girl tell you any different.

I will continue to eat healthy and exercise but not because of the video but because of ME and I am worth it. I will eat healthy food because I enjoy it and will exercise to prepare for the zombie apocalypse (yes that’s coming). And if I lose weight that is a side effect of it.. and I will always still treat myself..

I do want to say one positive that came out of watching that video. All the response videos and the wonderful supportive people I have found responding to it. I have come across some amazing and talented vloggers that I will continue to follow... so thank you for helping me find amazing people that are actually worth my time.

Toodles.."

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not in the spirit for the "Spirit of Halloween"

9/8/2015

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So I am a little pissed off at the “Spirit of Halloween” store. This store is a pop up store that comes for Halloween every year and sets up shops at various places around town selling a variety of costumes, costume accessories and horror themed decorations an what not for your house and/or party. The boast to have the biggest selection of costumes available.

So the other day I decided to have a look around. Now normally I love this store. They have awesome costume accessories and heaps of awesome stuff to decorate the house with for Halloween. See Halloween is my Christmas..

I went in to look at their awesome house stuff but to also look at their costumes and see if I can get any ideas for Halloween. First thing I noticed is that the majority of their costumes only went up to size 14. All their costumes were grouped together like Roman/ancient etc.. Witches and demons etc.. emergency people etc.. horror characters etc.. they even had a “sexy” section where all the costumes were called “sexy ??” for example Sexy nurse or sexy witch.. hell even an sexy Freddie Kruger (now don’t get me started on sexy Halloween costumes.. that is a whole other kettle of fish)

So I went to ask one of the girls working there is they have anything in plus size.. actually I think my words were “do you have anything above a size 14”. I was advised that they don’t have a section but if I look at the costumes anything with a yellow strip was plus size. I thought awesome it will be easy to find.. well not so much. O went through the entire ladies costume section and out of the hundreds of costumes there and the dozens of categories I found 4.. that’s right 4 costumes for plus size.. a witch.. a prisoner.. Cleopatra and a pair of stockings.. THAT’S IT..

And nothing in the so called “sexy costume” section.

What was more annoying is all these costumes were all long sleeve and long gowns.. WTF.. and where I found these costumes there was other designs available but only one for plus size. For example there were five other witch costume varieties if you were a 14 or under in size but only 1 available in plus..

This actually got me pissed off… for a company that boosts the largest selection of costumes you certainly didn’t carter for the plus size person and made them feel ashamed like they have to cover up their bodies while in costume.. screw that.. I don’t think Cleopatra had long sleeves while in ancient Egypt

I was so pissed I had to go play with the dead zombie babies to cheer me up..

And people wonder why I make my own costumes.. seriously Spirit of Halloween.. get your game up..

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why do I feel forever locked in debt

8/21/2015

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Many things scare me about society.. I hate to say this but we live in really does cause the mind to boggle.

I remember reading a couple of months ago about the new drop in internet rates. They were talking on the news about how interest rates were at the lowest they have ever been and the pros and cons etc etc. Then I remember reading about a man who saw this as an opportunity to get yet another line of credit loan so he can finish refurbishing their home and take the kids to Disney. He wanted to take out another $50,000 which will make his loans to $500,000.00

What the actual *beep*.. 500k in line of credit and loans.. who the hell would give that to him. If the interest rates when up (which I am sure they will) he is risking bankruptcy.. and how the hell is he going to pay it back.. I just don’t understand… it scares me to think that there is possibly many people out there with the same attitude “oh ill just borrow some more.. I can pay it back.. I want more stuff”

Also I noticed that in the last month I have received 6 (yep 6) letters from banks and credit unions advising me I have been pre-approved for a credit card or line of credit. Some of these came from my bank and others from other banks.. but really I don’t need any more credit. I am trying to pay off the credit I have..

I was really depressed about it the other day while talking to the BF about it. I have realized that in the years we have had the credit and line of credit we have paid the bank over $3k in interest alone.. and for what.. to see the original principle about stay the same or go up because we keep using the line or credit for stupid things.. I am sick of that debt. I started this blog to help me understand and pay if off but still nothing. And its not all the BF’s fault. I contributed as well.

I think it’s time for another budget overall. The budget I have it good but it needs a little changing and discipline. That $3k in interest could have gone a long way towards something else.

Time to get out of the chains that is debt. Arrrggg.. whose idea was it to get a credit card in the first place.. The BF and I have talked about not getting any more stuff and using experiences instead. We have organized a garage sale in a few weeks and hopefully we can start getting rid of some of our useless crap and put that money towards debt.

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Summer of pain...

7/20/2015

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Well this summer has really turned out to be a summer of expense.

Not only did I put on a couple of pounds after my walking buddy moved away but the last couple of weeks have hit my credit card bad.

I decided mid last month that I would pay off the credit card with the line of credit and then focus on paying off the line of credit, which has a lower interest rate.

Well that was a bad idea.

Not only have I added more to the line of credit by doing that but using the card over the last couple of weeks has maxed it out again. I know owe more debt than I did a year ago.. so very frustrated with myself at the moment.

And it wasn’t all the BF’s fault as well. It was me to.. it all came with the words “but we will pay it back later”.. we rented a bbq boat for next month and had to pay the full amount. Which yes we will be getting the money back from friends but still. Also spend on the card was the hotel for our weekend away (which the BF is paying back from his allowance, he offered) as well as tours for our next trip in October. I kept telling myself that that money would be coming back to us soon but still. It shouldn’t have been like that.

Worse was the little things.. lunch here cause I was to lazy to make mine, dinner there cause we were both lazy and wrote it off as a treat. The BF’s glasses broke and we had to fix them so he could drive and we took our friends kids (the girls from Disneyland) to the Waterslide park for the day.. which wasn’t cheap.

All that added up and now my card is maxed out.. again.. its so easy to fall back into old habits so quickly. Im so frustrated with myself for this.. I guess it could be worse and I know ill bounce back but I set this blog up so I can track getting fit and losing weight and after all this time I am right back where I started.. its been a frustrating day…

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I guess my walking buddy meant more to me than I thought

7/2/2015

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So.. a couple of months ago my walking buddy moved up north to be closer to her boyfriend.. even though I was upset she was leaving I can totally understand and really I am not that mad.. now this was the girl who we walked an hour and half at least three times in the week during the summer and at least 30 minutes 3 times a week in the winter.. She left right before the hustle and bustle of the festival I was working on so after she left I needed a rest from everything anyway and before I knew it two months had passed.. yesterday I decided to weigh myself to see what I was at.. 244 pounds.. !!! WHAT THE “F”.. how the hell did I gain nearly 10 pounds in the past 6 weeks.. is it because of summer and a few extra beers.. was my eating habits different.. I don’t think my eating has changed.. in fact I thought It was better.. or is it because I haven’t walked as much in the past two months..

I guess I never realized just how much walking I did and how much I need it to help with weight loss.. I mean I knew I walked a lot but really 10 pounds.. WOW..

So I guess it’s time to get my butt into gear and organize more walking.. I think its time for me to find me a new walking buddy…

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Weekly challenges.. first meat free week

6/19/2015

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A few weeks ago I attended the VegExpo here in Vancouver. Everything Vegan and Vegetarian. It was actually a great event and I couldn’t believe how much information and products were available and how many groups and events are available around town for learning and cooking vegan.

So inspired by the expo I suggested to the BF that we do more meat free days.. not only is it good for us but good for the wallet to.. he up’d one better and suggested a meat free week.. which I agreed to.

So last week was our meat free week.. I thought it was going to be hard organizing meals without meat and still have them tasty enough for the BF to eat (he can be a picky eater at times) but actually we did very well..

We found recipes on line (thank you Pinterest) and made them over the week. Our meal plans Included Carrot and Sesame Burgers (for our outing at the lake), zucchini salad, Pasta dishes, butternut squash and sweet potato soup, vegan pancakes, homemade BIG salad (which was just a bunch of different veggies made into a massive salad.).. I think there are one or two more but I can’t remember off the top of my head.

Surprisingly it was quite easy.. I was surprised our easy it was.. it required just a little more planning ahead but all the meal that we both made where very well enjoyed. So much so that I want to continue more and more veggie/vegan dishes into the mix. The BF has stated that he won’t go off meat forever (he loves his meat) and honestly so do I. But I want to make more and more of them.. its better for me and for the environment.

We were so happy with our challenge week we came up with two more. This week (and currently happening) we are on a “no soda drinks” week and next week we are going to do a “cheese free” week. I think that will be the hardest for me.. :)

Below are two recipes that I loved and hope to make again really soon..

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/11011/carrot-and-sesame-burgers

And

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2991/courgette-salad

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Our Tips and tricks for Disneyland.

6/10/2015

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Things we found most helpful..

1 – Photopass Plus. This is a program that is through Disneyland itself. Around the park there are specific photo points with professional photographers and cameras. Now normally after the photo/s is taken the photographer gives you a card and you later go to the photo shop or on line and purchase that photo/s if you want it. The Photopass Plus program basically gives you ALL the photos you get taken on a CD with rights to print them off.. I am mean ALL of them.. Any professional photo you see they scan to your card and when we got home I went through all the photos deleted the ones I didn’t like.. added a boarder/s to the ones I like and got a CD sent to us. Also included in the package is all the photos from rides that have the cameras on them.. so for us it was worth it cause we got some amazing photos of us and the girls over the trip. Parents and Grandparents were happy with the pics we got… and we even got Tinkerbell shots with the girls (Magic Photos).. so worth the money consider the great shots we got.. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/photo-pass-service/

2 – Buying food for the room. As mentioned in my previous post we went to Walmart the first day we were there and purchases food for the room. I packed in my suitcase 4 tupperware bowls and plastic spoons and a sharp knife (properly covered). We got cereal, milk, carrots, bananas, crackers and sandwich supplies. Most hotel rooms around Disney had fridges but when I booked I made sure ours would. This made it so much easier in the morning as the girls had a proper breakfast and were not bugging us for food when we arrived at the park. The first day we packed our lunches and only bought snacks.. the second day we bought two lunches instead of four and shared them and supplemented them with the snacks we bought.. third day’s lunch was of course Ariel’s Grotto. Dinner every night was at IHOP across the road. I think we saved a pretty good chunk of money by eating breakfast at the hotel and having snacks for us..

3 – Phone charger. The BF for my birthday bought me a portable phone charger. I have to say this is the greatest invention of all time. As we still have roaming on our phones incase mum/stepdad or Dad called for the girls or if me and BF got separated and taking many pictures and checking the ride time app (more on that soon) my battery ran out pretty fast. But by having the charger in my bag I wasn’t worried about the battery going. I always saw so many people huddled in the bathroom’s outlets trying to get some juice in their phones..

4 – Ride Time App.. Download it.. it’s so handy.. they one we had was pretty accurate and was great in planning out rides to go and check out or ones to avoid until later.

5 – Snacks.. bring them.. it’s amazing the price of food at the park and for those people travelling with kids (or even if you need to snack yourself) bringing snacks can help so much when all of a sudden little tummys start rumbling and you are in line for a ride… we of course but the one or two snacks for us and the girls as I really wanted a mickey shaped icecream BUT it wasn’t such a great financial burden on us. Snacks also was great for waiting for the parade to start as well.

6 – By your toys at home or at Walmart.. As I mentioned in my previous post the girls got a special gift which came from either tinkerbell or a princess if they were good the day before. Most of the gift I got from the dollar store or on special from the Disney store before we left and just packed those.. it was super simple and the girls didn’t care.. they got gifts…

7 - Be Picky about what you buy.. we were very picky about the souvenirs we purchased.. There is SO much stuff at Disneyland to purchase and most of it would have been useless junk that would have sat on our shelves.. I understand people out there are very Disney and what not but we kept our souvenir purchases to a minimum. We told the girls the amount they could buy and where quite good at picking out what they wanted.. being twins they pretty much wanted the same thing and being kids it was all about clothes.. also to we didn’t have to lug so much crap home

8 – research, research, research.. I can’t say this enough.. there is SO much information out there about the parks, the best places to eat (and the cheapest), best time to go, best photo spots, secret things to do, how to keep the kids entertained, fastpasses etc etc.. do your research before you go.. the BF and I have a folder of stuff we found out and would read them at night when the girls went to bed so we could create the most magically holiday for those two girls as we possibly could.. and I think we pulled that off quite well… *pats on the back*

9 – have fun.. this is most important. No matter what went sideways, what we realized after the fact or what we did we always made the most fun of it which in turn the girls did.. being angry at stupid things was pointless in the happiest place on earth

Over all I think we did a great job giving the girls a trip of a life time and we had fun as well. I would so go back to Disneyland and use these same things again.. in fact I want to go back now..

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Banned myself from energy drinks

6/5/2015

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Before I get into my do’s and don’ts for Disneyland I just wanted to add one thing here.

Over the last year I have been writing how I was working on a huge festival. Well that festival was the first week of May. During that entire weekend and the three weeks leading up to it I lived off energy drinks.. I had one almost every day (the week leading up to the festival it was once a day including weekends). I have a few friends of mine make fun of me during the festival because of it.

Well the day after the festival was over I decided that I would no longer drink them. I know they are bad for me and I shouldn’t be drinking them that much if at all.. so I went cold turkey.

Today I am happy to say that I am ONE month without any energy drinks.

I have discovered since I am off them I am not so tired anymore, sleeping better at night and getting up in the mornings is betters (well sort off.. im just not a morning person)

Pretty proud of myself considering how much I was drinking before. I have also discovered a taste for herbal tea.. so it’s a win win for me.. :)

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Welcome..

..to the world of the Poor Fat Chick.
Just a personal blog of a 30 something old female looking to regain her life back in weight and finances. Trimming the fat so to speak. Both off the body and debt. Sometimes it will be more finance, sometimes weight loss and other times personal. Feel free to comment or ask me questions. Thanks for stopping by

NOTE: I am not a financial planner or personal trainer or have any training in those areas.. all the opinions here are my own.. just trying to do best for me and my family

Time for a change..

Time to start my next travel list..

My open letter to Nicole Arbour

not in the spirit for the "Spirit of Halloween"

why do I feel forever locked in debt

Summer of pain...

I guess my walking buddy meant more to me than I thought

Weekly challenges.. first meat free week

Our Tips and tricks for Disneyland.

Banned myself from energy drinks

Welcome..

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