The world is filled with half-ass advice.  Drink less booze - red wine is good for the heart.  Fruit is the same as a Snicker's bar - eat a shit ton of bananas if you want to live forever.  Smoking will give you lung cancer - cigarettes are actually full of antioxidants.  Ok.  That last one is a lie.  There is absolutely no rebuttal for the woes of smoking.  It's such a sin really.  Not even remotely cool anymore on any level.  But so so good.  I miss it every day.  (You hear that Marlboro Light Menthols.  I think about you every day.  You're like the man who dumped me).

Only I've never been dumped.  True story.  I've always been the dumper.  My therapist would have a theory on that I'm sure.  She'd say (in a Jennifer Tilly style voice, because in my head - all women sounds like Jennifer Tilly), she'd say "Jessica: maybe you are dumping them because you aren't willing to accept that everyone has flaws.  Maybe, just maybe - you want to be the one to walk away because you are scared of everyone leaving you first".  Or something like that.  And then she will nod her head a few times, chew on the top of her pen and write into her leather portfolio notebook (I think it's a shopping list for groceries) and then the hour session will be over and I will leave $120 poorer with the knowledge of shit that I already think about & wish wasn't wrong with me.  Only now it's been verified by some nicely dressed stranger in a cold, too clean room with expensive furniture by someone with way more college degrees hanging on the wall than I have.  Stupid therapist.

No, really - this conversation didn't really happen.  I mean, not exactly in that manner.  I've been to a therapist and the office has been cold and I have been $100+ poorer when I left... but I never did talk to anyone about being the one who dumps my boyfriends before they had a chance to dump me.  I mean, why bother when I'm pretty sure of how the conversation will go.  I don't like to pay people for shit I already know.  It's why I don't buy newspapers.

Article about a stabbing.  Article about the stupid Maryland weather ("60 on Wednesday.  -22 on Thursday.  Keep Out Your Sweaters! Ha Ha Tulips - You Thought Spring Was Coming... You've Been Punked!").  Article about government agenda that is biased and unoriginal and skewed to the right (or left, depending on which publication & who is sponsoring).  Blah blah blah.  You get my point. 

Wow.  I'm all over the place.  That's different.

I'm trying to eat healthier these days (ZOMG, she's talking about food.  Again.)  yeah, so?  If you didn't already know that my blog was about food addiction and the plight of being a chunkadunk in a perfectionist world, then why are you even here?  It's certainly not for the recipes*!  At any rate, I'm trying to eat healthier (am too!) and I've been researching everything from juice fasting (I did it for 9 days and lost 8 lbs - no joke) & eating clean (which, contrary to what I first believed does not mean that I can have a Berger Cookie as long as I wash it first) & going vegan (which I could never do for the simple fact that this plan doesn't allow bacon in any form) & doing the smoothie thing (only non-food addict people can replace a meal with a smoothie and feel like they've eaten something.  I don't care if you put 4 cheeseburgers & fries into the blender, if I can't chew it - it ain't a meal.  It's just not).  All of this so at the end of the day, I can pass my expertise on the proper way to eat along to you - the mass** of adoring Jess fans who want to know the secret to looking like a super model without the starvation/ hard work.   Here's the secret, are you ready?  You got a pen out and a piece of paper?   Move your junk.  Eat less junk.  There.  6 words to health....

*I think I put the recipe up once for deep fried Oreos. This seems counterproductive right now so we will just pretend it was a great recipe for beet salad instead.

**Mass = 6 readers

I do really wish there were more of an awareness to what people are actually putting in their mouths.  It's sad.  The food industry (every industry really) isn't in it to figure out what's best for you.  It's in it for the dollar. And the only way to put a halt to the abysmal situation of all things food is to not consume it in the first place.  So it has to stop at your mouth, people.  Because no one is looking out for you except for, well - you.  It's really that simple. And really, this isn't just about eating but about life in general.  Of course, I'm no expert but I know what works for me.  And I really really really want other people to benefit from my wisdom as well as my massive amount of mistakes.  The best thing I can do in retribution (besides revenge, which sometimes sounds oh-so good) is to spread the word to those who are willing to hear it.  Not to get all Doogie Howser, MD on you. 

So to sum up:

1.  Look out for yourself, no one else is gonna do it for you.  Stop waiting for a miracle or for the circumstances to be "right".  Time is slipping by and before you know it you will be 40 with nothing to show for yourself.  Life is too short to waste time.  Just do something.

2.  To lose weight, follow these basic steps:  Eat less.  Look on the list of ingredients and if you cannot pronounce most of them, don't eat it.  Better yet - stick with things that have no label at all.  Oranges.  Broccoli.  Swiss Chard, etc.  Oh, and try to move more than normal.  I (seriously) like to park far away from the entrance at the store.  It forces me to walk further and it's less crowded with lazy people, assholes & carts.  Try it sometime.

3.  Meditate.  Wait, wait wait - hear me out.  I know, you probably hear the word meditate and think of some Asian guy in a pastel robe with no hair sitting Indian style in a hut humming a mantra.  Ok, maybe you don't think that.  I probably took it too far (don't I always?)  But you probably think it's hokey.  I thought it was a little too.  Until I started to do it.  Read a book about it.  Go online and research it.  Take a moment (even if it's a minute) and just sit with yourself and try to not focus on nothing other than breathing and right now.  Don't think about your dishes or your messy bathroom or your paperwork from school or the mistake you made last week/month/year.  Just focus on the moment.  You'll be surprised how much of a difference it can make.  And if you think it's dumb and doesn't work just keep at it.... it never hurts to just give it a go*

*Beethoven was told he was stupid.  Luckily, he ignored that shit and went with his gut instinct that told him he was awesome.  Go with your gut.  Be Beethoven.

On that note, I'm out of here.  Happy Early St. Patty's Day to all my Irish friends.  If you're feeling festive, go out and have a few green beers.  Or be like me and celebrate St. Patty's without the booze and subsequent arrest for public intoxication.  Or just shave your pubic hair in the shape of a three leaf clover (just in case).

"Let go of the past and go for the future. Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you imagined...."

Oh, HDT. What wise, wise words. Obviously Henry had a surplus of self-confidence and the ability to see the big picture. Good for him. No, I mean - really - good for him. He did well for himself. AT least I think he did. People have heard of him.

I've been having a lot of deep thoughts on life lately. The last two, three years have been such a whirlwind of change and I feel like I haven't had much of an opportunity to take it all in. It's so hard to just have a moment when you have young kids...they tend to suck every ounce of energy you've got left out of your soul. So that at 10 at night, when everything is done (not!) the last thing on your mind is relaxing; it's watching recaps of the O's game online and eating ice cream right from the pint. Don't judge me. I'm lame and I admit it. There. Are you happy now? You've made a grown woman cry. Again.

Sike. I wasn't really crying. Nor was I eating ice cream from a pint as my new goal in life is to try and shed some of this weight I've packed on since last year. So depressing pulling out your shorty shorts from last summer only to realize they only fit if you do a back bend with vaseline smeared on your ass. (I imagine this is what I'd have to do to get them on - I didn't actually do this I swear). Ahem. Moving on....

I have been contemplating some decisions though. And why we make the choices that we make in life. I don't wanna do the whole "I should've" or "well, what if..." because they are a wasted source of energy and, until the time machine is invented, will do nothing to change the current path on which I reside. I think the truth is (and what irony is this) that I haven't been very truthful. To myself or to others. And partially this is the fault of my need to please syndrome and the fact that I base about 90% of my decisions on whether or not others will suffer from the outcome. It's totally true. Never mind if *I* suffer. Is it what's best for everyone else? Cause if so, then I'm doing it. My therapist would say that makes me an enabler. She probably wouldn't say that. She would ask me questions until I said it and then she would nod her head at me like it was all my idea. Sneaky bitch!

I'm sorry this blog is a downer (there I go again - caring about what you think), but it is what it is. Sometimes I just need reality to give me a swift kick in the ass and remind me what life is all about. It's not about the superficial bullshit or the what-ifs. It's about being true to yourself. And if that means a few people get hurt in the process, well, so be it. It is what it is. So it goes. I need to get that in a tattoo. On my forehead (or somewhere equally statement-creating that will not affect future job interviews)....

Until next time, be true to yourself. And try to forgive me if you get trampled in the process....