Category: Life

I’m short. But I have fairly long legs and a short torso. And to make matters worse, I’m plump and rather busty. Okay, busty is not a huge problem per se but it sure doesn’t make shopping any easier.

I’m what I like to call plump-petite. Unfortunately, clothing manufacturers have not mastered this particular sizing situation.

Mark’s Work Wearhouse, for example, makes pants in a 29 inch inseam. Wonderful, right? Except the pants in question are so high-waisted that they come right up to my bottom of my busty region. Not flattering.

But pants are not my current dilemma. I have lots of pants at the moment. What I’m lacking is shirts.

Not tunics, or fancy embroidered blouses, or any top that involves ruching. I want a lovely, high-quality shirt that doesn’t come down past my bottom.

Well good luck to me. I am at a loss.

Eddie Bauer makes just the shirt I need. In fact, I have two: a brown one and a blue one. But the trouble is I’ve gained a bit of girth since last fall in the chest area. My pants all fit fine as do my jackets and sweaters. But not my tailored shirts.

So my Eddie Bauer shirts are a bit too tight to wear to the office. I’m a bit modest and I don’t want to show the girls off in a workplace setting.

But the next size up (in the realm of ‘plus sizing’) doesn’t offer the petite length. I guess chubby people in Eddie Bauer land are all tall.

No other store that I have found sells a (nice) shirt in a petite length for those of us who are blessed with some curves.

So I’m left with looking at tunics and stupid looking frou-frou things trying to find something — anything — that does not look utterly stupid on me.

Damn.

Foods To Avoid On The Acid Reflux Diet

Food Group	Foods To Avoid
Fruit	• Orange juice • Lemon • Lemonade • Grapefruit juice • Cranberry juice • Tomato
Vegetables	• Mashed potatoes • French fries • Onion, raw
Meat	• Ground beef, chuck • Marbled sirloin • Chicken nuggets • Buffalo wings
Dairy	• Sour cream • Milk shake • Ice cream • Cottage cheese, regular
Grains	• Macaroni and cheese • Spaghetti with sauce
Beverages	• Liquor • Wine • Coffee, decaffeinated or regular • Tea, decaffeinated or regular
Fats / Oils	• Salad dressing, creamy • Salad dressing, oil & vinegar
Sweets / Desserts	• Butter cookie, high-fat • Brownie • Chocolate • Doughnut • Corn chips • Potato chips, regular

OR

“We have been told for years that coffee, acidic fruit as well as spicy foods can aggravate acid reflux. Therefore, we should avoid these in our daily diet in order to reduce acid reflux. A recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in May 2006 showed that none of these myths hold true. Researchers from Stanford University found that the only two behavioral changes can reduce symptoms of acid reflux — eating less and elevate your head while sleeping.”

What to do? I can’t think of anything scintillating to write about because, once again, I’ve eaten too many “foods to be avoided” — or else I’ve eaten too much all at once in the evening. The cause is debatable but the fact is I’m uncomfortable and this, readers, means this post will not be interesting. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

I suspect the root cause in my case is a combination of both.

I don’t eat enough during the day and then I eat too much (“bad food”) in the evenings because I’m hungry. For example, today at lunch I had a pear. That’s it — one pear. And this evening, I ate and drank a few things listed above…

I need to change my eating habits. All my adult life I’ve never eaten much breakfast nor have I ever eaten much of a lunch. I don’t get hungry until about 3 pm and even then I’m not starving. I’m ready to eat about 7 pm (my lunch?) and then again at about 10 or 11 pm (my dinner?).

I do eat lunch occasionally (I’m sometimes asked to join a colleague or friend) and I don’t have to force the food down — on some level I am hungry — but it just doesn’t register

So I need a new plan. I need to eat breakfast and I need to eat a bigger lunch everyday. But the question is how to I tell my stomach that eating earlier in the day is a good idea?

Maybe the trick is to not listen to my stupid stomach (which would be damn hard at this particular moment) but to listen to the experts.

A good breakfast with some protein will get my metabolism
going and will also make me hungry for lunch.

I know this. I’m a smart cookie — so why can’t I just make myself eat a banana and some oatmeal in the morning…