Last Friday, I noted that if you were trying to lose weight I thought the best thing you could do was go frozen dinner.
A lot of you were confused by that and that's because you're much younger than me. Back in my early 20s, if you were on a diet, you had a little scale that you measure your chicken breast on and you had this and that to keep track of calories.
By contrast, a frozen dinner has the calories on the side and you can keep track of them much easier.
Brita e-mailed that she is on a diet and wanted to know what the five tips I'd give were?
1) Drink a lot of water. It will hydrate you, keep your skin looking good and also aid in your overall balance and well being.
2) Do physical activity of some form.
3) Do not take some 'fat burning' product.
4) Do not starve yourself.
5) Go slow.
Two through five go thogether.
You need to walk or run or yoga or do some form of workout. Why? It keeps you limber and it helps you lose weight and maintain your needed weight.
You need to lose weight that way. If you starve yourself? You're going to rebel at some point and all the weight comes back. Fat burning products are quickie cures. And they often cause a lot of damage. A friend is going through the change and she was in the emergency room Monday. At work, her head started killing her to the point that she was crying and about to start yelling. They called 9-11. She went there. They thought she was having a stroke. No.
Turns out she was dehydrated. Going through the change, the last thing she needed was a product that made her lose water.
So really, there's no point.
You want to lose weight by being active and you want to lose it slowly to ensure that it stays off.
Kelly is on a weird diet and asked what the weirdest diet I was ever on?
The answer comes after the next thing. This is from C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" yesterday and is her covering the Don't Ask, Don't Tell hearing that day:
The US House Armed Services' Committee met today on Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the only word for it was "spectacle." Network television may have abandoned the mini-series, but not Congress. And this latest installment stretched across more hours than The Winds of War, starting at 10:30 this morning and still going strong at 3:00 this afternoon. It was not, however, a continuous hearing. It was stops and starts to allow Committee members to repeatedly rush to the floor to vote. Committee Chair Buck McKeon declared in his opening remarks, "Today the Committee will receive a status report on the process for repealing the law and changing the policies governing the service of openly gay and lesbian service members. This past fall, I was troubled by the process employed to set the stage for repeal of the law known as Don't Ask, Don't Tell." And the Republicans on the Committee (McKeon is one, Republicans control the majority of seats in the House of Representatives) staked out a position that can be boiled down as: The repeal is wrong, the repeal is risky and the way it made it through the Congress wasn't the correct way.
Were the statements opposing the repeal made just to please certain voting groups? Possibly. This is, after all, Congress. But even if that is the case, Democrats -- if they support repeal -- need to be prepared because there is a portion of the society that disapproves and Republicans -- whether they mean it or not, whether they intend to follow through with actions or not -- are making statements that are much stronger than what you heard in 2010. Republicans weren't silent in their objections then. Senator John McCain was downright offensive in his remarks opposing the repeal and he got very nasty, in a public session, with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. But this is a more outraged (while at the same time, more polished) objection being raised.
Can they stop the repeal? Until something's repealed, it can always be stopped. Today's hearing was a continuation of a hearing held by a House Armed Services Subcommittee held last Friday (and covered in Tuesday's snapshot). Gen George Casey was not present but the Chair cited him repeatedly and he was upheld as someone who agreed with Republicans. (This, PDF format warning, written response to their questions does not show the side-by-side agreement that was claimed in the hearing.) Appearing before the committee were the Vice Chief of Staff for the US Army, Gen Peter Chiarelli, the Navy's Chief of Naval Operations, Adm Gary Roughead, the Marine Corps Commandant, Gen James Amos, and the Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen Norton Schwartz.
Ranking Member Adam Smith opening statement included this, "Driving able-bodied people out of the military who are serving and serving us well at a time when we are at war does not make us safer and does not give us a better military." That's a point Democrats will need to make (among many) -- scratch that, need to make now. They don't need to allow the Republicans to gain support -- even minor support -- for stopping repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Other Democrats made strong statements as well. If we had more space, we would be noting Chellie Pingree of Maine, for example. Loretta Sanchez made strong statements of support but we'll instead emphasize her line of questioning.
US House Rep Loretta Sanchez: My question today, gentlemen, is about those gay and lesbian members, service members, who were discharged because they were gay under the Don't Ask, Don't Tell -- during the time of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Now it's my understanding that those service members, if they didn't have anything else on their record, if there was no other problem or judicial issue or anything that they would be discharged with a honorable discharge. Is that correct? [Nodding from the panel.] Okay. And in the normal -- that now the policy will be that in the normal process that those who were discharged under Don't Ask, Don't Tell can come back and ask to be put back into military service. Is that correct?
Gen Norton Schwartz: Ma'am, the -- Those members, those former membes can apply to re-enlist and will be considered for re-enlistment based on the needs of the services and our normal entry processes.
US House Rep Loretta Sanchez: Okay. Will they have to start all over or will they get to re-enter with -- given credit for the service that they have held if the only reason that they were put out was because it was known that they were being gay?
Gen Norton Schwartz: There's -- It is an individual case consideration but there is no guarantee for returning at the same grade necessarily. Again, it depends on the needs of the service.
US House Rep Loretta Sanchez: But if that position were open, is there a process or are you working on the process in which a person says, "I've been out for two years, but I'm still fit. I want to go back. I had a career. I'd like to go back to where I was and I see that there are openings there"?
Gen Norton Schwartz: Once again, if that scenario unfolded it would probably be accommodated.
US House Rep Loretta Sanchez: What are the guidelines if someone feels that if they've gone back to the recruiter or they've gone back to try and re-enlist and they have push-back? What is the -- What are the policies in place or what are you working through to ensure that they get a fair shake to try to get back their old career, if you will?
Gen Norton Schwartz: There are opportunites for appeal -- both to the Inspector General of the recruiting service, in our case, as well as the Air Force Board of Corrections for Military Records. And in those two mechanisms former members can appeal the designation that they have received.
US House Rep Loretta Sanchez: Okay. And, uhm, lastly what are the reporting -- If you get harassed by someone of the same sex who happens to be gay, is it the same process as you would in any normal -- I know I heard it from the other side, but I just -- and what happens if the perpetrator is in the chain of command? Is the supervisor? Is it the same rules as what we see, for example, under sexual assault or sexual harassment in the normal context that we've been working with.
Gen Norton Schwartz: Zero tolerance.
US House Rep: Loretta Sanchez: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, those were my questions. Thank you, gentlemen.
Along with Susan Davis, Loretta Sanchez probably had the strongest line of questioning. The Republicans objecting had questions as well. And how to interpret their fearful, fretful questions?
Let's be flippant. Let's note that maybe the reason teenage pregnancies are allegedly higher in teens from conservative families is because Republicans never learned how to say "no" to unwanted sex. The men and women on the Republican side of the Committee were so afraid and so fearful that sex was going to happen that you had to wonder if they were never instructed on how to say "no" or that they had a right to say "no"? But as they worried about what might happen in the showers and sleeping arrangements and all the rest, you were left with the impression that they are an easy score and it doesn't even take a drink to get with those sure things.
That's men and women on the Republican side of the Committee and we now provide one of the biggest worriers on the Republican side.
US House Rep Vicky Hartzler: First, I would just like to ask, I'm very concerned with what I'm hearing today. We're going to expose our troops to moderate risks. And, uh, General Casey said it's another level of stress. It's more complicated. I just want to know, I guess, from each of you, when have you suggested a change in policy before that would put our men and women at moderate risk? So. Start with you.
Gen Peter Chiarelli: Well I belive General Casey indicated that he felt that the report characterized it at less risk than he felt given the fact that we are an army that's been fighting for ten years in both Iraq and Afghanistan and he rated it as moderate risk. However, we have not completed enough of our training for him at this time to say it's not still moderate risk but at the same time we put together a very, very good, good training package that emphasizes our role as professional soldiers that we believe is going to mitigate that risk and drive it down.
US House Rep Vicky Hartzler: Have you been involved in recommending a policy where there was a moderate risk before? That was the question. Have you done that yet? In some time in your career? You have? General, go ahead.
Gen Norton Schwartz: Ma'am, I would say yes and I would say it's going to war that places the force at at least moderate risk.
US House Rep Vicky Hartzler: General Amos?
Gen James Amos: Yes, ma'am. When you put someone's life at risk in an operation, it's often times heavy risk. High risk.
US House Rep Vicky Hartzler: Sure. Sure.
Adm Gary Roughead: And ma'am, what we do is inherently dangerous. Whether it's flying from the deck of an air craft carrier, running a nuclear submarine at 800 feet under the sea, it's inherently dangerous. And we know how to manage the risk. That said, for the process we're going through, I'm very comfortable with where we are.
US House Rep Vicky Hartzler: Okay. Well I-I think there's a difference though. I mean war is risk. Obviously. But this is a change in policy that's going to add a moderate risk onto the already inherent risk of war. We're at war at two levels -- and maybe three if you call Libya -- We have men and women in harm's way. We're at war as a country and yet we are talking about one of the most monumental changes of policy that this country has ever faced in its military forces. And I just want to speak from my heart to each one of you. I have the utmost respect for you. And I appreciate what you are doing to lead our forces and to keep our country safe. And there's no higher respect that I have for you. But I want to challenge you that you are the last force to be able to stop this onerous policy. And I have to believe, from my heart, in your gut, you know this is not the right thing. I appreciate that you follow command, you follow the Constitution and you are fulfilling what you are charged to do but there's an opportunity to not certify this. And it's fallen upon you at this time in history to be able to give the final say to the -- to the Secretary of Defense and to Adm [Mike] Mullen whether you, in your right mind and your heart of hearts and your professional career, you believe this is going to help improve our forces from this time on out and help us win wars. And I would ask you to consider this and to stand strong like you have stand strong against other forces outside -- foreign and domestic -- that have come upon our country and that you would not certify this. And with that, I'm going to get into some specific questions. But that's an appeal. I hope you will think about in the privacy of your own home, your own heart, before you do this.
Yeah, the Republicans on the Committee are serious about stopping the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Those who support it better start making their arguments now to derail the efforts to torpedo the repeal
Now back to diets. Weirdest one I was ever on? In 1970, my best friend and I went on an egg diet, a boiled egg diet. All we would eat for breakfast was one boiled egg. All we would eat for lunch was one boiled egg. For dinner? We'd have a green salad. We did that for 30 days. We did lose some weight -- due to the starvation factor (an egg is not a meal) -- but we were sick of boiled eggs after that. Even now, I only eat them at Easter.
This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for Friday:
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