deep thoughts

Just some random things I've been thinking about lately ...

*That lawsuit that was just overturned on appeal about the light cigarettes. People: Come on. It's not the tobacco companies' fault that you're an idiot. Light cigarettes aren't any better for you than heavy; the only reason you preferred light is because cigarettes taste nasty, and lights don't taste as strong. If only heavies were available, you would have smoked heavies instead. I used to smoke, I know these things. How about this instead: Quit smoking any of them. Then, you won't need to sue anybody because you'll already be richer from not spending money on cigarettes.

*Lately I've been losing some weight via the usual method: eat less (or better) foods, move your body more. The other day one of my cute little friends who's seven years my junior was like, "God, you've gotten skinny!" (That sounds like she was being mean, but really it was a compliment.) And I didn't really know what to say. Is "thanks" appropriate in that situation? I don't know; I guess I just feel that weight is such a personal thing, but obviously it's also a very noticeable thing to the people around you. Of course someone is going to comment if you've lost some weight (but not, funnily enough, if you've gained any weight). It's just always one of those moments that throws me for a loop; I don't know what to say to people.

*There was an interesting article in the New York Times about willpower. Everyone has a set amount of willpower. You can increase your level of willpower throughout your life, of course, by exercising willpower -- like a muscle, kind of -- but on any given day of our lives, we have a set amount of willpower. So if you spend that willpower by not eating any of the chocolate cake that your coworkers had for their birthday, you'll then find it more difficult to exercise it later -- like if you were intending to work out after work, you may not have the tenacity to follow through because you already used up a portion of your willpower on denying yourself the cake. Interesting stuff. It ties in with the weight loss thing, because I've been taking it slow, documenting my progress and when I reach a goal, I'm going to reward myself nicely. I've been doing the same thing with housework lately, and it's been going quite well. So hopefully my willpower muscle is getting stronger.