the anti-diet and political/racial musings

So, in perhaps what can only be described as "taking things too far" I have decided to attribute everything in life that I've ever failed at to my all-consuming fears. I suspect that my therapists would be proud if they could see that sentence. But, in regards to the whole diet weight loss thing I know I'm not alone in letting my fears hold me back. I suspect that the vast majority of women who go about dieting and weight loss are defeated before they even start. Why? Because the diets are so restricted and their exercise programs are so boot camp-like that they're bound to fail, unless you're one of the few who actually thrive on this kind of life style. The knowledge that I was setting myself up to fail always kept me from sticking to any form of weight loss. So, today I am starting the anti-diet. The anti-diet is not a diet of calorie counting, salad eating and diet coke drinking. I'm actually going to be eating and drinking more or less the same but trying to keep in mind that I want to lose weight. Also I'm not really fixing a goal for myself or a date, because the pressure would doom me to fail. In fact, my goal is not actually weight loss per se, I'm pretty indifferent to the number on the scale. Lets just call it healthifying. I have absolutely no intention of going to the gym every day, but I am going to look in to restarting yoga. Everything about my approach is anti-failure... I hope. I might be still striving for that vague and foggy notion of perfection, but I don't think I am. Afterall I'm probably several thousands of dollars (in plastic sugery) away from society's current notions of perfection. I think my goal here is just feeling good. And for the record, I'm meeting a friend for lunch and we're getting poutine, but thats ok because I'm babysitting a hyperactive 7 year old after work, and I intend to play like a hyperactive 7 year old.

Now, politics. I really can't be happy unless I get to air my political views occasionally. For those of you who don't read the newspaper, MacLeans magazine is being taken before the Human Rights Tribunal because of an article they published proclaiming that radical, politicized Islam is the way of the future. The group charging them is an Islamic Canadian organisation. The author of the article was a right-wing white man who evidently takes delight in fear mongering, in fact his article, which was an opinion piece, was watered down compared to what Fox news presents as unbiased fact. Anyways, that had nothing to do with anything at all, I'm just highly annoyed that a prestigious and thought provoking magazine like MacLeans would publish that piece of crap.