HTR Phase 2 - The Sort

So, combining my recent UK phrase with the plans for Phase 2 (working on my own personal HAVE TO generation mechanisms), I'm focusing on sorting out my body. I've spent years stressing myself into this ridiculous situation. So, now I'll have to spend at least a year sorting it all out. That - as they say - is something of the bad news.

The good news is that my fabulous friend AD has already found a great tool to help me do this. I've joined sparkpeople.com. As most of you know, I am not overly fond of the communities that tend to form around fitness or weight loss goals. The "community" on those sites is not typically based in anything that I consider reality. This one, however, is working for me for several reasons. The designers and community are focused on life as I understand it. They have articles about behavioral ways to deal with all of the most common weight loss and fitness goal killers - you know, the ones that are all in your head? Yeah... And they have great tools. The site track calories, fat, carbohydrates and protein of the food I actually eat instead of requiring me to eat their diet. They give me a range of values of each category and then analyze my diet for me. They recommend strength training exercizes that I can do at home. They track the calories that my elliptical says that I've burned. They recommend foods and have healthy recipes. AND they give me points for working out and points for reading articles and points for posting on the message boards. I love points! So, we're only 3 days in, but I think that this might be just the thing for me!

And, just for the record, AD recommended it just in time. The bridesmaid dresses she picked out are lovely and very flattering for all body types. But I would much prefer to be in wedding pictures in a much smaller size!

I'll just sort that

I have a new favorite English (read UK English - which is not the same as American English) expression. I picked it up on this recent trip. Nobody works on problems or resolves issues in the UK. They just sort things. So, for example, when we did not have enough food for the first day of a training class, one of my colleagues went off to the kitchen and came back saying it was "all sorted" - and more food arrived shortly. When travel arrangement need to be changed, the administrative assistant will sort them. Although we do "sort things out" in American English, that expression has nowhere near the prevalence that sorting has in UK English. And it really made me think.

To me, this expression creates a linguistic implication. If all problems can be addressed by sorting, then the predominant cause of issues is clearly the improper placement of people or things. If everything/everyone is where they should be - requiring no sorting of any kind - then all is well with the world.

Needless to say, I like this idea a lot, at least in part because it is often true. But, to be quite frank, I like it because it takes the pressure off. All of the big words that we use to talk about problem solving seem so much more difficult. But according to my colleagues and friends in the UK, I don't need to solve, resolve, delve into, examine, analyze, discuss, deconstruct, or fix a problem. I just have to sort it. ANYBODY can sort, right?