Whilst part of me cringes at this acquired trait of mine, the other part loves it. There is nothing more satisfying at times than uttering a swear word, and I like to use words that are fairly easy to lip-read…so that when I am driving, fellow road-users can easily understand the profanity that I am throwing their way. The dreaded ‘C’ work is my absolute favourite, although I rarely use it when writing or when working; in fact I rarely ever swore in the workplace, unless it was under my breath!

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Which isn’t such a bad thing really. A CareerBuilder survey conducted last year highlighted that bosses felt excessive cursing demonstrates an employee’s lack of maturity and discretion. There are however some professional studies which maintain that it can demonstrate authenticity and passion. According to Jeffrey Cohn, a CEO succession-planning expert, “Companies increasingly prefer authentic leaders. Using colourful language can play to your advantage – as long as you also demonstrate empathy and good business judgment.”

Hmmm…the same CareerBuilder survey also reported that men swear slightly more than women at their jobs, 54% and 47% respectively. Having worked initially in very male-dominated environments, I would often see fellow colleagues swearing in a desperate attempt to ‘be one of the lads’. It is very easy to become accustomed to environments where swearing is the norm. In fact the ‘C’ word was used on numerous occasions in one company that I worked for…and was most prevalent on the ‘top floor’…which was where the offices of the directors and MD were based!

Back to Cohn and his study. He feels that there are three key benefits to swearing at work;

Benefit 1: Demonstrates leadership skills
Benefit 2: Creates solidarity
Benefit 3: Gender equality

Cohn’s study was prompted by an ad featuring Michael Dubin, founder of an e-commerce start-up, who brags about how their razor blades are ‘f***ing great’ in a video that went viral. Consider for a second people such as Donald Trump, Gordon Ramsay and Dick Cheney – who told a senator to go f@*k himself and later said that it was the best thing he had ever done! Barack Obama was praised by Forbes magazine in the wake of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico when he said that he was talking to experts “so I know whose a** to kick.”. Apparently his comment helped to curb criticism that he was not passionate enough in his reaction to the spill.

Swearing is also the ultimate icebreaker. ‘Social swearing’ is a term coined by Anglia University. A study showed that “swearing in the workplace builds camaraderie among workers and sometimes helps relieve stress”. I think swearing can make people seem a little more human at times…as if they are expressing genuine feelings…it almost helps to break down barriers…or offend people greatly!

As for gender equality, I have known women who use language that would make a man blush! Harvard Business Review’s Anne Kreamer said that cursing has given women a chance to penetrate male-dominated environments and networks. A senior female attorney once told Kreamer, “Swearing gives men and women reciprocal permission to feel comfortable sharing revelations.” East Anglia’s study too, says “women tend to swear more in mixed company as a means of asserting themselves and preventing the conversation from being male-dominated.”

Hmmm again! I am still not convinced that swearing in the workplace is a good idea…at least until you are well-established when the odd f-bomb might not get you your P45! Editor of ‘Above the Law’, Staci Zaretsky wrote, “I’m not anti-woman, I’m anti-stupidity, and I think that cursing in professional situations is one of the most stupid things that a woman can do.” I don’t think it is really…wrapping your legs behind your bosses head is probably one of the stupidest things a woman can do in the workplace…and I am sure that my old boss would agree with me, as she did stuff like this on numerous occasions…yet rarely swore. I think I would have had more respect for her if she raged around the office like Gordon Ramsay on a bad day!

I don’t swear at work, or in polite company, because I was bought up and not dragged up; I didn’t grow up thinking that ‘etiquette’ was a new designer boutique on the high street. Knowing that swearing is not big and not clever is a good thing, and being mindful of when it is and is not okay to swear is also a good thing. I get sweary when I am particularly passionate or pissed off…so if we ever meet and I drop an f-bomb or the dreaded c-bomb, then it means that I feel comfortable enough in your presence to do so, that you have pissed me off or got me worked up about something. And if I don’t swear in your presence then it means that I think you are far more polite than I am and that I don’t want to offend you!

Anyway, swearing is okay in a lot of circumstances as far as I am concerned, although I do have one reader who responded to a tweet of mine once with the words, “potty mouth”, when I praised a rather aged lady who appeared on Britain’s Got Talent. This lady – some of you might recall her – sang a song with the lyrics, “kiss my ass baby” in it. Now, if this is ‘potty mouthed’ then I do hope that this particular reader never cuts me up whilst driving…she may well have an aneurism at my tirade!

Right then, enough about my proclivities…the usuals…

I had a really disturbed night last night. I even sent my other half to check all of the windows downstairs at 1am as I was convinced I could hear stuff! What I actually heard was the central heating…my other half had switched it on accidentally yesterday morning and I only discovered that it was on just before we went to bed. He assured me that he had switched it off, yet when I got up this morning the bathroom radiator was blazing! So we had all of the upstairs windows open, the fan going…and the fecking heating on for 24 hours on the hottest day of the year…only in my house could this happen! Needless to say, this find bought out my passionate side and the air was blue in my house this morning, as well as being really bloody hot! My treadmill activities were difficult given the added heat, but I got on with my exercise and my other half’s projects and then we headed off to see the horses. They were fine, so we topped up their water and left them to it today, and headed to Asda. It was then home for the afternoon – with work for my other half and nutrition reports for me to write. Tonight will be an early one I think, as my other half is in meetings all day in London and I have my group tomorrow…hoping for my 14st award, which I need half a lb off for, and if I can pull a miraculous 4.5lb loss then this will mean that I have lost a well-rounded 200lbs!

Breakfast: Banana and two Alpen Light bars (6 syns).

20130715-131147.jpgLunch: Sardine melts (2 x HEA and 2 x HEB).

20130715-131351.jpgDinner: Chicken and stir fried veggies in oyster and spring onion sauce (6 syns).

20130715-182814.jpgSnacks: None today!

Lovely food today. Lunch is a favourite of mine – and a great way of getting an oily fish portion in…so tasty – sardines in tomato sauce mixed with chopped red onion, on a bed of spinach, topped with tomato and cheese…delicious. Dinner was just something designed to use a sachet of sauce that I have had sitting in my cupboard for ages! It was a Blue Dragon oyster and spring onion sauce, to which I added chicken, green pepper, red and spring onions, mushrooms, celery and spinach…so full of superfree and really tasty. Unfortunately my other half won’t eat anything fish related, so I had the whole sachet of sauce at 6 syns.

Exercise: 4 x 15 minute treadmill sessions and 1 x 15 minute BodyPump session.

Another good workout today. If I keep going at this rate, next week I will be able to get a new little award…my Gold Body Magic one! I am feeling good and things are going okay, although the bones in my right foot felt a bit sore today…I do not want to tempt fate though.

Thank you for reading!

Weight Loss Bitch xxx

  

WeightLossBitch

On a health and fitness driven journey to lose over 32st / 448lbs / 203kgs – yes, it is a considerable amount – I am committed to losing my excess weight without the aid of weight loss surgery, diet pills, or quick fixes…as there aren’t any! Changing my eating habits and building up my fitness levels, along with addressing the ‘head issues’ will be crucial in order for me to achieve my goal. Living in England as a 31 year old super morbidly obese woman can be challenging to say the least. I have been shouted at in the street and verbally abused far too many times to mention; hence the name ‘Weight Loss Bitch’…the day I am just called a ‘bitch’ instead of a ‘fat bitch’ will be the day that I know I have cracked my weight loss! With many reasons to lose this weight I am documenting my journey for a number of reasons. Firstly, I would like to keep a record of the ups and downs, the highs and lows, and the challenges I face with such an enormous task to tackle. Secondly, I would also like to inspire and encourage other people who are in a similar situation and to show them that significant amounts of weight can be lost naturally…with a bit of motivation, hard work, dedication and will power. Thirdly, all of the blogging, Facebook-ing, Tweet-ing, Pinterest-ing and YouTube-ing keeps me occupied and keeps my fingers out of the fridge!

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