Back in skinny jeans

Caption this: Sarah Jessica Parker at SATC London premiere

Okay kiddies, you all are so witty and wild over here. You gotta put a caption to this picture of Sarah Jessica Parker at the London premiere of the Sex& the City movie. I love her dress and the green, but I'm still wondering what that "hat" is. Reminds me of Whoville, but I'm no fashionista...lol...

See more pics of the gals over at PopCrunch. While you're at it, win a chance to see the movie with the Sugar Girls like Pop, Fab, and Fit by taking their SATC quiz. I got 6 out of 6. High bar indeed!

"Two Tiny Changes": 5 tips + update

Here's a huge upswing to start making those tiny changes, brain researchers have discovered that when you consciously develop new habits, you actually also create new spanking brain cells, and when you do that you become more creative and innovative. Woo-hoo!

The Tiny Changes strategy is not something new I came up with. There is a Japanese technique called kaizen, which calls for tiny, continuous improvements. But see the Inner Resistance Monster doesn't want you to know about kaizen because it puts the kai-bosh on his/her ploit to keep you stuck in your old rutty ways. So, this week's theme is going to be about starting to make those tiny improvements. Thanks to reader Claudia for the NYTimes tip!

• Stop thinking and over analyzing. Get a pen & paper and start free flow writing for 1 minute on tiny changes that pop into your head. Again, don't analyze or judge during the 1 minute, just write whatever comes out. Now, look at the list, and pick 3 things that you could do right now, and do them. Again, no ifs, buts, or I-can't-until. Just do it.

• Think of someone you admire, and focus for one minute on the one thing that you admire most about that person. Most often the thing we admire most in others is something that we'd like to be more of ourselves. Do one thing that mimics what your admired person does in that admired quality. By being in their shoes for a moment, you can start building up the confidence in yourself. When you've accomplished that first thing, try another.

• What's the one thing you've been putting off recently? Making an uncomfortable phone call? Talking to the bill collector? Going to the doctor? Make it a point this week to stop putting off that thing and get it over with and do it. You have to do it anyway and putting it off only makes things worse not better, and it sure isn't going to go away the longer you ignore it. It will be one less thing on your To-Do list.

• Take a different route to work one day this week, and when you get into the building take a different path to your desk. One way we show our habits is by literally driving and walking the same paths day in and out. Breaking up the path will help break up your monotony, and you may just see things you've never seen before.

• When you go out to dinner this week, make it a point to order a different side dish than you would normally order. If you get stumped ask the cute waiter or waitress what they would recommend. Try eating something new that you've never eaten before. It can also be a great conversation starter with your spouse, at work the next day, or with your online friends.

Things I did last week:

• I tried a new brand of hemp milk after another hemp product manufacturer asked me if I would revisit my opinion of hemp after my not-so encouraging review. I'm sure glad I did because the new brand is absolutely delicious. See this chocolate chiller drink I made.

• I exercised one extra day. Lately, I've been exercising 5 days/week, but last week I did 6 days because I had all kinds of energy. This week, I'm happy to go back to 5 days ;-)

 

Here's a huge upswing to start making those tiny changes, brain researchers have discovered that when you consciously develop new habits, you actually also create new spanking brain cells, and when you do that you become more creative and innovative. Woo-hoo!

The Tiny Changes strategy is not something new I came up with. There is a Japanese technique called kaizen, which calls for tiny, continuous improvements. But see the Inner Resistance Monster doesn't want you to know about kaizen because it puts the kai-bosh on his/her ploit to keep you stuck in your old rutty ways. So, this week's theme is going to be about starting to make those tiny improvements. Thanks to reader Claudia for the NYTimes tip!

• Stop thinking and over analyzing. Get a pen & paper and start free flow writing for 1 minute on tiny changes that pop into your head. Again, don't analyze or judge during the 1 minute, just write whatever comes out. Now, look at the list, and pick 3 things that you could do right now, and do them. Again, no ifs, buts, or I-can't-until. Just do it.

• Think of someone you admire, and focus for one minute on the one thing that you admire most about that person. Most often the thing we admire most in others is something that we'd like to be more of ourselves. Do one thing that mimics what your admired person does in that admired quality. By being in their shoes for a moment, you can start building up the confidence in yourself. When you've accomplished that first thing, try another.

• What's the one thing you've been putting off recently? Making an uncomfortable phone call? Talking to the bill collector? Going to the doctor? Make it a point this week to stop putting off that thing and get it over with and do it. You have to do it anyway and putting it off only makes things worse not better, and it sure isn't going to go away the longer you ignore it. It will be one less thing on your To-Do list.

• Take a different route to work one day this week, and when you get into the building take a different path to your desk. One way we show our habits is by literally driving and walking the same paths day in and out. Breaking up the path will help break up your monotony, and you may just see things you've never seen before.

• When you go out to dinner this week, make it a point to order a different side dish than you would normally order. If you get stumped ask the cute waiter or waitress what they would recommend. Try eating something new that you've never eaten before. It can also be a great conversation starter with your spouse, at work the next day, or with your online friends.

Things I did last week:

• I tried a new brand of hemp milk after another hemp product manufacturer asked me if I would revisit my opinion of hemp after my not-so encouraging review. I'm sure glad I did because the new brand is absolutely delicious. See this chocolate chiller drink I made.

• I exercised one extra day. Lately, I've been exercising 5 days/week, but last week I did 6 days because I had all kinds of energy. This week, I'm happy to go back to 5 days ;-)

On TODAY: Our gal Jennette says bye-bye to 200lbs

I have to give a special shout out to pal and fellow fit blogger Jennette Fulda who I met last October at the Hallmark Cards Blogger Conference. Jennette's new book Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir where she talks about her 200 pound weight loss is now out for you to peruse.

To help promo the book, Jennette go to be on the TODAY Show. So cool! Come back this Friday, as Jennette will be here at Back in Skinny Jeans ala podcast where we will talk about several intriguing things like fat & fear.

I'm so thrilled for Jennette, and what an inspiring story!

Quote on change

Tiny inspiring signs: Yes, you can

Today's business card size inspiring signs are about "going for it." All of us at some point or another have really wanted something  but were too afraid to go after it because mainly we feel unworthy or not good enough.

But really, you can't know if you can't have something if you never ask for it or go for it. You can make many assumptions, but assumptions are not proof. It's like Law & Order. Jack McCoy can't prosecute a perp unless he has proof he/she committed the crime. It's the same thing with you, you can't predict failure OR success without proof and that is proof is action. Vice versa, how many people you know including yourself went for something you thought was a sure thing and it turned out to be an utter disaster.You didn't expect anything to go awry but it did, and you discovered this because you went for it.

The point is that success or failure is only determined after an action takes place. And even if your action produces an initial failure, it gives you food for improvement. So, go for it! You really have nothing to lose. Print out these tiny signs and tape them anywhere you need a little boost of confidence.

Has celebrity body flaw watching turned into a spectator sport?

Standing at the grocery check out yesterday I happened to come across The Enquirer, and lo and behold was this splashy headline, "ALL NEW PHOTOS! Stars With Cellulite." There it was in all caps and an exclamation point like it was egging us on,"CAN'T GET ENOUGH?"

Of course not! Because this is not the first time The Enquirer or any other tabloid highlights the physical flaws of celebrities, and they continue to do it because we (mass consumers) buy it. So, I'm asking now, has celebrity cellulite watching become a spectator sport?

Let the cellulite games begin
Flipping through the article, I could not help but feel angry for the exploitation these women are under and pissed off at the Enquirer for pointing out (with circles and arrows mind you) the flaws of these beautiful talented accomplished women like they are slaves in the Emperor's Colosseum for his entertainment. It's like the tabloids feel they are allowed or even entitled to humiliate celebs like this just because they are celebrities.

I do believe that part of celebrity is that your life is put under the public eye, but it does not mean that the media should have free reign to exploit the physical body like this for sport and profit. And even deeper, does our culture have some kind of celebrity body schadenfreude? Does your average consumer on some level take pleasure in seeing a female celebrity with her cottage cheese thighs and broken heart?

Even teenagers are not off limits
As a specific example of downright blood curdling behavior in this particular Enquirer issue, there is a picture of Princess Beatrice from England in a bikini with a water ski vest on. (The picture is also on the bottom right of the front cover picture above with a "Guess Who?" on it.) The Enquirer points out her "bumpy bum." The girl is 19, and still a teenager for crying out loud. All I could think is that this is the kind of thoughtless thing that could lead this poor girl straight into body dysmorphia and an eating disorder. Even a teenager is not off limits to this kind of tasteless finger-pointing by a tabloid.

Cellulite is not the only body flaw with a photo spread
Then, to make matters worse, about 4 pages later there is a spread of photos called, "The Curse of the Cankles" where they show more celebs who have the "dreaded" cankle, where the calf and ankle look like one. I flipped a few more pages because I sware I was expecting to see the "Muffin Top Monstrosity" article with the pictures of celebrities with the muffin top.

I know that the Enquirer is just another sleazoid tabloid, but these kinds of cellulite and cankle type photos are becoming more and more popular especially around the Internet. Remember how Tyra Banks and Jennifer Love Hewitt were "crucified" with fatty remarks. So, is it me, or is celebrity body schadenfreude on the rise?

Nosh bites: Protein packed chocolate chiller and updates on my 7-day gluten-free vegan experiment

Over at Noshtopia for your eating wellness pleasure:

• Doesn't this chocolate chiller look delicious? It's easy to make and is packed with 8 grams of protein. No joke! Find out what the secret protein source is to this chocolate delight.

• I'm on Day 5 of my 7-day gluten-free vegan experiment. Here's how it went after 2 days, and here is at Day 4, what I have been eating during the week, and what I am missing the most.

• For a cool presentation tip, here's a quick way to make parmesan-looking shavings for salad that aren't actually made of cheese. Great for vegans and raw eaters.

• Here's a recipe for Candied Ginger Pepitas. Yum!

• This recipe I made up for raw-ish mock vegan salmon pate appears to be a tasty hit on the Internets along with 7 easy snack ideas to make with the pate.

Cats on a treadmill and Nivea lotion gets into the dieting game along with other nibbles around the skinny-sphere

• Nivea lotion is getting the dieting game with their "Goodbye Cellulite, Hello Bikini Challenge" to help get us damsels get bikini ready not only with sleek supple skin using their succulent lotions but with cottage free thighs and less junk in the trunk. You can even win cash & prizes at the end of the 4-week challenge if you show the best "Hello Bikini" results...Ok, for crying out loud, I think this is a total stretch for a lotions company to get into the dieting game. It's one thing for Special K, a food company to do it, but lotions? What's next the Hawaiin Tropic Aloha Bikini Challenge? [Nivea USA]

• Our gal FitSugar has some pretty awesome Healthy Gift Ideas for Mother's Day. Oh, and if you haven't bought a card yet for mom, go to your nearest Hallmark Gold Crown store and buy one of those recordable Mother's Day cards. You can record your own voice in the card. It is so cool! My mom is getting one. [FitSugar]

• Oh no! Beyonce is glamazoning little girls in her new kids line from her House of Dereon. Geez Bee! What are ya thinking?  [Perez Hilton]

• Is it me, or does Angelina Jolie's arm look a wee bit photoshopped to look like a giraffe arm. I dig all the fierce tats, but her arm looks too long and skinny for that bad ass gun. I so can't wait to see her movie Wanted with my man Morgan Freeman. I love Angie with guns kicking bad guy ass. [Ain't It Cool]

• Did you know that Martha Stewart blogs? Oh yeah, the Martha has her own blog, and in today's post she shares pictures from her boyfriend's helicopter of her farm, and what a farm it is. CEO Susan Lyne of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia talks at Financial Times about the blog, and that Martha does indeed blog herself, and that they are warming up to getting into more user generated content. Martha goes Web 2.0. I'm liking her more and more. [The Martha Stewart Blog]

• Merry goes on about Skanky Fitness. Oh, I can't stop laughing. [Cranky Fitness]

• Wanna see two cats running on a treadmill? This video below is pretty amusing for a Friday giggle. [Jezebel]

If you missed Cher & Tina Turner on Oprah, here are the best parts (video)

I sooooo badly want to see Cher's new show at Caesar's in Vegas which opens May 10. She'll be doing 200 shows total. If you missed Cher and Tina on Oprah yesterday, here are the best parts. Boy howdy do these women get my addrenaline going. And oh yeah, Tina is canoodling with a younger hottie who is not threatened at all by her success. Where do I find me one of those? Go Tina!

Cher opens the show and sings. She can "take me home."

Tina sings. Those legs! Tina is still kickin' it with those hot gams.

Cher & Tina sing Proud Mary together. Oprah even chimes in and sings too. This clip gave me goose bumps.

Coming to Sci-Fi Channel: Aliena Wintour and Battleship Voguestar

More proof has surfaced for my conspiracy theory ala Hodgins on Bones that Vogue is really science fiction. Behold Aliena Wintour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute's annual gala in her couture spacesuit. See!

And behold, her coif looks awfully similar to that other diabolical menace, Professor Chaos. Aliena Wintour cruises around in her Battleship Voguestar to inflict mayhem and disarray to our normal sense of beauty sensibility. According to her sinister plan, Aliena has done away with the Sixes and has replaced them with the Zeroes.

Her right hand Darth Andre uses the dark side of the force to spellbind talented yet insecure princesses that a size 8 might as well be Jabba the Hut, so start jumping rope cause you can't hologram that size 2 even though you can sure photohallucinate the shasizzle out of it. Oh, Princess Hoochie-be we know you're under the evil spell of the Voguestar but we so hope that your new Prince Cannon can save you from the evil crutches of Ego=MyCareer2.

In a mall far far away, Aliena and Darth Andre have us humans behaving more like Cling-ons rather than Klingons fighting for our way of life. They have their Gisele looking Clone army to do their bidding in the pages of women's magazines across the land. But even though, they try their best to frakk us up in the head, we can prevail. Remember, even in every science fiction story there is a happy ending, and good conquers evil.

May the Spritz be with you.

More people care about losing weight than keeping it off according to Google search

We are a culture constantly trying to get back into the skinny jeans. In fact, this is a glimpse into just how much we want to skinnify. I did a Google search for terms related to losing weight, and here's what I got (as of 5/5/08):

"losing weight":  9,170,000
"weight loss": 88,200,000
"diets": 29,500,000
"get thin": 302,000

When you search on Yahoo, the numbers are even higher. For example, "weight loss" gives you 195,000,000 results.

Now let's look at how many Google results come up for searches related to weight loss maintenance, basically, info to help you stay at your weight goal.

"weight loss maintenance": 65,600
"weight maintenance": 330,000
"keep the weight off": 420,000
"stay thin": 137,000

There's like about a 300% difference between the numbers for getting to a weight loss goal versus staying at that weight loss goal. Truthfully, how many people you know trying to lose weight have a good plan to keep that weight off once they get there? Most of us are so focused on just getting there that we'll worry about it once we get to our goal. This is why I believe there is a definite difference between weight loss and weight management mentality. Perhaps, because we don't plan for the long term, that's why we get into the yo-yo cycle in the first place, you think?

Quote on truth in love