Today is the day my belly gets happy and stays happy all day long!
But first, here's a telling little blurb about Sagittarians like myself and my son, Nick, who turns 11 on Saturday, November 27.
"Sagittarians excel at skipping past details so they can keep the big picture in mind -- this helps them take the long view and develop a philosophical approach to life. As the Sun travels though this future-oriented Fire sign, get ready to take a good look at the road ahead. Where do you want to go? Is there something that would spark your enthusiasm and give your life greater meaning? Whether you're making short- or long-term plans, leave your old ideas behind so you can create room for new ones. You may be surprised by what you discover!
Finally, happy birthday to all you Sagittarians! Your enthusiastic outlook inspires the rest of us to reach higher and take risks!"
From IVillage Astrology.
So I'm nearly back to where I was when I started at Work It Out, in terms of weight, but I've got more muscle mass than I've had before, and I am stronger and able to do things that I wasn't able to do before, like take long walks and get up a flight or two of stairs without breaking a sweat. I also have more energy and endurance than I would have if I didn't exercise 5 days a week. I've appreciated that more than ever this week, when snow and ice closed down my favorite gym all week and I wasn't able to hang with my homegirls on the spin bikes or in balls and weights class. I really miss Carol and Janice and Suzanne and Lynn and all the other instructors and workout pals I've befriended. They are such wonderful, caring and compassionate people. They make my life better every time I step foot in the gym. So on Thanksgiving day, I can honestly say I am ever so thankful for Work It Out Womens Fitness--You ladies ROCK!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Great Idea from Dan Savage
Having been subjected to bullying during my entire junior high and high school career, (for being fat and smart, not for being gay) I can empathize with the teens who are constantly being bullied, threatened and humiliated.
That is why I am delighted Dan Savage has created this project (from Shelf Awareness):
The It Gets Better Project
http://news.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10148639, a
viral video campaign intended to speak directly to gay youths who are
subjected to bullying and homophobia, will be adapted as a book and
published by Dutton. The New York Times
http://news.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10148640
reported that the book, a "collection of essays from celebrities and
ordinary people who want to share their stories," is scheduled for
publication next March. Dan Savage, who started the project, said he
will contribute proceeds from the book to organizations supporting gay
youth.
Go Dan!
That is why I am delighted Dan Savage has created this project (from Shelf Awareness):
The It Gets Better Project
http://news.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10148639, a
viral video campaign intended to speak directly to gay youths who are
subjected to bullying and homophobia, will be adapted as a book and
published by Dutton. The New York Times
http://news.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10148640
reported that the book, a "collection of essays from celebrities and
ordinary people who want to share their stories," is scheduled for
publication next March. Dan Savage, who started the project, said he
will contribute proceeds from the book to organizations supporting gay
youth.
Go Dan!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Freezing Fall
Brrr! We are midway through September and already it is really cold outside, and of course, rainy and overcast...it wouldn't be the Seattle area without drizzle, mist and sleet.
We only had about 2.5 weeks of summer this year, which was fine with me but left a lot of sun worshippers and Vitamin D seekers upset. I am not a fan of heat, but I don't mind a bit of sun every now and then. My husband, who was born on an Air Force base in Ankara, Turkey (a very hot place) and raised in St Petersburg, Florida, (another very hot place) hates the sun, loathes sweating and hot weather and would rather sleep in a bedroom with icicles hanging from the ceiling than be in a temperate climate. Like most middle-aged men, he has a beer gut and a tendancy to give off the same amount of heat as the pot-bellied stove he resembles. So from his perspective, I gather it is a matter of not overheating that has him sleeping with the doors from the bedroom to the deck wide open every night, even in winter. Never mind that the squirrels and bluejays consider the bedroom their second home.
WIO is on fall schedule now, and unfortunately, there isn't an aerobics class every night of the week, so I'm having to get creative and find ways to take some morning classes so that I can get at least 5 days of exercise in. There is a new Tai Chi class that I find interesting to watch but not at all attractive to attend, because there is no heart-rate-hiking, fat-burning movement to the class at all...it's more like a standing, slow version of yoga, which I can't do and don't enjoy. So last night I just went in and ran on the elliptical machine for 40 minutes, then used the weight machines to get in some muscle building time. Now today I am trying to figure out how I can attend my son's curiculum night and still make it to spin class at 6:30pm. What I am hoping is that if I start walking there at 5:30 that I can get to the school in time to have a quick chat with Mr Finch, my sons teacher, and then run up to WIO before class begins. Usually when I make plans like that, we have a deluge of rain,(I hate walking in the rain)or something else comes up that prevents me from achieving my plan, but we shall see for this evening.
In other gut news, I've been on Humira for 11 weeks now, taking the 40 milligram shots on Wednesday each week, and suffering a headache-filled Tuesday when I can barely go to the bathroom and I have tremendous lower left side back pain. After taking my shot yesterday, I spent a lot of time in the bathroom going, and going, and going again, and feeling both relief and fatigue. Still, it was a hectic day and I had to grocery shop, do a lot of emailing, run errands and find the time to pick up Nick after school and get to WIO. So by 10 pm, I was exhausted.
I'm trying not to beat myself up about the weight I've gained since my colon operation last summer (to remove a stricture due to Crohn's Disease), because I knew that with a post-op regimen of cortisone, even a short course, comes 25-30 pounds. But because I exercise and don't eat junk food (though I do eat sugar on my cereal and in my tea), I feel like I am not in bad health, considering the asthma, allergies and Crohns situation. I feel like there's a sturdy frame with muscle under the pudge on my upholstered belly. I'm built like my dearly beloved grandma Semler, who was sturdy, stout and a cancer survivor who never let her size dictate what she could or could not do. Dr Oz has recommended that people who want to lose 10 pounds can stop eating after 8 pm, and get enough sleep, eschew caffiene, eat more veggies and exercise, and I figure those are all things I can do, whether or not they help me lose weight.
Meanwhile, my friend Adrian, who is a whiz with Apple computers (Macs), sent me this link on the healthful, allergy-reducing benefits of yogurt: http://www.realage.com/tips/choose-this-creamy-breakfast-be-sneeze-free?kw=ist
I had to tell him that all dairy products make me ill because I am not just allergic to milk sugars, I am allergic to bacteria in milk products, like yogurt and cheese, that require cultures to become what they are. I am allergic to mold, fungus and bacteria that change foods. So mushrooms are out, as is yogurt, cheese, miso, wine and many kinds of salami (I also can't tolerate nitrates and MSG, so there are a number of lunchmeats that make my joints hurt and swell up like I have arthritis). Add to that list of food allergies eggs, strawberries, honey, green beans, mangoes and nuts and you'd think I would be skinny from not having anything to eat that doesn't endanger my health.
There's still plenty of meats, shellfish, salmon, non-whole-grain breads, fruits, veggies and soy products that I can eat, though, and sugar also doesn't bother me, so I manage to eat a lot of tasty food and remain large, unfortunately. Portion control has always been a problem for me, but it is something that I am mindful of, so I try and work on it every day.
We only had about 2.5 weeks of summer this year, which was fine with me but left a lot of sun worshippers and Vitamin D seekers upset. I am not a fan of heat, but I don't mind a bit of sun every now and then. My husband, who was born on an Air Force base in Ankara, Turkey (a very hot place) and raised in St Petersburg, Florida, (another very hot place) hates the sun, loathes sweating and hot weather and would rather sleep in a bedroom with icicles hanging from the ceiling than be in a temperate climate. Like most middle-aged men, he has a beer gut and a tendancy to give off the same amount of heat as the pot-bellied stove he resembles. So from his perspective, I gather it is a matter of not overheating that has him sleeping with the doors from the bedroom to the deck wide open every night, even in winter. Never mind that the squirrels and bluejays consider the bedroom their second home.
WIO is on fall schedule now, and unfortunately, there isn't an aerobics class every night of the week, so I'm having to get creative and find ways to take some morning classes so that I can get at least 5 days of exercise in. There is a new Tai Chi class that I find interesting to watch but not at all attractive to attend, because there is no heart-rate-hiking, fat-burning movement to the class at all...it's more like a standing, slow version of yoga, which I can't do and don't enjoy. So last night I just went in and ran on the elliptical machine for 40 minutes, then used the weight machines to get in some muscle building time. Now today I am trying to figure out how I can attend my son's curiculum night and still make it to spin class at 6:30pm. What I am hoping is that if I start walking there at 5:30 that I can get to the school in time to have a quick chat with Mr Finch, my sons teacher, and then run up to WIO before class begins. Usually when I make plans like that, we have a deluge of rain,(I hate walking in the rain)or something else comes up that prevents me from achieving my plan, but we shall see for this evening.
In other gut news, I've been on Humira for 11 weeks now, taking the 40 milligram shots on Wednesday each week, and suffering a headache-filled Tuesday when I can barely go to the bathroom and I have tremendous lower left side back pain. After taking my shot yesterday, I spent a lot of time in the bathroom going, and going, and going again, and feeling both relief and fatigue. Still, it was a hectic day and I had to grocery shop, do a lot of emailing, run errands and find the time to pick up Nick after school and get to WIO. So by 10 pm, I was exhausted.
I'm trying not to beat myself up about the weight I've gained since my colon operation last summer (to remove a stricture due to Crohn's Disease), because I knew that with a post-op regimen of cortisone, even a short course, comes 25-30 pounds. But because I exercise and don't eat junk food (though I do eat sugar on my cereal and in my tea), I feel like I am not in bad health, considering the asthma, allergies and Crohns situation. I feel like there's a sturdy frame with muscle under the pudge on my upholstered belly. I'm built like my dearly beloved grandma Semler, who was sturdy, stout and a cancer survivor who never let her size dictate what she could or could not do. Dr Oz has recommended that people who want to lose 10 pounds can stop eating after 8 pm, and get enough sleep, eschew caffiene, eat more veggies and exercise, and I figure those are all things I can do, whether or not they help me lose weight.
Meanwhile, my friend Adrian, who is a whiz with Apple computers (Macs), sent me this link on the healthful, allergy-reducing benefits of yogurt: http://www.realage.com/tips/choose-this-creamy-breakfast-be-sneeze-free?kw=ist
I had to tell him that all dairy products make me ill because I am not just allergic to milk sugars, I am allergic to bacteria in milk products, like yogurt and cheese, that require cultures to become what they are. I am allergic to mold, fungus and bacteria that change foods. So mushrooms are out, as is yogurt, cheese, miso, wine and many kinds of salami (I also can't tolerate nitrates and MSG, so there are a number of lunchmeats that make my joints hurt and swell up like I have arthritis). Add to that list of food allergies eggs, strawberries, honey, green beans, mangoes and nuts and you'd think I would be skinny from not having anything to eat that doesn't endanger my health.
There's still plenty of meats, shellfish, salmon, non-whole-grain breads, fruits, veggies and soy products that I can eat, though, and sugar also doesn't bother me, so I manage to eat a lot of tasty food and remain large, unfortunately. Portion control has always been a problem for me, but it is something that I am mindful of, so I try and work on it every day.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
WIO on Summer Schedule
Work It Out Women's Fitness is on the summer schedule now, so classes have thinned out a bit as the days grow sunny and warm, and people spend more time outdoors.
I am still going to the gym 6 times a week, though I can't do as many double classes as I used to.
However, now that our car has broken down again, I am having to walk to WIO and to the grocery store more often, which allows me more exercise to make up for the classes I am missing.
In other work out news, Aggie, a dear gal whom I've really come to enjoy getting to know, is taking over the salsa class from Carolina, who is moving to Virginia on the East Coast in August. Carolina has been such a delightful teacher, her good humor and kindness were always appreciated as I bumbled and stumbled my way through the steps necessary to complete her class. She always tried to find time to do Passo Doble bullfighting dance steps at the end of class because she knew I liked them (they were more straightforward and easier to learn than many of the other steps). She always smelled of gardenias when she sweated in class, and was always a good instructor who had endless patience with her uncoordinated students. She will be missed.
I've been without Pentasa (due to Shire pharmaceuticals not allowing those with Crohns to have the medication because of a ridiculous FDA regulation that says it is not approved for the treatment of Crohns, never mind that millions have been on Pentasa for years for that very disease) for over a week now, and because I've been having flares, I've been sleeping with my heating pad against my belly to help sooth the cramps and pain. Apparently, the pain medications I also have to take for the cramps dulled my pain receptors enough that when I woke up Friday morning I had blisters on my belly from the heating pad, and the burns hadn't even woken me up!
Billie is teaching balls and weights and kickboxing and she subbed for salsa last night, which was loads of fun. Billie has the ability to be a great aerobics and strength training teacher while still infusing her classes with fun and a playful, joyous attitude. Her classes are non-stop movement and I always learn something new from Billie, who is very knowledgable about fitness. She is working hard teaching, being a mom and going to UW to get her masters degree in occupational therapy. I admire her stamina!
Rochelle is still teaching a couple of classes, and is due to have her baby in a few short weeks! I can't wait to see that adorable bundle of joy! Is there anything better than the smell of a brand new baby's head? I don't think so!
Suzanne is teaching Pilates and balls and weights, I think, and she's also a great joy to learn from. Suzanne is just so lovely, kind and compassionate, I feel as if her Pilates classes have a zen-like element to them, so you come away not only having worked your core, you've calmed and centered your spirit, giving your 'inner core' strength for the road ahead. She's also a very upbeat, uplifting person who doesn't believe in the word "can't." When you're on your 15th rep with a weight that you feel like you're going to drop on your head, Suzanne is always there to say "Yes, you can do 5 more!"
Connie is on vacation in the midwest, but she's been teaching a rockin' kickboxing class that has been moved to 8:30 am on Thursdays, and therefore hasn't been accessible to me. I was taking her Friday morning 9:30 kickboxing, but now there's a balls and weights on Fridays instead.
Janice and Carol are in the midst of boot camp season, so unfortunately I don't get to see their beautiful faces as often as I'd like. They've been doing a lot of one-on-one personal training as well, and it is so inspiring to watch the women they train transform their bodies from overweight and weary to svelte and energized! Janice's figure and fitness training also continues, and I really admire the dedication of all the women on her team. They work out for 15-20 hours a week and eat a very strict diet, and they look fabulous!
Also coming up is the WIO Triathalon on July 24th at Lake Wilderness Park in Maple Valley. I volunteer every year, and I always have a blast helping the athletes get from one aspect of the triathalon to the other--they always amaze and inspire me! The kids triathalon is super fun to watch, as these little tykes just give it their all. Though I have to get up at 5 am on that Saturday, it is always worth it to see friends from WIO challenge themselves to make it through.
Someday, when I am not quite so upholstered in the belly, I think I will give the triathalon a try, just to see if I can make it across Lake Wilderness without getting bitten by leeches or having a cardiac. At the end of this year, I will have been working out at WIO for 4 years! Thank you, Carol and Janice and the rest of the great staff at WIO for all the help and inspiration they've shown me over the years--you all make my life worth living.
I am still going to the gym 6 times a week, though I can't do as many double classes as I used to.
However, now that our car has broken down again, I am having to walk to WIO and to the grocery store more often, which allows me more exercise to make up for the classes I am missing.
In other work out news, Aggie, a dear gal whom I've really come to enjoy getting to know, is taking over the salsa class from Carolina, who is moving to Virginia on the East Coast in August. Carolina has been such a delightful teacher, her good humor and kindness were always appreciated as I bumbled and stumbled my way through the steps necessary to complete her class. She always tried to find time to do Passo Doble bullfighting dance steps at the end of class because she knew I liked them (they were more straightforward and easier to learn than many of the other steps). She always smelled of gardenias when she sweated in class, and was always a good instructor who had endless patience with her uncoordinated students. She will be missed.
I've been without Pentasa (due to Shire pharmaceuticals not allowing those with Crohns to have the medication because of a ridiculous FDA regulation that says it is not approved for the treatment of Crohns, never mind that millions have been on Pentasa for years for that very disease) for over a week now, and because I've been having flares, I've been sleeping with my heating pad against my belly to help sooth the cramps and pain. Apparently, the pain medications I also have to take for the cramps dulled my pain receptors enough that when I woke up Friday morning I had blisters on my belly from the heating pad, and the burns hadn't even woken me up!
Billie is teaching balls and weights and kickboxing and she subbed for salsa last night, which was loads of fun. Billie has the ability to be a great aerobics and strength training teacher while still infusing her classes with fun and a playful, joyous attitude. Her classes are non-stop movement and I always learn something new from Billie, who is very knowledgable about fitness. She is working hard teaching, being a mom and going to UW to get her masters degree in occupational therapy. I admire her stamina!
Rochelle is still teaching a couple of classes, and is due to have her baby in a few short weeks! I can't wait to see that adorable bundle of joy! Is there anything better than the smell of a brand new baby's head? I don't think so!
Suzanne is teaching Pilates and balls and weights, I think, and she's also a great joy to learn from. Suzanne is just so lovely, kind and compassionate, I feel as if her Pilates classes have a zen-like element to them, so you come away not only having worked your core, you've calmed and centered your spirit, giving your 'inner core' strength for the road ahead. She's also a very upbeat, uplifting person who doesn't believe in the word "can't." When you're on your 15th rep with a weight that you feel like you're going to drop on your head, Suzanne is always there to say "Yes, you can do 5 more!"
Connie is on vacation in the midwest, but she's been teaching a rockin' kickboxing class that has been moved to 8:30 am on Thursdays, and therefore hasn't been accessible to me. I was taking her Friday morning 9:30 kickboxing, but now there's a balls and weights on Fridays instead.
Janice and Carol are in the midst of boot camp season, so unfortunately I don't get to see their beautiful faces as often as I'd like. They've been doing a lot of one-on-one personal training as well, and it is so inspiring to watch the women they train transform their bodies from overweight and weary to svelte and energized! Janice's figure and fitness training also continues, and I really admire the dedication of all the women on her team. They work out for 15-20 hours a week and eat a very strict diet, and they look fabulous!
Also coming up is the WIO Triathalon on July 24th at Lake Wilderness Park in Maple Valley. I volunteer every year, and I always have a blast helping the athletes get from one aspect of the triathalon to the other--they always amaze and inspire me! The kids triathalon is super fun to watch, as these little tykes just give it their all. Though I have to get up at 5 am on that Saturday, it is always worth it to see friends from WIO challenge themselves to make it through.
Someday, when I am not quite so upholstered in the belly, I think I will give the triathalon a try, just to see if I can make it across Lake Wilderness without getting bitten by leeches or having a cardiac. At the end of this year, I will have been working out at WIO for 4 years! Thank you, Carol and Janice and the rest of the great staff at WIO for all the help and inspiration they've shown me over the years--you all make my life worth living.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Muscle Wrestling Fat, and Deadly Liposuction
I often think of my body as a WWE wrestling match, with my avoirdupois going belly-to-belly with my Work It Out-created muscles. Around my middle, the pudge always wins, with whatever ab muscles that I have hiding underneath about 50 pounds of fat. Recently, while on a 'walk' (read: a hard jog) with Janice during Monday's interval training class, a fellow WIO gym gal asked "How will I know if I am gaining muscle? Where will I see it first?" Janice replied, "Well, you won't see it unless you lose the fat over it first."
This got me to thinking about every diet I've ever been on, and how difficult it is for me to lose my upholstered middle. Sugar and simple carbs being my weakness, it takes almost super-human restraint for me to cut down on sugar in my tea or a half-box of mini-saltine crackers as a snack. The only time I truly lost over 100 pounds, I exercised 3-4 times a week and I ate around 900-1,000 calories a day. I ate very little meat (no more than twice a month, and even then it was usually chicken or an egg) very little fruit or vegetables, (mostly apples or salad greens) and Grapenuts cereal with milk (I could tolerate dairy back then) or dry toast as my bread/cereal for the day. My mantra was "It is good to be hungry, hunger pains mean you are losing weight." The problem was, once I started eating 'regular' food again with my then-boyfriend-now-husband, I started gaining weight, and then once my gym closed and we moved, got married, had a child and I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease, plus I was laid off from my steady job, the weight came roaring back on with a vengence, especially around my midsection.
Though I've been working out regularly for almost 4 years at WIO, and I've lost inches all over my body, my belly remains firmly upholstered, despite hours of crunches and core work. I think my recent spate of belly weight gain is due mainly to the cortisone I was given after my gut operation last year. While its the ultimate anti-inflammatory drug, it also makes me crazy with hunger, and all I want to eat is something sweet with bread. I could live on sweet tea and toast with cinnamon and sugar when I am on cortisone, and my satiety button in my brain is switched off when I am on cortisone, so I eat too much, too.
So when I look around me at WIO at all the flat-bellied women who always complain about their butts, hips and thighs, I find myself thinking of what I'd do if I were wealthy to get some weight off my body without any diets or more exercise. I dream of lap bands and liposuction, and always think that I would go to one of the places that maintains that neither is too painful because of their latest methods that always seem to involve lasers and laproscopy. There's a commercial on the local channels here for "Sonnobello" a plastic surgery practice that specializes in liposuction and the like. I happened to be channel surfing the other day when I saw the tail end of a piece on a woman who died at Sonnobello just recently, apparently from too much anesthesia, which she was given before liposuction. Last weeks episode of "House, MD" also had a patient who died of a fat embolism making its way to her heart and killing her after having her leg amputated to get her out of a collapsed building. Liposuction, like any kind of surgery, no matter how casual sounding, carries a risk of losing your life, which in my opinion is too high of a risk to take for a flat belly or underarms that don't flap like turkey wattles when you take a punch in kickboxing class. And once any bariatric physician hears I have Crohn's Disease, I bet he will toss me out of his office on my rear for having the temerity to ask for any kind of lap band surgery...chances are my guts would turn anything wrapped around them into one big stricture and I would not be able to pass anything through the inflamed tissue.
So my bulging belly will just have to keep hanging around for awhile, until I can figure out a way to get my diet under control. Meanwhile, though, I will keep pushing this body through space 6 days a week at WIO, which is an oasis for any woman seeking a healthy body and a calmed mind.
This got me to thinking about every diet I've ever been on, and how difficult it is for me to lose my upholstered middle. Sugar and simple carbs being my weakness, it takes almost super-human restraint for me to cut down on sugar in my tea or a half-box of mini-saltine crackers as a snack. The only time I truly lost over 100 pounds, I exercised 3-4 times a week and I ate around 900-1,000 calories a day. I ate very little meat (no more than twice a month, and even then it was usually chicken or an egg) very little fruit or vegetables, (mostly apples or salad greens) and Grapenuts cereal with milk (I could tolerate dairy back then) or dry toast as my bread/cereal for the day. My mantra was "It is good to be hungry, hunger pains mean you are losing weight." The problem was, once I started eating 'regular' food again with my then-boyfriend-now-husband, I started gaining weight, and then once my gym closed and we moved, got married, had a child and I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease, plus I was laid off from my steady job, the weight came roaring back on with a vengence, especially around my midsection.
Though I've been working out regularly for almost 4 years at WIO, and I've lost inches all over my body, my belly remains firmly upholstered, despite hours of crunches and core work. I think my recent spate of belly weight gain is due mainly to the cortisone I was given after my gut operation last year. While its the ultimate anti-inflammatory drug, it also makes me crazy with hunger, and all I want to eat is something sweet with bread. I could live on sweet tea and toast with cinnamon and sugar when I am on cortisone, and my satiety button in my brain is switched off when I am on cortisone, so I eat too much, too.
So when I look around me at WIO at all the flat-bellied women who always complain about their butts, hips and thighs, I find myself thinking of what I'd do if I were wealthy to get some weight off my body without any diets or more exercise. I dream of lap bands and liposuction, and always think that I would go to one of the places that maintains that neither is too painful because of their latest methods that always seem to involve lasers and laproscopy. There's a commercial on the local channels here for "Sonnobello" a plastic surgery practice that specializes in liposuction and the like. I happened to be channel surfing the other day when I saw the tail end of a piece on a woman who died at Sonnobello just recently, apparently from too much anesthesia, which she was given before liposuction. Last weeks episode of "House, MD" also had a patient who died of a fat embolism making its way to her heart and killing her after having her leg amputated to get her out of a collapsed building. Liposuction, like any kind of surgery, no matter how casual sounding, carries a risk of losing your life, which in my opinion is too high of a risk to take for a flat belly or underarms that don't flap like turkey wattles when you take a punch in kickboxing class. And once any bariatric physician hears I have Crohn's Disease, I bet he will toss me out of his office on my rear for having the temerity to ask for any kind of lap band surgery...chances are my guts would turn anything wrapped around them into one big stricture and I would not be able to pass anything through the inflamed tissue.
So my bulging belly will just have to keep hanging around for awhile, until I can figure out a way to get my diet under control. Meanwhile, though, I will keep pushing this body through space 6 days a week at WIO, which is an oasis for any woman seeking a healthy body and a calmed mind.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Web sites and Magazines for Full Figured Gals
Recently I was asked to vote for the Full Figured Fashion awards, which included models, web sites and magazines devoted to larger women. I discovered, to my dismay, that there are a whole slew of magazines and web sites that are popular that I've never heard of, among them:
Web sites:
Judgment of Paris
The Curvy Fashionista
Young, Fat & Fabulous
Pasazz
Meili Sawyer for Plus Size Fashion
Full Figure Plus
PlusModels.com
Luvin' My Curves
Runway Revolution
Musings of a FatShonista
Magazines
Beauty Plus Power
Skorch Magazine
Plus Model Magazine
Gemini Magazine
Manik Magazine
Belle-Noir
Daily Venus Divas
Just as Beautiful
Lou Lou Magazine
Web sites:
Judgment of Paris
The Curvy Fashionista
Young, Fat & Fabulous
Pasazz
Meili Sawyer for Plus Size Fashion
Full Figure Plus
PlusModels.com
Luvin' My Curves
Runway Revolution
Musings of a FatShonista
Magazines
Beauty Plus Power
Skorch Magazine
Plus Model Magazine
Gemini Magazine
Manik Magazine
Belle-Noir
Daily Venus Divas
Just as Beautiful
Lou Lou Magazine
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Summer Tomato Blog
Thanks to my friend Caryn, I just found this marvelous blog/web site, called the Summer Tomato http://summertomato.com/category/basics/
The gal who runs the site writes about eating healthy foods, exercising and learning to eat seasonally and cook your own meals instead of eating out at restaurants, which are generally havens of crappy foods laden with fat, sugar, salt and thousands more calories than any one human needs to consume per day.
Those are all great things to aspire to, especially for the average guy or gal who can eat omnivorously, and not worry about having their colon explode if they consume a sunflower seed or an errant raspberry.
But for me, food is a minefield, especially all the whole grains, fruits and vegetables that are coming into season this spring and summer. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE most fruits and veggies, with the exception of okra, brussel sprouts, green beans, onions and strawberries/raspberries, (I am allergic to the latter four items) but when I eat broccoli, for example, or spinach, I have to plan to spend the next 24 hours in the bathroom, in pain, evacuating my bowels and taking percoset so that I don't scream, cry and alarm my husband and son. The same goes for oatmeal, which I adore. Eating oatmeal with dates or raisins and brown sugar is, for me, like eating a land mine. My intestines swell with gas, my colon cramps and writhes, and I am back on the toilet with explosive diarreha for what feels like an eternity. Beano or other anti-gas liquids also make me ill, as does any sort of 'lactaid' kind of pill that is meant to help one digest dairy products. They just do not work for me, and never did. The same goes for eggs, though I adore them. Recently I had the chance to eat some fresh eggs from cosseted local chickens, but I felt it wasn't worth the horrible gut pain they cause just to taste the ova of a chicken named Dosie I'd met in person.
Supplements, particularly ones that have calcium or magnesium in them also kill my gut, and constipate me so badly that I can't go to the bathroom at all, but must feel terrible urges as my colon cramps and tries to do its job, but can't. I'd love to get my Crohn's disease under control and be symptom-free, but I have no health insurance, and my gastroenterologist refuses to give me any new medications until he does a colonoscopy to see if I've got another stricture or some other inflammation in my gut. Colonoscopies cost around 2-3K, by the way, so there's no help from that quarter.
In the last couple of days I've read and watched a lecture by a scientist telling his audience how evil sugar is, especially white table sugar and the dreaded high fructose corn syrup, which is supposedly not even digested by your body, but turned by your liver into fat nearly instantaneously. Wow. Of the few foods I can digest, of course, there's regular white bread, decaf tea with sugar and corn/rice cereals that nearly always contain high fructose corn syrup, but don't contain whole grains. Unless, of course, I want to buy these whole grain rice cereals that are 'organic and all natural' and cost 6 dollars a box. Unfortunately, not only do I have a wreaked digestive system, I am also a freelance journalist who has spent the last year and a half without any assignments, and is therefore poor. I can't afford to buy expensive fruits, veggies, cereals, etc. I am also allergic to nuts, so noshing on walnuts to reap the benefits of all their omega 3s isn't going to happen. And don't get me started on how expensive fish is here in the Pacific Northwest, where it is supposed to be plentiful. The closest I get to eating the requisite amount of fish is frozen fish sticks or canned tuna. I love saltine crackers, because they're easily digested and they taste good, but I know they're not what I am supposed to be eating.
Still, I can and do attempt an apple every few days, or a pear, and my family eats chicken at least twice a week. My husband can't live without pork, particularly pork tenderloin and bacon, so I am not sure how to winnow that from my diet, and he's also a fan of red meat. We try to have a pasta dish with shrimp that my husband makes with a tomato-based sauce every couple of weeks, and we are all fans of potatoes, cooked carrots and beets. My husband and son love corn in any form, and my son and I both adore asparagus, but it has to be well cooked if I am to eat it without pain. Soymilk and soy cheese pizza are two things I can't live without, and are a regular part of my diet, though I always add black sliced olives and a bit of spinach to my soy cheese pizza for flavor. I also always use olive oil in cooking, the baked goods I make are vegan and I assume a bit healthier than the sweets I could buy in the store.
I know that I have 'portion distortion' problems, and eat too much of the foods I can eat, but since there aren't a lot of things I can consume, I would at least like the ones I do to taste good. Things that taste good to me invariably have sugar in them. I find myself watching "Dr Oz" dispense diet advice and wonder what he'd make of my portly form. I certainly would be unable to eat the foods he advises, because I'd be sick all the time if I did, and I wouldn't be able to attend exercise classes 5 days a week as I do now. But, since I am not hypertensive, not diabetic and I don't have a cholesterol problem, I wouldn't fit well with his 'truth tube' and fear-mongering over the obesity epidemic.
At any rate, I was thrilled to see Mo'nique win the Academy Award for best supporting actress for her role in the movie "Precious," last Sunday. She was one of the only women in attendance who wasn't a size 2 or below. I also saw a burlesque show on Capitol Hill several weeks ago that had a larger gal and several older women who had what is commonly called "junk in their trunk" sashaying about on stage wearing pasties and tiny underpants as if it were the most natural thing in the world. And it was...it was also sensual and liberating to see women comfortable in their skin and with their sexuality, though they are women of size. YOU GO, BIG GIRLZ! Woot!
The gal who runs the site writes about eating healthy foods, exercising and learning to eat seasonally and cook your own meals instead of eating out at restaurants, which are generally havens of crappy foods laden with fat, sugar, salt and thousands more calories than any one human needs to consume per day.
Those are all great things to aspire to, especially for the average guy or gal who can eat omnivorously, and not worry about having their colon explode if they consume a sunflower seed or an errant raspberry.
But for me, food is a minefield, especially all the whole grains, fruits and vegetables that are coming into season this spring and summer. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE most fruits and veggies, with the exception of okra, brussel sprouts, green beans, onions and strawberries/raspberries, (I am allergic to the latter four items) but when I eat broccoli, for example, or spinach, I have to plan to spend the next 24 hours in the bathroom, in pain, evacuating my bowels and taking percoset so that I don't scream, cry and alarm my husband and son. The same goes for oatmeal, which I adore. Eating oatmeal with dates or raisins and brown sugar is, for me, like eating a land mine. My intestines swell with gas, my colon cramps and writhes, and I am back on the toilet with explosive diarreha for what feels like an eternity. Beano or other anti-gas liquids also make me ill, as does any sort of 'lactaid' kind of pill that is meant to help one digest dairy products. They just do not work for me, and never did. The same goes for eggs, though I adore them. Recently I had the chance to eat some fresh eggs from cosseted local chickens, but I felt it wasn't worth the horrible gut pain they cause just to taste the ova of a chicken named Dosie I'd met in person.
Supplements, particularly ones that have calcium or magnesium in them also kill my gut, and constipate me so badly that I can't go to the bathroom at all, but must feel terrible urges as my colon cramps and tries to do its job, but can't. I'd love to get my Crohn's disease under control and be symptom-free, but I have no health insurance, and my gastroenterologist refuses to give me any new medications until he does a colonoscopy to see if I've got another stricture or some other inflammation in my gut. Colonoscopies cost around 2-3K, by the way, so there's no help from that quarter.
In the last couple of days I've read and watched a lecture by a scientist telling his audience how evil sugar is, especially white table sugar and the dreaded high fructose corn syrup, which is supposedly not even digested by your body, but turned by your liver into fat nearly instantaneously. Wow. Of the few foods I can digest, of course, there's regular white bread, decaf tea with sugar and corn/rice cereals that nearly always contain high fructose corn syrup, but don't contain whole grains. Unless, of course, I want to buy these whole grain rice cereals that are 'organic and all natural' and cost 6 dollars a box. Unfortunately, not only do I have a wreaked digestive system, I am also a freelance journalist who has spent the last year and a half without any assignments, and is therefore poor. I can't afford to buy expensive fruits, veggies, cereals, etc. I am also allergic to nuts, so noshing on walnuts to reap the benefits of all their omega 3s isn't going to happen. And don't get me started on how expensive fish is here in the Pacific Northwest, where it is supposed to be plentiful. The closest I get to eating the requisite amount of fish is frozen fish sticks or canned tuna. I love saltine crackers, because they're easily digested and they taste good, but I know they're not what I am supposed to be eating.
Still, I can and do attempt an apple every few days, or a pear, and my family eats chicken at least twice a week. My husband can't live without pork, particularly pork tenderloin and bacon, so I am not sure how to winnow that from my diet, and he's also a fan of red meat. We try to have a pasta dish with shrimp that my husband makes with a tomato-based sauce every couple of weeks, and we are all fans of potatoes, cooked carrots and beets. My husband and son love corn in any form, and my son and I both adore asparagus, but it has to be well cooked if I am to eat it without pain. Soymilk and soy cheese pizza are two things I can't live without, and are a regular part of my diet, though I always add black sliced olives and a bit of spinach to my soy cheese pizza for flavor. I also always use olive oil in cooking, the baked goods I make are vegan and I assume a bit healthier than the sweets I could buy in the store.
I know that I have 'portion distortion' problems, and eat too much of the foods I can eat, but since there aren't a lot of things I can consume, I would at least like the ones I do to taste good. Things that taste good to me invariably have sugar in them. I find myself watching "Dr Oz" dispense diet advice and wonder what he'd make of my portly form. I certainly would be unable to eat the foods he advises, because I'd be sick all the time if I did, and I wouldn't be able to attend exercise classes 5 days a week as I do now. But, since I am not hypertensive, not diabetic and I don't have a cholesterol problem, I wouldn't fit well with his 'truth tube' and fear-mongering over the obesity epidemic.
At any rate, I was thrilled to see Mo'nique win the Academy Award for best supporting actress for her role in the movie "Precious," last Sunday. She was one of the only women in attendance who wasn't a size 2 or below. I also saw a burlesque show on Capitol Hill several weeks ago that had a larger gal and several older women who had what is commonly called "junk in their trunk" sashaying about on stage wearing pasties and tiny underpants as if it were the most natural thing in the world. And it was...it was also sensual and liberating to see women comfortable in their skin and with their sexuality, though they are women of size. YOU GO, BIG GIRLZ! Woot!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Interesting Article About Plus-Sized Athletes
Olympic athletes fit, not so trim: Score one for changing beauty standards
By MEGHAN DAUM
Los Angeles Times
Gee, someone deserves a medal! Women of a certain heft are suddenly everywhere.
Mad Men's Christina Hendricks, the Jessica Rabbit-proportioned redhead who also happens to be a good actress, is on the cover of New York Magazine.
Michelle Obama, who a recent Los Angeles Times editorial described as an athletic, real-woman-with-curves, launched her initiative to fight childhood obesity. Meanwhile, the 2010 Winter Olympics is the source of some interesting insights into what athletes-especially female athletes -actually weigh.
Sure, the figure skaters are mostly sparrow-like. But a lot of ladies in other sports are, well, substantial.
Elana Meyers of the U.S. women's bobsledding team is, according to the Team USA Web site, 5 foot 8 and 180 pounds (stats that are pretty much in line with those of her teammates). The U.S. women's hockey team captain, Natalie Darwitz, is 5 foot 2 and 143 pounds. Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn, who appears in a bikini in this month's Sports Illustrated, is 5 foot 10 and, rumor has it, weighs in at around 160 pounds.
Of course, there's nothing surprising about a muscular athlete weighing more than a bony fashion model or even a flabby-if-thin regular person. But unlike in real life (thank goodness), we are watching Olympic athletes heights and weights in sports like luge or bobsled, where such stats are relevant flashed across the screen for the entire world to see.
Unlike movies or television shows, the Winter Olympics have added a novel dimension to the nation's ceaseless obsession with female body weight-actual numbers.
Moreover, they're putting not only a human face on those numbers but some glamorous faces.
It's one thing to see perfunctory footage of protruding bellies during television news reports about the obesity epidemic, or to hear the latest stats from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the average American woman, who stands 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighs just over 164 pounds. Or to see images of our national look: overstuffed jeans and double chins.
It's quite another thing to see a woman in that approximate height-and-weight range competing in the Olympics. The Vancouver Games are providing something those height-and-weight charts cannot: evidence that when it comes to fitness, and looks, the numbers are only part of the equation.
Still, I know what you're thinking. For most of us, 164 pounds on a 5-foot-4 frame is, with rare exception, probably too much. Besides, some of these ladies competing in Vancouver are, you know & big. Not fat, of course, but let's put it this way: I don't think I was the only one who, when looking at the Sports Illustrated photos of Vonn, wondered how much Photoshopping took place.
Not because she isn't a beautiful woman, but because a photo of anyone who weighs 40 to 50 pounds more than the average fashion model of the same height is likely to get some technological assistance, especially when the woman depicted is wearing a fringe bikini and thigh-high furry boots (and especially when not even professional models are immune to nips and tucks from art directors).
That's why, for all the lip service paid to the culture's growing acceptance of normal-sized women, we're still a long way from bestowing words like attractive or even fit on anyone who's less than discernibly thin. We put Christina Hendricks on a magazine cover, but then we congratulate ourselves for accepting her.
But every time the weight of another female athlete makes it into our brains, we move ever so slightly away from lip service and toward another kind of service, the kind that slowly chips away at the idea that the only women who deserve to be proud of their bodies are the ones who are thin.
Instead of congratulating ourselves for accepting these athletes, we're congratulating them. Instead of marveling at their ability to excel despite what they weigh, we're forced to concede that going down a mountain at breakneck speed, and who knows what else, is not for the faint of heart--or the size 0.
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/02/22/1766380/the-olympic-athletes-are-fit-and.html
I agree with this article, and with the journalist who wrote it, that we are a long way from accepting women of size as they are, and not beating up on them repeatedly in public. At my thinnest, I weighed 157 pounds, and I looked fabulous...I looked the perfect weight for my height (5 foot 6) and I still had some curves...I was 36, 25, 36, with toned muscles,flat abs and 20 percent body fat, which is healthy when you have 129 pounds of lean muscle, bone and water.
I doubt that I will ever reach those numbers again, 20 years later, now that I am, gulp, almost 50 and heading into the death valley of menopause, with its slug-like metabolism. But I do consistently work out 8-9 hours a week, doing a variety of classes that stretch and build muscles in my body. Granted, the gals that are doing Janice's fitness training for bodybuilding competitions have to work out 15 hours a week, which is really hard core, but I don't try to keep up with them, especially with the 60-75 pounds I need to lose.
This week, Brandy, one of the great women I work out with at WIO, said she is going on a sugar fast for Lent and for her health. She plans on staying away from as much refined sugar as possible, which she challenged me to try as well. I honestly do not know if I could do that, as sugar is one of the few things I can still eat and enjoy, since dairy, eggs, nuts, onions, strawberries, raspberries, green beans and mushrooms are all foods that I am allergic to or make me ill. Broccoli makes my Crohns go crazy, though I love it so much that I often cook up a batch and eat it anyway, knowing that twelve hours later I will be miserable.
I just met a gastroenterologist who told me that if I wasn't symptom-free, I needed to either change gastro docs or tell my current doc to get on the ball and put me on some of the new medications that will keep me from symptoms and from having another stricture operation. So I am waiting to hear from my doc today, hoping that he will have some answers for me.
By MEGHAN DAUM
Los Angeles Times
Gee, someone deserves a medal! Women of a certain heft are suddenly everywhere.
Mad Men's Christina Hendricks, the Jessica Rabbit-proportioned redhead who also happens to be a good actress, is on the cover of New York Magazine.
Michelle Obama, who a recent Los Angeles Times editorial described as an athletic, real-woman-with-curves, launched her initiative to fight childhood obesity. Meanwhile, the 2010 Winter Olympics is the source of some interesting insights into what athletes-especially female athletes -actually weigh.
Sure, the figure skaters are mostly sparrow-like. But a lot of ladies in other sports are, well, substantial.
Elana Meyers of the U.S. women's bobsledding team is, according to the Team USA Web site, 5 foot 8 and 180 pounds (stats that are pretty much in line with those of her teammates). The U.S. women's hockey team captain, Natalie Darwitz, is 5 foot 2 and 143 pounds. Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn, who appears in a bikini in this month's Sports Illustrated, is 5 foot 10 and, rumor has it, weighs in at around 160 pounds.
Of course, there's nothing surprising about a muscular athlete weighing more than a bony fashion model or even a flabby-if-thin regular person. But unlike in real life (thank goodness), we are watching Olympic athletes heights and weights in sports like luge or bobsled, where such stats are relevant flashed across the screen for the entire world to see.
Unlike movies or television shows, the Winter Olympics have added a novel dimension to the nation's ceaseless obsession with female body weight-actual numbers.
Moreover, they're putting not only a human face on those numbers but some glamorous faces.
It's one thing to see perfunctory footage of protruding bellies during television news reports about the obesity epidemic, or to hear the latest stats from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the average American woman, who stands 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighs just over 164 pounds. Or to see images of our national look: overstuffed jeans and double chins.
It's quite another thing to see a woman in that approximate height-and-weight range competing in the Olympics. The Vancouver Games are providing something those height-and-weight charts cannot: evidence that when it comes to fitness, and looks, the numbers are only part of the equation.
Still, I know what you're thinking. For most of us, 164 pounds on a 5-foot-4 frame is, with rare exception, probably too much. Besides, some of these ladies competing in Vancouver are, you know & big. Not fat, of course, but let's put it this way: I don't think I was the only one who, when looking at the Sports Illustrated photos of Vonn, wondered how much Photoshopping took place.
Not because she isn't a beautiful woman, but because a photo of anyone who weighs 40 to 50 pounds more than the average fashion model of the same height is likely to get some technological assistance, especially when the woman depicted is wearing a fringe bikini and thigh-high furry boots (and especially when not even professional models are immune to nips and tucks from art directors).
That's why, for all the lip service paid to the culture's growing acceptance of normal-sized women, we're still a long way from bestowing words like attractive or even fit on anyone who's less than discernibly thin. We put Christina Hendricks on a magazine cover, but then we congratulate ourselves for accepting her.
But every time the weight of another female athlete makes it into our brains, we move ever so slightly away from lip service and toward another kind of service, the kind that slowly chips away at the idea that the only women who deserve to be proud of their bodies are the ones who are thin.
Instead of congratulating ourselves for accepting these athletes, we're congratulating them. Instead of marveling at their ability to excel despite what they weigh, we're forced to concede that going down a mountain at breakneck speed, and who knows what else, is not for the faint of heart--or the size 0.
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/02/22/1766380/the-olympic-athletes-are-fit-and.html
I agree with this article, and with the journalist who wrote it, that we are a long way from accepting women of size as they are, and not beating up on them repeatedly in public. At my thinnest, I weighed 157 pounds, and I looked fabulous...I looked the perfect weight for my height (5 foot 6) and I still had some curves...I was 36, 25, 36, with toned muscles,flat abs and 20 percent body fat, which is healthy when you have 129 pounds of lean muscle, bone and water.
I doubt that I will ever reach those numbers again, 20 years later, now that I am, gulp, almost 50 and heading into the death valley of menopause, with its slug-like metabolism. But I do consistently work out 8-9 hours a week, doing a variety of classes that stretch and build muscles in my body. Granted, the gals that are doing Janice's fitness training for bodybuilding competitions have to work out 15 hours a week, which is really hard core, but I don't try to keep up with them, especially with the 60-75 pounds I need to lose.
This week, Brandy, one of the great women I work out with at WIO, said she is going on a sugar fast for Lent and for her health. She plans on staying away from as much refined sugar as possible, which she challenged me to try as well. I honestly do not know if I could do that, as sugar is one of the few things I can still eat and enjoy, since dairy, eggs, nuts, onions, strawberries, raspberries, green beans and mushrooms are all foods that I am allergic to or make me ill. Broccoli makes my Crohns go crazy, though I love it so much that I often cook up a batch and eat it anyway, knowing that twelve hours later I will be miserable.
I just met a gastroenterologist who told me that if I wasn't symptom-free, I needed to either change gastro docs or tell my current doc to get on the ball and put me on some of the new medications that will keep me from symptoms and from having another stricture operation. So I am waiting to hear from my doc today, hoping that he will have some answers for me.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Eating Fruit Could Save Your Life and Other Internet Old Wives Tales
Some friends of mine from the WIO gym insisted that I read this treatise that has been making its way around the Internet as fast as a viral YouTube video or some silly Nigerian money scam.
Basically, with no studies, footnotes, real physician quotes or scientific fact, this 7 page document claims, among other things, that you can't eat fruit unless you eat it on an empty stomach, otherwise you will get no nutrition from it at all, because it will sit atop any other food you might eat, such as bread, which will "ferment and rot" and cause the fruit to become nothing but worthless fiber.
Cold water, it also claims, will cause CANCER!!! said in exactly that way, all caps with exclamation points, as if those of us who have been drinking cold water on hot days and after exercise are just dodging bullets every time we rehydrate. Think of all the kids drinking cold water every summer who are just asking for cancer! Oh the horror! The document claims that drinking cold water (or any cold drink) during or after a meal solidifies "the oily stuff" you have just eaten, which slows your digestion, react with your intestinal acids, and will be absorbed faster than the solid food, causing fat to line the intestine which "lead(s) to cancer."
The pages also claim that you won't get gray hair, become bald, nervous, or have dark circles under your eyes if you eat fruits only on an empty stomach.
Then there is the part that claims that "there are no acidic fruits," like oranges or lemons, that all fruits become alkaline in your body, and cooked fruit is worthless, as is fruit juice, and if you want true health, you can go on a "3 day fruit fast" to "cleanse your body."
If you are ignorant enough to believe any of this, I have some oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you.
I find it astonishing that women who are otherwise bright and savvy will read this crap and believe it to be true, when there is plenty of evidence to the contrary.
To take the last point first, colon cleansing and intestinal detoxification are health scams that have been going on since the 19th century.
Ask any board certified gastroenterologist (one who has gotten his degrees from a reputable American college or university) about colon cleansing and they will tell you that, unless you have some intestinal disease or cancer, you do NOT need to "cleanse" your colon or your small intestine, because they are designed to cleanse themselves with a minimum amount of fuss. We do not "hold" feces in our colons for days, weeks or months, where they fester, nor do we have food sitting and fermenting or rotting in our small intestine.
Your guts are fairly simple--you chew food and saliva starts breaking it down in your mouth, you swallow and the food hits your stomach, which is full of acid that breaks the food down, from there it goes through your small intestine where nutrients are absorbed, and whatever is unusable/indigestible is sent in a slurry to the colon, or large intestine, where the water/liquid is wrung from it and the waste is sent down to the rectum where it is released into your toilet.
Fasting has been shown to be terrible for your metabolism, which shuts down when it doesn't get enough food and thinks you are in the middle of a famine. Your body will store fat more efficiently after such a 'fast' than it ever has before, because it is afraid it will need those calories.
And puuullllease, if cold water caused cancer, there would be many more people dead, especially children, than could be counted every summer. The human body is warm enough to heat whatever you drink long before it hits the lining of your intestines.
I am sure that Ghandi and many other bald men would have been gratified to know that they wouldn't have lost their hair had they only eaten fruit on an empty stomach! That one just makes me laugh. The bald gene is passed from mother to son, and gray hair is a matter of your body not making the melatonin that it used to as you age. Dark circles under the eyes can be a symptom of sleep apnea, certain vitamin deficiencies, certain diseases and it can even be genetic. It most certainly isn't caused by eating fruit with other foods.
And as anyone with GERD can tell you, there are, indeed, acidic fruits that do not become alkaline instantly upon consumption. I just don't see how the fruit acids that hit the acid in your gut could suddenly turn to the complete opposite side of the PH spectrum.
Please people, don't read this garbage and then send it to all your friends like it is some kind of gospel. Talk to your doctor, your gastroenterologist or a registered dietitian, about your diet and your fruit consumption if you are worried about it. But don't disseminate misinformation and outright falsehoods to all the people you know. It wastes everyone's time and stretches my credulity to the breaking point.
Basically, with no studies, footnotes, real physician quotes or scientific fact, this 7 page document claims, among other things, that you can't eat fruit unless you eat it on an empty stomach, otherwise you will get no nutrition from it at all, because it will sit atop any other food you might eat, such as bread, which will "ferment and rot" and cause the fruit to become nothing but worthless fiber.
Cold water, it also claims, will cause CANCER!!! said in exactly that way, all caps with exclamation points, as if those of us who have been drinking cold water on hot days and after exercise are just dodging bullets every time we rehydrate. Think of all the kids drinking cold water every summer who are just asking for cancer! Oh the horror! The document claims that drinking cold water (or any cold drink) during or after a meal solidifies "the oily stuff" you have just eaten, which slows your digestion, react with your intestinal acids, and will be absorbed faster than the solid food, causing fat to line the intestine which "lead(s) to cancer."
The pages also claim that you won't get gray hair, become bald, nervous, or have dark circles under your eyes if you eat fruits only on an empty stomach.
Then there is the part that claims that "there are no acidic fruits," like oranges or lemons, that all fruits become alkaline in your body, and cooked fruit is worthless, as is fruit juice, and if you want true health, you can go on a "3 day fruit fast" to "cleanse your body."
If you are ignorant enough to believe any of this, I have some oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you.
I find it astonishing that women who are otherwise bright and savvy will read this crap and believe it to be true, when there is plenty of evidence to the contrary.
To take the last point first, colon cleansing and intestinal detoxification are health scams that have been going on since the 19th century.
Ask any board certified gastroenterologist (one who has gotten his degrees from a reputable American college or university) about colon cleansing and they will tell you that, unless you have some intestinal disease or cancer, you do NOT need to "cleanse" your colon or your small intestine, because they are designed to cleanse themselves with a minimum amount of fuss. We do not "hold" feces in our colons for days, weeks or months, where they fester, nor do we have food sitting and fermenting or rotting in our small intestine.
Your guts are fairly simple--you chew food and saliva starts breaking it down in your mouth, you swallow and the food hits your stomach, which is full of acid that breaks the food down, from there it goes through your small intestine where nutrients are absorbed, and whatever is unusable/indigestible is sent in a slurry to the colon, or large intestine, where the water/liquid is wrung from it and the waste is sent down to the rectum where it is released into your toilet.
Fasting has been shown to be terrible for your metabolism, which shuts down when it doesn't get enough food and thinks you are in the middle of a famine. Your body will store fat more efficiently after such a 'fast' than it ever has before, because it is afraid it will need those calories.
And puuullllease, if cold water caused cancer, there would be many more people dead, especially children, than could be counted every summer. The human body is warm enough to heat whatever you drink long before it hits the lining of your intestines.
I am sure that Ghandi and many other bald men would have been gratified to know that they wouldn't have lost their hair had they only eaten fruit on an empty stomach! That one just makes me laugh. The bald gene is passed from mother to son, and gray hair is a matter of your body not making the melatonin that it used to as you age. Dark circles under the eyes can be a symptom of sleep apnea, certain vitamin deficiencies, certain diseases and it can even be genetic. It most certainly isn't caused by eating fruit with other foods.
And as anyone with GERD can tell you, there are, indeed, acidic fruits that do not become alkaline instantly upon consumption. I just don't see how the fruit acids that hit the acid in your gut could suddenly turn to the complete opposite side of the PH spectrum.
Please people, don't read this garbage and then send it to all your friends like it is some kind of gospel. Talk to your doctor, your gastroenterologist or a registered dietitian, about your diet and your fruit consumption if you are worried about it. But don't disseminate misinformation and outright falsehoods to all the people you know. It wastes everyone's time and stretches my credulity to the breaking point.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Plus Size Models in V Magazine
This is from MediaBistro's Fishbowl NY Blog:
V Magazine Saves Its Plus-Sized Issue With Actual Plus-Sized Models
By Drew Grant on Jan 05, 2010 02:00 PM
Two weeks ago, we were openly critical of Terry Richardson's photo shoot of "plus-sized" models for V magazine's Size Issue, saying that the skinny plus-sized model in the "Who Wears It Better" spread just proved that "even the term 'plus-size' doesn't really apply to most women in America."
Well, we spoke too soon. V has released more photos from its size issue, and this new crop of five models incorporate sexiness into a larger frame, something that's rarely been done with success in the fashion world.
But will the issue drive sales? Here's at least one: Meghan McCain wrote on her Twitter yesterday, "As a plus sized girl myself, I appreciate a magazine showing that sexy women aren't just size 0's. I am def buying this issue of V Magazine." And there has been an outpouring of well-wishes from the likes of Jezebel and Just Jared, two not-necessarily-fashion-mag-friendly blogs.
So does this count as a coup against fashion's skinny regime? Not necessarily. Much like the Glamour's spread last year, some critics have pointed out that "plus-sized" automatically means "mostly naked" to fashion photographers, and it's true that the V spread did incorporate nude/topless photos into its shoot. Then again, isn't fashion 90 percent about what you're not wearing? From Calvin Klein to Annie Leibovitz, the fashion world has always been saturated with a controversial stance of objectifying women's bodies. Incorporating models who more accurately represent the sizes of American women doesn't change that, it just helps us to redefine "sexy." And it's about time we did.
More pictures from the upcoming issue of V, after the jump.
Read More: V Magazine Preview --Models.com
It Wouldn't Be a 'Size' Issue If the Plus-Size Models Weren't Naked --NYMag.com
V Gives The World A Plus-Size Shoot Not Afraid To Flaunt Its Curves -- Jezebel
Curves Ahead In V Magazine -- Just Jared
Previously: V Magazine Navigates Minefield Of Plus-Sized Models
V Magazine Saves Its Plus-Sized Issue With Actual Plus-Sized Models
By Drew Grant on Jan 05, 2010 02:00 PM
Two weeks ago, we were openly critical of Terry Richardson's photo shoot of "plus-sized" models for V magazine's Size Issue, saying that the skinny plus-sized model in the "Who Wears It Better" spread just proved that "even the term 'plus-size' doesn't really apply to most women in America."
Well, we spoke too soon. V has released more photos from its size issue, and this new crop of five models incorporate sexiness into a larger frame, something that's rarely been done with success in the fashion world.
But will the issue drive sales? Here's at least one: Meghan McCain wrote on her Twitter yesterday, "As a plus sized girl myself, I appreciate a magazine showing that sexy women aren't just size 0's. I am def buying this issue of V Magazine." And there has been an outpouring of well-wishes from the likes of Jezebel and Just Jared, two not-necessarily-fashion-mag-friendly blogs.
So does this count as a coup against fashion's skinny regime? Not necessarily. Much like the Glamour's spread last year, some critics have pointed out that "plus-sized" automatically means "mostly naked" to fashion photographers, and it's true that the V spread did incorporate nude/topless photos into its shoot. Then again, isn't fashion 90 percent about what you're not wearing? From Calvin Klein to Annie Leibovitz, the fashion world has always been saturated with a controversial stance of objectifying women's bodies. Incorporating models who more accurately represent the sizes of American women doesn't change that, it just helps us to redefine "sexy." And it's about time we did.
More pictures from the upcoming issue of V, after the jump.
Read More: V Magazine Preview --Models.com
It Wouldn't Be a 'Size' Issue If the Plus-Size Models Weren't Naked --NYMag.com
V Gives The World A Plus-Size Shoot Not Afraid To Flaunt Its Curves -- Jezebel
Curves Ahead In V Magazine -- Just Jared
Previously: V Magazine Navigates Minefield Of Plus-Sized Models
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