Back in skinny jeans

Yummy dinner: Wasabi potato salad and tasty rotisserie chicken

I just had to share this yummy dinner I had the other day. On the side is some Wasabi potato salad from Delica rf-1 at the SF Ferry Building that was made with slices of potato, garlic, wasabi mayonnaise, edamame, snap peas, and romaine hearts.

The piece of chicken comes from an organic 1/2 rotisserie chicken I got from the Ferry Building farmer's market from the Roli Roti stand on Saturday. My tummy was in heaven after this meal because it was a nice twist on plain potato salad and chicken.

Model trend alert: Models who look like thin gorgeous versions of "real" people

Newsweek magazine shares that on the catwalks there is a "Rise of the Real People." Apparently, during this upcoming New York Fall 2008 Fashion Week we will start seeing the subtle indications of change with the use of more "real people looking" models on the runways. Here's the description for these new crop of "real people" models:

"The models will still be thin and gorgeous, but they may look more like thin, gorgeous versions of real people than like stereotypical models."

I'm still trying to be optimistic, but sorry, this doesn't cut it fashionistas. I have to file this nonsense under "What kind of spiked fruit punch with zero calories are you people drinkin'?" So, okay. I'm shaking scratching my head. What really then is so different if the models are still boney size 0s? I smell the attempts of a fashionista Jedi mind trick. I enjoyed Gawker's saucy take, "some of these "real people" just look like models with glasses on." In the Gawker post, they have more pics of believable "real people" looking models.

This is like some drug abuser saying, "Okay, I'm not going to use drugs made in a lab any more. I'm only going to get high now using natural drugs because it's more real. The drugs will still be potent, but they will just be more potent versions of drugs like Weed instead of Percocet." People! You're still participating in your bad ways. You're just trying to re-package it into something that "sounds" better.

The problem with today's models is not the models it's the un-realistic, emaciated size 0 look. Who cares if the model has the "look" of my next door neighbor or Heidi Klum. If the woman still looks like she's only had lemon water with cayenne pepper to eat for 6 weeks, then she's still starving herself for fashion, and none of us want to see that any more. We don't care about a model's fashion look, we care about her health.

The day I can go to the fashion week slideshows on Style.com and see even 30% or more of the models with "looks" like the women in How to Look Good Naked, is the day I will believe that there really is a rise of the real people look. The proof is in the print.

[pic from Gawker]

Tiny inspiring signs: "On Making Changes"

My little business card size inspiring signs are proving to be popular, so I'm going to make them a regular feature every week on Mondays to help you start off the week with some support. You can print and tape these little signs anywhere to help you on your way to your healthy weight goals.

This week's theme is on making changes. Enjoy!

Thank you for making Get Fit Week a success, and yes we have some prize winners!

"What Others Are Doing To Get Fit" Week turned out to be a HUGE success, and not only were there 18 really inspiring stories to learn from, there was a mountain of very useful advice and tips flying around to help people on their journey to their healthy weight goals.

I want to say a very special thank you to all the story contributors and the commenters. All of you made "Get Fit" Week January 2008 not only wonderful but loads of fun! We'll definitely be doing this again real soon.

Because I'm old school and don't have any of those fancy raffle drawing software programs, I literally cut pieces of paper and made one for every commenter during the week. See here is the proof. One day when BISJ is bigger I can get more high tech.

The winners are:

For the Best Buy Insignia KIX mp3 player, The Muse.
For the Sephora.com $25 eGift certificate, Workout Mommy.

Thank you all again. I am grateful for your participation!

Inspiring Fit Week: Katieo and Molly are sisters supporting each other on the quest for a size 6

Blog: Sister Skinny
Tracking: Sisters, Katieo and Molly
Niche: Two sisters blogging about our weight together
Health goal: We both would like to wear a size 6. (Neither of us ever have!) I know, not exactly a "health" goal, but we've got other  aspirations that help us out along the way, like running races, eating clean, and being silly.
Katieo and Molly's story:

We’re just a couple of sisters blogging about fitness together. At first, we started writing just to keep each other accountable. The blog has turned into an outlet for our silliness, a place for our ridiculous
gym stories like crazy spin teachers and Lindsey Lohan sightings, a place to vent our frustrations about exercising with young kids, or trying to cook well-balanced meals on a budget.

We can also be found complaining about husbands who love to bake, and sisters-in-law who have unreal metabolisms. We’ve had our share of heartbreaks too: the death of a close friend and unexpected family and health issues. So much of our story about our journey to be smaller isn’t even about the weight, or becoming a size six.

So, what is it about then you ask…

Inspiring Fit Week: Brenda wants to drop 150 lbs & learns to care more about her own opinion of herself

Blog: Throwing Out the Fat Clothes
Tracking: Brenda
Niche: Drop 150 pounds using Weight Watchers, healthy eating.
Health goal: To really love and understand myself. My fitness goal is to become a runner.
Brenda's story:

Here I am at my heaviest, and most uncomfortable.  Events this summer made me really take a step back and evaluate who and what was really important to me (including my husband). I am glad it happened when it did.  I am closer to my husband more than ever, and working to be healthy and enjoy all the time I can spend playing with my dogs.   

You see, I always based my self-worth on whether or not other people liked me because I didn’t like me.  At 35, I felt as though I was 65 and I didn’t like my life that way.  I am using my blog to say out loud to share some of the things that have always worked against me health-wise like binging, eating too fast, and comparing myself to others. So, this is how blogging and Weight Watchers is helping me...

Inspiring Fit Week: Krissy is shedding 40lbs on her way to a career change, her "true calling"

Blog: Krissy Poopyhands Weightloss Junction
Tracking: Krissy
Niche: Starting new career
Health goal: Drop 40 lbs.
Krissy's story:

I'm a 32-year-old wife of a jazz musician and mother of a gorgeous 3-year-old boy.  I have a long history of many bumps and bruises throughout my life with a body that has acted as the receptacle for many different medications and side-effects

My immune system is demented and unfortunately my body attacks itself on a regular basis, and as a result I grew up firmly believing that my corporeal being was nothing more than a pain in the rear to be appeased as demanded and otherwise ignored as much as possible. But, I'm changing that belief pattern.

There are many reasons I need to lose forty pounds, but the one that inspires me the most is that I am taking the steps to start living a “bigger” life, and pursue my passion. Let me share…

Inspiring Fit Week: Charlotte dropped skyrocketing cholesterol levels without pills

Blog: Theatrical Milestones
Tracking: Charlotte
Niche: Cooking, Health, Spirituality, and Social Responsibility
Health goal: Managing my cholesterol and my weight, but hell, I'd rather not have a heart attack than be super-skinny.
Charlotte's story:

I lowered my skyrocketing cholesterol avoiding pills!.. I've always been proud of my German genes. My grandma's father died at 93; my grandma is 85 and in relatively good health.  My mother's body is beginning to show the consequences of 40 years of smoking—and of the high blood pressure she inherited from Grandpa.

I inherited something from Grandpa, too:  November 2006 was the second year in a row in which my annual blood panel came back with my cholesterol through the roof and my blood sugar close to borderline high—despite regular exercise and a BMI around 25.  I was a size 6 with frosting in her veins!

I began both 2005 and 2006 with the biblical Daniel Fast, a 21-day commitment to eat only fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, and nuts, which focuses on physical cleanliness as the path to spiritual strength. Spiritually, I became stronger.  But physically, that was another story because...

Inspiring Fit Week: Eurydice is maintaining after a 37 lb drop and now gearing up with the Couch-to-5k running program

Blog: Moving Out
Tracking: Eurydice
Niche: Single 20's city girl
Health goal: Dropped 37 pounds on Weight Watchers, and now maintaining. Training for a 5k run + general fitness improvement.
Eurydice's story:

I was a bit chubby in high school and then got a little bit chubbier in university. Before my last year at university, I was dealing with a death in the family and harassment at work, which along with poor eating and exercise habits caused my weight to shoot up 37pounds. 

Over the last three years, I have lost approximately 10 pounds a year, found a new love for fitness, and finally feel great about myself, inside and out. I used the Weight Watchers online program to develop a healthy relationship with food and portion sizes, and joined a gym where I discovered a fondness for exercise. This is what I like about exercise…