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By far, the best acceptance speech at the Oscars on Sunday was Forrest Whitaker's for Best Actor for his role as Edi Amin in The Last King of Scotland.
Forrest is truly a talented actor, and nice guy to boot. He always plays his characters with such depth and panache. In his speech, he talked about dreams and possibilities with some karma at the end. It really was inspiring.
Staying balanced on those big blow-up exercise balls in Pilates is tough enough just doing basic moves. For the life of me, I can't lay on one of those balls without getting a head rush.
Check out this ripped Men's Health hunk doing one foot push-ups using two of the balls, one for his feet and the other for his hands. Oh yes people! His feet never touch the ground. I am floored by this guy's strength and balance. Don't try this at home unless of course you have super Heroes or 4400 ability.
From this week's Post Secret, this postcard fits in with the theme of the current National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. To some this is a shocking statement. To many, this is a truth. I can relate to this secret, as many bulimics can. You think you've found the perfect solution. You can eat whatever you want, binge, and then purge it all out.
In a distorted sense of logic, bulimia is better than those lousy diets where you CAN'T eat this, and CAN'T eat that. Diets are full of CAN'T, CAN'T, CAN'T, and you hate that. No one tells you what to do. You love food, desperately actually, but you also love the idea of being skinny so you can conform to the state of beautiness our society has so ingrained into our psyche. But you can't stand the fact that there are foods that are forbidden. You want it all. To eat, and to stay thin.
(more...)
Continue reading "Bulimia isn't working out the way you wanted it to" »
Claire Mysko and Magali Amadei over at Inside Beauty are some super cool ladies who are leading a mission to help educate and evoke positive change in the world of beauty. These ladies have a wealth of knowledge and experience between the two of them. Here's a glimpse of Claire and Magali:
"Magali and Claire first met when Claire was the director of the American Anorexia Bulimia Association and Magali was a top model who was ready to talk about her personal experience with bulimia. Their collaboration resulted in a unique outreach program, which they continue to bring to high schools, colleges and conferences nationwide. Combining personal stories with real examples of photo retouching, this innovative presentation has encouraged audiences to look critically at our culture's messages about beauty."
Claire and I often exchange information on what we are both working on, and she informed me of their new Inside Beauty - 5 Resolutions to transform the fashion and beauty industries. This list contains some very powerful stuff, and I encourage all of you to check it out and start incorporating these resolutions into your life. As well, please share the list with others. I am committed to making a difference!
Heather, my Chasing Beauty partner, and I have just started a petition of our own, Fashion Slam, to get momentum going. Ours is more specific to pointing attention at the Council of Fashion Designers of America to create stricter guidelines for models. We think their current Health Initiative "recommendations" are not enough. We'd like the CFDA to put a stake in the ground like Spain and Italy have done.
Spread the word, and if you have your own initiatives that you are doing, please let us know. Perhaps we can coordinate efforts, and create a stronger more powerful united front. There is a difference to be made, and we can do it together!!!
Check me out as an M&M. Oh yeah! I'm a purple bad ass with pink hair and a tiara. An M&M girl has to have a tiara.
After seeing the Become an M&M commercial during the Oscars, I got sucked into going to the site. Yes, I could not contain myself. The site is actually pretty fun especially if you want some light, low brain cell, type of activity. Go check it out and share your M&M style with us.
The entertaining part of the Oscars of course is the red carpet part where you get to see all the fabulous outfits and bling. The awards show itself is like anti-climax. Ellen DeGeneres did okay, and this year I did stick it out. After six hours of Oscar watching, here's my treasured moments:
Worried by their growing "socially awkward" image, the Delta Zeta's at DePauw University interviewed 35 of their current sorority sisters asking them how committed they were to recruiting future pledges. The Delta Zeta honchos decided that 23 out of the 35 were not "committed enough" to their recruiting cause so they were given the boot from of the house. Each girl found out via a form letter one week before finals. Ouch!
The 23 that were de-sistered included everyone in the sorority who was overweight, as well as the only Black, Korean, and Vietnamese members. Basically, the 12 that got to stay were thin, pretty, and had looks that appealed to horny young frat boys. Makes sense right? The best way to sweeten up a stale image is by having sisters that look like hometown hotties.
In my head, I imagine all the girls in the Delta Zeta's lined up for inspection with some Miranda Priestley Devil type walking down the line giving each girl the once over. At the end, the Devil calls to her assistant and the be-headings begin.
Devastated from being evicted from the sorority because they didn't measure up, some of the girls became depressed and withdrew from classes. Definitely, all suffered a blow to her self-esteem. This is the kind of stuff that can scar a young woman for life and lead her into self depreciation and distorted body image views of herself. The President of DePauw University wrote a letter to the National President of the Delta Zetas to let her have a piece of his mind.
Of the 12 left standing, six left out of anger towards how their fellow sisters were treated. The Delta Zeta's say their actions were misinterpreted, and they were also offended that people said they are prejudice. They pride themselves on their diveristy.When sked for clarification on the DePauw events, the sorority's public relations representative e-mailed a statement saying its actions were aimed at the "enrichment of student life at DePauw."
Oh pleeze! Sorority houses are not places for membership via beauty pageant. These shallow Greek leaders have no idea what kind of real damage they've done to these girls. Hopefully, most of these girls have good support systems to keep them from letting this affect their self esteem.
My thing is that if you were so worried about dropping membership, why would you drop nearly 2/3 of your existiting membership one week before finals. These girls by the way had to find new campus housing since they couldn't stay in the sorority house anymore. Couldn' they have waited until after the finals to give the girls their letters? And the girls are no dummies. You see who got axed and who got to stay and the math is done very quickly.
[via NY Times]
For this week's Chasing Beauty podcast, Heather and I talk about the death of Uruguay model Eliana Ramos, and the need for the Council of Fashion Designers of America to beef up their "health initiative" requirements. It's time to pony up Americana fashionista honchos.
Listen to the podcast "More on the CFDA" at Chasing Beauty.
Has New York Magazine lots its fracking mind? OMG! Excuse my foul tone but I could not fathom this unbelievable article called, "The Fashion Week Food Diaries" where they had 4 fashion people show us what they ate or more like didn't eat during NY Fashion Week. I am a-flaming!
The four people included:
Denise Mullins, female model
Juris Kupris, male model and personal trainer
Nian Fish, Creative Director of Media Relations company KCD
Anne Slowey, Fashion-News Director and Accessories Editor, Elle magazine.
So, the fashion world has NO influence or contributing factor to eating disorders or distorted body image. Well then why don't any of them eat like real food. Showing off their food diaries is contributing to the glamorization or I should say the horror of the obsession with thinness in that industry. The only person of the four who ate decently was the guy, of course.
What does NY magazine have to gain by this story. Do they think this is cool? I want to go over and kick someone's couture wrapped behind. Take a look. Here is the food intake for one day for Anne Slowey from Elle.
7:30 A.M. Home
Daily vitamin routine. (Two 1,000-mg. Emergen-C with seven mineral ascorbates and 32 mineral
complexes, one ounce of Super KMH, Mona Vie (berry extract), aloe
juice, chlorophyll, two Nature’s Way Fenu-Thyme, one advance natural
FloroMax, three Wellness Formula tablets, twenty drops Super Lysine
Plus, two Theraveda Usha daytime stress formula tablets.)
9:30 In the Car on the Way to the Office
Grande iced skim latte.
11:00 Office
Green tea and water.
12:30 P.M. On the Way to the Derek Lam Show
Grande iced skim latte.
2:00 Bottino
Fennel salad, squash soup, hot water with lemon.
3:00 Office
Water and green tea.
4:00 Office
Organic Food Bar and Synergy Kombucha drink.
7:00 In Car to Joe Zee’s Party at DB Bistro Moderne
Water.
7:15 DB Bistro
Glass of Champagne and one caviar potato tidbit.
9:00 Narciso Rodriguez After-Party at the Rose Bar in the Gramercy Park Hotel
Two mini meat tidbits and two glasses of Champagne.
11:30 Home
Daily vitamin routine.
The other two days on Anne's food diary are basically the same except that she drinks more booze on those days. The woman basically lives on vitamins, water, and alcohol. How is this a good example? My heart breaks as I read these food diaries. Does anyone in the fashion world not see the distress in this way of living?
No wonder the Council of Fashion Designers of America came up with only lame health recommendations for the models. If they make the models eat and have standards, then that means they would have to adhere to it too. For crying out loud people, eat some food with substance. A chicken sandwhich is not going to ruin your career.
[via Gawker]
The key message for National Eating Disorders Awareness Week is:
“Be comfortable in your genes. Wear jeans that fit the REAL you.”
How fittingly for Back in Skinny Jeans readers. To elaborate:
Too often individuals struggle against their natural, genetically influenced size just to fit into that pair of “skinny jeans” in the back of their closets. Fighting your natural size and shape can lead to unhealthy dieting practices, poor body image and sometimes eating disorders."
What a fantastic theme, and one that hits close to my heart ;-) Ever since I started this blog, I wanted to shine the light on the whys and motivations behind our need to hold onto that "Back in skinny jeans" dream, the one where we believe that if we can get skinny again our lives will be perfect and happy. The truth is that your life can be joyful and fulfilling at any time you decide that you want that regardless of what you look like. The universe does not have a beauty requirement for happiness. We humans are the ones that choose to believe that myth.
I have just recently become familiar with the National Eating Disorders Association, and wish I had known about them when I was going through my own healing from bulimia. On their website, some very helpful tools include a page on all their programs, which include helplines, referrals to medical professionals and facilities, family networks, media watchdogs, and even grants for those wanting to make a difference.
They have a full page of some really wonderful Eating Disorders Information like causes of eating disorders, ED prevention & education, athletes and EDs, eating disorders in males as well as females (EDs are not just a girl problem), dental complications, diversity in ED programs, and EDs& pregnancy. These are just some of the things you can find in their Information Index. It's extremely helpful.
I encourage all of you to visit the National Eating Disorders Association website for more information. There are even events being held in local areas. Find out about events in your area here.
Big Thanks to FitSugar for sharing this fantastic information with us!
Posted by Stephanie Quilao on Feb 27, 2007 in Skinny commentary & news | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: ED, National Eating Disorders Association, National Eating Disorders Awareness Week
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