Back in skinny jeans

Podcast interview: New Zealander and fellow fitblogger Flabuless on losing over 100 pounds Part I

One reason I love the Internet is that you can meet people from all over the world. Today, we Yankees will get a treat and hear from blogger Flabuless from New Zealand who is on a journey to lose about 150 pounds, and to date has dropped 95 pounds with the help of a Lab Band and blogging.

In Part I of this two part interview, Flabuless will share her defining moment to lose weight, what it's been like being a newly single mother with two young kids, how her Lap Band surgery almost didn't happen, and exactly what kind of lifestyle changes she's had to make since the surgery. Flabuless has one of the most upbeat attitudes I have ever seen, and I'm sure that you will find her a joy as much as I do.

  Play podcast: Flabuless Part I

Skinny review: "Skinny Bitch" by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin say forget about eating rotting dead carcass

The diet book "Skinny Bitch" by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin has been getting quite the attention lately so I took a look at it. Rory is a former agent with the uber Ford Models agency, and Kim is a former model who has an MS in Holistic Nutrition. From their picture, they both look like you would imagine, thin and gorgeous, and right away the bias starts to pop up because the title of the book lends itself almost to what you could expect from former modeling types. Sorry to be cliche but those were the first things that popped into my head. They don't say, but I wonder if Rory or Kim have ever been overweight or yo-yo dieted like many of us.

Upon reading the book, the ladies make it clear that they wanted to add some fun and snark to weight loss. Right there, I can agree with them and appreciate their efforts because most weight loss books and sites are pretty medicinal and are lacking in wit and humor. I'm trying to do a similar thing here at Back in Skinny Jeans except that my perspective is from someone who's had weight loss and gain issues their whole life.

The diet is basically a vegan menu. In order to become a skinny bitch, you have to become vegan. In a few chapters they get a bit Michael Moore and Kevin Trudeau-like by sharing how the government and corporations don't give a damn about our health and want to keep us fat an ignorant because it helps them make big profits. By eating meat, we are basically consuming, "The dead, rotting, decomposing, flesh of a dead animal diet." Nicely put, eh? (more after the jump)

Two cents from other fitbloggers around the skinny-sphere

• I Am That Girl Now enlightens us on how Cinderella not content with Prince Charming will get cosmetic surgery on her feet to make them look perfect in those glass Jimmy Choos.

• A Little Squeeze is a recent Lap-bander, April 07, and she shares what can happen when you say, "Screw it, I'm having a beer." Oh, the "pull my finger" games she could have played and a lesson for others.

• Flabuless is reading "The Perfect 10" by Louise Kean which has a plus-size heroine. She shares an excerpt where the heroine relates the color of her eyes to how much she weighs that day. Her weight influences how she will feel that day. Guuurl! We've all been there.

• 60 in 3 shares his two cents on this skinny shenanigans, "How to lose your love handles in 3 weeks." I put this up there with how Thighmaster will just melt the inches off your thighs. Right!

Quote on perspective

You are "Beautiful" acoustic style

"Beautiful" is one of my favorite songs from Christina Aguilera because it reminds us that no matter what, you are beautiful. Here is an acoustic version she sang for [email protected] Such an amazing voice! Enjoy.

 

Focusing on losing weight in 5 pound increments makes the program much easier

A  long time ago, I read that one of uber-basketball sensation Michael Jordan's secrets to success was that he doesn't focus on a basketball game as a whole, he breaks it down into increments, which in basketball is 4 quarters of 12 minutes. In his mind all, he focuses on is what he can accomplish in 12 minutes. The next 12 minute quarter comes, and he focuses on producing the most in those 12 minutes, and so on until he's gone through the 4 increments of 12 minutes to complete the whole game.

The benefit in focusing on the smaller increments is that 1. you are are focusing on producing a success in a short period of time, 2. time will go by faster and 3. your greater overall task will seem less daunting. For example, imagine your trainer telling you that you are going to run 60 minutes. "What 60 minutes! That's like forever." Mentally, you start thinking about how long that is and how the resistance is starting to kick in.

...your greater overall weight loss will seem less daunting ...

Now, what if your trainer said instead, "You are going to run 4 increments of 15 minutes." Right away, your mind focuses on the 15 minute number, and the task of running for the day seems less daunting even though you will be doing that 15 minutes 4 times. In the end, you'll still end up doing 60 minutes, but your psyche likes to hear the smaller numbers, so your resistance will be less. Yes, it's mind games, but it works!

So, for my weight shedding efforts, I am focusing on dropping 5 increments of 5 pounds which in the long run will give me my 25 pound loss goal. I just focus on dropping 5 pounds. When that first 5 pound increment is complete, then it's on to the next 5 pounds. Mentally, it feels much easier to drop 5 pounds instead of a daunting 25, 50, or 100, right?

During exercise, I use the same increment break down. On the treadmill, sometimes even one minute can seem like forever, so I break down a minute into 3 increments of 20 seconds. Let me tell you that it is SO much easier to convince yourself to push it for 20 seconds than 60 seconds. For a 30 minute run, I'll break it down to 10 minute increments or even 6 minute increments. Again, sometimes the small things can reap huge benefits.

Quote on success

"Sicko" Michael Moore is losing weight too

Michael Moore is a bit of a drama queen for my tastes, but I have to admit that he does raise some interesting conversation to chew on. Because of taking on the topic of health-care in his latest movie "Sicko", Moore was inspired to look at the state of his own health, namely his weight because he was over 300 pounds at 6'2".Since filming, Moore has dropped 30 pounds and has a goal of 225. He says:

"I dealt with a lot of people who had serious health problems. Some I felt bad for because their problems could have been prevented by lifestyle and environmental choices they made. Plus, I thought it was hypocritical to make a movie about health care and I wasn’t taking care of myself. Finally, I thought [preventive health] was actually an effective way to fight the system. One way to avoid the broken system is to take care of yourself and stay out of this [health care] system that kills people."

To drop the 30 pounds, Moore has made three lifestyle changes; getting more sleep, walking, and eating "heavier" foods; foods that are heavy in physical weight but low in calories so that it creates a "fuller" feeling in your tummy without loading up on calories. His inspiration is the Pritikin Program.

I would so LOVE for Michael Moore to do a film on the Diet Industry, OMG! there would be so much to talk about in that area because of all the scams, manipulation, and playing with our minds that take place in order for us to keep buying into the quick fix skinny dream.

In the rest of the interview with the Chicago Tribune, Moore shares his opinions on diet pills, Alli (the super pooper pill), trainers, running (his wife ran a half marathon), and yoga.

Grey's Anatomy Callie O'Malley's "Got Milk"

Sara Ramirez is one hot chica. I dig the 40's glam look even with the scary little white milk stache. Over at the Got Milk site, in the videos of the behind the scenes action, there is a clip of Sara on her perspective on self-esteem. Such vibrance I tell ya!

Recipe: Non-dairy cherry and white peach smoothie

One of the things I love about summer are fresh cherries and peaches, and picking them up at the farmer's market. White peaches are my favorite. Here is a quick recipe for a non-dairy smoothie at 195 calories. You can switch out the fruit and put in your fave. If you add banana, it will thicken up even more.

• 1 cup Organic Rice Milk Original* (110 calories, 2.5g fat, 20g carb, 1g protein)
• 10 fresh cherries (45 calories, 10g carb, 1g protein)
• 1/2 fresh medium white peach (a whole peach is 40 calories, 9g carb, 1g protein)
• handful of ice cubes

• Pit the cherries, and the peach. I keep the skin on the peach because there are plenty of nutrients in the skin. The blender pulverizes the fruit anyway so you won't be swallowing any chunks of peach skin.
• I only put half the peach in so that I can enjoy the other half to munch on.
• Put all ingredients in a blender and frappawhiz it.
• Sometimes I will throw in a couple teaspoons of flaxseed oil to get some Omega-3s in my body.

* I use Whole Foods 365 brand Organic Rice Milk because it's just as good and a bit cheaper than most other organic versions of other brands, at least in my area. You can use Vanilla flavored Rice Milk but it will add a bit more calories and carbs because it contains more sugar. I go with organic as well because I consume organically as much I can.)