Back in skinny jeans

Holiday Skinny Tip #2: Go trot or trek before feasting

Today, Thanksgiving and tomorrow with all the leftovers, there will be a ginormous amount of eating. Even if you only nibble through the day, you still will be consuming larger than usual amounts of calories because of socializing, and well, there's food everywhere.

Before you feast on that fine meal, go for a trek or trot: walk or run. If you can't do it before hand, if turkey dining is early enough, go afterwards. The gyms are closed but you can still get outside smell some fresh air, burn some calories, and if the weather is nice where you live, enjoy some beautiful scenery. If you have relatives or friends in town, take them with you. The trek or trot is a great way to get some quality time together, and again burn some calories. It's a two-for-one!

Here's one of the sexiest men alive on a trot with his dad Thanksgiving morning.

Thankful for all of life's blessings

I hope that all of you are enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving day. No matter what your current situation in life is, take a moment to focus on all the good and wonderful things you are blessed with, and feel gratitude.

It's very easy to get caught up in lack, which trust me, is something I am wrestling with myself very much these days, so I get how tough it can be to see the flowers when you feel caught in a scary forrest. But consciously, focusing on those flowers is what is going to get you out of that frightening and seemingly daunting forrest. Again, what you focus on is what you create more of and attract into your life.

As a blogger, I feel very thankful for all my readers and supporters who make Back in Skinny Jeans a wonderful place for me to make a difference. For my family, we may not be close all the time, but I cannot make it in this world without you. For my friends and collegues, thank you for your smiles and shining spirits. Happy Thanksgiving all!

Weigh-in Wed: #25 week "When food comforts"

Thank goodness I get to do weigh-in before the Thanksgiving indulgence. This week I gained .2 pounds, but shed .75 inches which is an overall loss of 17.6 pounds and 17.5 inches. Woo-hoo! I'm thrilled that I lost inches despite gaining a tiny bit of weight. Am I a bit bummed the scale went up instead of down, honestly, yes, and it's more so because the scale hasn't budged in the last few weeks, so the "plateau" fear is creeping in. As I'm getting closer to the goal,  I am working on staying optimistic and focused on the successes. What you think about often is what you attract. Can anyone say, "The Secret."

I have to say that this week the Twittering: Skinny Jeans has really helped me keep with my exercise. I stuck to my 5 days/week when I only felt like doing 3 days. I elaborate more in the video.

Food though was not so focused this week. Well, I shouldn't say that. I was focused on eating too many things that were more fuel for muffin top growth rather than for slimifying. In the video, I go into more detail on what was going on, and of course it was emotional triggers. My two cents, I think one of the reasons that the last 10 pounds is tough to drop for many people is because of emotional reasons. (video 5 min. 40 sec.)

Fergie has photoshop creamy skin on Allure cover

I know it's the holiday issue and all but man, doesn't Fergalicious look a wee Fake-alicious on this new Allure cover. Geez guys, lay off the retouching sauce. Our Glamorous girl is a knockout on her own. Maybe it's actually the wax museum version of the Big girl who doesn't cry. Those blue eyes would scare the beejeebies outta me if I saw them in the middle of the night.

Urban legend or not? Diet pills in the 1920's-30's filled with tapeworm eggs and other retching around the skinny-sphere

• In this enlightening post, "The 10 Most Insane Medical Practices in History," #3 talks about hard core diet remedies including the urban legend that in the 1920s-30s, diet pills were actually loaded with tapeworm eggs because with your friendly tapeworm intestinal house guest, you could eat all you want and not get fat because the tapeworm ate all the food and basically you starved. It sounds so outrageous that I believe it. The rest of the list is quite frightening like #8 where docs used heroin to cure coughs. [Cracked]

• A Canadian women going home from vacation here in the States set off the metal detectors at the airport. The culprit was the under wire from her 34FF bra. Guess you'd need an Erector set to hold those ginormous puppies in place. When security couldn't initially find the metal culprit they took Ms. Canadian to a private room where a female guard squeezed her bazoombas like one does when squeezing for fresh melons at the farmers market. Was that really necessary? If a bra is considered a threat to national safety, were all in a heap o' trouble. [Edmonton Journal]

• According to the Law of Attraction, we attract to ourselves what we think about the most. Can anyone say "The Secret." So, in order to attract the relationship you want, stop thinking about the one you just left and why it was all wrong. You'll just magnetize the same thing. Anyone know someone who keeps dating the same guy/gal just in a different body? [Ask Dan and Jennifer]

• Many of you will be getting on an airplane today to get to a loved one's place for Thanksgiving. FitSugar has some great tips to keep your sanity in check while traveling. I'll add to the list. Be sure to put up your personal force field around you as the airport is filled with asanine-ness and energy vampires. This way nothing will bother you and you can feel like a charmed 4400. Okay, yeah, I watch too much Sci-Fi [FitSugar]

Always wanted to submit a card idea to Hallmark? Now's your (RED) chance.

Ever since  I went to the Hallmark Blogger conference, I have never looked at greeting cards the same. One question Hallmark always gets is "Can I submit card ideas?" Up until now, Hallmark has not taken ideas from the public, but times are a changing, and you now have a chance to light up your creativity and submit a card idea.

Hallmark is holding a card design contest open to the public where you can submit a card idea for their new (PRODUCT) RED line. That's the same RED associated with Bono. The theme of the contest is (CONNECTING)RED. 10 Finalists will be chosen, and then 1 Grand Prize Winner.

If you're chosen as finalist you win $250, and Hallmark will match the $250 and donate it to the RED Global Fund in your name. From the 10 finalists, one grand prize winner will win an additional $2,250 ($2500 total) and have his/her card design included in the Hallmark RED line of cards, and be sold online for a whole year. How cool is that! And better yet, Hallmark will also match the $2500 grand prize and donate it to the RED Global Fund in your name.

Entries are open now and due by this Sunday, November 25, 2007 by 11:59:59 pm CST. For all the contest rules, FAQs, and conditions, go visit the official Hallmark Greeting Card Competition page. Put your creative caps on, and submit a design. This contest will be loads of fun!

Skinny indulgence: Dark chocolate ball of succulence from Ferrero

If you're looking for a small treat that will satisfy a sweet craving but not break your calorie bank, these new Ferrero Rondnoir dark chocolates will do the trick. Ferrero chocolates are one of my favorites and I was excited to hear about their very first dark chocolate creation. One ball is 53 calories, and OMGoodness! this chocolate is literally like biting into a piece of cocoa succulence. My favorite part is the crunchy wafer coating.

After taking my first bite, I savored the chocolate swirling in my mouth and let out a sigh of ecstasy. It wasn't orgasmic like the Herbal Essence commercials but close enough. The Rondnoir is a great chocolate to use in Maria's Chocolate Meditation where you can experience the bliss and joy of taste, texture, and smell of good chocolate. Definitely give these Rondnoir puppies a try.

Holiday Skinny Tip #1: How much weight the average American gains during the holidays and why

For the holidays, from now til January, I am going to do at least one, maybe more, video posts to help people minimize weight gain over the holidays. I'll offer tips, motivation, and inspiration to help you minimize the amount of weight you could gain over the holidays because it's so easy for us to gain weight and/or get off track from our weight loss efforts.

I'm also going to be realistic in that some weight gain over the holidays is realistic and okay. A 1-5 pound gain is not going to kill your wardrobe, and most of it will easily fall off once the holiday madness and food frenzy is done in January. The point is to have balance. Enjoy, partake, and be kind to yourself.

I thought the videos would be a fun community way to help each other to not go crazy and gain enough weight over the holidays to make the muffin top bigger than it already is. Also, admittedly, I am partly doing this for shameless reasons too. I am sooooo close to my weight loss goal of 25 pounds adios that I thought these holiday tips videos would also help me and others like me stay focused during this tough weighty time of year.

In the first video, I talk about just how much the Average American gains over the holidays, and the 3 reasons why along with how easy it is to gain over a pound a week. I also go into details about the emotional influence the holidays has over our eating and drinking. Some of that holiday weight gain can also be tied to calorie loaded alcoholic drinks. If we help each other out, I think we can all get through the holidays having fun, being healthy, and in no need of a straight jacket ;-)