Back in skinny jeans

Quote on physical challenge

Mdonna reminds you to "Express Yourself"

"Express Yourself" is one of my all time favorite Madonna songs, and I love this song in particular because it always reminds me to not settle. Watching rain soaked shirtless hunks is also quite delicious ;-)

Being a recovering perfectionist, I used to have a real hard time setting boundaries and saying no especially in cases where it was not something I wanted, wanted to do, or thought this was better than nothing. Watching Madonna grow and evolve over the years has always been an inspiration to me. And she's right, "you deserve the best in life." Buy "Express Yourself" on  

Weigh-in Wed: #29 week "Staying focused"

More shedding this week! I dropped .6 pounds and .75 inches which means I am only 3 pounds and 2 inches away from my goal. Woo-hoo! Yipppeee! Last week, I dropped a big load 3.4 lbs because of cutting out the cornstarch derivatives. It looks like most of that weight was water because this week the body stabilized and weight loss was small but still present.

I have upped the running this week because I've been fueled with break up anger. It's amazing how you can translate energy from one thing into another. All I know is that my running is getting better, and I thought that I could start training for a half marathon. I looked up training schedules for half marathons, and at the level I'm running now, I could do a half marathon this weekend. I'm in way better shape than I imagined which was exciting to discover. So overall, I'm feeling more empowered because not only am I staying focused on achieving my weight loss goal, but I've gained the added bonus of better performance in my physical self. (video 2min 38sec)

No one wants an aging hag for a US president and other kickers around the skinny-sphere

• Prompted by this unflattering picture posted on The Drudge Report, recovered pill popper, Rush Limbaugh said that Hillary Clinton can't be the next president of the US because no one wants to see an aging woman as the leader of the free nation. He adds that it's not specific to Hillary, "It could be anybody, and it's really not very complicated. Americans are addicted to physical perfection, thanks to Hollywood and thanks to television." Where as men is concerned it's okay for them to age because "they look more authoritative, accomplished and distinguished"...Do you see why politics irritates the hell out of me? Stupidity run amok. [News.au]

• 16-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears is preggers. Ooooo-lordie! You know this will not bode well with Nickelodeon cause you can't have an unwed, knocked up teenager starring in wholesome family entertainment. I'll throw down a $20 that her show is knocked down by end of season. Poor kid will have Britney as an auntie. [TMZ]

• Have you heard of this dating site called, Darwin Dating. It's "online dating minus ugly people. Darwin Dating was created exclusively for beautiful, desirable people. Our strict rules and natural selection process ensures all our members have winning looks." On some level it's supposed to be satire, but me thinks they are serious. What's next, Evolution Elopement, marriage for a perfect human race? [Darwin Dating]

• Your innards are what determine your true biological age which will then tell you how long you'll live before dropping dead of old age. So me, I'm:

  Age: Gen Xer
  Brain, Lung and Hearing Age: Heeeh?
  Heart Age: A shot short of Epi
  Fertility Age: Eggs still ripe for spermination
  Average Biological age: It's a Victoria secret (5 years younger than online dating age)
  [Daily Mail]

Would you freakout if the Burger King Whopper went away?

Burger King decided to do some social experimenting and pretended in one of its establishments to "discontinue" the Whooper. They put a big X mark over the Whopper on the over head menu, and told all patrons that the Whopper was discontinued by corporate. The patron reactions were then videotaped all day long, and put together in this Burger King adumentary called "Whopper Freakout."

Personally, I wouldn't miss the Whopper too much if it ever went away as I don't eat in fast food places any more. However, if I was a Burger King patron, I would be slightly peaved that the Whopper was gone mostly because the Whopper is synonymous with Burger King like Big Mac = McDonald's. What I did find interesting about the video is how emotional people got over fast food which is not even healthy for you. Go figure. We Americans love our fast food nation.

Are you and your sweetie doing the karmic dance?

This insight is from Ellen Mogensen's Newsletter "Karmic Insights" and I thought you my lovely readers would enjoy it because it relates to how your current relationship with your sweetheart could be helping or hurting your weight loss efforts or really any effort you are making to becoming a happier healthier you. Ellen is a friend and mentor of mine, and yes I am a firm believer in the cause and affect of karma. What you put out is what you get back, and before I make any major decisions I think about how "like" energy can come back to me from the actions I take.

Guest post by Ellen Mogensen of Heal Past Lives

Relationships are karmic dances where the moves of one partner often dictate the moves of the other.

The best example of how the "Karmic Dance" works is detailed in "The Dance of Anger" by Harriet Lerner.  A woman wants to see Lerner at a workshop she is giving but the woman's husband "won't let her" attend.  Lerner pointed out to the woman that, unless he was physically restraining her with a weapon, etc, that she was actually choosing not to attend.  The woman was furious, couldn't Lerner see that it was all her husband's doing?

As Lerner patiently explained, that the cost of her husband's anger was higher than the benefit the woman would receive from attending the workshop so she had chosen the path of least resistance.  So it was not really that her husband would not let her come, it was that the woman had chosen not to take an action which was likely to result in him getting angry.  This was their dance: the woman agreeing only to take steps in the circle that her husband had defined.  She was agreeing to let him control her by believing it was "all her husband's doing."

How the "Karmic Dance" works is that one person allows another to call the shots by believing that "this is the way it is" and will always be. 

Random thoughts on skinny: Back boobs be gone

• My biggest beef about being an Apple shape are the back boobs you get when you gain too much weight, you know that bulge of fat that folds over over your back that looks like it could use a bra of its own. With 22 pounds gone, almost all of my back boobage is gone. There is still some slight folding on the flanks but they are miniscule compared to what used to be there. It feels nice to be able to wear more form fitting tops again.

• Apparently, stories about Ford models working a treadmill like a super human is very popular with mainstream media readers. My post about some model who can run a treadmill like the Bionic Woman got picked up by Fox News, Reuters, and USA Today and got me lots of click throughs. I find it amazing that people are really fascinated with models and their apparent super human abilities. I guess being a regular human is just too boring. It saddens me.

• I blog at a Starbucks near a police station and between 2-4pm, detectives come in to get their coffee fix. They usually come in packs of 3-4. How do I know they are detectives? Because they look exactly like the detectives on TV, sport coat, tie, slacks, and loafers, with slight view of gun holster. What I notice about the detectives is that most do not look as fit as the cops in uniform. There are definitely no SVU Elliott Stablers in the group. Perhaps that's because they aren't literally chasing perps any more. No biggie. I feel safe huddled amongst all this law enforcement.

• I tried the soy egg nog and it just is not the same. I know it's a dairy alternative, but there is something that is lost in translation. Perhaps, it's just because I have childhood memories burned in my taste buds. I tried looking for a rice milk egg nog, and couldn't find one. I've been drinking rice milk more since learning that soy is really not that healthy as most of us think. If anyone has heard of a rice based egg nog, lemme know.

Quote on karma

Holiday Skinny Tip #8: Forgiveness. Let go of the grudge to stop feeding your hurt

One of the best gift's you can give yourself  this holiday is forgiveness. One of the leading drivers behind emotional eating is hurt. Now you may think that anger is what is really keeping you from forgiving that person who you are mad at, but it isn't. The true emotion is hurt. That person did, said, or didn't do something that disappointed you, betrayed you, or humiliated you, and the result they produced in you truly is hurt. Simplistically, they hurt your heart.

The truthful yet necessary reality you need to see is that the grudge you hold against that other person, group, company or yourself, for that matter, affects only you. Continuing  to be angry, bitter, and resentful hurts only you and keeps you trapped. The offending party has gone about their business and moved on. Beating yourself up is getting you no where except more suffering.

The longer you hold onto the pain and the hurt, the more your life passes you by. Ever know someone who has held onto a grudge for years or even decades? Did holding onto that anger bring them more happiness or even vindication? In most cases, no. In most cases, that person got more anger, more resentful and more hardness. What you focus on is what you grow and bring more of into your life.

When you forgive you are letting go of the weight of that pain. And yes, emotional weight can have physical manifestations as well. Ever know someone who finally forgave an ex-lover or parent and then mention that they just dropped 5 pounds days after the forgiveness?

When you forgive, you no longer need to feed that pain. The gorging at the holiday parties could really be you trying to comfort the hurt your grudge is fueling. When you forgive you will feel lighter and happier. There will also be more room in your heart for new people and loves to fill you with joy. At any time, you have a choice to be happy or be angry, so give yourself the gift of forgiveness this holiday.

Wanna drop 5lbs instantly?

Stop carrying that huge bag. Today, the average woman's handbag weighs 5.2 lbs and in 10 years it is expected to grow to a hefty 6.6lbs. Gee ladies, it seems that we are carrying lots of stuff in that bag of ours. So, what could be making our bags so heavy?

It seems, modern life is weighing down our bags with gadgets like cell phones, PDAs, iPods, power cords, batteries, and laptops. Then there is the every day stuff like wallets crammed with credit cards and checks, makeup bags, water bottles, books, magazines, and even spare underwear. I know that at times, I have enough stuff in my bag to make it through an emergency overnighter.

It's great that today's big purse designs allow us to be walking apartments, but in the long term, carrying all that weight especially over one shoulder can wreck havoc on your back. Chiropractor's are seeing an increase in back issues because of people carrying heavy bags too often for too long.

Do you really need to be carrying all that stuff in your purse? Maybe it's time to do some handbag spring cleaning and help your back out.

[via Daily Mail]

[picture: "eBags " ]