Back in skinny jeans

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Better than Nothin': 3 simple ways to celebrate being unmarried or single

Better Than Nothin' Tuesday, is the day we focus on making micro changes or taking tiny actions in the direction of our life goals like losing weight, getting a new job or finding a new love. How timely as this week is National Unmarried and Single Americans Week, for reals, straight from the US Census Bureau.

It's nice to know that we singles get a week of appreciation and celebration, but I missed the Hallmark card. Anyone get one? Feel free to send me flowers, candy, and poems of undying love. Better yet, a man would do the trick faster, but I won't look a gift horse in the mouth and gladly take a box of rice crispy dark chocolates.

But enough about me, back to you my fellow singletons especially those on the dating sites who are tired of having yet another cup of coffee. Keep your chin up and in the meantime, here are some simple ways to celebrate being free with glee:

• Now is all about you. Enjoy these "You" days because once the spouse, mortgage and kids show up, you'll be missing some "You" days. Bask in your freedom and feel grateful for this time you have today.

• Perspective: Being single and alone is way better than being in a relationship and alone. Seriously! Having someone is better than not having anyone at all, only true in your perceptions not in reality.

• If you're single or unmarried, and don't have children, instead of feeling child-less (lack,) start feeling child-free (gain). Not everyone wants to have kids and culture has a tendency to make that a negative, but who says?

Healthalicious tips from fit bloggers around the skinnysphere

• Here's a new way to re-visit your workouts by doing Functional Training like how the actors for The 300 got buff, Yardwork workouts like chopping wood for a romantic evening in front of the fireplace, and Prisoner Workouts, member Sarah Connor's pull up scene in the looney bin in Terminator 2. I still swoon in envy over her arms. [Zen Habits]

• Greta joined Weight Watchers this weekend, but before hand she shares with us the conversation that went on in her head and the actual one she had with her hubbie, of course absolutely two different perspectives and points of view, perfect fodder for a sitcom. Sometimes I wish we could see our beauty more through the eyes of our men than through our Perfect Girl lenses. [Does This Blog Make Us Look Fat]

• Lori brings up the great debate: Butter or Margarine? And, Harvard reminds us of trans-fat. Personally, I am a butter girl and even pay extra $$ for organic butter because 1. the expense makes me want to make the butter last longer so I use smaller portions and 2. It just tastes waaaay better. [Fake Food Free]

• Catheroo comes out and shares with us her history with dieting starting at age 13. Reading about her experiences with all the different fad diets was a lot like reading my own. I thought I was the only one who did the Cool Whip thing, and lo and behold, I find I am not. Kudos to Catheroo for sharing her authenticity. [Catheroominations]

• Sagan is back at bootcamp at 6am. My goodness girl, that is seriously awesome dedication to fitness. I'll think of you while I'm cuddled warm in my Calvin Klein comforter. After seeing pics of her newly organized pad, she asks why is it that when someone is too thin like a celeb, the first sentiment tends to be "Girl needs to eat a cheeseburger (junk food.)" True. I've never heard, "Girl needs to start chowing at Whole Foods more." [Living Healthy in the Real World]

• Ali shares some pointers on an "Ideal Dieting Office" and the reality. Oh boy, there is a Dilbert strip in this. One reason, I wanted to create my own company is so that I could create the ideal healthy office for all our employees because healthy folks are productive folks. The kicker is usually snacks in the afternoon. At one of my past jobs, our office was across the street from a 7-11. Never work within walking distance of a 32-ouncer and gossip mags. [The Office Diet]

Carrie Bradshaw in Jordache, Bravo for Damagista Glenn Close and other statues around the skinnysphere

• {Giving standing O} Glen Close wins an Emmy for Best Actress in a Drama for Damages, a show I cannot get enough of. Finally, a female character that can rip to shreds and be complicated and interesting all at the same time. Oh her evilness will catch up to her, and that's part of the fun. Kudos to my other fave TV stars, Tina Fey for Best Comedy Actress, and Mad Men for a bunch of golden statues including Best Drama. [LA Times]

• Normally, I don't like to pick on other bloggers, but in this case, I found it really disturbing that the Skinny Website posted many pics of Allegra Versace out with Kate Moss when Allegra has been suffering from Anorexia. We don't need to turn a night out in the town into a body spectator sport, and then try and be all caring and say that Allegra "...is still looking extremely thin and unhealthy these days.  I hope she is getting the help she needs!" Girl, raise your standards. [Skinny Website]

• Check out 80-year-old Ray Moon flexing his muscles as he has overcome polio, open-heart surgery, prostate problems and financial ruin to become an Australian body building champion. You go Ray! [Yahoo News Photos]

• Carrie Bradshaw the teenage years? Oh for realz, Candace is writing the novels as we speak. So guessing her fashion of the times, kid Carrie in Dittos and teen Carrie would either be doing the Madonna Borderline look or the ripped off the shoulder tees before Flashdance. Who'd the scribe like to see as Carrie mini-me, Miley Cyrus. Are they gonna put her in some Jordache? [News Au]

• This a most amazingly beautiful macro shot of rain drops on a stem refracting an image of a flower on all the drops. I've never seen anything like this before. Mother Nature's natural lens. Wow! [Flickr: Steve Took It]

• File this under "zOMG! I can't believe someone funded this experiment." The lab coats at the University of Alberta and University of California-Riverside say there is a direct correlation between the length of fingers and being motivated to hit the gym...as detected in 1,000 mice. Last time I checked, I haven't seen any mice pumping iron at Golds or doing cardio at 24 Hour. [700 WLW]

Role (or Not) Model Stylist: Is Rachel Zoe really a "pox on humanity?"

As you can tell, I'm playing catch up. The NY Times had a rather scathing review of Rachel Zoe's new Bravo show The Rachel Zoe Project, calling the celeb glam stylist a "pox on humanity" further elaborating "Ms. Zoe is exploiting an aesthetic of dissipation, invading our collective consciousness and spraying it with dummy dust." Yikes! Scratch some eyes out girl.

Via reruns, I finally checked out the first two episodes of Zoe & Co and I can see the "dummy dust" part, but I wouldn't call Ms. "That's Bananas" a pox on humanity, but maybe more a pox on cable TV, and even then her show is not as sickening as some of that horrifying stuff on the FOX network. I do give her credit for this, Rachel is most definitely a master at creating that Cinderalla look for her clients. The looks she picked for Joy Bryant and Debra Messing were stunning.

Now, even though I don't think Rachel "Shut it Down" Zoe is a pox, I don't necessarily think she is the best of role models either. She has a serious skinny distortion filter, exemplified when she says stuff like, "it's already 7pm and I've only 'had coffee and a grapefruit' all day" or "Truthfully, I've never seen myself as being too thin" when Bazaar had to reverse photoshop her and bulk her up from a 0 to an 8.

Wearing thin also {pun included} is the "blowing superficial things out of proportion" filter like when she equated a puddle in her studio to some Katrina-like flood which could have totally ruined her relationships with the designers because the hems got wet. Um, I'm thinking you could rip the couture to shreds and the designers would still send you stuff because hello, they want a red carpet PR gem with an A-list celeb.

I like Brad and her hubbie Roger. The men on the show seem like the only grounded ones. Why Taylor is so mean to Brad is beyond me, but every reality show has to have the high maintnence drama mixer-upper.

The Rachel Zoe Project is worth at least checking out if 1. You want to see the fashions RZ has to choose from, and they are pretty fashionista amazing, and 2. You can put your reality judgments in check for a moment, and remember the context in which RZ works in, nada on spiritual or soul depth but just good old fashioned fairy tale red carpet moments. It's like those moments you take a break from your organic no processed food diet and go eat a Twinkie. Just enjoy it for what it is, nothing more.

Before you go have a great weekend...

Count your blessings instead of your calories.

xoxo, Steph

I Can Has Cheezeburger

Fit tips: From fitalicious bloggers around the skinnysphere

• No one is better at spinning the ridiculousness of scientific health studies like Cranky. In this instance, she gives insight into wonderments like the biohazard that is our sinks and toilets, having short arms means you'll get Alzheimer's, and how your doctor is really one of the Mean Girls laughing behind your back. [Cranky Fitness]

• Trish did something we should all pay close attention to: Listen to your body. If you hurt after a workout, like in Trish's case her legs, listen to what your body is telling you. [I'm Such a Scale Whore]

• Charlotte conducting a mini-experiment where she ate a Jolly Rancher before making chocolate chip cookies with her kids to see if the small amount of candy before hand would help curb her from eating cookie dough and excess cookies after baking. The point was to see if a small amount of sugar would prevent bigger sugar consumption later. Interesting results. [The Great Fitness Experiment]

• Shauna shows us through a Twix example how food packaging can trick you into thinking you're having a "lite" treat when really you are not. Those sneaky marketers making me do math when I just want to nosh on chocolate delights. [Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl]

• Here is a fabulous and fun review of The Complete Idiot's Guide: Sexual Health and Fitness. Does sex count as cardio? I'll be at class with my heart monitor. [Fit Bottomed Girls]

• Check out our gal Leslie, The Weighting Game, on the Today Show talking about Food Frenemies, the saboteurs.

Moving on: 10 reasons to let go of your skinny jeans

To feel good just as we are is a long journey for some of us. Those skinny jeans sitting in your closet are proof that part of you can’t let go of the dream that one day you’ll be fashionably thin and your life will be perfect, or at least better than what it is today. Parting with those skinny jeans is tough, but here are some reasons/ways that will help may make it easier and more pleasant to say adieu:

• You’ll have new room in your closet for new clothes. Shopping time!

• Give your skinny jeans to a woman’s shelter, and share the abundance you have with other women who aren’t as fortunate as you. Everyone will have a brighter day.

• Give your skinny jeans to your kids, nieces, neighbor’s kids or any other young woman, and let them enjoy some “old” fashion that will no doubt be cool again.

Continue reading..."Moving on: 10 reasons to let go of your skinny jeans"

Did a cheating significant other trigger food issues for you?

In my 20’s, I went through this period where every boyfriend I had cheated on me. It was almost like I wore a sign that said, “Hey, cheat on me.” Thankfully, that is not the case any more.

Years later after much therapy and healing, energetically, I realized that part of the reason I attracted those kind of guys was because 1. I had a tape that ran through my head “All men cheat” and 2. I had intimacy issues and deep down really wasn’t ready to let myself be open and vulnerable to someone else so attracting the cheating energy was like a built in “bail out” mechanism in which I could blame the guy. I could also continue to play my “victim” role which served a purpose of keeping me in a small, safe life. So this is what would happen…

Surgery to remove back fat and other why-o-whys around the skinnysphere

• Here's something to add to the "Why must you torture your body for the sake of vanity?" list of cosmetic surgery procedures: Back fat removal. I have to admit that I have the back boob problem being the Apple shape but surgery, um, no. Spanx is looking pretty good. [Inventor Spot]

• Have you seen this FatGirlSleep Cream from Bliss? It is "formulated with an encapsulated slenderiZZZe complex™ that releases dimple diminishers and soothing lavender for up to six hours" while you sleep. Best horror yet, "don't let the bed 'blubs' bite." zOMG! Can someone tell Morpheous to give me the red pill now. [Sephora]

• People are so busy Facebooking, Twittering, MySpacing, Flickring, and Blogging that they don't have time for porn. Nice to know that socializing has taken over the number one reason for interneting. [The Inquirer]

• This is taking bonding with your inner 15-year-old a bit to the extreme. This 33-year-old mom stole the identity of her own teenage daughter so that she could go back to high school and try out for cheerleading and get a locker. She actually got away with the imposturing for awhile. How does that happen? [Way Odd]

• This is very cool, a picture of an upside down rainbow. It looks just like a big colored smiley face in the sky. [The Sun]