Back in skinny jeans

5 Ways to Avoid or Stop Stress Eating

It’s no surprise that with all the economic tension many people are relieving stress by over eating or eating when they really aren’t hungry. Stress eating is a common issue when it comes to weight management, so here are 5 ways to help you avoid the trap of eating out of anxiety and worry:

• Shift perspective. Stress eating is a habit not a force beyond your control, and habits can be broken or converted into healthier habits. You are in the driver’s seat of your actions. Your inner stress monster is just a really loud back seat driver. You have the power to steer, so start focusing on where you want to go which is a healthier, fitter place.

• Give yourself better food options. If you just have to munch on something, then give yourself healthier choices. It's also better to give yourself choices versus saying no all together because deprivation will only add to the already existing anxiety filled feelings. For example, if you’re in the mood for something crunchy reach for jicama instead of chips. Nosh on an organic food bar instead of a candy bar. Nibble on some turkey or chicken pieces instead of creme filled cookies. The best food options are proteins, fruits, and veggies or over carbs with high fat, sugar, and salt.

Easy 10 minute stir-fry recipe, Whole Foods changes their Rice milk recipe, Frozen enchilada dinner review, and other nibbles

Over at Noshtopia for your eating wellness pleasure:

• I love stir-frys because they are easy and can be made lickety split. Here's one my favorite stir-frys with brown rice, veggies, and chicken (or tofu for vegetarian version) that require virtually no prep whatsoever. You just dump and mix, and you're eating in 10 minutes or less. How cool is that?

• I've been eating more frozen dinners because they are cheap and fast. Who else is buckling down on the finances? But, I still want good quality ingredients. I tried Amy's Black Bean Enchiladas which are non-dairy, gluten free, cholesterol free, GMO free, vegan friendly, Pareve certified, and loaded with a bunch of organic ingredients. Whew! Here's what I thought and what they looked like cooked.

• Whole Foods changed the packaging and recipe of their 365 brand Original flavor Rice Milk. They also added a new third flavor. The changes are big ones to me my friends as we have a New Coke situation. Although, they did make one change which I think is very cool especially for vegans who need more of a certain vitamin.

• If you live or are visiting in Northern California and have been meaning to try out Pluto's restuarant where you can get fresh tossed salads, hand carved meaty sandwiches, and yummy desserts to-go, here are some pictures of the food.

Fit Flashback: Alyssa Milano's Teen Steam Workout Video

Back in 1988, a 16-year-old Alyssa Milano came out with her Teen Steam Workout Video. Remember this? I'm sure betting a grown-up Alyssa is hoping that we all forget this video cuz it's really cheesy and slightly jail baity.

I'm not sure what is worse, the Corey Haim picture by her bed side or the fact that she was a teen TV star with zero training experience except running around looking cute on Who's the Boss. Nonetheless, this flashback is some good mindless Friday entertainment!

Why did Italian GQ choose this startling Helena Christensen cover?

This September Italian GQ cover really troubled me. I would like to know what the Editor-in-Chief was thinking when he/she approved this shot because the skeletal image is frighteningly unhealthy on so many levels. Is it a cultural point of view of beauty? Is it the fashionista view of Helena through distorted goggles? Do men in Italy really find this look sexy?

The pictures inside the magazine of Helena are better although a couple have that American Apparel flavor to it. At 39, it's great that the Italian fashionistas will feature older models beyond the typical teen to 20-somethings. However, GQ could have gone with a much wiser shot than this. You think that US GQ would ever go with a cover like this, yes/no? Although, US GQ is not totally without crime because they did photoshop to the nines Kate Winslet without her permission and she let them have it.

When Thinspo type images like this appear on a men's magazine do you think it does more damage to perceptions of beauty and body image than say if it were the cover of Vogue a woman's magazine, or it wouldn't matter because it's unhealthy either way?

Reality check: It's easier to get & stay thin when you're rich

I'm going to do a Chris Rock and say this out loud and point blank, rich people have an easier time being thin because they can buy skinny. That's right, and here's what I'm talking about.

What does it mean when I say you can buy skinny?

With money, you can afford to:

• hire a trainer who will make sure you workout 4-5 days a week, and that you work out effectively. With enough money, you can hire elite trainers that train the rich & famous.
• go to the best gyms where they have better equipment, better instructors, better resources, and more classes.
• pay someone else to plan out your food & exercise regime for you.
• buy organic and the freshest healthiest foods. Pre-made healthily cooked foods whether hot or cold are always more expensive than foods that are processed, fast, and soaked in artificial ingredients and preservatives.
• hire a personal chef or order food from a personal chef service to cook you healthy foods.
• go to detox centers or spas and get your "pipes" cleaned out. It's amazing how much money you have to spend to stay at a place where you're hardly or not even eating.
• hire nannies and babysitters to watch your kids so you can go workout for 2-3 hours a day/ 5-6 days a week.
• get plastic surgery to suck the fat out, or move the fat from one place to the other.
• have your own gym in your house so you can workout 24/7.
• buy the best workout clothes and shoes.

If you could afford all that, doesn't it seem likely that getting fit and in your skinny jeans would be much easier? Yeah, you still have to do the work, but if someone guided your workout and worked you hard, and made your food and cleaned up the dishes, as well as kept you focused, wouldn't you be rocking the skinny?

Now, just because you can buy skinny does not immune you from gaining weight or being over weight because we all know that the main reason people struggle with weight issues (barring medical things like thyroid and pituitary issues) are emotional and habit based causes. If you have money and means, there really is no physical barrier for you to live a most healthiest lifestyle, and have people help you be thin.

It takes a village to be celeb thin

The reason I'm bringing this subject up is that it irritates me to no end when I see stories with famous rich people and their amazing weight loss transformations. They try to spin their stories like any of us regular folk can lose weight like them and stay thin like them. Uh, no! Here's the reality...

Quote on acceptance

Will belly dancing "fry the fat off your hips" and other tiddly bits around the skinnysphere

• The concept of "Vogue = Fitness" makes me guffaw like the reminder of Jane Fonda aerobics videos. So, when Julie Grau, co-publisher of Doubleday's Spiegel & Grau, writes in Vogue about "the definitive ab-sculpting workout" in which belly dancing will "fry the fat off your hips" and get rid of "unsightly waistband overhang" aka the muffin top, I think, "Didn't Julie get the memo that spot reducing doesn't work?" She lost one inch of her waist so I guess that's all that matters in glossy land. Sigh. [NY Observer]

• Faith Hill poses in a bikini for the cover shot of the new Shape magazine as a present for her 41st birthday. Now, I have mixed feelings about this as I'm same age group as Faith. On one hand, go girl, show off the fact that after 3 kids and heading into the 40's you're hotter and fitter than ever. Then I think, at 41, why are you still linking a hot body to accomplishment. Aren't there deeper things to be proud of that don't involve your body. And seriously it was Pilates that gave you courage to do this cover. How about simple "I love my body" just as it is? [People]

• Ivanka Trump is hawking Healthy Choice's new Fresh Mixers which I scratch my head a bit because I personally don't associate Ivanka as any kind of health or fit role model. Yeah she's model gorgeous and she's a VeePee so I guess they are going for glamorizing healthy fast food for the career woman who wants to stay fit. Doesn't do a thing for me, and I fit the demo, but that's me. Here's Ivanka at a launch event and yet there's not one shot in 16 of her actually eating the food. In fact, even on the Healthy Choice blog there are no shots of her eating the food or even doing those gratuitous spoon heading toward the mouth insinuating eating shots. Don't you want to see her eat the food? I do. [Healthy Choice]

• Have I mentioned that I have a mad pulsating crush on new arrival to Grey's Anatomy Dr. Army McBadAss Owen Hunt played by the delicious Rome and Journeyman Kevin McKidd? Oh yes people, there's a new heart racer on set. Dr. McBadAss was absent for the last 2 episodes but he's back tomorrow and will become the head of Trauma surgery. I love this character because he's confident, doesn't care about petty BS rankings, and he's all about saving lives. Major McHawtness! And boy howdy he knows how to kiss. In case you missed it, or want to see the Christina kiss again like me a thousand times, here's the toe tingly smacker. btw. The song in the background is White Horse by Taylor Swift available when her new album Fearless comes out Nov. 11. [Fan Pop]

Feeing stressed? Here's some relief

Plenty of people are feeling very stressed out and overwhelmed right now, and if your inner overachiever is kicking into high gear stressing you out, remember this:

Go ahead and print this out, and tape it somewhere as a reminder. It's easy to fall into the trap of wanting to do everything, but realistically you can't, and more importantly, you don't have to. I'll repeat it for you Perfect Girls in particular...You don't have to do everything!

Follow the 80/20 rule, and prioritize your To-Do list based on what activities will reap you the most benefit with the least amount of stress. Be sure to keep exercise at the top of your list because that workout will give you time to burn off all that stress and tension while doing something good for your body.

Even when I don't feel like it, going for a quick hard run even if it's only 10-15 minutes always helps me release stress because I can't be tense and breathing hard at the same time. Likewise, kickboxing is very helpful because I can pretend to beat someone up which is always better than to take your frustrations out on someone in real life; yup, not the best of ideas. Yoga is good too for those who like to de-stress in a more calming way. Point is, just move to release your stress!

Rockin' Live Webcasts with Nate Burkus, Marianne Williamson, Jim Karas, Suze Orman, Martha Beck and other fab best life advisors

This is some really awesome stuff! This Saturday Oct. 25, O, The Oprah Magazine is throwing their annual O You! Event all about inspiration, personal growth, and fun here in San Francisco, my neck of the woods. But, just because you can't be there in person, doesn't mean that you still can't partake.

There will be live webcasts where contributors will answer your questions from the main floor of the event. You can start submitting questions now, here at the Behind the Scenes page. The lineup of speakers at O You! are some of my biggest favorites. I so want Nate to come decorate my house!

Here's the Live Webcast Schedule:  (all times are PST)

10:00 am   Jim Karas will answer fitness and weight loss questions
10:30 am   Nate Berkus will inspire you to love where you live
11:00 am   Marianne Williamson will answer your spiritual connection questions
11:30 am   Stacy London will help you on style
12:00 pm   Art Smith will show us quick & easy recipes
12:30 pm   Peter Walsh will help you de-clutter
1:00   pm   Martha Beck will share a few rules to live by
1:30   pm   Suze Orman will answer questions about how to start saving

Again, log on to http://www.oyouonline.com/intelinsider. If your question is not answered on Oct. 25 at the live webcast, check back on Oct. 27 because they will post on the web page more answers to submitted questions.

Then, it gets better, starting November 3, O You! online seminars will be available every day thanks to the nice folks at Intel. This is really cool stuff people, so do check it out!

Waist friendly tips from fit bloggers around the skinnysphere

• Mark has this truly creative way to workout your biceps and back using gallon milk jugs, laundry detergent, and a broom handle. Sounds like a day of housework can turn into some awesome muscle mass building. [Mark Salinas Healthy Living Today]

• Becky shares her first experience with diet pills when she was 13 years old and what happened since then. Fast forward to adulthood and she shares what she has learned about the "magic pill" mentality. I definitely related to her story as, ahem, I got totally suckered into the Cortislim pills to shrink the muffin top. We learn and move forward. [Delicious Ambiguity]

• On a lazy weekend day, Maggie got her Jillian Michaels Shred & Yoga workouts in, and then for lunch made this really tasty looking salad with romaine, okra, shredded carrot, veggie dogs, bacon bits, apple, onion, and sunflower seeds. I love okra! Later for dinner, she made this vegan BBQ "chicken" pizza. I gotta try that. And, btw, did you know Linens & Things has gone bankrupt and is liquidating with big sales? [The Salad Girl]

• Suzanne shares with us some of her weekly weigh in goals, and what I find very healthy is that she is focusing on actions, trying new things, and most importantly not beating herself up because she had a moment "off program." There are also no scale or tape numbers in her post. Great example of focusing on lifestyle/habit changes. [Spunky Suzi]

• Amy too has a blog name I find very amusing, "Gazelles on Crack." That's how I feel sometimes on the treadmill after a day of business meetings. Amy went to Vegas for fun, and saw the New Kids On The Block in concert. She took some pics, and for you fans there is not 1 but 2 fine pectastic photos of Jordan. zOMG manjoyment! [Gazelles on Crack]

• Cara makes a good point about how music can affect people. I know for me, a simple song can move me to tears or motivate me to go change the world. Check out a couple fantastic female artists Cara enjoys, Diane Cluck and Judee Sill. These songs woud be good adds for cool downs or the "Walking Workout" play lists. [That Was My Veil]