Back in skinny jeans

In pictures: Having an oatilicious time with healthy living bloggers

Thanks to Quaker Oatmeal and their Living Proof blogger event, not only did I get to eat and learn more about oatmeal than I could have ever imagined, I got to finally meet in person some very cool rock star healthy living bloggers whom I, and you all, mingle with quite often in the blogosphere. And before I forget, Quaker has nicely offered up some coupons for you all to have your own oatastic oatmealpallooza.

This was my first time to the windy city of Chicago, and it wasn't windy, but it was surely frickin' cold for this admittedly spoiled Californian. I really am a cold wimp people. In fact, there was some beginnings of a Charlie Brown Christmas snowfall.

But instead of typing more, let me illustrate some of the trip with pictures. I'm kinda bummed because many of my pics came out blurred so here were the ones that came out the best. First, here I am trying to make out with "Larry" the Quaker man. Really, that is what they call him internally. All I could think is "Larry the Oatmeal Guy: Git-er-done!" Seriously though folks, I need some major help finding a new squeeze because now I am resorting to coping a feel with statues of mascots of cereal. You gotta admit though that the puffy shirt action is kinda hawt! And, who doesn't love a man with a tray serving you breakfast in bed, yes?

Without further adieu, above is Anne of Elastic Waist who sat next to me, Jason from Twit2Fit with his synopsis (and I give Jason serious props as the solo male blogger amongst all that estrogen), Jennette of Pasta Queen who happened to take a cool shot of the faux snake skin lounger in our hotel rooms along with a shot of the other side of the room with the other bloggers, Mo Pie of Big Fat Deal, and Roni of Roni's Weigh who took some great pics too.

So, let me show you some healthy living bloggers actually working out...

Enjoy this while I eat soup and blow my nose

This weekend, I was in Chicago with a group of amazing healthy living bloggers courtesy of the wonderful folks at Quaker Oatmeal. Mine eyes hath seen a new vision of the oaty Quakers.

The weekend was long and fun, but stressful travel wise because I had some trains, planes, and automobiles experience coming and going, plus it was really cold there, much too cold for my body, so today I'm eating soup and blowing my nose with headache. Steph is a sicky poo today. So, I will be back tomorrow or Wed. I appreciate your patience. Ah! The life of a solo blogger.

But in the meantime, please enjoy this preview of my trip report. I give you the the amazing MizFit working the arms in the hotel gym. I got to see the arms in person in action and indeed they were everything I imagined and more!

Jillian Michaels digs Back in Skinny Jeans and other omg's around the skinnysphere

• On Jillian Michaels' radio show this past Sunday she talked about some blogs that tickle her fancy, and first up was Back in Skinny Jeans. To hear JM say affectionately, "...Back in Skinny Jeans" put me in a state of fit blogging nirvana. {Steph lost her frickin' sh*t like she won a car on Oprah} We are very honored for the mention. Thanks to Cranky Fitness for the tip, who btw was on JM's list too! Blog ref is about 20% in. [Jillian Micahels' Radio Show 9/28/08]

• Fit Flop couture. I can think of many ways to tone the legs while walking, but would you wear these Aurelia gladiator sandals? Does the collision of fashion and fitness work here? I'm scratching my head. [Net-A-Porter]

• Do you wear hoodies for outdoor workouts? Check out this Storm Trooper hoodie from Ecko. It's actually kinda cool...in all its Star Wars geekiness. [Ecko]

• Check out the new poster. Suze Orman's got the 'stache as she pimps "Got Milk" because it's cheap. Interesting how the milk folks are focusing away from the nutrition and onto the cost. [Noshtopia]

• America's Next Top Model is coming out in video game format for the Nintendo DS on November 7. The object of the game is to start planting the beauty distortion seed in the minds of young girls guide one aspiring model though the various photo shoots and challenges to hopefully be crowned ANTM. If Tyra wants to be the next Oprah, she should have girls play mind developing games instead of makeup playing games. Even playing Q*bert would be more enriching. [Shiny Shiny]

• Here are seven women who give their two cents about how jeans help them really show off their personal style. 5 out of the 7 are 35 y.o. and over. Refreshing! [Yahoo Shops]

Life Choices: What gifts do you get if you choose to be child-free and single?

The other day, I was thinking about ways I could get some funding for my start-up. When you're an entrepreneur, you have to be very creative when it comes to money, so I started playing around with some wild ideas.

One idea that came up was, "Why don't I send out a duo wedding/birth announcement to my friends and family. Congratulations! I'm having a startup and getting incorporated. In lieu of gifts, please send funds. I'm registered at PayPal."

Sound crazy? Well, why the hell not!

Like that Sex & The City episode, I got to thinking about all the money I have spent on other people's life choices like marriage and kids. Over the years now, it's in the thousands. And for some, I've spent money for their second and even third marriage, and second, third, and fourth kid. I think too of the money I spent traveling to these wedding destinations and to baby showers and baptisms.

But what gifts do you get if you choose to be child-free and single? And Carrie is right, birthdays don't count because we all have birthdays. The gift tables don't seem fair.

So, instead of getting married or having kids, what if I make a life choice to birth a startup and be married to making a life dream come true that will indeed go on to help other people live more prosperous blogging lives. Should I not equally have the right to throw a party and expect gifts and a money dance?Yeah, I'm starting a business, but marriage and kids are in a way a business too, Family Inc, that involves money, commitment, and benefit.

And if not things like starting a company, what life events for a single person are considered "celebatory" where gifts and money are involved to return the favor from those who decided to get hitched and be parents?

Now some will say too that gifts are gifts and that there should not be any feeling of return, but have you ever showed up to a wedding without a gift or to a baby shower without a present? No, because it's social norm to do so, and over the years you can end up spending quite a bit of money just on one family member or friend, and if you come from a big family or have lots of friends, we're talking bigger bucks when you compile everyone together.

So, I'm just challenging a social norm, not saying it's right or wrong. Would it be considered tacky to treat my startup like a marriage and ask for or expect gifts as I have done for others in their life choices?

Back in Skinny Jeans is now part of Oprah's Digital Network

Yes, I'm very excited to say that not only is Oprah making an effort to be more involved in the blogosphere, Back in Skinny Jeans gets to be a part of that as a member of her growing Digital Network of bloggers.

So what does this mean?

This means that yes I'll be sharing some exclusive news, clips, and information about upcoming shows, as well as opportunities for interviews with regular guests and possibly even giveaways. I'd really love to interview Dr. Oz.

We love O, however, that does not mean that I'm going to write an Oprah post every day, and just be one big fan girl commercial for upcoming shows. That is not interesting to you or me, as I know you, my readers, pretty well that way.

What will be interesting is that I will weave-in upcoming shows and guests with themes and topics that I'm already discussing which will be pretty seamless because Oprah's message and mine are very similar already which is a primary reason BISJ was invited to join. I like to think that our content is Oprah-like with edge.

But the main reason I agreed to be a part of Oprah's new Digital Network is that The Oprah Winfrey show wants to get feedback from us. They want to extend the conversation into the Internet through bloggers and that I find extremely exciting, and really it's time. How it plays out who knows, but I believe it is a good step for Oprah's show, and for us in the blogosphere.

So, let the conversation begin!

BISJ Readers: "I'm a hot chick magnet"

Lately, I've been inviting all of my lovely readers to be friends with me on Facebook. So, send in your friend request and let me know you're a BISJ fan.

I love being friends with my readers on FB because now I get to see your smiling faces, and I get to learn more about you all. The one thing that has taken my breathe away is how good looking all of you are. Seriously folks, the other day I thought to myself, "I'm a hot chick magnet. Look at all these gorgeous women. Woo!"

My goodness, if I were at some Geek party here in Silicon Valley and told them all of my readers were coming, the poor techies would be totally besides themselves. All these knockouts in one room would stun them silly.

...Look at all these gorgeous women ...

Putting all jesting aside, on the surface, I know I'm focusing a bit on the superficial, but I wanted to point it out because it goes to perception.

Just seeing the physical yous, not knowing anything but that, most people would think how could any of these beautiful women feel any kind of insecurity about her beauty. Not saying that you're all insecure, but many of you come to BISJ because you resonate with my personal issues around beauty and the struggle to feel okay in our unrealistic beauty obsessed culture. That insecurity exists only in your thoughts. It's not reality, and you can change your thoughts. On the outside, you are beautiful as you are.

So for today, I want you all to stand tall, and walk around all day reminding yourself, "You are one hot tamale. Go girl!" Because, again, you are, and that is for real.

Spruced up Back in Skinny Jeans with some hot shots

I gave Back in Skinny Jeans a new out fit this weekend. Recently, I had a friend who is a Pro level photographer take some new head shots for me, and all I can say is wow! What a difference in how a Pro can make you look on film.

I'm reminded that there is no such thing as a bad subject, just bad lighting and angles. In fact, Pasta Queen, wrote a great post including pictures on how she looked like she gained and lost 10 lbs in one day, all because of camera angles and poses.

One new picture is in the header, and in the newly rewritten About BISJ page is another new picture where honestly, I felt like some major zexy hotness. It's the hair baby. I had super model hair goin' on that day. If you are a Facebook friend of mine, you can see a few more pictures. Speaking of Facebook, I want to be "friends" with all my readers, so send me an invite and let me know, "I'm a BISJ fan!"

Some classic ways, but better reflection

And speaking about the About BISJ page, I rewrote it to reflect more of where I am and where I want the blog to go. Earlier I spoke of changing theme directions and evolving from the weight management stuff to more emotional wellness and growth stuff, but during my hiatus, I had a hard look at my stats, the traffic I had built over time, and where I want to take the blog, and decided that I kinda had thrown the baby out with the bath water, and that I made that decision when I was really cranky and tired. Blogger lesson learned.

Now, I'm not going to go entirely back to the old format, because many of you do like the new direction, I am just going to add back in some of the fit body stuff because:

• Lots of people are going to be focused on weight loss in their lives no matter what, so one thing BISJ did really well was be a voice of balance and reason, so why not continue to be a source of positivity on that subject? As well, the weight management posts can act as bait to get new visitors to come visit, and to check out the self expansion stuff. This my friends is blogger tactics, and I'm not afraid to use it.

• Likewise, BISJ ranks high in Google search for the word "skinny" amongst some not so healthy thinspo stuff. So, I find it a service to keep my "skinny" rankings high just to give Google search surfers a place to go where "skinny" has a more uplifting and healthy image.

• So, now I'm looking at editorial content breakout to look something like 50% self expansion, 30% weight management, 20% other stuff like my personal life stuff or any misc surprises. Let's keep some spontaneity! We'll play with that for now, and see what happens.

• And yes, Noshtopia is back in action. The redesign hasn't happened according to plan, but I roll with the punches, and thought it better to just get posting because everyone was getting kinda hungry. Today, there is some food gawking: Salmon on a bed of a arugula, linguine with manila clams, and the best Tiramisu I've ever eaten.

• Many of you also stated that you really like seeing the "What Other People Are Doing" type posts where I have people guest post or I interview them about what they are doing in their healing journey. I'm happy to beef that part up because I think it is very valuable to share what others are doing.

That's it for now. And as usual, please lend me your ears, eyes, and insights. It's greatly appreciated!

You’re more than a body: A vibrant spirit won’t be held back by aging

Everyone say hello to my Grandma Rose here with my folks. I want to share with you all how this Saturday, in less than an hour, Grandma taught me what real beauty is about. Granny is the best teacher that anyone could know, and she will be 97 in October. Rose is now bed ridden in the hospital because of a slew of health issues, but somehow her spirit does not know that because she can still light up a room better than anyone I know. More on that in a bit.

This weekend was pretty intense for me as in one day literally back-to-back, I attended a funeral for one of my uncle’s who passed away, visited my Grandma Rose at the Convalescent hospital, and saw baby pictures of grandma’s latest great grand-children. Yes folks, I got the entire life cycle in mere hours.

But, more about what my amazing Grandma taught me about beauty…

Part II of II: Blogging for bucks, do ad dollars go more to popular blogs or purposeful blogs?

In Part I, I contemplated during my blog hiatus: “Do you want to be popular or purposeful?” My answer is, “I want my purposefulness to be popular.” Can you tell I’m an idealistic dreamer who wants it all?

What helped me get clarity was a comment from reader Dana who left this quote:

"Often the only way to make a hard decision is to come back to the purpose."  ~David Allen

I felt like God dropped a clue in my lap because the quote reminded me to go back to my life purpose, “why am I here?” When I say I want my purposefulness to be popular I mean I want to be a source of light for the masses and be paid the value in return for the results I produce. I’m big on meritocracy and you’ll see why.

Part I of II: Blogging for bucks, do you want to be popular or purposeful?

I’ve been blogging for a living for almost 3 years now, and recently, I took a 3 week hiatus because I was burnt out. This girl was beat and cranky. But at a higher level, I was feeling like I was at a crossroads with my future in blogging, and with my future with my current blogs, Back in Skinny Jeans, and Noshtopia.

“Step away from the Publish button”

I needed time to step away, relieve myself of the pressure of posting 5 days a week, and to really decide as a blogger if I want to be popular or purposeful because one thing I’ve learned in my Pro blogging experience is that the answer to that question can make a significant impact on what you blog about, how you blog, and how you monetize. As well, the answer can impact your brand identity, and influence what kind of advertisers choose to advertise with you or not. The answer can also influence your future, and I’ll get into why.