Baby's first wheatgrass shot

Today, I met with Jamba Juice's director of product marketing to discuss an exciting new line of smoothies debuting on Thursday. As we sipped and slurped, somehow the subject of wheatgrass shots came up.

Now, I'm not a shot girl-never have been. I can't get my throat to open up long enough to let the booze slide back; if I could, you better bet I'd be draining bottles of water in seconds to cure my constant dehydration. But wheatgrass shots - this is one of those things that you always see people do and think, “What? How? Huh? Could I do that?” But unlike, say, bungee-jumping or running with the bulls, this is something I could do - in theory.

So, Kristel and I ordered up two shots of wheatgrass, large orange slice chasers on the side. The manager of the store asked me what I had eaten that day and as I responded, “Watermelon, soup, bread…” I wondered, “Is this stuff actully powerful enough to make me pass out if I haven’t eaten heartily enough?“ But his reaction told a different story:

“OK, nothing too fatty. You should be fine.” Apparently, blenderized grass works like the diet drug Alli in that it can push fattening foods through your system faster than you can say “Immunity Boost.” And before I knew it, out came two cute little grass-decorated plates, two shot cups and two nice-sized orange wedges.

He filled our glasses with pure liquid green - the greenest green I ever did see. I’ll admit, I was a bit scared. OK, I was freaking out. The last time I incorporated a new food into my diet, it was at a raw food restaurant and I wound up head-first in a toilet. But when I smelled the juice, I was pleasantly surprised and instantly transported back to my childhood, rolling around in the fresh cut lawn just after dad had run a mower through it. I touched the tip of my tongue to the shiny surface and it tasted, much to my surprise, a bit sweet. Like grass, yes, but with a sprinkle of Sweet 'N Low.

It was now or never so I swallowed it - about 90% of the cup - and you know what? I was just fine. I didn’t get sick, I didn’t find myself clutching desperately for the orange (though I did grab it a few seconds later and the citrusy juice absolutely cut the Mother Earth vibe going on in my mouth…in a good way). I survived my first wheatgrass shot at Jamba Juice.

And eight hours and one awesome workout later, I actually think I’m craving another one.

Star Jones had gastric bypass surgery

and in other breaking news, clouds are puffy white masses floating high in the sky.

She’s too “Rexy” for this blog

OK, so this has been all over the place lately: Apparently Kate Moss, that nymphish little waif who became famous for being so skinny you could see her bones and, more recently, lived up to the phrase “heroin chic” by being caught on camera with drugs, has been heard using a new word: REXY. It’s a fusion of “anorexic” and “sexy” and according to various reports, the supermodel and her friends just love it.

“Rexy” is a good thing, according to those who use it in this way - a compliment. It means you’re lanky and ultra-slender, that you’re all Size 00 and hanger-like. According to the UK’s Daily Mail, Moss has been seen steadily drinking hot water mixed with green leaves to help her stay slim.

I really don’t even want to write anymore about this because I feel like it’s wasting too much of my precious time on a dimwitted loser. You can read more about it here if you care to. Or any other of the tens of thousands of sites that have picked it up. For me to talk about how turning a serious mental illness into a cutesy saying is disturbing and disrespectful (to say the least) seems obvious and a waste of typing. But if you’re a parent, do keep your ears perked to ensure your kids aren’t using this dangerous term, which will no doubt start emerging in pop culture, from magazines to SNL skits. Actually, it’s been around since long before Kate Moss used one of her brain cells to start lipping off (if, indeed, the articles are true -- if not, my apologies to Kate.) But when a celeb of her stature starts spewing catchy phrases (“That’s hot,” anybody?”) it’s bound to catch on.

On a positive Kate note, anyone catch Kate Dillon posing in the buff in the final (sadsadsad) issue of Jane this month? She, along with Serena Williams, Evan Mendes, Lili Taylor and others got nakesters to raise money for the charity Clothes of our Backs. Kate, who use to model for high fashion European runway and had an awful eating disorder, is now a plus-sized model (and by plus-sized I mean nearly sixe feet tall and something like 170 pounds. Scoff.) They all look beautiful.

Happiness is being force-fed

Allow me to explain the title of this post. The BBC World Service’s Outlook Programme recently spent some time with a Nigerian couple who were newly married. For six months prior to their wedding, the man, Morris had asked his wife, Happiness, to live at a fattening center.

A fattening center.

Here, Happiness would wake up, eat, bathe, sleep, eat, sleep, and so on. The goal: To gain as much weight as possible, because in this culture, fat is a symbol of wealth, power and status. The bride-to-be emerged weighing more than twice that of an average Nigerian woman (about 250 lbs. versus 130 lbs.) Her then-fiance, who is a prince, couldn’t have been happier.

"People will think I am not rich,” he told the BBC of having of a slender wife. “If a woman is not fat and has not gone through that process she does not qualify for marriage." He continues to keep her overweight with a diet of porridge, native salads, rice, beans, meat and fish “to make her more huge and big to maintain [their] stature…”
Is it just me or does this remind you of the force-feeding of ducks to produce foie gras – how they shove grain down their throats until no more can fit in their stomachs and then immobilize them so no muscle can grow. Then they are slaughtered and fed to rich people.

The story of Happiness and her experience at the fattening center brings to mind another BBC story I read years ago about force-feeding of young girls in rural Mauritania. A woman named Fatematou who ran a “fat farm” (so different then the stigma associate with that phrase here) admitted that sometimes the girls, as young as seven, would cry and scream because of the amounts of food they were made to take in. But, Fatematou promised, the little ones were grateful at the end of the treatment: “…when they grow up they are fat and beautiful…They are proud and show off their good size to make men dribble. Don't you think that's good?"

So many thoughts are swarming through my head. First, what an strangely interesting dichotomy that exists between culture of the pre-wedding fattening camps in Africa and the pull of the bridal boot camps and wedding weight loss diets that permeate Western society. Second, from a health standpoint, being this overweight carries with it a number of health threats and yet, women like Happiness are purposely overfed and overfed to the point where the gain weight – and the associated risks - that they might never had had in the first place. Third, it appears this is all being done for men! Where is the woman’s say? These women may claim to feel “healthy” or “honored” because of their weight gain, but is this not because they’ve been trained to say so?

Look, I’m not saying that a fuller-figure cannot be beautiful or luscious or attractive – trust me, you know this by now. But that is not the issue here. These are women who are being forcefed like Sumo wrestlers, limited in activity to the point where all they do is sit in a tent and eat and sleep. Why? To serve as a status symbol for their husband-to-be. Is this not similar to ancient Chinese women having their feet bound to limit their mobility and make them appear more “dainty”? Or women being giving gigantic breast implants as gifts by their boyfriends? The impetus is what’s at issue…and the lack of free will. And, of course, the fact that women’s bodies are taken out of their control. I understand different cultures have different standards of beauty as well as unique rituals. But forcefeeding little girls until they scream and cry for relief? Sticking a bride-to-be in a fattening room like an animal for half of a year so she can bulk up for her husband, risking diabetes, heart disease, cancer, joint pain and more? That’s just wrong.

PS The irony of her name and the situation? Need I even address it?

Are you a working mom? For shame!

What? You thought you were setting a good example? Oh, no, according to a new study from the UK. As it turns out, working mothers may actually be making their children obese. Researchers at London’s Institute of Child Health followed 13,000 children to the age of three and found that for every 10 hours put in by mom at the office, the risk of the kids being overweight rose (once household income topped £11,000 or about $22,500...my math skills are abhorrent, feel free to correct me). The more money earned, the chubbier the kid. Please note my tongue is shoved way up my cheek as I say this.

So, what’s the link? Say the researchers: "Long hours of maternal employment, rather than lack of money, may impede young children's access to healthy foods and physical activity.” Translated: While you’re working your ass off, be it as a lawyer, a web designer, an aerobics instructor, a doctor, a store owner, a night shift worker, whatever! that’s technically time away from your child when they could be stuffing themselves full of crappy snack foods and sitting in front of the boob tube. Oh, working mothers in the study were also less likely to have breastfed for the recommended amount of time. Add that to your mounting pile of guilt. Because you really should be doing it all.

And I’m sure by now, you’ve heard the breaking news from the New England Journal of Medicine suggesting that obesity is "socially contagious." Kind of like chicken pox. Well, actually not, but I just think that term is so dangerous, I had to take a jab. Basically, the study found that your chances of becoming obese shoot up 57 percent if your friend becomes obese; 40 percent if a sibling does; and 37 percent if a spouse does. As for your best, best friend? Your risk almost triples.

Now, it’s not like if you touch the “socially contagious” person you’re going to “catch” obesity (like chicken pox) - it has more to do with environmental factors such as adopting similar eating patterns and workout habits. This I can see - I tend to go to yoga or go running with certain friends, seek out hot sushi spots or unique salad joint with others, and those women tend to place an emphasis on maintaining athletic shapes. But I do think the “SC” phrase in a way vilifies overweight people, insinuating that people cannot control their own behaviors.

* Caveat: I have definitely read that when a woman moves in with a man, she tends to adopt his eating habits and, often, men can get away with chowing down on more grub then we can without gaining. I thought of this when I started living with my husband because the man has a metabolism that burns through calories like an SUV eats up gas, often devouring an entire bag of (cholesterol-free) tortilla chips and (good-for-you-fat) guac in one sitting, only to exclaim, “I’m starving!” 10 minutes later. And he has a six pack (abs, not beer). But through extreme will-power, I’ve been able to avoid the Newlywed Nine, though I have been known to dip into the peanut butter quite frequently - a food I never kept around when I was single.

Anyhow, the lessons for today: Quit your job and stay home so you can raise thin, healthy babies, and stay close to your skinny friends. Waa, waaaaah.

Figure flattery will get you everywhere

Hey everyone,

I just saw this on fellow iVillage blog The Fashionator: A Field Guide to flattering all of your assets, froom wide shoulders to a long torso to a big bust. I thought these were all good things but some peoples' boons are others' banes. Check it out - there are all tips for minimizing a larger bum, adding oomph to a barely-there chest and concealing a tummy.

There, now don't blame me if you've "got nothing to wear." Because ya do!

Do you see/weigh what I see/weigh?

Ever look at another gal and wonder, "I wonder how much she weighs?"

Well, now there's a web site that shows you real-world examples, sent in by actual women (and men), so you can stare to your heart's content and figure out what a 5'4", 120 lb. woman looks like -- or 4'11", 190, or 5'10", 140.

You can also send in your own picture to contribute to the matrix and help other people understand that beauty and strength and happiness comes in all shapes and sizes. Including a 6'5", 210 lb. male wrestler in yellow bikini briefs.

Look - you know you want to.

Thanks so much to fitsugar.com for pointing this out!

Smash your scales!

Hope everyone had a wonderful, relaxing weekend with gorgeous weather! I want to start things off with a bang this week by sharing a letter I received from a fellow Locker Room Diaries reader (she gave me permission to post it) - the first paragraph makes me so proud, I could explode!

Dear Leslie,

I just finished reading your book Locker Room Diaries. It struck me as funny as in the ending you said something like "I'm not asking you to go out and smash your scales...", when actually, that's exactly what I did after reading the FIRST chapter. I took BOTH (yes, both, I had 2 scales) out to the garage, but them in a garbage bag and smashed them with 2 of my dad's sledge hammers, one was a metal hammer, one was rubber. They make those things pretty durable, just so you know.

Little background on me: I've always been a chubby child, in high school my highest weight was 230, I was able to lose weight and get down to 160ish my sophomore year in a healthy way through diet and exercise, but when I started gaining a little back I freaked out. I eventually developed bulimia (I'm in recovery now though), and I've been struggling with my body image ever since.

Your book hit everything right on the nail for me. I'm not very good with writing down my thoughts, but while reading your book it felt like it was written by me, everything you wrote was exactly what was in my head. The anxiety I always felt in the gym locker room being "the fat girl", always showering with my bathing suit on...

I don't want to ramble on, but just know that your book has GREATLY helped me. Everything is coming into perspective for me and I can finally see the light at the end of the awful tunnel of self-hatred. I have an online journal at xanga.com, a friend from that site said she can't believe the change in my self-image attitude.
I'll include a link to it if you'd like to check it out. I started reading your book around July 13th I think.

Thanks so much, you don't know how much you've helped me!

Now, I'm not putting this up here to toot my own horn, but rather to show the power of what can happen when women of a feather flock together, when we encourage each other and pump one another up. If someone says something and it rings true to you, tell them! Just knowing this reader actually SMASHED HER SCALES because of something I wrote is reason enough for me to have even written LRD. And I don't have a scale myself, but I am now on a frigging HUNT to find a used one, maybe at a secondhand store, with the express purpose of bringing it home, taking it into the alley out back and breaking it to bits! The $5 will be SO worth it. If there are any fellow Chicago readers who want to join me with their scales, let me know and we can do this together, like a mass bra burning but for body image. In fact, maybe we can make this a "Smash Your Scales Across America" kind of thing - we all agree to take them out at a certain time on a certain date and kaplow! The weight-lifting heard round the world. How cool would that be? Who wants in??

X,
Leslie

PS I tried Pilates for the first time and I'm just feeling *eh* about it - I think because it was an intro mat class, the teacher went easy and I didn't feel like I was doing anything new. I did, however, take a phenom power yoga class today that helped me release a lot of stress and I walked to and from the gym, two miles each way, soaking in the perfect 75 degree sun and breeze. Then we ate Thai food.

Oh! And, I had my first real martini this weekend - extra dirty with four-cheese-stuffed olives. Man, that drinks eats like a meal. I only finished a fifth of the glass but I loved it - so salty and naughty-tasting. Guess I was all about unbalancing and balancing the past few days - Pilates...dirty martini; yoga...thai food. Lots of fruits and veggies tomorrow!

All-girl fitness - XX or X-why?

When looking for gyms, I specifically avoided anything with a meat market mentality. I can’t deal with men working out in ripped jean shorts and construction boots, or with bar-scene atmospheres that promote more talking that power-walking. I go to the gym to workout, not get hit on by married men or ogled by frat boys. And, as we’ve learned from my past blogs, I am oblivious to the point where I can wander around for over an hour with a soaking-wet, see-through white sports bra on. Wouldn’t that go over well at a gym like Crunch, where they actually have built peepshow silhouette showers so you can soap up while others look on? (Although I do think their classes are way innovative).

That said, my gym is coed. I haven’t gone Spinning to the other end of the spectrum - the no-boys-allowed gym - yet. Much as they may groan unnecessarily and, like one man at my gym who I hope is reading this, SMELL LIKE TACOS!, I do enjoy having both genders present. When doing crunches or pushups, I like to try and match the guy (or girl, of course) next to me. I’m a talkative gal and, on the occasion where I’m not soaking through four towels, I may engage in a quick casual conversation. And sure, I’ll admit, we all like a little eye candy now and then. I just don’t need the amount supplied by Bally’s.

But recently, I’m been reading a lot about girl-only gyms. A place here in Chicago called Flirty Girl Fitness was opened by two sisters from Canada and, while I haven’t been to Flirty Girl Fitness personally, to hear my colleague, Chicago Tribune REDEYE Reporter Kyra Kyles, describe it in a story on all-female gyms recently, it sounds like a lil’ slice of heaven. A chocolate-colored reception desk that could double for a giant confection. I-am-woman-friendly music like “Suddenly I See” by KT Tunstall’s and “Deja Vu” by Beyonce. And…yes - it’s true!…an upcoming martini-and-manicure space.

Also, pretty much everything is pink - bistro chairs, chandeliers, plush velvet walls, even the boxing gloves and yoga mats! (Exclamation point included for emphasis, not necessarily enthusiasm...see **below.)

One woman Kyles interviewed, who has previously belonged to both Bally and Curves (also all-female), said she likes Flirty Girl because she doesn’t get that feeling like she has to be in shape just to go work out. I so know what she’s saying - it’s like when I was little and my mom would say, “OK, kids, clean up! The cleaning lady is coming today.” What? Or, more on point, when women I know out on makeup to be “seen” at the gym. I don’t want to worry if I have a zit in the middle of my forehead (or if I‘m super-bloated from PMS, or if my t-shirt has pit stains) - and maybe if I was surrounded by just women, those concerns would melt away. I also think it’d be nice to not have to worry if, while doing this awesome new ab exercise I learned which involves climbing on top of a stability ball (PS I’m still using mine as a chair), my butt was hanging out of my shorts. Or if my cleavage - there is some - was peeking out.

Do any of you belong to all-female gyms? Do you love it? Miss the guys at all? Dish!

**I'm going to interject something here - I pride myself on being, well, a flirty type of girl and normally I love pink. My laptop is pink. My current thong is pink. But I wonder, do I want my gym to be called "Flirty Girl," complete with butterflies everywhere, boas and pink chairs? Is it kind of like working out at Claire's Boutique? I never thought there was such a thing as too much pink but I wonder why this seems a little wussy to me? I may need to go and investigate! I bet now that I've said this, the classes would probably kick my ass!

PS I’ll blog more in a bit about all of theses pole workouts popping up - S Factor started them, now they're everywhere, including Flirty Girl. And on Saturday, I’m trying Pilates for my first time so if I don’t end up in traction, I’ll have something on that for ya!

Feel good quote of the day

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

The most photoshopped cover on stands

Get ready for this little day-brightener, folks. The website jezebel.com held a contest for industry insiders to submit images for their unretouched cover-image contest and the winner is truly jawdropping: Faith Hill, on the cover of July's Redbook. Faith is one of those women who I normally look at and think, "Wow - gorgeous, supreme, flawless." Well, apparently when it comes to magazine covers, she is considered wrinkled, hunchbacked and flabby. You NEED to check out the before and after. (Scroll down a bit to see the animated version flash between real and airbrushed for the full effect.)

I urge you, show this your daughters. Share with your friends. This is the kind of information/education that can help us finally realize that "perfect" is not good enough and that what we see truly is not real.

Just a few of the things that were altered on beautiful Faith:

Her hair - she was given more.
Her eyes - her well-earned wrinkles were wiped away.
Her arms - check out how STICK THINK they were made. (You can really see the difference at the elbow)
Her face and cheeks - narrowed.
Her upper back/shoulders - gone.
Her waist - cut in half!
Her right arm - went from not being there, to being there!
Her thigh - narrowed.
Her overall skin tone - lightened.

My stomach - churning.

Body image boost: "You're nice."

New research shows that simply giving another woman a compliment can boost her body image. And it doesn't even have to be a crazily effusive, "Your stomach is so toned!" or "You have the most honey-colored eyes I've ever seen!" A simple ""You're a nice-looking person" or "You sound like a nice person" will work just as well.

Courtney Fea, MS, of Kansas State University presented this research at the American Psychological Society's 17th Annual Convention in LA. One hundred and eighty five female college students were individually brought into a room where a female "evaluator" pretended to scrutinize the volunteer's looks. Next, the "evaluator" asked the student volunteer about personal interests, like hobbies. Lastly, each student received a scripted compliment - either: "Thank you for participating in this study" (neutral); "You sound like a nice person" (character-related); or "You're a nice-looking person" (appearance-related.)

After filling out questionnaires about mood their and body image, researchers found that it didn't matter if the compliment focused on th volunteers' character or appearance; both resulted in a body image boost.

So starting today, tell someone - anyone - that she has a nice voice...that she did a great job on that report....that she taught a refreshing yoga class...that she looks beautiful in blue. You'll make a fellow female feel good about herself and it'll come back to ya, baby!

Cool events from fellow WG readers

Recently, devoted Weighting Game fane have been writing me to tell me about projects they‘re involved with, including some very cool athletic events. I wanted to help them spread the word, so here is some info on two very cool events:

The Blue Planet Run®: It's the first-ever around-the-world relay (!!) to help raise funds for safe drinking water. Starting in NY on June 1, the 15,200-mile run will circumnavigate the Earth’s Northern Hemisphere, traveling through 16 countries including Ireland, England, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Poland, Russia, China, Japan, Canada, ending up back in NYC on Sept. 4. This sounds so awesome to me - people not only running for a cause (and a pertinent one at that - you can’t run, let alone live, without clean water) but joining together in a worldwide effort to find a cure. The team of runners carrying the message of the need for safe drinking water includes a famous American jazz musician, a Scottish gardener, a champion Japanese marathoner and others. I encourage you to check it out at http://blueplanetrun.org/

The Lime Walk Out: This is an online community focused on being both healthy AND green (ie eco-friendly), giving your workouts an added dimension of interaction with the planet. By visiting http://www.lime.com/walkout and joining the Walk Out campaign, you can track your personal workout progress by entering daily walking totals, share comments, receive community updates and find resources and tools to make walking more fun and productive. The site also features pod casts, food and health articles, a meditation room, and an e-store filled with eco-sustainable products.

Thanks for sharing, Hilary and Sofie! And if you have an event you involved with - Race Against MS, 3-Day Breast Cancer Walk, a local fun-run…please do feel free to list in here. You never know if a neighbor is reading and will want to get involved!

XOXO keep up you thoughtful and dedicated work, everyone,
Les

Do diets work?

Nearly two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. Millions of people at risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, diabetes, joint problems and more. For those who are trying to lose weight and improve their health, there's certainly no shortage of options, from the new Alli pill which -- as we’ve discussed here -- may make you poop pizza oil -- to the more extreme gastric bypass to good old pounding the pavement (exercising combined with healthy eating.)

By now, I’m sure many of you have heard the recent news that diets, according to the research, at least, don’t work. I was recently asked to write about this topic on the Huffington Post and want to share with you my thoughts. A study just published in the Annals of Internal Medicine reveals that a typical diet helps people peel off an average of six percent of their weight -- usually equivalent to about 10 to 15 pounds. However, most people will regain that weight after five years. Which isn't to say there's no benefit in having lost the weight in the first place -- such a feat may, for instance, help in delaying the onset of diabetes -- but when it comes back, so do the risks associated with it.

Another study, this one in the March 7 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, compared four weight-loss diets -- Atkins (very low carbohydrate); Zone (low carbohydrate); Ornish (very high carbohydrate); and a diet called LEARN (low fat, high carbohydrate) -- in 311 premenopausal overweight and obese women. After a year, those following the Atkins diet lost more weight than those following any of the others. For them, their diet worked.

At least it seemed to work. First of all, the Atkins dieters lost an average of 4.7 kg for the year -- not a huge amount of weight (Ornish followers lost 2.6 kg; LEARN, 2.2 kg; Zone, 1.6 kg.) And in a recent Letter to the Editor, George L. Blackburn, MD, PhD, of Harvard Medical School and Steven B. Heymsfield, MD, Global Director for Scientific Affairs for Obesity at Merck & Co, pointed out that weight was either stable or slowly increasing at 12 months in all groups, and that the relatively low overall weight losses were suggestive of patients perhaps misreporting their calorie intake. And really (this is me talking) -- how feasible is it to adhere to a low-carb, high-protein, high-fat diet for life? Sure, if you're in a study under medical supervision, it could work...or if you're a celebrity and have meals delivered to your manse daily, it's a downright snap. But in the real world? No bowls of cereal? Hardly any fruit? Butter and full-fat cheese on hot summer days? Maybe it's just me but I feel like the appeal would quickly diminish, the luxury of eating sausage and eggs day in and day out replaced by a hankering for a frigging banana.

In their letter, Drs. Blackburn and Heymsfield went on to pose this very pertinent question: "Which diet is 'best' remains a far less important question than why diet adherence is so poor..." In other words, maybe we should stop focusing on whether to follow the Friday Fat Flush or Lose 30 Pounds in 30 Days and instead take a look at WHY it's so difficult to stick to any kind of weight loss plan.

Which brings us to the topic of willpower, a concept which comes up over and over when discussing weight loss. The unfortunately pervasive viewpoint among many citizens is that people who are overweight simply lack willpower, that if they could just buck up and control their eating, the pounds would fall off. But in a society where sedentary lifestyles are catered to, high-calorie snack foods are easily available (you can get a Big Mac much faster and for far less money than a cup of strawberries) and restaurant portion sizes are ballooning, personal resolution stands far less of a chance. As well, Binge Eating Disorder was recognized this year as the nation's most common eating disorder, more pervasive than anorexia and bulimia combined. It's a psychiatric problem, not an issue of laziness or gluttony, and more than five million Americans live with the shame of the disease.

For those looking for a quick weight loss fix, more and more options exist -- some medical, others surgical, some downright unheard of. In May, researchers at California's Salk Institute created a so-called "exercise pill," a drug that purportedly tricks the body into thinking it's working out. Kind of like hallucinogens, but instead of pretty colors, your body sees treadmills. The pill works (in mice, a least) by activating a gene that instructs cells to start burning fat. It jumpstarts the metabolism, just like exercise. Mice put on a high-fat diet who received the formula did not gain weight. Scientists involved with the calorie-burning capsule have been quoted as saying they hoped the "metabolic trickery" would pave the way for fresh treatments for obesity, high blood pressure, even heart disease and diabetes.

But such a creation -- even if it were to work in humans, not just mice -- doesn't quench the thirst our bodies have for real, physical movement...does it? Would swallowing a pill be anywhere near as satisfying as going for a run along the lakefront, for breathing deeply through a yoga class, for playing a game of one-on-one with our son or daughter out back? And yes, there are people who, for physical reasons, are unable to exercise vigorously -- for them, it's crucial to try and get any help possible in the fight against obesity and its related diseases. But for the most part, when you ask people who have lost weight and kept it off, regular physical activity is a must. It's as much a part of their day as going to work or brushing their teeth. I interviewed hundreds of women for my book on body image and hear from more on a daily basis and this is one thing that remains consistent: calories in needs to be less than calories burned, and that can often be more easily accomplished by incorporating physical activity -- whether it's choosing the stairs over the elevator at work or riding the stationary bike while watching the evening news.

Which leads me to one last interesting finding: Drs. Caroline R. Richardson and Thomas L. Schwenk of the University of Michigan Medical School have come to the realization that one inventive way to give people a proverbial kick in the pants is to physically write them a prescription for exercise. In a new report, the doctors explain how writing down very specific exercise goals on a prescription pad, such as telling the patient to start with 3,500 steps on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (counting on a pedometer), gradually increasing to, say, 5,000 steps most days. The physician signs his or her name on the work-out Rx with a request for a follow-up in a few months. So basically, "Walk two miles and call me in the morning." I think the idea is fantastic. We can all start filling our "prescriptions" at the local gym, high school track or Mother Nature. Maybe this, combined with new public health measures to tackle obesity and lousy eating habits, will mean less visits to the pharmacy for diabetes and high blood pressure medication.

Do you think such a "prescription for exercise" would help you stay on task or even start up an exercise program? Do you agree with the science showing diets don't work - or have you had great success with, say, Weight Watchers or the Zone (and if so, do you consider them more 'lifestyle changes' that diets'?)

Take care and hope you all enjoyed your weekends!
Leslie

Be a Victorias Secret Flight Attendant!

Yesterday I was shopping at VS for a bridal shower gift. I'll admit, I got a bit overwhelmed in the PINK! department, what with everything being so soft and cottony and downright rosy. But as I entered into the more risque section (you know, the newly revamped black walls, neon pink signage, undergarments with holes cut out over the tushy and mini ribbons sewn in, corset-like, across the butt-crack), I looked up to find quite possible the most horrifying outfit ever created by Vickie herself.

Worse than the hot pink Santa lingerie.

It's the new "Come Fly With Me" miniature 1960s flight attendants outfit.

The candy-colored, blue-and-turquoise get-up (God, I wish I had a picture for you but I don't) features a ruffled bra and panities, a little collared bolero jacket with "VS Wings" and buttons, a 3-inch long skirtlet, satin gloves, a garter belt and - wait, wait - a CAP. That fastens under your chin with velcro straps.

Somebody get me my paper barf bag, please! I'm all for playing a little dress up now and then but this is just ridonculous. For some reason it's rubbing me the wrong way - like it's some anti-feminist statement or something. Am I overreacting? Don't we already have a Hooters Airlines? I don't know why but I wanted to grab a big can of red paint and splash it all over the display like a woman wearing a full-length mink. Regardless, I literally whipped out my handheld and started typing notes right there in the stores so I could bring you the news right away. News you can use.

Ta ta!
Leslie

PS Water update: Last night, I went for a run to cure my raging PMS (and give my husband a mental health break) and when I got back, I drank an entire 8 ounces of water! Then, post-shower, I drank a frigging whole bottle of water. This is more H20 than I usually consume per week. My body revolted, cramping up and I even though I wanted chocolate SO badly, I couldn't eat anything. Woke up ravenous at 6am and been eating ever since. And SIPPING water :-)

Baby boomer body image

While speaking with women for Locker Room Diaries, I decided to dedicate a chapter to women in their 50s, 60s, 70s…I even spoke with a 91-year-old yoga instructor (some of you may recall my story of the wonderful Becky :-) Like caterpillars having spent their fair share of time working away in the cocoon of life, going through so many experiences and transitions, these mature women have finally emerged. Contrary to popular thought, they are the butterflies of the locker room, not the young ladies flitting about in their low-slung gym shorts and shrunken sorority baby tees. It just so happens that typically, when one “emerges” from any sort of womb, insect or human, she tends to be naked. And older women…well, in the locker room, they just always seem to be naked. And confident to boot. I wanted to learn from them.

Indeed, many of these women had phenomenal “to hell with it” attitudes – they loved their wrinkles and scars, which represented a life well lived, diseases fought (and won), children created and raised and much more. Others still struggled with body image concerns and even eating disorders. Below, in conjunction with the Today Show’s current segment on baby boomer fashion, I’ve decided to offer up some snippets of conversations I had with some of the women.

Harriet, 57; Public relations executive

“I am 57 and work out about three to four times per week. Body image has been an ongoing thorn in my side since way before puberty. Since I always considered myself ‘fat,’ working out has been an obsession for nearly 47 years.

Some kids used to say I had piano legs. Back in those days, girls weighed 110, 115. I was 125. But I was flexible – I could do backbends, stretches. Unfortunately, from those stupid comments, I saw myself as being very fat. Still do.
I started working out in junior high. At 16, I started swimming laps three times week. I kept that up until I was 50. My husband knew if I didn’t get my exercise routine in, I would be a menace to live with. The problem was, I never saw a change in my body. After a while, I’d add more on, like I would Rollerblade two miles to the pool, swim laps and then Rollerblade home. Still, nothing. But now that I’m in my 50s, I’ve come to realize it kept my body aerobically toned and in good health. Now I do the elliptical, lift weights and yoga – that’s made a big change. My muscles are more sculpted. So I guess you could say I started working out for vanity, but now the motivators have changed to both vanity and health. So I got to the same place for different reasons, but I am thankful I am here, nonetheless. Had I not worked out as much as I did throughout my life, I might be like other 57 year olds with myriad health problems.

One of my daughters is actually significantly overweight and it terrifies me. Not obese, but still. She used to be a stunningly beautiful girl when she lived in my house. I didn’t allow fast food and I made them exercise. But as soon as she went to college, all my efforts went down the drain. So now we’re doing Weight Watchers together.
Right now, I’m thinking of getting a face-lift, but you can’t work out for four weeks afterwards and that terrifies me. Actually, anytime there has been a threat of gaining weight, I become anxious. Like during pregnancy; I gained 45 pounds with each pregnancy, even though I worked out every day with both kids. Or if my husband wants to take me on a cruise; everyone knows you gain weight on a cruise. I guess you could say the possibility of getting bigger has been the primary motivator behind a lot of my choices in my life…

Looking back, the thought that I was obese at 125 pounds makes me laugh. Why did I think I was obese? My youngest daughter weighs a couple of pounds more than I did and we’re the same height and she has the most beautiful figure. I mean, she’s put together a little differently: Her weight is mostly in the bust and she has a slimmer legs and hips. But I still marvel at that. Sometime I look at this picture of myself as a young girl and think, wow, I based so many decisions in my life on the fear of gaining weight.”

Patty, 58; Lawyer, former ballerina

“I started studying ballet when I was younger than five and the belief was, the thinner your were, the more value you had. We learned how not to eat and we did it because we wanted to be prima ballerina. The older girls taught each other how to purge or be anorexic. It was a secret society.

For me, the eating stuff began when I was nine or 10 and started dancing on pointe shoes. You wanted to be the star. I danced until I was 47, keeping active with lessons and in companies. The actual eating disorder didn’t stay that long, but I’ve always had eating issues, and I’ve always been able to spot them. I remember in my 30s, one of the dance companies had hired a new dancer and during a performance, she started shaking. My husband and I were in the audience and I leaned over and whispered ‘That’s an amphetamine shake.” He asked, ‘Well, how do you know?’ It’s because I took them. At the time we called them diet pills. The physicians prescribed them to us. I was 5’2”, weighed 90 pounds soaking wet and thought I was fat…

Even now, at 105 pounds, I wear a size 2, sometimes a 4, and the littlest bit of change makes me wonder – am I getting fat? That’s hard for me to admit. I try to eat very sensibly. I will never put donuts in my mouth. Maybe it’s the thought of being overweight – I don’t think it will ever end for me. I want to be healthy but I don’t think it will be ‘healthy’ in the medical profession sense… ‘healthy’ will always be too fat for me.

My daughter knows about my past. I felt if I hid it from her, it would be disastrous. I wanted her to know that when we danced, it wasn’t the best culture for body image. And I am able to look at other women who aren’t stick thin and appreciate their beauty. So how come I can’t be happy with myself? So I’ve always tried to instill lessons in my daughter like make sure you have good girlfriends for support, make sure you have people you trust, and always have someone to tell you that you look gorgeous.”

Pat Brown, 64; President, American Association for Nude Recreation

“I’ve had three kids. I have sagging skin from losing a lot of weight at one point and I had a breast reduction. But I feel comfortable in it because I feel it’s representative of bodies everywhere and after all, my body isn’t Pat. Pat is what’s inside. It’s like my husband says, it’s the only one I have and I’ve got lots of other things to do with my life other than obsess about a perfect body. Like when I’m out in the garden, working in the nude – I feel at one with earth. I feel a part of that garden. We have an outdoor shower and I love it for the same reason – it is so wonderful to shower beneath the trees with no walls, like being in a waterfall. At those moments, what my body looks like…I don’t want to say I’m oblivious because I’m healthy, I exercise, I eat a healthy diet, but it’s not all that’s on my mind.”

Let's talk about Becks, baby

Let’s dish about guys’ bodies for a second, shall we?

A new study out of UCLA has found that big, brawny, muscular young men are likely to have more sex partners than their less-chiseled counterparts. Apparently, the researchers say, women are somehow predisposed to be attracted to buff men. They compare it to peacocks (ahem) – biceps and quads are like bright turquoise and royal blue feathers, calling out to us with their studliness and potential in bed.

I don’t know about you, but when I think of heavily muscled men, I think of Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime or those guys on the cover of the crazy fitness magazines, veins bulging out. Or the TLC show about the man whose biceps exploded. I feel like sex with those men would be excessively sweaty and have to involve mirrors so they could admire their glutes.

Then there are the guys who have just the right amount of bulk. Nick Lachey, anyone? David Beckham. Mario Lopez. Josh Duhamel. Taye Diggs. (As an aside, I also think Matthew McConaughey is too hairless and his arms are way too short for his torso, so I have to disagree with People Magazine.)

But here’s where the study, published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, gets interesting: While ladies were found to be more physically attracted to muscle-y men, it tended to be for a fling. When it came down to finding a long-term partner, we typically want a regular Joe. The brawny men raise our suspicions regarding their ability to settle down.

Adrian Grenier, are you listening?

Ladies, did I leave anyone out?

Is that a barbell in your pocket or are you just happy to see my white sports bra?

So, I'm working out on the Elliptical machine yesterday in my gym. The AC is broken and it is frigging HOT. I think I went through four towels - no surprise considering it was 90 degrees outside and with everyone letting off steam in the cardio room, it was a veritable sauna. But I felt good. Energized. Accomplished.

Wipe down the machine, toss the towels, grab a dry one for crunches and a guy I kinda know says hello to me. I usually keep to myself at my gym but know a few people (especially the women, considering that's where I researched and wrote my book) but whatever - I said hi back. Over to the stretching area. Another guy smiles at me. Um, OK.

Crunch, crunch, flip over to do push ups. Two women stare at me as if I just killed their favorite kitten. What is going on?

I walk down to the bar/smoothie area which leads towards my locker room and a rush of kids run past me, creating a breeze. Considering the fact my tank top/sportsbra is soaking wet with sweat and this is the first temperature drop I've experienced in an hour, you can guess what happens. I look down and realize the likely source of my sudden surge in popularity with the men (and why those ladies were shooting daggers at me). Sure enough, as I round the corner to the locker room, I look in the mirror and staring back at me is a 5'10" walking advertisement for What Not To Wear When You Work Out. My brand new white (yes) tank top/sportsbra combo was...how can I say this...as clear as Saran Wrap. We're talking full-on nipples, areolas, belly-button - I think you may have been able to see the chicken pox scar on my collarbone from sixth grade. Sweet.

I just flashed my entire gym.

The Undies are here!

The Emmys, the Tonys, the Razzies - awards exist for practically everything out there. So I guess it should come as no surprise that there are now annual awards for women's undergarments. But take solace, my friends! These winners come to us, the result of nearly 13,000 votes cast by women of all shapes and sizes nationwide. Without further ado, I present...

The 2007 Undie Award Winners:

BRAS

* Best overall bra: Wonderbra 7234 Gel Satin Push-Up Bra (average) & Le Mystere 9955 Renaissance Tisha Bra (full)
* Best sports bra: Champion 2893 Double Dry Seamless Sports Bra (average); Enell 100 Sport Bra (full); Judges' Winners: Natori 34439 Sports Bra & Lunaire 11111 Coolmax Underwire Sports Bra
* Best strapless bra: Maidenform 7955 One Fabulous Strapless Bra (average); Wacoal 85485 Bodysuede Strapless Bra (full); Judges' Winners: Simone Perele 3050 Sunlight Strapless Convertible Bra (average) & Goddess 391 Cantilevered Strapless Bra (full)
* Best T-shirt bra: Calvin Klein F2540 Perfectly Fit T-Shirt Bra (average); Le Mystere 9955 Renaissance Tisha Bra (full); Judges' Winners: Chantelle 2895 Body Sculpt T-Shirt Underwire Bra (average) & Fantasie of England 4510 Smoothing T-Shirt Bra (full)
* Best minimizer bra: Wacoal 85154 Seamless Minimizer Bra; Judges' Winners: Simone Perele 103380 Nilla Minimizer Bra
* Best push-up bra: Wonderbra 7234 Gel Satin Push Up Bra (average); Judges' Winners: Felina 6502 Hint Of Skin Push Up Bra

PANTIES

* Best overall panty: Hanky Panky Thong
* Best Brief: Olga 873 Secret Hug Nylon Scoop Full Brief (regular cut); Bali 2144 Lacy Skamp Hikini Brief (high cut); Judges' Winners: OnGossamer 3012 Mesh Hi-Cut Brief
* Best Bikini: BarelyThere 2546 Flirtatious Bikini; Judges' Winner: DKNY 478574 Stretch cotton and lace low rise bikini
* Best Thong: Hanky Panky Thongs; Judges' Winners: Calvin Klein D22220 Seamless Thong
* Best Boy Short: BarelyThere 2855 Flawless Fit Boyshort; Judges' Winner: Honey Dew 931 Low Rise Fishnet Boyshort With Lace Trim
* Best G-String: La Perla 2353 Sexy Town G-String; Judges' Winner: La Mystere 855 Y-Not G-String

SHAPEWEAR

* Best overall shapewear: Spanx 004 Power Panties with Tummy Control; Judges' Winner: Nancy Ganz 3310 Body Shaping Camisole

Personally, I love Hanky Panky thongs but have found knock-offs at The Gap for much less. I did see a very nice push-up bra among the winners (this one). If you're interested in seeing all of the winners, click on the bra I just mentioned and then click on the little "Undie Winner" icon and you'll see all of the first place Undies! Yay!

Thanks to iVillage blog The Fashionator for the tip-off!

I am so dehydrated

I drink so little water, it's disgusting. You always hear, "Eight glasses a day! Eight glasses a day!" Um, yeah, I'm lucky if I can choke back ONE full glass a day, and I'm not even kidding. I do eat a lot of watermelon as well as assorted fruits and vegetables, which contain liquid, plus a diet Sprite. Oh, I always have oatmeal, which need water, and I eat lots of cereal, so skim milk has to count for something. And then when I work out, I schvitz up such a storm that I absolutely need about two cups of H20 to get me through. But as for being the fit girl who carries around a bottle of water and sips from it all day? No.

I was just reading over at Back in Skinny Jeans that the amount of water I'm supposed to downing can be calculated by taking my weight and dividing it in half...that equals the number of ounces I should be gulping. So if you weigh 150 lbs. / 2 = 75 ounces. Yeah...I likely get about half that total, plus I salt everything from seafood to salad.

There was one point where I got on a hydration kick - I went to get my first and only colon cleansing (for an article, OK?) and as the woman started, um, filling me up, I was actually really excited to see all the "toxins" come flowing out of me. But guess what? My poor body was so chronically dehydrated that after pumping my intestines with something like a liter full of water...nothing happened. Nada. My system was so starved for liquids that it held onto every last drop. Not only did this make the entire colonic experience rather unpleasant for me, but it scared me into drinking a bottle or two of water a day - a step made much easier with those little Crystal Light to go packs, I found.

That lasted for about a week. Now I hear we're on the verge of a bottled water backlash and even with Jennifer Aniston toting around her SmartWater, I fear I'll never be able to change.

Anyone have any tips? I tried the sliced cucumbers in a pitcher thing and it's tasty but I just don't see myself doing it. The Crystal Light thing is my best bey, I think...I just need some kind of motivation to get me to drink everyday. How do you hydrators do it???

Sorry I've been gone...

I was in beautiful 96 degree Delray Beach, Florida this weekend for my grandfather's 90th birthday. Yes, 90 years - can you imagine? The whole fam joined together for early-bird dinner celebrations and late-night bonding with my cousins, who I don't get to see very often. I promise to write soon - hope you all had great weekends...

x,
Leslie

PS Why is there NEVER anything decent to eat at the airport? Today, at Ft. Lauderdale, I had the following options: Dunkin' Donuts, Uno's Pizza, or some place called Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger! I noshed on an apple from the hotel and yearned longingly for a McDonald's Fruit and Yogurt Parfait, my airport staple....

Come here and gimme a Kiss

I am ridiculously pleased to announce breaking news from the Journal of the American Medical Association that the amount of chocolate found in one and a half Hershey’s Kisses can lower your blood pressure.

Before you start overwhelming me with fan mail, allow me to clarify that this is news that can be seen from two different viewpoints, and we chocoholics must look at it from a low-fat-milkshake-is-half-full perspective. One the one hand, sadly, it’s not a license to order that Dark Chocolate Orgasm dessert beckoning from the fancy schmancy menu, using the old “It’s got antioxidants!” reasoning. But on the other hand, it does mean you can indulge your sweet tooth, even while watching your waistline. Here’s the deal:

Researchers from the University of Cologne in Germany recruited volunteers (rough job) to eat a square of German dark chocolate (a candy bar called Ritter Sport) daily for almost five months. The amount was equivalent to about 1.5 Hershey's Kisses. Volunteers who ate that amount wound up with lower blood pressure scores than those who ate white chocolate (which isn’t even chocolate, technically, but is frigging delish nonetheless.) It’s thought that the active ingredient is cocoa, rich with flavanols - plant-based compounds which you may know for giving red wine its heart-healthy benefits.

The study was small, so more research is needed. Scientists, please feel free to contact me through iVillage and the Weighting Game blog. Although, in full disclosure, I was just at the doctor’s office and my BP was 90/60 or something crazily low like that which, as perversely pleasing as that may be (I eat more sodium than a deer at a salt lick), would likely disqualify me.

Enjoy your one-and-a-half kisses, everyone! Do it for science.

Happy 4th!

I hope you all are off somewhere fun, relaxing, eating corn on the cob and watermelon and something yummy sandwiched between a toasted bun and enjoying this mid-week day off (and celebrating the birth of our country!)

xo,
Leslie

Paciugo! Gezhundheit!

One of the fun perks of being a health writer is coming home and finding little treats awaiting you in your mailbox. Some days, that treat may be a vitamin-infused lip gloss; others, a double-stranded pearl thong (don't ask). But I have to admit, I am really enjoying this delicious gelato - fat-free, mind you, so it's more like sorbet - from a company called Paciugo. They sent me a bunch of quirky, crazy flavors, like Mango Cucumber, Banana Beet and Strawberry Celery. Despite the fact I have body lotions in similar scents, they taste refreshingly good. Like the Strawberry Celery...at first it's just like homemade berry ice, but then you let it linger on your tongue and it's like, Whoa! Celery! But just a smidge. Plus, they're packed with vitamins so I feel slightly more virtuous gobbling down a bowlful (ok, fine, I 've been eating it straight from the styrofoam carton) than, say, Edy's Mint Chocolate-Chip.

While I'm on the topic of food being send to my house, ChefsDiet has me in a love/hate relationship with their baked donuts. I'm not a pastry person, but dear Lord! These babies taste like the real thing and two dozen of them arrived, slightly melted so I HAD to lick the marble icing off. I mean, I kind of had to. Only four grams of fat each. If only companies would order these instead of the full-fat varieties for morning meetings...

OK, that's enough shameless corporate shilling for me today. If you know of an unusual but healthy treat and want to share, by all means go ahead.

Oh, PS, I am in a giant tizzy over FruitFlowers edible arrangements. Daisies made of pineapple and strawberry? Sign me up! If only someone would send me one...sigh.

And the answer is...

For those of you who replied to my pop-quiz about the ad modeled after that iconic, rose petal-filled American Beauty image, I have an answer for you.

Although you may not like it.

One in a series of Brazilian advertisements for yogurt, the ad translated reads:

"Forget about it. Men’s preference will never change. Fit Light Yogurt."

So for those of you who thought she was a beautiful woman with sparkling eyes, you were right. For those of you who thought she seemed confident and sexy, I agree. I also believe she was likely touched up. However, I wonder if she was made aware of the horrifying, misogynistic tagline which would be accompnaying her pictorial. Who the hell does this company think they are, insinuating that women need their product to appeal to men, to fill their every want and need? It make me rather sick, actually. Putting aside the whole "Is she healthy/a bit over her ideal weight" discussion that some people might bring up (and honestly, she looks so radiant and happy, swimming in the red roses, I can't help but believe this woman is a professonal model who takes care of herself and simply isn't stick thin), the fact remains that this ad must have made it through a series of approvals before hitting the market. Many, many people said, "Yes! Great idea! Degrade women!" (Besides this one, there are two others, one mocking Sharon Stone from Basic Instinct and one Marilyn Monroe from Some Like It Hot.)

Looks like it's not just our society that has messed up ideals.

American Beauty

It's Monday everyone - pop quiz time!

Tell me what you think of the woman in this ad (NOTE: potentially NSFW but no nudity) and then I'll tell you what the advertisers WANT you to think.

Talk soon,
Les