Gaiam Total Body Balance Ball Kit

Okay, I know I said all you need to lose weight is walking. I didn’t lie! There are plenty of other tools out there that can you help you in your weight loss journey. And I picked a balance ball kit. I’m basically trying to take advantage of all the time I spend stationed in front of the TV by sitting on a balance ball instead of the couch. It gives you a nice little ab workout, so I’ve heard, so I’m going to give it a try! Couldn’t hurt, right?

Primo Digital Scale

I’ve wanted a kitchen scale for a while now, so I figured it was time to go ahead and ask for one. This will really come in handy for measuring food that has its serving size in ounces or grams, because up until now I’ve just been guessing. Which I think isn’t helping my weight loss efforts any. I also want it for baking, because I know some recipes call for really specific measuring.

The High Step

I swear I’m not trying to bring the 80′s back. But let’s face it, there really aren’t many workouts more effective than walking up the stairs. This is another tool I’m hoping to negate my couch potato-ness with. I doubt I’ll ever make it up to the highest step because I’m just not coordinated enough. But I definitely think it will be harder to avoid working out if I have this baby next to the couch.

So there you have it, my complete weightloss Christmas list. And here’s a gift for all you 90′s kids out there.

Merry Christmas, readers!

All I really want for Christmas is Marias Carey’s singing voice. And to be able to fit into those cute skinny jeans that I bought this spring. So this year, I’ve asked for almost all weightloss related gifts. Exciting? Not exactly. Practical? You’re darned tootin’. Here’s what I’m asking for this year to keep my eating in check:

Flavor First

This cookbook by Cheryl Forberg offers all-natural, low calorie recipes for girls like me who want to make healthy choices but aren’t 100% comfortable in the kitchen yet. I know her recipes aren’t all vegetarian, I actually put this one on my list before I made the switch. I’m hoping I can find some veg-friendly meals or at least adapt some to my tastes. I’m hoping to use this for some easy every day meals to keep myself on the right track weightloss wise!

Happy Herbivore

This vegan cookbook comes from Lindsay Nixon, who runs the blog of the same name. Her whole thing is planning out low fat, vegan meals, so I’m looking forward to reading this book. I already read her blog (and am still planning on making some of those pumpkin cookies), so I think I’m definitely going to enjoy trying out some new recipes.

Super Natural Every Day

This one is from Heidi Swanson, who writes one of my favorite blogs, 101 Cookbooks. She also focuses on all natural foods, and is a vegetarian, but her recipes include eggs and dairy (which my cheese-loving self much appreciates). I expect to find more classics here that I’ll come back to time and time again. Maybe I can even get the SB to eat some.

Check in tomorrow to see what other tools I’m wishing for this Christmas!

First of all, if you’re a vegetarian and not reading Dana Treat, you need to start immediately. I recently stumbled upon her blog and have already read almost a year’s worth of posts in the past two days. Her recipes look delicious (definitely going to make some of her Cheddar Crackers some time soon!) and her posts about her life are also interesting and amusing.

Anyway, in my shameless scouring of her blog, I found her post “This Vegetarian’s Dilemma.” To sum up the main points, she’s disappointed in the way that most peoples’ view of vegetarianism is “stuck in the ’70s,” with people assuming we’re all hippies drinking juiced wheat grass and looking down our noses at all the omnis out there (okay, I added that last part, but it’s true!). She also touched on how hard it is to be a vegetarian foodie. There are some great food blogs out there, but it is very difficult to find strictly vegetarian ones. For some reason, people are more excited by bison ragout than vegetarian three bean chili.

What she wrote really resonated with me. As I’ve mentioned, I did maintain a vegetarian lifestyle for a little over a year in high school and ended up eating meat again just to avoid the ridicule and assumptions I got from a lot of my friends. It’s unfortunate that people think just because I choose not to eat meat that I look down upon others who don’t. I don’t care if other people eat meat. I date a guy whose main food groups are chicken fingers, hot dogs and pepperoni. I’m not going to force my opinions and preferences on him. I’m perfectly content grilling his beef burger next to my black bean. As my dad tells people, “I’m not a vegetarian, I just don’t eat meat.” For some reason vegetarian has become synonymous with “I’m a hippie jerkface who hates you for eating animals and am going to do everything in my power to make you feel terrible for nomming on that cow between your hamburger buns.”

I think I deviated a bit from what Dana was talking about, but I still really like what she says in that post. There’s nothing wrong with eating a meal without meat in it, even if you are an omnivore. I enjoyed my acorn squash on Thanksgiving just as much as all the turkey eaters in the room. I’m happy with my new lifestyle (take two), and think this time around will be a lot easier than when I was sixteen.

Are any of you vegetarians out there struggling with these problems? Anyone else obsessed with Dana Treat?

Every year, I face the challenge of controlling myself over the course of the two Thanksgiving dinners I have – mine and the BF’s. To the strong-willed, this would be no problem. But place that plate of turkey and mashed potatoes in front of me a second time and, even as my stomach is about to burst, I just can’t resist.

I think what saved me this year was my recent return to vegetarianism. I know turkey is a fairly low-cal option, but it’s not just the turkey that I refused this year. At my Nana’s (Thanksgiving round one), I didn’t have the stuffing, gravy or any rolls (not a vegetarian problem, but still significant). I made sure to pile my plate with veggies, and only went back for seconds to get more of my stuffed acorn squash. I even managed to restrain myself at Mike’s, where I had a second plate but only indulged in a small piece of ice cream pie (come on, irresistible) and a pizzelle for desert.

I will admit that things got a little hairy at my friend’s house later, where I had a string cheese, a Babybell cheese thing, some Chex Mix and a piece of blueberry pie with ice cream.

But I didn’t puke! So it’s all okay.

How did you do this Thanksgiving? Any other strong-willed ladies out there dealing with multiple dinners?

Okay, I will look back, but only to explain why I stopped eating meat. And then started eating it again.

Sophomore year of high school, I made the decision to stop eating animals. A veggie friend of mine sent me a terrible PETA video of animals being slaughtered (you know the ones), and I immediately made the decision to switch. Thankfully, my dad has been a vegetarian for almost forty years, so the transition wasn’t that difficult at first. I grew up with Morningstar Farms and Tofu Pups, so vegetarian food wasn’t as scary to me as it may be to others. Unfortunately, I forgot that I was a high school girl and wasn’t prepared for the barrage of crap I would endure from my friends. Yes, you all know who you are. The ones who ridiculed me incessantly, rubbed pepperoni on my cheese and crackers (never living that one down, mister) and just generally made my vegetarian life miserable.

It’s a hard world for a veggie. People assume that when you decide to stop eating meat, you’re going to start lecturing them on why they should do the same. I can assure you I did no such thing. Again, I grew up with my dad, the least vegetarian vegetarian on the face of the planet. I decided to stop eating meat because it’s what felt right to me. I could care less if those around me disagree, as long as they let me go about my life, as I let them go about theirs.

Needless to say, I was only able to keep it up for about a year. A mission trip to Mississippi, where the only food I could eat was PB&J and salads with ranch dressing, didn’t help either. By the end of that week, fried chicken looked pretty damned delicious.

So, here I am five years later, officially cutting meat out of my life. For good this time. I’ve made a commitment to myself to get healthy, and I think this move is essential in that mission. My body can’t be healthy if my mind isn’t, and I know I’ll feel better about myself and my choices when I cut meat out again. I’m sure this is the right choice for me, and I think now that we’re all more mature and open-minded (ha ha) it should be a bit easier this time around.

For right now, I’m going ovo-lacto, but the jury’s still out on whether it’ll stay that way. I’m not going to lie, I love me some cheese. I’m just going to be conscious of where my dairy and eggs come from. There are plenty of local farms that sell cage-free eggs and humanely produced milk. I just need to convince myself the extra five dollars a shopping trip are worth it.

So that’s that. I’m back in veggie-land, and so far I’m loving it. I’m not going to miss that turkey on Thanksgiving, and I can still going to Raising Cane’s. I’ll just have to get fries and sauce. And that’s okay with me.

Any other newly reformed vegetarians out there?

It makes me wonder the kind of impact a dieting mom could have on a young daughter. I know Tyra has talked about that stuff before, but I think it’s not being talked about enough. I was a little girl once, and I know how hard it can be to be even a little bit overweight. Add a parental figure, especially a mom, who’s constantly dieting, and you could have a recipe for disaster.

My mom has dieted on and off throughout the course of my life, but I don’t think that really had an impact on me as far as my weight. A lot of my motivation came from the treatment I got from friends and classmates. If anything, it was empowering to have her as an ally (we did Weight Watchers together my freshman year of high school).

I’m not saying moms shouldn’t diet when they have kids. I just think we need to be mindful of how our own choices affect the younger ones in our family. I never thought twice about talking about calories or watching my weight around my brothers. But it’s obviously made an impression on them.

Children are already vulnerable enough. I know kids can have weight problems (which I’ve solved), but as parents and siblings I think it’s our job to just be more mindful of how our actions impact others.

Has anyone else had similar experiences with the children in their families?

Let me start out by saying I love my boyfriend. We’ve been together for over three years now, and it’s been fantastic. Fantastic despite the scary fifteen pounts that have come and gone over the course of our relationship. I’m not saying I blame him for the love handles — he’s just not exactly helping the situation.

Allow me to explain. On a typical Monday or Wednesday night, we commute home together after school (I’m a baby, my mom is crazy, I’m not allowed in the T garage after dark). I appreciate the fact that we get to see each other, because with our class schedules and homework and internships and everything else, it can be difficult sometimes to find the time. The only problem is, when we are together, I lose all self control when it comes to food.

When I’m by myself, I usually don’t eat after dinner. I’ll have my sensible meal around 6:30 or 7, maybe indulge in a cookie or candy, and that’s it. I don’t even think about food. When I’m with the BF, however, all that sensibility disappears. You see, he and I operate on completely different eating schedules. I like breakfast, and always eat something before 10. He can’t eat anything before at least noon. You see where this is going? He eats his three meals, but they time themselves out at like 12:30, 7 and around midnight. I eat my normal three meals at around 10, 2 and 7. Again, on days when we don’t see each other this wouldn’t matter. But when we’re sitting on the couch together and he’s having his 11:30 dinner of Taco Bell and Wendy’s (yes, that happened), I can’t help but join him.

So, I essentially end up eating four meals to his three. Maybe that’s how he stays so skinny? It seems like he’s eating more in the day, but when you think about it, he’s really not.

Epiphany!

How many girls out there face a similar problem with their SB?

In the grander scheme of things, there are going to be times when a pizza is a healthier choice than another menu item. If you have some extra time and a little kitchen ambition, it can be made even healthier at home. Here are a couple reasons why I think people should cut the pizza a little slack and grab a slice:

1. You can choose the toppings — Sure, a meat lover’s pizza with pepperoni, bacon, ham and any other artery-clogging animal you can find isn’t the best choice. But you can get in a whole day’s worth of veggies on a pizza. Try it with spinach, roasted veggies like zucchini or squash, mushrooms and some onions and you have a delicious meal with some good nutrition.
2. You control how much cheese is on it – If you’re like me, you probably love those hot globs of cheese on your slice. Thankfully, you can do yourself a favor and opt for a lighter layer and save yourself some major calories.
3. You can choose a whole wheat crust – I promise it won’t taste like cardboard. Choosing a whole wheat crust can give you some extra fiber and make you feel a little better about what you’re eating. If you’re not up to making the crust yourself, you can buy a pre-made version at most stores. Most restaurants are also starting to get on the whole wheat bandwagon (Uno’s and Bertucci’s, to name a few).
4. Tomato sauce – I’m not saying I agree with Congress, but not matter what pizza you choose, you’re always getting a small dose of veggies in the tomato sauce. Unless of course you choose a white pizza or something.

So there are a few reasons why I think we need to give pizza a second chance. Again, I’m not saying we need to put it on the pyramid next to broccoli, but pizza can be a sensible option as long as you’re conscious of what you’re putting on it.

Any other pizza defenders out there?

Unfortunately, a majority of that stuff is just plain bad for you. Let’s face it, you’re better off eating a mcnugget from McDonald’s than you are eating a salad at Panera. It’s really just ridiculous.

 vs.

The BF and I eat a heinous amount of fast food. I will say that he’s a worse offender than I, but I still eat my fair share. And part of his share, too. I just have a very hard time saying no to Wendy’s. At least their fries are all natural? I know I’m not alone out there! Maybe I’ll make my New Year’s resolution to only eat out once a month.

…Okay yeah, not going to happen. But I’m still trying to make an effort to stop eating the stuff. At least not as much as I have been.

Has anyone out there successfully cut fast food out of their lives?

LEONARDO DICAPRIO!

Seriously, that has to be a joke. Right? I mean come on! That man is gorgeous! (Sorry Mike!) The writer of the article, whose name escapes me, basically said he has fat cheeks. Fat. Cheeks. I’m sorry, but if I still look like the female equivalent of that at 37, it will be a miracle. I just can’t even believe anyone could look at that face and say he has let himself go.

I think this all really speaks to the incredibly unattainable standards society holds us to. I understand he’s a public figure, and as such is held to slightly higher standards, but that is just plain ridiculous. Until people start realizing that, I have some seriously pessimistic thoughts about the future of our country.

And you guys thought I was mad about the Mischa Barton thing…