Mar 20, 2012

Nothing Tastes As Good As Skinny Feels. Except, Maybe Bacon.

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I’ve been on Pinterest for a while now. I love it. It’s addictive. I have boards for projects around the house I’d love to do someday, healthy recipes, not so healthy recipes, beautiful artwork, fun stuff to do with the kids, clothes, hair, makeup…the possibilities are endless. I’ve even seen some writers use it for brainstorming settings and character sketching (something I’d like to try).

But I’ve also noticed something rather disturbing. Something that made me shrug the first time I noticed it. But it kept popping up, and it kept getting more unsettling. It had me shaking my head, wondering if I was looking at magazine clippings taped to the refrigerator at a sorority house full of anorexics. Even more disturbing? The authors of a lot of these boards are young. Like, really young.

I’m talking about Thinspo. Short for Thinspiration. Now, don’t get me wrong, some of the people that are pinning these Thinspo pics are posting things like workout tips, lists of the healthiest vegtables and fruits, or inspirational quotes about perseverance. All good things, especially for someone who wants to make a change in their life to be healthy. But the majority of what I see are pictures of other women, of a goal to reach. I want to look like this person! I want to have abs like this! Which isn’t a totally bad thing, unless the pictures you’re admiring look like this:

ImageImageImage

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being naturally thin. I think you should embrace your body type, and work hard to stay healthy. As someone who loves to promote a healthy body image, I find the fact that these images are what these girls are striving for, heartbreaking. I read a quote on a board that said, “Don’t stop until you’re proud.” Seems like a good sentiment, but when your goal is to have all your ribs showing, there’s a problem.

Here are a more articles about the Thinspo boards at meetsobsession.com and Jezebel.

This is nothing new, just a new place to put it publicly. Proof that the fight to teach girls to love themselves and their bodies is never over. What are your thoughts?

Filed Under: Health and Fitness · Tagged: , , , , , , ,
Feb 29, 2012

Why You (and by you, I mean me) Can’t Stick To Your New Year’s Resolution

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Okay, it’s time to face it. I’ve had nearly two months of separation from my initial post-new-year’s-resolution bliss. So have you. How’s that going for you? Well, my guess is, about the same as it’s going for me. It’s been two weeks since I lost a single pound, and this week, I’ve yet to work out (not to mention the cookies I made yesterday). I started out strong. But at this point, most of us have either lost steam, or have jumped ship altogether. So, why can’t we stick to our resolutions?

Because. We’ve set ourselves up for failure.

We say, “I’m going to lose twenty pounds in two months!” when we’ve been hitting the drive-thru five nights a week for the last six months. We say, “I’m going to exercise everyday!” when we haven’t seen the inside of a gym in years. Or we commit ourselves to a crazy fad diet, vowing to cut out entire food groups. Lifestyle changes don’t happen overnight. It’s silly of us to expect them to, but year after year, we do this to ourselves. Worse than that, when we fail, we beat ourselves up over it. As if it’s your own fault for not being able to change your whole life overnight!

I started out setting two simple goals for myself, but as I started to see success, I got a little too excited. My number one goal was to get back to exercise. My other goal was to eat healthy. Not in a diety kind of way, or a “I’m not gonna eat carbs ‘til I’m a size two” kind of way. Just a reasonable, low calorie diet that still includes the foods I love. Except, as the weeks went by, I started telling myself to do more. Here’s a sample conversation with myself:

Crazy Me: “What are you doing, lazy ass? TV is for fat people. GET UP!”

Reasonable Me: “But, I’m tired. Plus, I’ve already worked out four times this week and my knee is a little sore–”

Crazy Me: “Stop being a loser!”

Another sample conversation with myself:

Crazy Me: “Chinese food?? You’re seriously ordering Chinese food? WTF is wrong with you?”

Reasonable Me: “I didn’t have time to get to the store so I could make dinner. And I hate dragging the kids to the grocery store. They yell at me to get the gigantic “racecar” cart even though it’s impossible to steer, and then pull each other’s hair while some old lady tells me to cherish these precious moments and I resist the urge to punch her in throat. Besides, I’m not ordering the fried stuff–”

Crazy Me: “PUT THE FORK DOWN, FATTY!”

So…when Crazy Me yells at me, I get mad…and I get even.

Used To Be Reasonable Me: “Oh, yeah, Crazy Me? F*ck off. And watch me eat all these egg rolls. Mmmmm…they’re soooo good. You like that, Crazy Me? Huh? Here, have one…”

We can all relate, right? (No? What’s that you say? I should be locked up in the looney bin?) Well, now I’m trying to get back to the land of Reasonable Me, and remember my initial goals. My nice, simple, easy to stick to goals.

1. Cook a healthy meal (with enough for leftovers) three nights a week. And stop feeling like I have to cook an elaborate Biggest-Loser-worthy meal every night. Don’t make it too hard. Just keep the meals simple. And when I eat out, look for reasonable options (hint: steering clear of the words “deep fried” should work wonders.)

2. Work out 3-5 times a week, and DO NOT let Crazy Me take over, otherwise I’ll get overwhelmed and burned out. Because, hey…working out is supposed to be fun! And it is!

I know, I know. Some of you are sneering at me right now. “Um, Sharon…I’d rather chew off my own arm than go to the gym.” Here’s what made the biggest difference for me: finding a program that I could actually enjoy. If you like music, find a dance based program. If you like sports, get a group together and play basketball or volleyball. And if (for some reason I will never understand) you like running, find a group of friends you can go with or make a killer playlist. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. And keep it fun!

So that’s what I’m trying to do from here on out. Take the pressure off of myself. I may not lose twenty pounds in two months, but I’ll be more likely to keep this up all year. If I can do that, I just might reach that weight loss goal, instead of beating myself up for failing. Sounds better, doesn’t it? Wish me luck. (And, again, please don’t call the looney bin to come pick me up until AFTER I finish writing my new novel. Thanks.)

Filed Under: Health and Fitness · Tagged: , , , , ,
Jun 27, 2011

On YA: In Defense of my Fellow Writers

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If you’ve been to the bookstore lately, here is a scene you may have come across. While browsing for the latest bestseller with your latte in hand, you look up to see a grown woman sprawled out on the floor with piles of books around her, blocking the way through the “Teen” section with a double stroller. You walk over to take a closer look at the crazy lady and realize, “Hey! I know her!” Yeah. It’s me.

While I read a wide range of books (mysteries, thrillers, literary, chick-lit, romance, fantasy, paranormal, and lots more), I love YA like I love chocolate (that’s A LOT), so I felt the need to stand up for my fellow writers whose genre has been the recipient of some bad press lately (read, bullsh*t).

For those who scoff at my choice of reading material, I’d like to point out to you that while it may be literature written for people of smaller stature and cup size, it is, in fact, still literature. It’s not literature “dumbed-down.” Stories don’t lose credibility just because they’re about or told by someone who hasn‘t finished going through puberty. Just ask E.B. White, Louis Lowery, or C.S. Lewis.

I think the appeal for YA books is obvious. If a kid picks up a book and the first 50 pages are boring as hell, the kid is not going to keep reading. YA books HAVE to be engaging. They must have a compelling story, well developed and lovable characters, lots of attention to narrative, and a sense of wonder. The result is that they have that delicious can’t-put-it-down thing going on.The quality is in no way affected by the fact that they’re aimed at a younger audience.

It takes a special talent to be able to write for younger audiences. A recent article I read (that shall not be named) implied that writing YA was a step down from writing for adults. I would argue the other way around. And tell them to suck it.

Apologies to those of you who’ve heard me make this rant before.

Filed Under: Books and Writing · Tagged: , , , , ,