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Omigod.
So last night, after dinner, my friend Chris ordered strawberry shortcake and when it arrived at the table, I lit up on the inside and in my head, let out a shriek of glee.
For it was not your traditional shortcake, friends. It was, in fact, FRENCH TOAST:
COME ON! Who says dreams don't come true?
(FYI - I only had a bite but it was enough. I was delighted.)
Ok, now I'm no nutritional or physical expert but if Karolina Kurkova is being called "fat," then I am life-threateningly-obese, right? I mean, who ARE these idiots?
And is she in better shape in old photos then she is now? Sure. Would I still kill a hobo to look like her in ANY year? Yes.
The author of the article claims, in conclusion, that for as much as she earns, it should not be such a sturggle to stay toned. That this is her job. And frankly, I see his point and actually agree. However more than that, I think that when we, as society or as the media start lambasting MODELS for being FAT, we are sending out a bad message. To the model who, let's face it, probably has or had an eating disorder; to the industry; and to people who look up to these girls.
My point is, I think, is that there has to be a better way.
Read on and weigh in....
Is Victoria's Secret model Karolina Kurkova fat? You decide!
Fashion critics have blasted model Karolina Kurkova for looking too fat in a bikini.
Seriously.
The Czech model wore a bikini in a recent Cia Maritima runway show and revealed what the horrified style snobs called "back fat, love handles and cellulite."
Karolina Kurkova, 24, is one of the highest-earning models in the world, according to Forbes, and is best known for being a Victoria's Secret Angel and whose super-fit physique has graced the pages of international fashion mags.
But after the show during Sao Paulo's Fashion Week, a Brazilian paper noted that the leggy 5-foot-11 Kurkova "shocked" the audience when she appeared looking uncharacteristically chubby with "cellulite on her butt."
Boy, these fashion critics are harsh!
That said, let's compare how Karolina looked in this year's show to how she looked modeling a bikini in the 2006 Cia Maritima show. Then you decide if the critics are crazy. Or just reallyreallyreally picky.
To our eyes, it does appear that Karolina is a bit more toned and trim in the runway shots taken in 2006. But is she fat now? Not a chance. Curvy? Absolutely!
Still, don't feel too sorry for the poor maligned beauty. According to Forbes, the supermodel earns $5 million a year with this bod.
Call me crazy, but if your figure's earning those kind of figures, how hard is it to stay fighting fit? Isn't that your job?
source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedishrag/2008/06/is-victorias-se.html
I hope this finds you all well. I am experiencing a minor problem tonight. And I thought if I wrote about it, it would somehow cleanse me of the burden. We shall see.
I was reading a friend's blog and clicked on a link where as I spotted the ad on the left.
Holy CRAP I want french toast. And like NOW. I can taste the syrup.
Somehow the lo-cal wrap I ate for dinner ain't cutting it.
I apologize if this has made you want the delicious french toast as well. But at least we suffer together, my friends.
And in other news, I ate healthy all day AND exercised. Lookit me bein' all responsible n' shit. Right now I am torn between a great episode of Star Trek (shut up- don't judge me) and watching the dog lick himself. It's miraculous actually.
Writing did not help. I still want the french toast.
So I was waiting for photographic proof that I wore a DRESS on Saturday night.
It's true- I did!
I don't know how many of you are in the Los Angeles area but my GOD is it HOT. This past weekend was utterly ridiculous, right? So when it came time to get dressed for my friend's birthday party on Saturday night, I really didn't feel like there was a choice. Dress time. And sans tights, by the way, so you could actually see my pasty white legs.
I had an amazing sense of self in that dress. There is nothing special about the dress, it is more in the wearing of it that pumps me up. I know I've talked about this before. And on top of the dress, I took a little more time with my hair and makeup so I felt particularly nice.
Sadly, the heat melted away my curls and smoky eyes but I assure you, I looked good. LOL.
In this photo, you can kind of see. Not the big, happy smile on my face. It was there most of the night.
Nine million Australians are a ticking 'fat bomb'
AUSTRALIA has become the fattest nation in the world, with more than 9 million adults now rated as obese or overweight, according to an alarming new report.
The most definitive picture of the national obesity crisis to date has found that Australians now outweigh Americans and face a future "fat bomb" that could cause 123,000 premature deaths over the next two decades.
If the crisis is not averted, obesity experts have warned, health costs could top $6 billion and an extra 700,000 people will be admitted to hospital for heart attacks, strokes and blood clots caused by excess weight.
The latest figures show 4 million Australians — or 26% of the adult population — are now obese compared to an estimated 25% of Americans. A further 5 million Australians are considered overweight.
The report, Australia's Future 'Fat Bomb', from Melbourne's Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, will be presented at the Federal Government's inquiry into obesity, which comes to Melbourne today.
A grim picture is painted of expanding waistlines fuelled by a boom in fast food and a decline in physical activity, turning us into a nation of sedentary couch potatoes.
Those most at risk of premature death are the middle-aged, with 70% of men and 60% of women aged 45 to 64 now classed as obese.
But some weight specialists have questioned the tool used to measure obesity, saying "entire rugby teams" would be classified as obese if their body mass index (BMI) was calculated.
BMI is measured by dividing weight in kilograms by height in metres squared. A BMI of over 25 is considered overweight while more than 30 is obese.
But the tool does not distinguish between muscle and fat, prompting calls for the BMI overweight limit to be raised to 28.
However, even leading nutritionist Jenny O'Dea from the University of Sydney — who recently claimed Australia's childhood obesity epidemic had been exaggerated — has backed the new figures, which suggest that the crisis for adults has been drastically underestimated.
Professor O'Dea said that while being fat was not necessarily a health risk for everyone, there was no doubt obesity was taking its toll on the nation.
It was previously thought that around 3 million adults were obese. But many past surveys were seen as unreliable as they often required participants to guess their own weight.
The latest data was based on more than 14,000 people at 100 rural and metropolitan sites in every Australian state and territory. Each had their BMI recorded by having their weight, height and waist measured as part of a national blood pressure screening day last year.
The report's lead author, Simon Stewart, said that even allowing for the BMI's potential failings, the best case scenario was that 3.6 million adults were battling obesity.
"We could fill the MCG 40 times over with the number of obese Australians now, then you can double that if you look at the people who are also overweight — those are amazing figures," Professor Stewart said.
"And in terms of a public health crisis, there is nothing to rival this. If we ran a fat Olympics we'd be gold medal winners as the fattest people on earth at the moment," he said.
"We've heard of AIDS orphans in Africa, we're looking at this time bomb going off where parents have to think about this carefully," Professor Steward said.
"They're having children at an older age, if you're obese and you have a child do you really want to miss out on their wedding?
"Do you want to miss out on the key events in their life? Yes you will if you don't do something about your weight now."
The obesity inquiry in Melbourne will be told that a national strategy encouraging overweight Australians to lose five kilograms in five months could reduce heart-related hospital admissions by 27% and cut deaths by 34% over the next 20 years.
Among the radical solutions proposed in the report is a plan to make fat towns compete for "healthy" status in national weight loss contests tied to Federal Government funding.
Towns that lost the most weight would be given cash to build sports centres and swimming pools.
And like the "Tidy Towns" program, communities would have to meet targets to be eligible for a share of the funding pool.
Other suggestions from Professor Stewart's report include subsidised gym memberships, personal training sessions for heavier people and restricting weight loss surgery to those who show they can lose some weight on their own first.
One of Australia's leading obesity experts, Boyd Swinburn, will tell the inquiry in his own submission that a crackdown on junk food marketing to children is paramount in the fight against the epidemic.
With the fastest growing rate of childhood obesity in the world, Australia must make radical changes to the way unhealthy food is promoted if the rate is to be reduced, his submission reads.
Professor Swinburn, director of the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention at Deakin University, will argue that better nutritional labelling and more funding for effective treatments such as weight-loss surgery are also necessary.
"We've got a huge problem here and we can't bury our head in the sand any more," Professor Swinburn will tell the inquiry.
"The previous federal government blamed parents and individuals and told them to pull up their socks … that's not going to achieve anything but make us fatter as a nation.
"It's good to see the Rudd Government take obesity seriously with this parliamentary inquiry and the preventative health strategy but that has to be turned into proper policy, regulation and funding."
Ian Caterson, director of the Institute of Obesity, Nutrition and Exercise at the University of Sydney, said innovative government "thinking outside the square" policies were necessary because, "as we get fatter and older as a nation things are just going to get worse."
EXPANDING WAISTLINES
About 4 million adult Australians are obese.
The "fat bomb" is ticking loudly, with 72% of middle-aged males and 58% of middle-aged females overweight or obese.
About 1.5 million middle-aged Australians are obese and therefore at high risk of a heart attack or stroke in the longer term.
Based on the best available evidence, our expanded middle-aged waistlines will result in an extra 700,000 cardiovascular-related hospital admissions in the next 20 years.
These highly preventable admissions will cost Australia, conservatively, an extra $3 billion in health expenditure and $6 billion overall.
An estimated 122,500 men and women will die, many prematurely, from heart problems related to their excess weight in the next 20 years.
A simple strategy such as losing 5kg in five months could reduce heart-related hospital admissions by 27% and deaths by 34% over the next 20 years.{source}
From ABC's '98-2000 sitcom, Sports Night:
Dan: Tonight's different.
Casey: Yeah, I had a hunch.
Dan: I'm in the zone.
Casey: There's no zone.
Dan: There's a zone.
Casey: There really isn't.
Dan: There's a very palpable zone, my friend. And I am in it.
I knew I liked that show.
Last night, I felt like maybe, I was just a little bit in the vicinity of the zone, my friends.
I had a lovely date. :)
And so I am sitting at my desk today, completely unable to concentrate, though famished since I was too nervous to eat dinner last night before said date...
That is all for now.
Thank goodness for mixed blessings, eh?
So about 3 months ago, I ordered a couple bras off a website and I was happy that just one of them fit. The other one was supposed to go back but I put it in the box and then put the box by my bed, where it sat until today. Oh sure, I'd look at the box and think "you know, I really oughta send that back" but I just didn't. No idea why. Laziness? Stupidity?
And cut to the bridesmaid dress (that's it on the left in a far skinnier model) that I actually really like and, what's more, think I look fairly decent in. Go figure, right? But to find a bra with this dress was becoming a problem. One was too high in the back, one too high in the front. Or the straps wouldn't tuck. Or the lace was sticking out...
But there was the bra in the box. I thought of it tonight for no reason on my way home from work. I mean, who doesn't think of lingerie during their post-work commute, right? And so I came home, took out the dress and unwrapped the bra again. I tried it on first. It wasn't horrible. I knew right away why I'd wanted to return it-- the lace trim of the cup gaps a little but I put the dress on anyway and asked my roommate to zip me into it (yeah, this was not the highlight).
So yeah- it works. It TOTALLY works. I mean, of COURSE it works. Would I be writing a blog about this that went on this long if it was a failed attempt? LOL... So I am elated right now. I lucked out and got a great dress with my semi-great but totally functional bra... And part of my happiness is that bras are PRICEY, kids. Now I can hold off on a frantic shopping expedition and rest easy; keep my $60-$90 bucks.
