CONFESSIONS OF A FAT GIRL

Guest Blogger -- From a Reader

It's been a while since I welcomed a guest blogger and Katie, a regular reader of COFG, wanted to share some of her personal favorite tips for Winter weight-watching:

5 Tips for Fall and Winter Dieting

 

Fall brings along many changes: the leaves fall, the weather cools down, and food becomes heartier. With Thanksgiving and Christmas right around the corner, the opportunities to trip up on your diet increase exponentially. Here are a few tips to keep your diet in check, regardless of the temptations out there.

 

Portion Control

 

It is always good to keep how much you are eating in mind when you eat a meal. Chances are you are eating far more than your body needs to stay energized. Monitor what you eat and how much you eat, and do your best to keep it down to what you need to have in order to maintain good overall health and nutrition. If you are at a big dinner, eat one plate of your favorite items and resist the temptation to go back for more.

 

Drink More Water

 

Staying hydrated and getting plenty of water will benefit you in multiple ways. Not only does getting proper hydration help eliminate toxins, but helps to maintain your ph and is great for the skin in the dry winter weather. Drinking plenty of water is recommended in most diet plans and should help throughout the day with minimizing extra food cravings as well.

 

Snack Effectively

 

Cold weather puts extra strain on your body in many different ways, so your cravings for comfort foods are going to increase. Fight off the urge to splurge with some healthier snack alternatives. Eat some fresh fruit or raw, unsalted nuts between meals, and watch the cravings disappear. You will stay fueled without adding extra weight or insulation to your frame.

 

Stick to Regular Coffee or Tea

 

The cooler climate also creates a desire to drink hot beverages to warm you up. Rather than getting a high-calorie pumpkin spice latte or hot chocolate with whipped cream, opt for regular coffee or tea, which has far fewer calories. Diet versions of holiday favorites are also available, and seasonal creamers come in low-cal versions too.

 

Savor Sparingly

 

The time will come when you absolutely must have a piece of cake, pumpkin pie, or your favorite cookie. Just do it, but do so sparingly. Have a small piece or one cookie, and then get right back on your diet plan. It’s not wrong to want a treat every now and then, but don’t go overboard.

 

By-line:  This post was contributed by Kelly Kilpatrick, who writes on the subject of nursing schools. She invites your feedback at kellykilpatrick24 at gmail dot com.

 

 

 

Worth a Reprint

From a reader. Please read this because it's great wisdom for us all:

"...Side note (and apologies in advance for weighing down the levity, but i wanted to share this with you & anyone else who might find it worth perusing): Yesterday, I attended my friend's little brother's memorial service. He was 23 years old, and a great kid - warm, kind, compassionate, funny as sin, and had this cute mug that was always plastered in what many lovingly referred to at the funeral as his unique 'shit-eatin' grin.' Though his passing at such a young age is indisputably awful & sad, the service was unbelievably inspiring and I took SO much away from it. Namely, how much energy I've wasted in the past on inconsequential things - whether a big ol' honkin' zit on my chin or some shmo that dumped me on my birthday or one of my siblings making a crappy remark at dinner. It's embarassing, quite honestly. How could I ever gripe?? How lucky am I?! To be healthy; to have a strong capable body that might not be a size 2 any more, but serves me well. To have a job that affords me a comfortable existence. To have family, no matter how nutty they might be. To have friends who are as dedicated to me as I am to them. To live in a great old apartment in this fantastic city. To have the ability to laugh and enjoy and celebrate and feel and love. my friend's brother squeezed every bit of goodness out of life, appreciated the hell out of what he had, and infused everything/everyone around him with his positivity. Yes, work can be stressful. Yes, our parents can be wretchedly annoying and nitpicky. Yes, we get stuck in traffic jams. Yes, friends and loved ones disappoint us. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with acknowledging when things rub us the wrong way, and having a good old-fashioned gripe. But if we could all take a bit of the energy we spend on wallowing in what irks us, and re-focus it to something uplifting - whether it be recognizing how wondefully fortunate we are, or doing something altruistic and kind for someone else - I think we'd all be in much better shape. I hope your folks know how lucky they are to have a daughter who is brave and well-spoken and quirky and vibrant. Like you said, in the grand scheme of things, all the mishegas simply doesn't matter. Surround yourself with goodness..."

I haven't the words. This was a beautiful comment.

Kudos to Al

Al, you get major kudos for being the one who told me bak in the day that Lane Bryant did not suck as I previously swore.

I wanted to acknowledge Al just via e-mail but it bounced back. As such, Al gets more attention and you all get to worship her as a god.

Al, I am also assuming you are "Allison" but maybe you are a strange man who likes to wear Lane Bryant jeans. I hate to assume, you know...

How Adorable!

OMG!

Would you look at how completely adorable this site is? People, they have everything...

       

I do apologize for the lack of posting. If my job and graduate education don't kill me, the way I've been eating these last couple weeks will do the trick.

What do you do when you hit a major SLUMP?

Equal Opportunities Here

I want to make sure I don't ever make anyone feel like my opinion is fact. And I want people to keep sharing because, clearly, different things work for different people.

So here is some thoughts on something I have mentioned more than once and she's absolutely right to feel as she does:

I must disagree with you about Lane Bryant. Okay, most of their stuff is overpriced for my taste, but I recently went in and talked to a salesgirl there and my mom and I spent an hour trying on jeans and bras (two of the hardest things we find to buy) and we ended up walking out with the perect fit in both.

They were having a buy one bra, get one free sale, plus the cashier was super nice and used some of their coupons for us, so each bra ended up being $10.15 instead of 34 something! The jeans I got are like a miracle. They are from their new size system of circles, squares and triangles. It sounds confusing, but it's seriously genious. I ended up being a size 3 tall flare square. It made me feel good that the size said 3 instaed of 18...lol! I even had some luck with a couple of their cute tops from the sale rack.

Anyway, just thought I'd share my good experience with LB... before that I'd been wearing sloppy walmart jeans that did nothing for me and some saggy bra just becuase I didn't think I could look good at this weight.

Good for you, I say. To each his own. Despite what I say, bitch and moan about LB, I do still go in there from time to time and admittedly, not all experiences there have stunk. Perhaps just my local branch is a bad-luck-zone.

And by the way, as I write this, I realize the jeans I am wearing? LB brand. LOL.

Feedback

A lot of you were outraged by the story from Mississippi and rightfully so. It's an atrocious and insulting idea. A reader sent me a comment I thought was particularly informative and useful and I didn't want anyone to not see this. She's articulates a few good points:

Hey! I actually live in Mississippi. Last night on the local news they interviewed one of them. He said he obviously doesn't want the bill to go thru and would never expect it to go thru. He only sponsored the bill because he wanted to bring more attention to the problem of obesity in our state. I'm not sure about his method but it seems to be working a little bit because of how many news sources have picked up on it. He actually stated that something like that bill is going too far as intrusive government in people's lives and he doesn't believe that is right. It's sad when a politician would create a bill never meant to go thru just to bring attention to a serious matter.

I don't know - it just doesn't seem right does it? Don't worry it'll never pass. As a resident of Mississippi it is embarrassing that all of this has happened. However, I'm right on that line between overweight and obese and it would be so embarrassing to me to set foot in a restaurant that participated in this ridiculous attempt to shame people into losing weight. I'm not originally from Mississippi but I've lived here for 7 years. There are some cool things about this place.

Please don't let our backwards politicians cloud your judgment. Yes, there's an abundance of redneck-ness but there's a lot of good and good people here too.

I could not agree more. :)

Thanks!