A Trimphant Return!

Is coming. I promise!

On Lane Bryant, and Finding Clothes that Fit

This blog has been rather silent lately, so I thought we could share with you a recent discussion between Emma and myself:

Emma: want to see what i got for date night?
me: sure!
Emma: http://www.lanebryant.com/product/Apparel-Accessories/Tops/shirts-blouses/Bead-embellished-tunic/20668/pc/4018/pslot/57/sc/90/c/4019.uts
me: oh, that is awesome!!! that will look so good on you
Emma: with leggings and knee high boots
me: and it's so cute and totally your style
Emma: meg picked it out
me: go meg
Emma: i was like i am not going to lane bryant, but she made me
me: my mom once suggested i shop at lane bryant and i got in a huge fight with her
Emma: hahah its like insulting!
but i have to admit, its nice to be in a store where everything is actually too big for me. a lot of frump, but some cute
Emma: and it really is nice being the smallest size
me: yeah, maybe we should have a lane bryant shopping day together
Emma: most stores dont even carry my size anymore
i can only shop at department stores, which is so frustrating
i dont think im THAT big
me: yeah, that makes me so angry and sad
like, b/c you are not a size six you probably only shop at dress barn and other stores named for farms, so we are not going to carry clothes for you
Emma: hahahahahahahah
yeah, its horrible
when i go with people its embarassing when stores dont even have anything i can try on
me: yeah, i know. h&m is the worst offender
Emma: YES
and forever 21
and limited
me: oh, god, i gave up on forever21 after i got CAUGHT in a shirt in the dressing room and had to rip it to get it off and practically ran out of the store
Emma: hahah nice
they say the average american woman is a size 14
where the hell is she shopping?!
AND AND AND
i HAAAATE how stores have like a normal section
and then the dreaded WOMENS section
me: oh, god, i know
Emma: like just put it all in one freaking place!!!
at macys they have it hidden away upstairs
so you cant even like sneak over to it. you have to take a freaking escalator
me: ahahaha. and everything is shapped like a grabage bag

And so we leave you with our anthem:

BMI

Speaking of BMI, I'm sure you've all heard about the inaccuracy of this measurement. If not, you can read about it here. Essentially, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN compiled a bunch of data and found that people with a lower BMI were more likely to suffer from heart disease than those with a normal BMI, and "obese" people were less likely. As the article points out,

This apparently perverse result, drawn from data from 40 studies covering 250,000 people with heart disease, did not suggest that obesity was not a health threat but rather that the 100-year-old BMI test was too blunt an instrument to be trusted.

So don't stress about your BMI. And check out this amazing flicker slideshow, displaying pictures of various people and their BMI rating. For example, the following women are "overweight."

Self (& Fat) Acceptance

The New York Times ran an interesting article* a week ago called "Tossing Out the Diet and Embracing the Fat." The article discusses the growing movement of Fat Acceptance, which is a tough stance in this era where thin is undeniably the object of cultural fetish. Author Mandy Katz (who I admittedly think, in part, misses the point throughout the article) writes:

These pro-fat results are a trickle, admittedly, in a flood of contrary reports that condemn obesity as a health risk. But that doesn’t worry the online denizens of the “fatosphere,” dominated by irreverent sites like fatshionista.com Fat Rant and Big Fat Blog, as well as those of the “booga booga” bloggers, Kate Harding (Shapely Prose) and Marianne Kirby (therotund.com). “Fat doesn’t equal lazy or ugly or even, necessarily, unhealthy,” says another blogger, the Fat Nutritionist.

There is a lot of cultural baggage associated with weight, and I think it's really important that we work on (a) accepting our bodies and (b) seeing the cultural negativity pinned on weight. I think it's important to recognize that, as the blogger above pointed out, Fat does not equal bad. You are not a bad person for being "overweight."

And I know that writing about Fat Acceptance may sound completely hypocrycitcal coming from the girl with a diet blog, but I think it's really important to engage with these issues in a full and complex way. And it's really difficult to find the place and the words to have that dialogue. I would like to live a healthier lifestyle. I would like to lose weight--admittedly because of both personal and societal pressures. But I would love to live in a world that didn't put so much negative bullsh!t on the issue of weight. Everyone deserves to feel comfortable and confident in their own bodies, regardless of BMI.

*Mad props to reader Miss R for sending along all the NYT article.

The Value of a Partner in Crime

After a rather prolific start, things have been awfully quiet over here on Night Cheese. Our apologies for that.

I'm happy to report that, upon having dinner together the other night, Emma and I (as well as our beloved running guru friend Megala) resisted the temptation to eat a cupcake for dessert, despite walking by a delightful looking cupcake shop. We also went to the movies and did not purchase any candy or popcorn. Resisting temptation for the win.

The BF came home the other night in a rather funny mood. After asking what was up, he confessed to being really frustrated about his weight. (He's infinitely better than me at going to the gym, and while his cholesterol heart rate have gone down over the past year, his weight has not changed much.) So we sat down and had a really honest conversation about food and diet and bad habits and exercise. We talked through a diet plan for each of us, and ways that we can help each other stick to it.

We made big batches of some staples like brown rice and black beans. We wrote out a plan for our meals for the remainder of the week, so we could cook ahead of time and avoid eating something fast and unhealthy. And each night we check in with each other: How did today go? What did you eat? Did you go to the gym?

Having someone to hold you accountable is so important. That's the biggest reason why we started this blog. And I really care about supporting my BF, so I'm finding it really helpful to keep in mind that I am doing this for him, to help him, and he's returning the favor. In a way, sometimes it's easier to have will-power when it's for someone else.

You may want that cupcake, but when you've promised to help keep your counterpart from eating one, you end up keeping yourself in line too.


And, because this image is all sorts of awesome:

Easy Out

Emma here.

Here is my biggest problem with diets. I am doing weight watchers, which is a good diet for me. I can eat whatever I want- as long as I do it in the right amount, and it is pretty non-restrictive. I even like their recipes and system of counting points. However, the problem is that I have zero will power. I KNOW that I should save my points for the weekend, when I will be hanging out and going out to restaurants. But every Monday I find myself eating whatever I want and saying "oh well, I'll just make it up on the weekend." But I never do. Friday comes along and I end up saying "oh eff it. It's the weekend, I just want to eat what I want." And then I am surprised when I've gained weight. Any helpful suggestions for ways to remind myself that if I load up now when I'm not even hungry, I'll just regret it later?

Wake up, already!

Amanda, over on One Happy Panda, discussed a chronic problem of mine: a complete inability to get out of bed in the morning.

Every night, when I go to sleep, I say to myself, "Self, in the morning you will go to the gym or go running. That will be a lovely start to your day!"

Every morning I hit the snooze button for at least 45 minutes.

The real trouble with all of this is that, the longer the day goes on, the harder it is for me to get myself exercising. If I haven't exercised by ten a.m., there is an 89% chance that it isn't going to happen.

Any tricks for either a) getting out of bed early (Yes, I currently have my alarm clock across the room,) and/or b) motivating myself when exercising isn't the very first thing I do?

Food, Inc.

I am so excited for this movie.



Anyone else?

Treats

As I mentioned before, I am a sucker for all things sweet. Inspired by Emma's recent post, I thought I'd share my new favorite dessert:
Lime is my favorite flavor, but they are all delicious. There is no fructose corn syrup, no fat, and only 13 grams of sugar. As a matter of fact, maybe I'll eat one right now!

Body Image

When dieting and ramping up the exercise, I think it's really important to focus on developing a healthy body image, too. Otherwise, it is so easy to get lost in the noise of negative crap our culture send our way.

One thing I try to focus on is really enjoying how I feel after I exercise or after I eat a really satisfying, healthy lunch. This stuff makes my body feel good, and I try to pay attention to and appreciate that.

One of my favorite blogs had an interesting post on body image recently, and I recommend reading the post as well as the comments. Here is one of my favorite comments:

As one of those people who is sometimes Publicly Fat In A Bikini, I freely admit that oftentimes, I’m faking it. It gets easier with practice to stuff those insecurities in a dark hole and go out anyway — but the insecurities haven’t gone away.

In order to be physically fit you sometimes have to force yourself off the couch and into those gym clothes. Similarly, in order to have a healthy body image, sometimes your self-confidence will be forced. I think that's okay, and I think it's really important to fake it, rather than indulge in self-deprecating comments.

I'm relearning how to treat my body, from the food I eat to my exercise habits. I also have to teach myself a new, kinder way of thinking about myself. The truth is, there is no magic number that we can read on the scale that will absolve our body image insecurities. You have to build up that self esteem as you're building up those muscles, and you can't be self-deprecating "until" the scale says x, or you'll never learn how to like the way you look.

Equivalents

On the subject of cravings I thought I would make this handy list. Here are some healthy equivalents to craving foods, for me at least.


Fries: baked potato loaded with fat free sour cream
Hamburger: chicken sausage and rice, or chili
Ice Cream: I freeze yogurt and then put fat free whipped cream on it
Chocolate: Special K chocolate cereal
Pizza: melted string cheese on soy crackers
Cookies: fat free fig newtons


I've found that when I'm craving something really savory forcing myself to eat vegetables doesn't do it. For me it's better to find a healthier version that has the same kind of food feeling. Any other ideas?

Desk Candy

Emma here...

Does anyone have any good suggestions for satisfying snacks to take to work? My office keeps a giant bowl of candy (Milky ways and Snickers, not the gross Jolly Rancher kind) on my desk and I end up picking at it all day. I probably eat about 3-5 mini candies a day- so bad. I figure that if I could go a whole week without candy that would probably be about a pound of weight loss and a whole lot less sugar. Any ideas of something I could take with me to work? I've tried baby carrots and prunes, but when I get a candy craving those things usually don't cut it.

Help!

Shop the Perimeter

I was listening to Mark Bittman on NPR a while back, and he was talking about how when we grocery shop our goal should be to shop the perimeter. The perimeter of the grocery store is where you find fruits, veggies, dairy products, meat and poultry and fish; it's where the unprocessed stuff lives. I really like this approach. I am in this because I want to fundamentally change the way I nourish my body, so I've got to adjust the way I shop and prepare foods.

I am lucky in that I work from home, and during the summer I have a lighter schedule. This means I am only going to eat what is in my house (no free cookies at the office, no lunches out with co-workers). So I make a point to buy only foods that are healthy and then, for me, that's the only option.

With this approach in mind, here is a list of foods I always have in my fridge/cabinets these days:

• veggies, veggies, veggies
• fruit (my favs are apples & bananas)
• hummus (oh, the hummus!)
• black beans
• whole wheat wraps
• almonds
• cottage cheese
• yogurt (low in sugar, and not filled with that fake sugar crap. i end up with slightly more expensive yogurt from whole foods but it is worth it.)
• brown rice
• chicken breasts (grilled with my trusty george forman)
• cheerios and other similar cereals (except for special k. that stuff is cardboard if you ask me.)
  
• eggs (i make scrambled eggs with one yolk and two whites)
• seltzer water (I have a sweet tooth like nobody's business, so I'm trying to reduce it's hold over me. Turns out juice has lots and lots of sugar.)

My basic approach is as follows: Surround myself with really good, healthy food. I aim for three meals a day, with two snacks. This part was a hard adjustment for me, because I was more used to three big meals, but now my meals are smaller and I snack throughout the day. As much as this was an adjustment, I really like it because the focus is on nourishing your body. Also, it keeps your metabolism up.

What do you stock your fridge with? I'm afraid that my list of fall-back foods is small and I might start getting a little bored, so I welcome your suggestions!

work out

Anyone have suggestions for gym motivation? I get so excited about it while I'm at work- then by the end of the day I'm just desperate to go home and veg. Once I walk in my door there's no hope for getting me back out again.

Some Suggestions

Things I eat when I cannot eat cheese:

Ground turkey. Comes very in handy. I cook up pounds of it every Sunday, put it in serving size baggies and defrost them one at a time as needed. Great plain, in burritos, with rice, with beans...

Fruit popsicles from Trader Joes: 1 point each!

Sandwich baggies: I am a horrible picker. I'll pick and pick at food until I've eaten an entire box of crackers. Now whenever I buy a box of something I'll split it into serving size baggies so I know exactly how much I'm eating.

No Pudge Brownies: enough said.

Fiber One bars: so good! 2 points!

Puffins Cereal: Really really good cereal for very low points.

Homemade veggie burgers: mashed beans, bread crumbs, and one egg yolk, plus whatever frozen veggies you have. It's a good way to get in a ton of vegetables without really noticing.

The Lady Diet

Kyley here.

Yesterday I had an appointment with my trainer, Nicole, at the gym. She's totally wonderful and I wish I could got to work out with her every single day. It was also my first workout after about three weeks of traveling for work and vacation, and let me tell you I am SORE today.

I'd really like to break into a regular routine of exercise for health and anxiety reasons, but I'm so wary of falling into the traps of cultural diet and body image pressures.

Sometimes I want to totally pig out as a mini form of rebellion. Additionally, if I'm out to dinner I desperately don't want to be *that girl* who orders a salad to everyone's cheese burger. I'm learning to order the salad and not feel bad about it (I genuinely like fruits and veggies.) but it's a strange struggle for me.

Food and diet is such a difficult issue to navigate for women (and men). I'm trying to develop healthy habits AND a healthy self esteem about my body.

What do you think? How do you navigate the world of diet and weightloss? Do you worry about all those cultural pressures, or have you managed to drown the noise out?

And, for no reason other than love, I leave you with this:

ill miss you cheese

I don't have any embarrassing sports stories like Kyley but I WAS asked by a T worker once if I was having a girl or a boy. Instead of telling her "I'm sorry, I'm not pregnant, rather I'm just unable to say no to cheese products" I told her it was a girl, that I was 5 months along, and then promptly started taking a different train to work.
I am now back to my high school weight, after managing to lose 30 pounds during college, and I have hit my "oh crap, not again" point. I have rejoined weight watchers and I'm hoping that that support of other night-cheesers will help keep me on track!

And so it begins

Hindered by our love of Night Cheese, we are plunging head first into the world of dieting and blogging.



I've never been a particularly active or athletic person. During my brief stint on a HS sports team, I once tried to rescue a basketball from going out of bounds only to bounce it off my own forehead. I did, however, receive a varsity letter for participating on Math Team. You get the picture.

Anyway, about two years about I started gaining weight, eventually adding on 30 pounds. I recently joined an embarrassingly expensive gym where I get a personal trainer, and started losing some weight. I went on vacation, and promptly regained it and then some. Who knew so much deep dish pizza was bad for you? I have three weeks left at my super-gym, so I've got to make the most of it.

My long-term goals are as follows:
1. To incorporate healthy eating and exercise into my life so that is the norm, not the exception to my regular routine.
2. To increase core strength, because I am a busty girl and I don't want back problems.
3. To lose 30 pounds. Current weight: 185 lbs.

Here we go!