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.