Fat People Only -- "Skinnies" Need Not Apply

Thoughts, guys? Would you work out in a gym like this?

Thanksgiving!

Wishing all of my readers a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

I'll be posting my menu and pictures later this evening. As always, let me know if you'd like the accompanying recipes.

We all have so much to be thankful for. I hope you are all spending the day with your friends and family.

UPDATE:

I really should have predicted that I'd be too busy eating to take real pictures.

However, here are some shots of the Naked Pear and Cranberry pie I made. It was quite delicious, but I think in the future, I may use Granny Smith Apples and Raspberries instead.

Visualizing 100 Calories

Sometimes, all it takes is a little perspective. 

Recipe: Naked Pear and Cranberry Pie

This is not an original recipe. Rather, it's one that I'm reposting from a blog I follow -- http://www.snack-girl.com/. The author is absolutely brilliant, makes great food, and we share a very similar food philosphy.

She posted this recipe a few days ago, and I am absolutely trying it this Thanksgiving. It looks positively divine -- and super healthy!

Naked Pear and Cranberry Pie Recipe

(serves 8)

• 4 large ripe green pears (Bartlett)
• 1 cup fresh cranberries
• ¼ cup sugar plus 2 teaspoons
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons water

Preheat oven to 375. Slice two pears and layer in bottom of pie plate. Add ½ cup cranberries. Slice the last two pears and layer onto the cranberries. Add final ½ cup cranberries to the top.

Mix the ¼ cup sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon in a small bowl with the water. Pour over the pie. Cover the pie with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with 2 teaspoons sugar, and bake for 10-20 minutes uncovered or until pears are tender.

Can be served warm or room temperature.

106 calories, 0.1 g fat, 0.0 g saturated fat, 27.9 g carbohydrates, 18 g sugar, 0.5 g protein, 4.0 g fiber, 2 mg sodium, 3 PointsPlus

Hostess Closes its Doors!

Official Hostess Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Hostess Brands is closing its doors for the last time

New York, New York, United States – November 16, 2012 – Today, CEO Gregory Rayburn announced that Hostess Brands will have to close down its entire company due to bankruptcy. The company has been battling with bakery strikers and cannot keep up their operation without those employees contributing to production. More information on the continual battle with strikers can be accessed here:Strike Information.

“The closing will result in Hostess’ nearly 18,500 workers losing their jobs as the company shuts 33 bakeries and 565 distribution centers nationwide, as well as 570 outlet stores. The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union represents around 5,000 Hostess employees”. For the entire story, please visit: Hostess Brands Closing.

The Hostess empire will be auctioned off to the highest bidder throughout the next several months. The president believes that this will be able to give the popular Hostess products, such as Twinkies and Wonder Bread, the opportunity to still be available to consumers. That choice, however, remains with the winner of the auction.

At the close of business on Friday, Hostess released numbers indicating they had been the Number 2 manufacturer of bread in the entire country. A list of other top bread producers can be found at Top Bread Producers. Being a top bread production company helped Hostess reach nearly 2.5 billion dollars in income throughout the last year.

Jennifer Lawrence, Khloe Kardashian, and the Ideal Female Body

I don't know about you, but I LOVED Jennifer Lawrence's portrayal of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games. I think the woman is incredibly talented, and very down to earth. 

And now, I have one more reason to love her: Jennifer Lawrence REFUSES to diet for movie roles. In fact, by Hollywood's standards, she is obese -- but that doesn't faze her at all. 

In a recent interview, Lawrence was quoted saying, "I’m considered a fat actress. I’m Val Kilmer in that one picture on the beach. I eat like a caveman. I’ll be the only actress who doesn’t have anorexia rumors."

In a world where young girls are looking up to anorexic models as pillars of beauty, I find this particularly refreshing. 

Lawrence's newest film is the Silver Linings Playbook. According to celebrity news, the director of the film, David O. Russel, told Lawrence to "eat normally" to prep for shooting -- so that she would look like a normal person. 

We all know that Hollywood and the Media hold this image of the ideal woman as stick thin with insane curves, and we all have heard about the reports that these images can cause self esteem problems in young girls -- but who is really to blame for this stigma, AND who has the power to end it?

Another celebrity, Khloe Kardashian, gets flack all the time for her weight. Prior to her X-factor debut weightloss, Khloe went on the Ellen show:

A size 6 and she's being called fat?? According to 2012 statistics, the average American woman weighs 162.9 lbs and is a size 14. So why are the women of the media held to such stricter standards of beauty, physical fitness, and perfection?  Something needs to change when it comes to America's perceptions of the ideal female.  

I'll leave you to ponder with another quote from Jennifer Lawrence's recent interview. Perhaps this new generation of young Hollywood talent will follow in her footsteps. 

“I’m never going to starve myself for a part. I keep waiting for that one role to come along that scares me enough into dieting, and it just can’t happen. I’m invincible. I don’t want little girls to be like, ‘Oh, I want to look like Katniss, so I’m going to skip dinner.’ That’s something that I was really conscious of during training, when you’re trying to get your body to look exactly right. I was trying to get my body to look fit and strong, not thin and underfed.”

How Long to Store

Breaking My Plateau in November!

Hello Fellow Fitness Enthusiasts!

As I mentioned earlier in this year, I worked very hard to lose 20 pounds over the course of 9 months. Yes, it was slow going, and yes, there were ups and downs, but I am so proud of myself for this achievement.

That being said, I have been plateaued for the last few months. No matter what I do, I cannot seem to shift any more weight. It's been incredibly frustrating.

Part of the reason why, I believe, I've been plateaued is because my workouts have been limited. I have a weak knee that often pains me, and since I was in the middle of moving, it didn't make sense to join a gym. However, I reasoned that weight loss is 80% diet, and 20% exercise, so I should still be losing. And yet, I wasn't. The scale yo-yo'd, but only 2-3 pounds in either direction.

It was time for a change.

Since the beginning of the month, I have started to do free weight strength exercises for 20-25 minutes every morning in hopes of both toning up my body, and breaking through this very frustrating plateau. I alternate upper body, lower body, and then an intense abs/back day. Right now, I am just using a set of 5 lbs dumbbells  and my own body resistance.

I invite anyone to join me in this endeavor, and I plan to post before and after pictures at the end of the month.

If you'd like me to post specific exercises to follow, just let me know.

Good luck to anyone who is joining me!