New Years Resolutions: Oprah, “Healhy-ish” etc.

We are all hypocrites. I realize that’s not the most motivational sentence to start the year but it’s true. My ears perked up with I heard Oprah’s soothing voice seemingly honestly recounting her weight struggles. “You look in mirror and you don’t even recognize yourself”. The press said that people were in tears over this narrative. In another TV spot she says, and I paraphrase, it’s not about a pair of pants but I want my best body (I’m confused, doesn’t the “best body” feel good in our pants?). I love O but she alludes to weight being about underlying issues and then the Weight Watcher’s logo pops up. Weight Watchers is about counting and points.  And if we’re talking numbers let’s just say that Oprah's "numbers" or should I say bottom line improved from this deal (and stock purchase)*

Then there’s Bon Appetit’s pretty January “healthy-ish” cover. Props to Bon Appetit for their health-conscious issue but “healthy-ish” reminds me of my most hated wellness phrase “everything in moderation.”  Why the euphemism? Is it that healthy sounds dreadful but “healthy-ish” is OK? It reminds me of when my book came out and people didn’t like word thin.  Sites and platforms that clearly appeal to women who wanted to be thin didn’t want to say “thin”.  For them healthy was ok. Not us, at Foodtrainers we’ll go out and say it –thin, healthy it’s all cool. 

Just when I thought I had escaped the healthy hypocrisy, I read the Sunday paper. There was an article about spanx and the popularity of these garments. Nothing wrong with spanx but I personally allied myself with Liz Lange who just can’t or doesn’t want to spanx. My two spanx-y experiences are 1) thinking I had a major GI issue and then realizing my digestion/wellbeing were being compromised by the contraption under my gown and 2) I was sent a “yummy tummy” and literally got stuck in it. Was my tummy too “yummy”?  Either way, I thought there’s nothing worth being uncomfortable for.

But soon after reading the paper I got dressed. You know what my reasoning was for choosing my skinny jeans and form-fitting turtleneck (usual ultra-glam Sunday uniform is hoodie/ loose jeans/uggs)? I donned those jeans because I found that I had a couple lbs “leftover” from a week of skiing (more like ski-eating). I wanted to wear an outfit to remind myself of that.  So I guess I’m a hypocrite just like you, sigh.

It’s a new year, maybe we’ll changein 2016.  Anyway, this year I’m looking forward to banglessness, writing and our Whipping Weeks (week 1 started today). And yes, these  “healthy” weeks will make your pants feel better.

Any resolutions? What did you think of the Oprah ads? And what about the word healthy-ish?
*please note that I initially cited the incorrect figures for Oprah's deal with Weight Watchers. This doesn't really change my thoughts and feelings about things but I apologize for my error.

New Year, New Book, Same Inner Circle

And for those of you who don't have LBT yet (I'm assuming your book didn't arrive because I know you ordered it, of course) I wanted to share the dedication to my family and my shout out to Carolyn (or maybe onesmartbrownie to you). I also think our snack queen (Joanna Li RD) is as excited about this project as I am. Feeling grateful.

What are you grateful for today? Have you received your LBT? Embraced any new foods from it? 

Spring-Cleaning: If It Doesn't Fit You Must Toss It

I’m conflicted about The Chew.  Mario Batali and Michael Symon are fantastic; I love the show's food focus and my good friend’s husband works there.  My hesitation centers on the choice of wellness personality. Daphne Oz is charming, smart and a vegetarian but stumbles over nutrition info and certainly wasn’t cast for her cooking skills. It’s nepotism in action and it is what it is.  Anyway, I digress (so what’s new), I still DVR it and Clinton Kelly consistently cracks me up. Clinton was the host of What Not To Wear. On Saturday,  I watched an episode in which Clinton did a segment on Spring-cleaning your closet. I’m paraphrasing but he said anything that doesn’t fit must go. If it’s too small it’s depressing to think about and why keep “fat clothes” it just encourages you to go back there. He suggested trying on every item in your closet.

This reminded me of a recent session with a client. I was trying to incentify her to lose weight. I asked her if she had any goals she could pinpoint maybe an upcoming trip or a certain size she wanted to be. Without missing a beat she said, “Lauren, I have a closet full of goals.” I think most women have a range of sizes in their closets. When I edit, I generally toss things I no longer love or don’t wear versus the fit. What Clinton said struck a chord, why hang onto stuff that doesn’t make you feel good now? Clinton would be against the concept of reference clothing.

With this on my mind I decided to approach my jeans with the Clinton directive.  I have a favorite pair of Joe jeans I wear with heels and a Current Elliot selection I wear with boots. I consider myself a proud purger. or whatever the opposite of a hoarder is, but there was a full cast of denim understudies still hanging around. I psyched myself up, noting in my head that our bodies change and that certain things may not fit. I tried on the first pair and they looked fine; I started a “keep” pile. This seemed like beginners luck but pair #2 was pretty good too. I don’t know why this was surprising given the fact that I eat very well and enjoy exercise but it was. There were jeans I forgot I had, various washes (don’t judge) and the jeans my husband likes the best. In all I tried on 17  pairs of jeans. One pair is going. They fit albeit snuggly but dug in in all the wrong places.

Bye bye muffin top maker

 Who needs that? There was also one pair I am taking to the tailor, is it possible I was 4 inches taller last year?

While I didn't end up giving away much,  I finished knowing I had options other than my two preferred pairs. I will have no disappointment when I pull something out from the pile ready to wear it and I know what not to wear.
Do you have more than one size of clothing in your closet? Any items you're hoping to fit into in the future? Or any larger clothes "just in case"? And do you watch The Chew?

Skinny Jeans and Size Lies

Many new clients come to my office with weight goals. Some want to lose 10 pounds, others more. There are women who want to reach their “wedding weight” and men who want to be under 200 pounds. The brackets on the scale are meaningful. I have a doctor’s floor scale and the each bracket represents 50 pounds. Other people declare that they do not care about “the number” on the scale that they just want to be a certain size or for their clothes to fit.  These clothing-based goals appear sensible but have some inherent problems.

Last week, the NYT ran a story about the confusing state of clothing sizes. “One Size Fits Nobody: Seeking a Steady 4 or a 10.” The article discussed what many women already know and that’s that your “size” depends less on how much you weigh or what size you are and more on the whim of the retailer. Depending on the store your size can vary by a few sizes.

Many retailers, responding to their, ahem, growing consumer base have resorted to a practice called vanity sizing. Vanity sizing involves labeling clothes with smaller sizes so that a size 10 customer feels as though she’s a size 6 because that’s what fits her. I don’t think most people are gullible enough to think they’ve dropped a couple of sizes unbeknownst to them; rather it just makes shopping confusing.  A company known as My Best Fit developed a potential solution. My best developed kiosks at malls across America. Basically, your measurements are taken and you are given a report indicating the size you should select at various different retailers. To me, vanity sizing is like the mirrors at a carnival distorting what you look like and the kiosks some sort of fortuneteller. Knowing your size shouldn’t be that hard.

Aware that sizes are unreliable many people rely on a certain article of clothing as their litmus test. I don’t know why but this piece of clothing is a pair of jeans more times than not. We’ve all heard about “skinny” jeans, I have a client who calls her test jeans “reference jeans”. Others know they’re in good shape when they can buy jeans- period. I caution using clothes as your arbiter of size or fitness. For starters, your body can change. I have female clients who, like Aidan who we discussed last week, get back into tip top shape after babies. Yet, your body may change. Sometimes your hips are permanently a little wider after childbirth or things simply redistribute.  Changing your workouts can also alter the way apparel fits. You may have a certain look when you were running and your “inches” may be different if you start kickboxing. Slip your skinny jeans on in these instances and you may feel discouraged but the truth is clothes that fit at one time may just never fit well again even if you look great.  I also have to add that laundering and dry cleaning can shrink clothes or at least we think it can…

So what to do? We try to be more evolved and not let a number on the scale determine our success with food and exercise but other assessment methods have their flaws. It may come down to what Crunch gym said so well in one of their ad campaigns, we just need to see when we “feel better naked” although I like the jeans concept better.

Are you a scale person or do you go by your clothes? How do you know when you’re making progress with food or exercise? If there’s a piece of clothing you use as a reference, what is it?