The Most Common Eating Disorder

More than 7 million Americans struggle with binge eating disorder (BED), according to a recent Harvard-based study, yet few of us know much about the condition. Cynthia Bulik, PhD, director of the University of North Carolina Eating Disorders Program and the author of a new book, Crave: Why You Binge Eat and How to Stop, helps shed light on the problem.

So constantly overeating is really called a binge and it is a disorder. Who knew? I thought I just liked food and hated exercise. I personally think Americans make every vice into a disease. Yet, if labeling your eating habits has a disorder allows you to get help and make changes in ones life; then I believe the label is helpful.

Unreal Expectations are Unhealthy

Biggest Loser Baby Bounce Back--over at Fit Tip Daily, they're lauding the Biggest Loser host Allison for getting back that post-baby body pronto, emphasizing how she was back to work on the set of the Biggest Loser eight days after giving birth and back to work six days on her day-time soap.

I think that this profile and the messages it intends to send are inherently dysfunctional and unhealthy! It reminds me of Heidi Klum walking down the run-way of the Victoria Secrets show less than a month after having given birth, model perfect again.

Sure, maybe these women can do that "naturally" but I seriously doubt it and whatever means they took to "get their bodies back" probably involve crash dieting and exercising past what a new mother really needs to do. Also, these kinds of Birth as Spectacle (look at the baby-bump--oh, look how she got her body back) are simply additional means by which to push regular women beyond the brink. Even pregnancy isn't an excuse to have a little jiggle DAYS after the birth--DAYS!

In addition to the body-image cluster-@#$%, you get the work-life balance cluster-@#$%!!!! Having a baby is fairly significant and pressuring women (and new fathers) to return to work days after a birth is wrong. Celebrities, politicians, and other note-ables often sacrifice work-life balance in order to get where they are. I get that, but emphasizing how "its possible" really just marginalizes new parents from taking advantage of what SHOULD BE LEGALLY MANDATED PARENTAL LEAVE FOLLOWING THE BIRTH OR ADOPTION OF A CHILD. Every developed nation in the world EXCEPT the United States of America has parental leave and maternity leave--PAID and at least six weeks, though in some places it is up to six months.

Articles like these are propaganda against work-life balance, parental leave, and striving toward real health instead of simple "beauty" as health. I'm not pissed at this particular woman--the pressures, working on a weight loss show alone, let alone Hollywood standards make people do crazy things, but I am pissed off at the media outlets and the corporate policies that work to undermine worker's rights and parental leave (and the Lobbyist they employ that get their messages out there). Six days of leave is absurd and the fact that she's lauded for it? Well, it reinforces all that is wrong with work-life balance in America today.

Double Dutch--From Playground to Winners Podium

In an effort to increase adolescent girls participation in sports, some NYC schools are introducing Double Dutch as a variety sport this year. Urban girls are significantly less likely to participate in athletic sports than girls in the suburbs.

Urban girls of color are "hit with a double whammy," says Neena Chaudhry of the National Women's Law Center. Often their communities have less access to open spaces and they face competition for scarce resources at school. Theoretically, Title IX should solve this problem, but unlike in colleges and universities, high schools are not required to report gender breakdowns by sport, resources, and funding. A study by the National Women's Law Center suggested that few urban female athletes were using Title IX to demand equal treatment.

There's a push now to require high schools to report statistics like colleges and universities do to make sure that the schools are complying to Title IX. Last month Senator Olympia Snowe reintroduced a 2004 bill to the Senate called the High School Sports Information Collection Act, which would require high schools to report the gender of student athletes and the financing of sports teams.

Advocates say that enacting Title IX compliance laws would increase sports opportunities for girls and boys across the country. While city officials hope to increase girls' participation in sports especially, the new double-dutch teams in New York are coed. The video below from the annual double dutch tournament held at the Apollo Theater in New York shows the incredible amount of athleticism that competitive double-dutch requires. Since countless studies have shown that student athletes perform better in school and have higher self-esteem, clearly girls across the country would benefit from similar programs.

I think that this is a great move and that schools should branch out to meet the athletic and the activity interests of teens in order to encourage life long love of movement. If you follow the link above, you can watch a short clip of the International Double Dutch competition held at the Apollo Theater in NYC last year--it gets really good at the 1:20 mark. The international competition is a mixed-gender group, which I think sports like Double Dutch (as with Cheerleading now) show that mix gender groups can and do work.

I think that offering more and more varied sports to urban girls is crucial, but I also think that the issues surrounding participating need to be addressed as well. For example, if a girl is expected to care for younger siblings after school how could she be included in programs such as these? Sometimes, girls have additional duties like cooking, cleaning, and caring for younger siblings that parents don't put on their sons--this was certainly the case in my mother's life. We have to work to under cover their barriers in order to help adolescent girls flourish. Though I do think that a little Double Dutch might just be one brick on the path to greater encouragement of young female athleticism.

Le Sigh

Le Sigh: Michelle Obama, how I heart you. Not since WWII has the White House had a kitchen garden (or, when Eleanor Roosevelt established it--against the Agriculture Department's wishes--a "Victory Garden.")

The 1,100-square-foot garden will include 55 kinds of vegetables, including peppers, spinach and, yes, arugula. (The selection is a wish list put together by White House chefs.) There will also be berries, herbs and two hives for honey that will be tended by a White House carpenter who is also a beekeeper. The chefs will use the produce to feed the first family, as well as for state dinners and other official events.

The White House will use organic seedlings, as well as organic fertilizers and organic insect repellents. The garden will be near the tennis courts and be visible to passersby on the street. The whole Obama family will be involved in tending the garden, White House spokeswoman Katie McCormick Lelyveld said.

Proponents of the garden see the move as a victory for fresh, wholesome food. With the Obamas as role models, it could also be a turning point in their battle to overturn the perception of organic food, farmers markets and gardens as the preserves of the elite.

I love the fact that Michelle is making healthy food, organic food, and home-grown food part of her healthy families platform. I spent about four hours today preparing my garden for planting on this THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING. I'm also pleased that in the Washington Post article about the White House Kitchen Garden that there was not one fat-shaming comment which seems rare when discussing anything health and food issues in the mainstream press.

I'm a big supporter of home gardening and community gardens--I think that growing our own food helps us to make connections between what is really food and what is manufactured dreck. In addition, its good exercise and it is as local as you can get. Also, I'm not a crazy survivalist or anything, but I like to know how things work and how I might be able to get a bit off the grid as it were.

I'll have several more posts about my garden (and pictures) as it progresses. Here in Kentucky, a good rule is to not plant anything outdoors until after Derby Weekend, but indoor seed starting will begin on my part pretty soon. Also, soil preparation is well underway. Today I spead some compost and organic manure on my old plot from last year--I'm expanding this year. Last year, to get rid of the grass, I really depleated the soil by simply digging and chucking the grass. I didn't have a cultivator (I have a smallish one now). So, that area in particular needs more organic matter and nitrogen (I've also added some organic blood meal--I know, doesn't it all sound gross?). Tomorrow, I'm going to plant some Peonies and Clematis(es) in the front yard. Its okay to plant those now, just not vegetable crops yet. I'm going to have the Peony Bushes grow along my front fence and the Clematis(es) will grow up over the front porch supports--near where I'm hoping that my hydrangeas will come back from last Spring. I suspect that one out of three of the hydrangeas took (plus the one in the back yard).

Anywho, I'm going to apply manure to the new Peonies as well as soil suitable for shrubs when I plant and then I'll cover with mulch. The weather is supposed to stay between 40-60 for the next ten days or so, then get even warmer. I just hope that there isn't a major dip in temperatures, but according to the gardening books and the directions on the plants, March planting is appropriate for the Peonies and Clematis(es).

Later I may also spread more manure on the back garden, though I also need to attend to my apple trees pretty soon--and that means buying mucho multcho. Oh, and I bought a wheel barrow today--it was hell getting it in the car, but its shiny and red and I love it!

Guiding Light's Caitlin VanZandt Drops 90 Lbs.

Caitlin VanZandt says: she has her sights set on losing 10 more lbs., VanZandt has no intention to "look Hollywood," she says. "I don't want to reach Hollywood standards of skinny."

I am glad Caitlin VanZandt has decided to get healthy, but not get Hollywood. Weight loss should be 100% about health. I am all for vanity, but only if it is the byproduct of good health.

Marriage is more than economics

In a 2005 study, "The Consequences of Marriage for African Americans," five scholars concluded that in the black community, a healthy marriage keeps families from slipping into poverty.

I could live above the poverty line without my husband. While an extra paycheck is gravy, it is not what comforts you when times are bad or when kids grab your last nerve and hang on, or when the boss deems you expendable. Marriage is more than economics or shoring up a community.

Marriage is knowing someone else has your back. And it's not just the fragile wife standing next to a cheater who is hoping to save his political career.

Marriage means there is someone willing to wait out your temper tantrums, weight gain and hair loss, illnesses, job uncertainties, child-rearing woes and soul-searchings until someone recognizable returns.

I think America is very good at breaking marriage down to a science or overcovering the bad marriages in the media. I thinks this is why so many people are cynical about marriage and don't respect the people who enter into marriages.

I feel if people who are looking to get married approach it with respect, honesty, and feelings as well as social science. They would be happier about the instution of marriage.

Avoid the ‘recession 15’ with these 10 tips

1. Don’t buy that $1 meal!

2. Find healthy meal alternatives.
3. Keep your gym membership if it’s a lifesaver for you.
4. Haggle at the gym.
5. Just let your gym membership go if you never use it.
6. Walk or jog your way to fitness.
7. Put some air on those old bike tires.
8. Pick up some secondhand exercise equipment.
9. Or just do simple, at-home workouts.
10. Give workout videos a try.

Some tips I am keeping up with are:
Tip 3: keeping the membership if it is lifesaver. I am still paying my $40 for WW a month because it is my lifesaver. Before WW I was gaining 1.5 lbs a month. In my 29 weeks of weight watchers I have maintained or decreased in size. For me, if I gain anymore weight I am sure I will get in the diabetes range and that medicine can run anywhere from $15 with co-pays to $100s a month without insurance.

Tip 10: I am back to doing my old school Richard Simmons tapes. They are fun to do because him in those shorts keeps me laughing.

Meghan McCain Defends Weight Against Critic

I don't agree with most of Meghan McCain's thoughts, but on this quote I agree with here 100%.

"There is no place for weight criticism in 2009."

She is totally within her right to defend her weight against critics. I believe even a 3 years old could find the flaws in her politic logic, without bringing in her appearance or weight into the discussion as a trump card of why we shouldn't listen her.

Debaters need to realize when you sink to attacking a persons looks it just makes your argument look weak.

Mid Summer's Night Run

I'm going to do the Mid Summer's Night Run this year--the 2009 race is August 16th (the promotional poster is from 2008 because the new material isn't out yet).

My brother is going to run/walk it with me. My goal is simply to finish the race (or I should say to enter and finish it). I can do 3.1 miles--its a 5K--I know that, its just to enter a public event as a not-skinny person "running" gasp a race. I hated "the mile" in PE as a kid, but this race isn't about me verses the totally fit oddly 6 foot 8th grader in junior high, its about challenging myself and sticking to that challenge. I would like to run/walk it this year with a goal of running the whole time in 2010, but let's not put the cart before the horse.

So, what will be my reward? I think I'll give myself a polar heart monitor (here's a snazzy one):

You can hook it up to the polarpersonaltrainer.com site which allows you to set fitness goals and track your progress. There's also the fitbit which is cheaper and it tracks sleep as well, but it isn't a heart monitor, more of a very fancy pedometer. They really need to combine the two ideas if you wanted to know your every waking (and sleeping) day down pat, but for me, tracking yourself all day could get creepy and I'd rather just see what's the picture when I'm engaged in specific fitness activities (though I do agree geting your daily activities up is vital particularly in America).

Anywho, I'm not going to be in training for this race until May because my schedule makes it really difficult to engage in a cardio schedule, but I will try to focus on pilates and arm exercises during the week, with a Wednesday and Friday dedicated cardio workout each week.

Health Wire: Cutting calories and group sessions are key to weight loss

"A New England Journal of Medicine study finds that cutting calories — regardless of the balance of carbohydrates, proteins or fats — and attending group sessions help you lose weight."

This study is good for all dieters who face the "food police". I do Weight Watchers which has the group session component as well as the cutting calories component. Weight Watchers suggests that you can eat anything if you allot points for it. They do recommend you fulfill the healthy guides before you start using your points for treats and fast food.

Which means I can eat a big mac for lunch, if I have a salad for breakfast and soup for dinner. But when dealing with the "food police", being seen eating anything but a carrot means you are not taking your weight loss seriously.

But as the study shows, reducing calories on a consistently helps you lose weight not just the diet foods you eat that might be low in calories.

Jessica Simpson Urges Women to Leave Abusive Men

"Although Simpson has never named names, she admitted last year that she had been in an abusive relationship."

Outsiders need to stop re-victimizing the victims. If a person believes they were abused, then they were. So Jessica Simpson is entitled to have her feelings and make her decisions. So is Rhianna.

If the public wants to truly help victims. Then they need to provide funds to extend the reach of shelters and legal funds that give these victims a place to go if they want to leave and the legal means to stop their abuser from contacting them.

MEAGAN GOODE ADMITS TO ABUSING DIET PILLS

Meagan Goode is qouted as saying:

"I went to work with a studio that had worked with me about three years prior, and I was a lot thinner then," explains Meagan. "They basically said 'You need to lose weight if you want to work on this film.' It was a threat: If you want to keep your job, you need to lose weight. So go back to a size 0. I felt it was a career move

I think the film industry needs to check themselves. I can think of very few roles were a size 0 is necessary:

• medical patient
• child
• eating disorder patient

But even in these cases couldn't you use CGI. If they can make superman fly and spiderman shoot webs from his arms. They can CGI someone to size zero so they don't risk their health.

I WANNA EAT NOW!!!

So, I've complained about my schedule before--evening classes lead to late night eating which interferes with my sleep quite frankly. I still don't have a solution to the problem really, but I'm working on it and I'm particularly paying attention to how being really really hungry screws with my sense of emotional well being. Being hungry scares me--I was never deprived as a child; I lived in a very food-secure home, so this panic is not coming from a place of real lived poverty (which is EXTREMELY important to consider when talking about food-justice!)

Last Thursday night I was starving after class (and I couldn't do my generally flex schedule because a planned meeting Friday) so I had to figure out what to eat. All I could think was: I WANNA EAT NOW!!! Nothing was prepared at home and once again, I hate frozen meals though I do have some; I wanted to eat in the car on the way home (or so I told myself), but all the fast food options just kept going through my head. Now, I have gluten issues, so fast food is particularly bad for me also its bad for everyone. I was adding up in my head how much a combo meal at any one of the usual fast food restaurants is and it pissed me off. Then, I realized that I could eat Thai food for a couple dollars more. There is a really healthy Thai Restaurant right before the exit to get onto I-75 where I work (all the Chinese places in this town are awful, but the Thai place still has several healthy and tasty options). So, I went in and I ordered the vegetable and tofu dinner with steamed rice. The sauce is a soy sauce/ginger/garlic thing, not an oily pad-thai sauce or sweet type sauce. I had to sit in the restaurant for a few minutes as the order came up (I now have the to-go menu in my car so that I can order ahead if I'd like to do that in future). Of course, they gave me a ton of rice, but I used it over several days. I didn't eat until I got home, but what I ate was ready, delicious, and healthy. Because I was in my I WANNA EAT NOW mode, though I was greatly improved by the wait in the restaurant and the drive home, I still did eat a bit beyond satisfaction. But, I filled up on veggies and tofu and still had some left (instead of putting the veggies/tofu over the rice, I put some of the rice in with the veggies which cut back on the rice quite a bit).

If I get into one of these moods on Tuesday/Thursday nights, I think that I will keep the Thai place in mind. Healthy doesn't always mean homecooked or from a cardboard box. Dealing with these anxious I WANNA EAT NOW times is important to examine because I do have food issues and I want to self-soothe without food (or feed myself in a reasonable way when I'm in those food tantrums--I feel like when they aren't food specific, they are more like tantrums than binges because 1. it is true that I've deprived myself a couple hours too much, 2. there was no trigger food, just lack of food that took me to a place where I feel slightly out of control).

BEAU: I GOT A 'WIFE' BEATING

Can a woman really beat a man as hard as a man can beat a woman?

Kelly Bensimon of the Real Housewives of NY allegedly clocked her fiance Nick Stefanov. He is quoted as saying the following:

"If I had done it to her, I would have been put in jail immediately," Stefanov told his friend.
"My injuries are worse than Rihanna's - and Chris Brown was charged with two felonies."

My question is there a double standard when it comes to domestic violence? In the struggle for equality do women need to start getting charged for the abuse they inflict in domestic violence?

Miles We've Traveled

I love my car--its a 2000 Toyota Camry and unlike most "American" cars, it was built in America. It gets very good gas mileage, its reliable, comfortable to ride in, and it just hit the 123,456 mile marker last week--see above, I took a picture!

Of course, none of us fitness seekers have worn a pedometer our whole lives (nor should we--creepy to think of really), but it can be estimated that the average person in America walks approximately 115,000 miles in his/her lifetime (probably considerably more in Europe where walking is more a part of everyday life and seriously more in developing countries where you have no choice).

So, my car has already exceeded what I will do over my entire life in its 9 year span thus far (oh, please last at least 5 more years, dear car!)

Once again, I must say, I really appreciate my car, but I also have to say that I am tired of living so dependently on car transportation. I live in a mid-sized city, but I commute to a small town University about 40 minutes back and forth each day. I cannot wait to get a local job!!! I will be trying throughout the spring and summer (though in this economy, I should be thankful I have a job!)

I live near a couple grocery stores, at least one I could ride my bike to if it didn't cross a four-lane mega road. Bike traffic is not kosher for most of my householdy chores (like grocery shopping, going to the post office, etc.) that I would like to do where I currently live. If I lived closer to downtown, this would be more possible--though right downtown, we lack a grocery store. I want to be able to live in a part of town where I feel like I can do more of my errands by foot or bike, but not in a condo or apartment (I have to be able to have a garden!). This is something that will take time to achieve, but like with any major life changes, it will have to be incremental. So, my first start to this less-car dependent lifestyle will be to get a job in the city in which I live. I will need to pay down debt in order to get a more central house (I'm doing that now). Baby steps...

Kelly Clarkson: I Have "No Desire" to Have Children

Kelly Clarkson proclaims:

"Oh, my God, I have no desire," the American Idol winner, 26, tells USA Today. "I would not be a good mother.

I think she should be commended for knowing what she wants. I think choosing not to have kids is just as valuable as choosing to adopt or have kids. No woman should be singled out for reproductive choices.

Economics aside, I think the OctoMom really loves all her 14 children an people should keep that first most in their mind before they comment on her.

Jessica Simpson: Fresh as a Daisy Duke

Why can the world not stop talking about Jessica Simpson? TMZ is now saying:

While we can't speak for the "performance," at least her body is rockin'.

Maybe if the world would stop talking about her weight, the chick could concentrate on learning the words to her songs.

Octuplet Mom's Ex: We Split Because We Couldn't Have Kids

Marcos Gutierrez says he left his ex Nadya Suleman, because they were unable to conceive children together.

I personally believe a woman is worth more than her child birthing capabilities. Since they both ended up conceiving children by alternate means on their own. I think is position was sexist as it was presented to us by US Weekly.

I am not against divorce. I am just against people breaking up for the sole reason of not being able to have children, if this fact was not discovered by both parties until after the marriage.

I would totally feel disappointed in any man dumping me because I found out 5 years into a marriage that I thought was built on love and capability to be dump because I got back a bad medical exam.

Water

Is water apart of your healthy life style? Do you find it a hard thing to add it to your lifestyle? Where do you get your water?

For me water is the easiest thing to add to my life style. I drink 8-12 glasses of filter water at work each day. These are the reasons that I drink the majority of my water at work.

• I am close to a bathroom.
• I can have it at arms length at all times since I work at a desk.
• They provide filter waters so I don't have to invest into bottled water at home.

Raw: What Will You Eat?

Right now, I'm in a tough spot both time wise and financially (I'm only working one job and taking a full load of classes, whereas usually I have a second job teaching as an adjunct), but this isn't all that bad. (Particularly in this time of financial recession, I am able to pay all of my bills, pay down some debt, and eat relatively healthfully with occasional evenings out).

Anyway, the other way that this financial/time crunch is a blessing for me is that I have to be honest about what I will do/can do and what I will eat. Even though I do have the time crunch, I am not happy unless I get to cook on occasion--its not just the food, its also the activity and creativity. At the beginning of the semester, I bought a whole bunch of Lean Cuisine's because they were on sale for $1.78 and I knew that I would have pretty much no time for food prep. I HATE LEAN CUISINE AND ANY OTHER FROZEN MEAL (except the occasional Amy's or Ethnic Gourmet). These frozen meals have me craving--eh gad--raw veggies dipped in hummus and fresh salads. So, I'm going to give the rest of my frozen meals away and start to prepare meals that I will eat and I really want to eat more raw food. I had a good start this week by bringing baby carrots and snow peas with hummus to work for snack time. I tried a couple weeks ago to bring a mixed bag of organic baby carrots and broccoli to work, but then after not snacking on them I realized: I don't like raw broccoli! I do love: cucumbers, red or green peppers, jicama, baby carrots, snow peas, sugar snap peas, and celery, but I do not like raw broccoli or raw cauliflower and somehow "making" myself eat them really equals me rebelling and eating a granola bar, cheese, or something from the vending machine (which I rarely do and its not the end of the world, but its funny how doing what you think is healthiest often results in the exact opposite behavior).

So, I'd like to bring a salad for lunch on Monday's and either a sandwich or some other prepared meal for dinner; Tuesday I'd like a salad and bring a sandwich to eat in the car on the way home after class; then Wednesday we go out to lunch in the office, eat dinner at home; then finally Thursday is salad for lunch and then wait to eat my "now" traditional treat of chicken wings and beer with 30 Rock for dinner. I don't have to do the salad routine every day, but for a couple weeks I feel like it because I'm in that groove. I want fresh fruit/veggies as snacks available if I crave them and then salads for lunch for a while--almost to make up for the processed food overload as of late.

Stayed tuned to read about "pimpin' your salad" soonly.

April 11!!!

Hello, dear reader! Well, this morning I was thinking about the Lexington Farmer's Market (their website is HERE). I miss the farmer's market, though there is a small winter presence in the atrium at Victorian Square on Saturday mornings, I didn't realize that until I read it on their website this morning doing research for this post! Let's be honest, until the LFM can get a PERMANENT Downtown space and community SUPPORT it will be a fair weather outdoor market in the high season for the foreseeable future.

Since moving back home, I have tried to eat more locally and ethically (and luckily, Lexington, KY does have more opportunities for this than most Southern Cities--Nashville was pathetic on this score I'm sorry to say).

When starting out trying to eat locally, you have to change a few of your preconceptions about how you eat. Now, I'm not a purist by any stretch of the imagination!!! I want to move in stages toward local eating and not try one of those "live local for a year" challenges because I'd just set myself up for failure.

Adjustments:
1. You have to bring your own shopping bags--well, most stands do have some old kroger/walmart/target bags they can offer you (since so many Americans are WTF when visiting a farmer's market for the first time), but its a good idea to get in the habit of bringing your own bags out shopping wherever you get your groceries, plus you can express yourself on $1 canvas bags (just think about adding some iron on stickers or using puff paint) or buy them from worthy causes (like the public library often has canvas bags for sale).

2. You need to bring cash--once again, some stands take checks and even a few might take plastic, but its really much more convenient for the farmers if you pay in cash. This can also keep you in budget better!

3. You have to go to the Farmer's Market when its open, in Lexington that means Saturday mornings Downtown or Sunday Mid-morning/Afternoon on Southland. Considering that many grocery stores are open 24/7, this can take getting used to--I don't mean to patronize my readers with this statement. I'm serious! It is a mental shift that reminds us that farmers represent people who work their land and who have all the commitments of family (and often a second or third job) whereas grocery stores represent the collective action of a corporate body that is able to staff and distribute produce brought from Mexico or New Zealand through a vast network stores, chains, distribution centers, etc. Its a very different business model (and the corporate costs are often hidden by the subsidies that our government provides that supports large factory farms over the small scale family farm).

4. Instead of planning your menu for the week and then going to the grocery store to get those specific items, when you are a Farmer's Market shopper, you often need to see what is in season, what looks good, and then try to develop your meal plan for the week while your shopping or just trust that you can make it all work for you. Alice Waters, (visit her restaurant's website here) recommends this type of menu planning and she's able to do it for TWO restaurants--Chez Panisse and the Chez Panisse Cafe--so certainly I, a single person, or even a person with an average sized family could try this technique at least for a couple weeks to see if he/she/they could pull it off.

5. Be prepared to make fruits and vegtables the center of your plate, with grains, breads, meats, poultry, fish (in KY we even have shrimp farmers), cheeses, eggs, dairy, etc. available in bounty as well, you need not go totally vegetarian or vegan, but your focus will probably shift toward the fruits/veggies and you will pair the proteins and grains with the produce rather than the other way around.

6. You can integrate your exercise plan with the farmer's market lifestyle--for example, if you live near downtown, you could walk or bike there and get rolling baskets or attach a basket/panniers to your bike. Unfortunately, I do not live close enough to downtown to do this myself and Lexington has a long way to go in terms of making the city more bike/walkable. Even if you do have to drive to go to a Farmer's Market near you, try to park at a distance and give a walk through of the total Farmer's Market before making your purchases. This will give you more time to think of possible menus/dishes, you can enjoy the energy of the market (and maybe a street musician or two), and you will be sure to try out a variety of stands (I like to try to buy from different stands throughout the season, so that I'm able to support a broder demographic of farms. Though, if one farm always has something I love, like Green Zebra Tomatoes or Purple Podded Snap Beans I'll stop by their stands more often :)

So, my local Farmer's Market starts up April 11th and I can't wait. I do have more plans for extending my local eating this season, so I'll update you as the plans come together.

PHOTOSHOP DIET!!! BEYONCE RELEASES NEW PHOTOSHOOT PICS … AND SHE LOOKS ABOUT 20 LBS LIGHTER!!!

I am glad mediatakeout.com started calling out celebrities for there photoshop pictures. Only a few celebrities will publicly complain about photoshopping. To name a few:

• Jamie Lee Curtis
• Kate Winslet
• Keira Knightley

I think only when the stars themselves start calling out the photoshopping will the media stop using it at the rate they do.

Lisa Rinna Would Rather Go Naked than Host Events

Who is Lisa Rinna kidding? She is 58 years old and always working on her body.

• If you have seen her face you know she is doing something to her lips.
• She sells a workout videos.
• She is always looking tan.

So I think Lisa Rinna is delusional if she says she is not body concerned, because if she wasn't so concerned she would age graceful versus trying to defy time.

DWTS' Cheryl Burke Gained Weight After Quitting Birth Control

Medications can affect a persons weight. I think we all (media and fans) need to consider that our comments about weight could be hurting the feelings of someone who is already experiencing an underlined health issue.

Mischa Barton: Don't Worry About My Weight!

The actress says she's lost "a little bit" but is "happier and healthier than ever"

Mischa Barton has some perspective on her shoulders. People (fans and media) don't need to worry about her weight. If she is happy and healthy we shouldn't have any concerns or questions for her.