Internet Magpie: LowFatDressing edition

Things around the web that made me want to link and babble on.

1. Jif Natural peanut butter in to-go packets. Peanut butter is a food I will eat the entire contents of, no matter the size of the container. If it's a big jar, I will eat a big jar; if it's a small jar, I will eat that. (My husband has the same thing with chips.) It killed me to pay more for the packaging for these, but it works. I eat an entire to-go cup, and then stop.

It's not a stingy "100-calorie" cup, either; it's a good amount that leaves me satisfied, so I'm not digging through the cabinet to have a second one, (and a third and a fourth...). Just one is enough to make two PB&Js!

2. The Hairpin posted an amazing entry: Be Less Crazy About Weight. Some excerpts:

Our entire culture is freaking right the fuck out, in fact. An epidemic of stories about the obesity epidemic! Cookie Monster rapping about vegetables! Fat cats and skinny dogs, lying down together! The message is Way Too Many People Weigh Way Too Much And That’s A Problem. But I’m not sure that’s accurate. I think it’s more a symptom of what happens when a couple of powerful forces come together.

First, the world is currently overflowing with more mind-bendingly salty sweet awesome disgusting food than has ever been witnessed before in human history. This food we have is positively diabolical in its deliciousness! Engineered to be extra irresistible! Of course it is hard to resist! We are not used to it!

Second, the way we live leaves us feeling thin and stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread. In between work and laundry and trying to have some fun, we barely have time to sleep, let alone confront the Balrog. Unconsciously, we’re led into a life of further unconsciousness, distracted and hurried and often on auto-pilot. It takes a strong will to snap out of it.

+++++

In addition to paying attention, you also need to see yourself as someone who’s worth paying attention to. As you are right now. You are going to be putting a lot of effort into this project, and you won't be able to sustain it if you feel like some kind of jerk. No, if you want to succeed, you have to get 100% on your own side from the get-go, and the best way I know to do that is this: construct a story about your life that positions you as an imperfect but lovable adventurer — someone you want to root for! — who’s boldly going someplace she hasn’t been before.

Because that is exactly what you are! A beloved heroine in the midst of a rollicking good tale full of scrapes and jokes and lessons learned! So make your story thrilling — make it one you can’t put down, one you can’t help being excited about, one that fills your heart so full you want to throw your head back and ROAR.

I know it seems goofy, but this story you tell yourself is serious business. And it’s precious, because it sets up how you experience everything else in your life.

Like, if you say stuff like “There is something inherently wrong with me and that’s why I can’t have what I want” or “I am but a pawn in the cold dance of chemicals we call life,” well, that shuts things down pretty thoroughly, right? It may be accurate to acknowledge that you have certain disadvantages, or that certain cultural systems are working against you, but you can’t stop there. That place is like a windowless room at the top of a lonely tower. It leaves you absolutely nowhere to go.

+++++

This experimental, experiential attitude is a crucial ingredient in the formula, because you are going to come across a lot of mysteries on your trek, and you’ll need to have a curious mindset to suss them out.  We are talking about weight, after all, and that makes the whole thing extra fraught — in about 30 seconds you can whip yourself into a self-destructive tizzy that can take weeks to recover from. So try your best not to do that. Step lightly. When things don’t work out the way you want them to, be interested in what is actually happening rather than upset about what isn’t. This will help you not fall apart as you discover what combination of stuff works for your particular body.

 +++++
  
You sound like a smart and self-aware person, and you have TONS of tools at your disposal — mind, muscles, emotions, objectivity, intuition, imagination, community. Use them all. Analyze and strategize and optimize to find out what makes your body hum and purr. Get excited to see how the story unfolds. Pay attention. Don’t go to sleep.

Most important, remember to root for your own sweet self as heartily as you ever did for anyone in any book you ever loved. It’s up to you to construct the narrative that explains what the moments of your life add up to … might as well make it the best damn story about a lady realizing her own worth and power that was ever told.

++++++

Brilliant.



3. On the flip side to that rah-rah speech, Jack Sh*t, Gettin' Fit reminds us: Somedays it is Mundane Day. And those are just as important to slog through as Action Day.

4. Great Logos with Secret Meanings has nothing to do with anything, I just thought it was cool. How did I never see the 31 in the Baskin Robbins logo?

5. Love, love, love, LOVE Ally from Wardrobe Oxygen in this stunning purple dress with the big red necklace. She is the first blogger I have seen do the high-low dress where I see the point of it.

6. Has anyone ever had melon soup? It sounds so weird, but I am in the mood to try something new. But that chunky chicken slaw sounds good too. I like Weight Watcher recipes because they always have such interesting combos; I usually goose up the seasonings because they're too bland, but the basic ideas are often theirs!

7. Speaking of recipes I like, I use my Food Ideas Pinterest board to collect interesting recipes that I want to try. You might recognize a few from Sunday Cooking posts...

8. Ally again, rocking the cutoff shorts. I have a pair of jeans that are too short that I could rip up, hmmm...

9.  Where Did All the Watermelon Seeds Go? A question I have been pondering to myself for a while.

10. My pal Kate from CakeGirl on the Run had a gorgeous cake selected to be in Cake Central Magazine! Go, Kate! I had the privilege of photographing the cake for her entry; she purchased a light box which was my first time using, but I got the hang of it, and it turned out to be a fun shoot.

Go see the rest here!

11. On the Proper Fitting of Jeans. I never understood the purpose of pockets before. And flare!

12. Bare Necessities sells DD+ bras in their own section, and they are having a great sale. I am stocking up NOW. 

 Got any good links you want to share with the class?