Men, welcome to the crazy world of designer specific sizing

Oftentimes women think men's clothing is easier to buy because pants sizes are so clear cut. If you have a 36 inch waist and 32 inch inseam, then you buy a 36x32 pant. Easy, right? Nope!! Turns out that men's designers are adding "vanity inches" to make guys feel better about the jeans they're trying on. Women's designers have been doing this for years. A size 6 now is not the same size 6 from 20 yrs ago. Good luck finding the same size 6 across different stores. Ann Taylor Loft's size 6 is equivalent to a size 8 for other retailers. So much also depends on the cut of the pant. Where does the waist of the pant sit on you? At the hip? At the natural waist? Women - please don't let pants sit as high as your natural waist.

Enjoy!

PANTS!

How hot are you?

Evidently most of us think we're pretty good looking, if not hot. Woohoo! Score one point for healthy self esteem. This article from msnbc shows that collectively we're starting to look away from the false reality of television, movies, and fashion magazines and more towards our peers when judging our own looks. That's probably part of why we see obesity climbing (if a woman is a size 10 compared to obese coworkers, then she doesn't seem overweight when her health might tell a different story).

Another potential downer? Women are much more focused on muscle tone now. This is a tricky one. There is such a thing as exercise-related eating disorders, but it's good that we're beginning to shift away from just controlling weight with diet and incorporating more exercise. Sounds an awful lot like my own philosophy!

How hot am I? Well, I think I'm pretty darned cute if you ask me LOL!

Btw, there's a link in the msnbc article about an untouched Jennifer Aniston photo compared to a photoshopped version. Those Hollywood makeup artists are really fabulous!

Cutting calories can cause weight gain

It feels good to have science justify your way of thought. I hate counting calories, and I hate trying to restrict myself the way a lot of diets require you to. My philosophy is simple: eat more whole foods and less processed, try to get protein at every meal, cut out sweets except for a few bites after dinner, drink more water, and try to eat lots of fruits and veggies. So far it's helped lower my blood pressure (it was beginning to creep up on me, and now it's normal). I haven't had my cholesterol checked in a couple years, but I have a feeling that's improved too. Overall I feel better when I eat this way.

The reason I bring this up is because I found this great article on msn.com about how restricting calories can cause you to either struggle with weight loss or gain it back once the "diet" is over. I think patience is the hardest part of trying to get healthy and lose weight because we want it quickly. Everything in our lives is so instant that we forget losing weight takes time. It takes time to put it on, so it will take time to lose it. Yes, it took less time to gain it but it doesn't happen over night.

Speaking of how cortisol makes you gain weight, this week has been tough for me personally. Some crappy stuff happened to me that I won't mention here, but it's been frustrating. Needless to say I've been eating a lot more candy left over from Easter (well, I bought it after Easter because I wanted comfort food). I think it's caused me to gain all this weight back, even temporarily. That just makes me feel more crappy. Ugh! Isn't it funny how our minds cause so much to change with our bodies? I'm going to try and focus on more running. It helps clear my mind, and I need to run more anyway.

On a final note, maxi dresses are amazing because they're so loose that you feel awesome even on a "fat" day. LOL!!

The average size of the American woman is....

5'4", 140 lbs, and wears a size 14 dress. Wanna know why that caught my attention? I'm 5'3", about 140 lbs, and I wear size 8 clothing. What's the difference? I have no idea!! No wonder I'm so flabbergasted at what's supposed to be my ideal weight - 115 lbs! I'm a stick at 115 lbs. I remember this because that's about the weight I was at when I graduated high school, and I was teeny tiny.

Anyway, I'm not sure how accurate those figures are since I got them here. I'm also not sure what my point is LOL!! Oh well.

Caster Semenya part 2

I ought to be in bed right now, but I couldn't help but make another post about this woman based on the article I just came across. It turns out that experts agree with me on this one...splashing her test results and declaring her a hermaphrodite is psychologically damaging her. For all intents and purposes she's a woman with a birth defect.

Thanks goes to a good friend of mine who had a good discussion with me about this.

Did you know....

That your weight is largely determined by genetics? I find the publication of this article to be ironic because my friend Atalanta and I were just talking about this very subject over the holiday weekend. We can't all be lithe and modelesque. It's simply not possible. My mother has a tendency to harp on me about my weight. It appears that I have a typical Asian relationship with my mom in that no matter my weight, I am overweight in her eyes. This from the woman who feeds me more than I could possibly eat in one sitting. Luckily for me I developed a love for good food, not an eating disorder.

Anyway, the reason Atalanta and I were talking about this was because we were remarking on the genetics of our respective families and how there was a shock felt in the fashion world recently about how a plus-sized model posed nearly nude....with her belly not as perfect as it "should" have been. She was sitting with her legs crossed, bending forward and her belly touched the top of her thighs. The picture is found here. I personally think she looks gorgeous, and that she has a body most women in America envy.

The reason my mom has a hard time understanding my weight and why it's different from her weight at my age is this: my dad. He is a little overweight, but he does come from old British-isles stock. He's short, muscular, and built like a log. Consequently I'm a little stockier than my mom. That's okay. I'm fit and healthy and that's what matters.

Cankles!

For those that don't know, cankles is slang for calves that seem to merge into a person's ankles with no definition. I've always thought of this affliction as something that happens to the elderly due to medical conditions, but apparently this seems to "afflict" people of all ages. People have even begun to have liposuction on their ankles! I know I was lamenting my "larger" waist in my last post, but I seriously think we're being too harsh on ourselves here. Not everyone has Barbie legs. One of the nice aspects of the human race is how we can all be so different in appearance and personality. We are allowed to be unique.

Anyhoo, check this article out at cnn.com. Enjoy!

Can you be fit and fat?

Is it even possible to be fit and fat (maybe this depends on how you define fat)? How about skinny and unhealthy? As it turns out, the answers are yes, but there are some important facts to consider when judging how healthy we are. This article discusses why it's still very important to be fit and maintain a healthy waist size. Notice there's no weight range to fall in or BMI to achieve. I've been reading more and more that those numbers aren't accurate and that we should focus on waist size. *sigh* As much as I like the information becoming clearer, I also realize that my waist size isn't as close to the 32.5 inches experts say it ought to be. I don't have a tape measure with me here at work, so I don't know how far off I am. I think the last time I measured it was either 34 or 35 inches.

I almost feel like this is working against my general goal of just being fit. I enjoy being active and the weight seems to come off slowly on its own time as I'm working towards my fitness goals. I have lost a lot of weight on my belly as past pictures I found the other day prove. Sometimes I really understand the temptation of taking a drug for its weight loss properties like Adderall, which is not that hard to come by if you're willing to doctor shop (highly unethical and could kill you!!). Then I remember that while I may not fit neatly into an expert's strict standards I should focus on just being happy with myself, flaws and all. So what if I don't meet the 32.5 inches? I'm relatively healthy, active, and enjoy life. It's all good :)

Final group training run!

Yesterday morning was the final training run with my In Training for Peachtree folks, and boy am I glad it's done. I actually feel like I've learned a lot about running in general, not just getting ready for the Peachtree. Next Saturday will be an event to participate in, not a race that I can try to determine my 10k pace. As a recap, here's what I think I've learned over the past 10 weeks or so:

- The right shoes make a world of difference. Go to a running store and get fitted.

- Being tense in the shoulders and arms is fairly common and can lead to things like headaches and decreased performance. I didn't realize I was so tense until I began working on lowering my arms and shaking them out occasionally.

- Don't push off with your toes to go faster. This will create more shin problems and affect the distance you're able to run. Try striking with more of your foot and pushing off with your upper legs/glutes.

- It's pretty common to have hip/back soreness and problems when increasing your mileage. If you feel you need to cut back for a couple days, then do so. You know your body better than anyone else.

- Stretch!!! I don't recommend stretching before the run unless you've warmed up a bit, but stretching post-run is an absolute must.

- G2 is so awesome after a run, particularly when it's been really hot and you've been sweating like a pig.

- Bananas are still my go-to pre-run fuel.

- Not only does technical clothing help keep you cool, but you have to have the right kind of technical clothing. The hotter it is, the less clothing you wear period. If you're concerned about spectators judging you, just remember that you're out there running and working on improving yourself while they're being couch potatoes. Other runners will not judge because we're just like you - busting our butts outside to meet fitness and weight goals.

This has been a very interesting experience, and I whole heartily encourage everyone to try to get a coach. Even if it's temporary and in a group setting like my situation was, it was well worth it.

Before and After

I was going through some old pictures on my hard drive when I came across some pictures that were taken of me two years ago. I look like such a porker!! Ahh! I actually remember feeling really insecure at this time due to my weight. It was the heaviest I had ever been, and I was struggling not only with finding clothes that fit my new body, but with the expectation that because I was Asian (and my mother's child) that I was supposed to be a lot skinnier. I don't know if those expectations were all internal or if they came in part from other people, but luckily for me Rex didn't care. Just to show everyone the kind of progress I've made with changing my diet and incorporating a little exercise, I want to let everyone see a picture from two years ago taken at the Georgia Aquarium and a picture taken recently at a race. Let it be known that if I can make changes and lose a little weight, so can everyone else. I am not the role model for healthy living I sometimes think I am. I think it's a little hard to tell the changes since I'm sitting down in one picture and standing up in another, but to me the changes are huge.

Photoshopped celebrities

Ever wonder how anyone can aspire to look like the celebrities in Hollywood? Well, so do they. Check out this article about Kim Kardashian and see why holding yourself to the media's standard just isn't realistic.