“I want to be skinny.”

That thought probably floats through my head a few hundred times a day. And the truth is I’m not overweight. Not even close really. But I just want to be thinner than I am, like 10 pounds thinner.

Do I need to lose weight for health reasons? No.

Am I totally out of shape? Nope.

So what gives? Why do I insist on being so un-accepting of my body?

Probably because I have this innate desire to be perfect, to strive for that unattainable “perfect,” hot celebrity body, that is the result of a) a super intense trainer and nutrition coach, which I will never be able to afford or b) a combination of drugs (no thanks) + an eating disorder.

Now I’ve never had an eating disorder, but I must admit I’ve treaded quite close to the edge with some serious calorie counting, not to mention borderline obsessive exercising. But most recently, since I’m perusing the web a lot (who isn’t?), I’ve stumbled upon the term “thinspiration.”

I’m sure many of you have heard of this. But since I hadn’t yet, I did some more digging, which led me to a TON of anorexia blogs, pro-anorexia websites, insane dieting tactics to avoid eating at all costs, YouTube videos that flash images of reallllly skinny girls so that they’ll “thinspire” you… the list goes on.

At first I was totally shocked and horrified by how mental the girls who create this sh*t are. But then, I became intrigued. Read More »

Based on everything you hear, see, read, and study, you might think that there is some super secret to losing weight.

Take a moment to think and it is easy to come up with at least 10 different diets:

South Beach…Atkins…Weight Watchers…L.A. Weight Loss…The Cabbage Soup Diet…The Juice Diet…The Cookie Diet…Medical Weight Loss…The Zone…That one where you order the food…

If only losing weight were as easy as a simple equation.

Oh, wait. It is: burn more calories than you eat.

Makes you feel stupid, right? I mean, I have personally spent the past 10 years battling my weight. I go up, I go down, I plateau. I’ve done cardio, weights, pilates, yoga. I have spun, I have run, I have swam. I guess I am just not good with math and equations because I am still battling the bulge.

Besides my addiction to all things cake related, my biggest problem is that I just don’t know how many calories I am burning. Sure, the elliptical has a calorie count, but who knows how accurate that is?

Thankfully, there is a handy new tool on the market to help all of us with our weight loss battle. Introducing the Bodybugg. Read More »

As anyone knows, college is a cesspool of unhealthiness. There’s the lack of sleep, the surplus of late-night eating and, of course, the dreaded alcohol.

Fortunately, for all you weight watchers out there, there are some simple and tasty low-cal cocktails that everyone can love without fearing the love handles.

Cherry Pom-arita — A measly 105 calories!

Ingredients:

1.5 oz. tequila

4 oz. Diet 7UP (or another diet lemon-lime soda)

1 tbsp. fresh lime juice

1/2 packet Crystal Light On The Go Immunity Cherry Pomegranate drink mix

ice cubes (for serving)

Directions:

Place tequila, soda and lime juice in a glass. Empty half of the flavor packet into glass, and stir well to combine. Pour over ice and enjoy! (Note: If you don’t like the Pom flavor, try any Crystal Light powder. They are all super delicious.) Read More »

In our health conscious and body obsessed world, almost any activity you do can be converted into calories burned. Whether you test out websites such as calorie-counter.net or caloriecontrol.org, there is definitely not a shortage of calorie info.

Everytime I walk up the four flights of stairs to my new apartment, I wonder just how many calories I am burning off. I try to justify my exhaustion by reminding myself what great exercise it is and how great my calves will look after a month. This tactic makes me feel better about 5% of the time.

Well, if you are sick of boring and tedious ways of burning a few calories here and there, check out the list from Women’s Health Magazine called “100 Ways to Burn 100 Calories: Who knew fighting fat could be so much fun?”

Just to give you a little taste, here are the top 10:

1. Slather on lip balm 765 times.

2. Relive the ’80s. Lip sync George Michael’s Faith 16 times.

3. DVR an episode of Arrested Development and watch it commercial free. (Ten straight minutes of laughter can burn 40 calories–no joke.) Read More »

Life is dangerous. There are hidden calories lurking around every corner.

Okay, I’m only getting so worked up about calorie counting because I’m on the Body by Glamour Plan, which has promised to help me tone up and slim down in time for swimsuit season. I heart Glamour. It’s like Cosmopolitan, only it doesn’t suck. Fancy that.

Anyway, the folks at Glamour recommend about 1,500 calories a day, so I’m keeping a food log to track just what goes in my mouth. It’s genius really. The log of pain single-handedly prevented me from inhaling a handful of Chips Ahoy earlier today.

But to get to the point…Today I was perusing the online menu for Au Bon Pain to decide what I wanted to get for lunch today and I discovered something shocking, something which filled me with fear and loathing….in my dorm.

Those seemingly healthy sandwiches, the really good ones with all the fresh looking ingredients, a plethora of cheese choices, and that delicious crusty bread….they are like death. Well, I don’t know about death, but if you’re looking to spend about…400-500 calories on your lunch, most of these sandwiches are out of your price range, plus they are filled with fat! Read More »