December 2011

Happy Holidays From The Great Fitness Experiment!

December 23, 2011

I like to think we patented the “pee-pee pose”. And with 20 (!!) kids between us, it gets used A LOT. Happy Holidays from all of us at the Great Fitness Experiment! We’ve already got some great Experiments lined up for 2012 (hint: it rhymes with “wee mighty next” 2!!). Thank you so much to all of you – this wouldn’t be nearly as awesome as it is without all of you reading, commenting, chastising, hugging and, yes, even lurking. I wish I had tutus for all of you! Dudes included! I’m taking this week off of blogging to be [...]

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My Gift This Christmas: Learning to let go of past mistakes

December 23, 2011

Sorry, couldn’t resist! Is this not the saddest holiday card ever? Blue Christmas indeed. And they made Kim stand next to an empty chair!! “It’s the hap- hap- iest season of all!” Unless, you know, it isn’t. The holidays can be a wonderful time but for a lot of people they can also be a difficult time made even more poignant by all the well-intended cheer, gifts and hippopotamuses getting thrown around. And this year I’m one of those people. For reasons I’m not quite ready to go into on here (mostly because I haven’t got enough distance from them to articulate [...]

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My Favorite Holiday Dessert: The Junk Drawer Cookie

December 21, 2011

I am to food bloggers what Iowa is to beachfront property. Be warned, the following photos were not taken in a light box and don’t even look all that good but do not be deceived by the shabbiness of my photog skills: these cookies are AMAZING. I didn’t make up this recipe. I didn’t even make this batch (Gym Buddy Allison did, curse her). And I may even be the last one on the planet to discover them. Behold: Two Ritz crackers sandwiched around a layer of crunchy peanut butter and dipped in white Almond Bark topped with sprinkles. And [...]

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Getting Your Body Back After Pregnancy: What not to do

December 20, 2011

See – she’s fine now! Check out that core strength!! Compare Jelly Bean’s fab plank to this woman’s – this has got to be the worst “fitness” photo I’ve ever seen! (And no comment about the two binkies. We’re working on it!) I love her one boot/one plaid sandal combo. She cracks me up every single day. “Huh, we never really figured out what happened with that blip,” the doctor said lightly as she traced her finger over Jelly Bean’s growth chart at her recent 2-year checkup. She didn’t even notice my uncomfortable fidgeting as she continued, “Ah well, no [...]

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How Much Vitamin D Do You Need, Exactly? And How Do You Get It?

December 19, 2011

I think vitamin D is the least of this guy’s worries in the sun… At first I thought his nipples were stickers. If my life were perfect I’d live near the equator and get plenty of sunshine every day that my body would then naturally use to produce all the vitamin D it needs to be happy, healthy and less insane. Of course, that would also mean the mice that live in my kitchen would sing while cleaning it instead of pooping out a litter of mewling baby mice under my sink that scared me so badly I still get [...]

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The Emergency Gym Survival Kit: My Holiday Gift to the Gym Buddies

December 19, 2011

Maxipad slippers!! If only I had thought to Google “hilarious maxi pad gifts” before I gave the Gym Buddies their presents! Ah well, there’s always next year… (Image and idea courtesy of Homemade Gifts Made Easy.) Who gives their friends panty liners for Christmas? I do! And I would have given them the panties to go with it if I’d been smart enough to guess their sizes. (Seriously I’m spatially dyslexic. My most challenging chore every night is to figure out what size Tupperware I need to put our leftovers in because I canNOT eyeball it and get it right.) [...]

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A Cleanse, A Reader Correction and What Not To Say to a Woman Who’s Had a Miscarriage

December 16, 2011

I so totally did this. It’s been an interesting, slightly emotional week for me around the Internets. I wrote a piece for Redbook about Michelle Duggar’s recent miscarriage of her 20th baby and while the Redbook/Shine readers didn’t have much to say about it, my post about it for The Huffington Post got a little nuts. I’m constantly amazed at both the beauty and the ugly that comes out in Internet comment forums. But I stand by it and I hope that people will find it helpful. I’ve included the post here with links to the various comments below. (Be [...]

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Testing Adidas’ Barefoot Shoes: When Fashion Collides With Function

December 15, 2011

Impatience has been a lifelong struggle for me. When I decide to do something, I want to do it rightthisverysecond, a charming trait that has made my husband make a blanket rule that I’m not allowed to talk about anything of import after 10 p.m. lest he end up helping me repaint the living room at 2 a.m. (In my defense I made the horrible choice of painting it canary yellow when all the accent colors are dark red. I couldn’t go to sleep in the Ronald McDonald house!! It ended up going back to white two hours later. And [...]

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What is the Big Deal About Tabata Training? (+ 10 options besides running)

December 13, 2011

I don’t know that cartwheels are a great sprinting technique but major props for style! Celebrities, weight loss gurus, the Biggest Loser trainers, the elderly folks at my gym (true story and good golly do I love them for it!) – it seems like everyone is talking about the magic of Tabata training these days. But what’s the big deal about this and why is it different than any other workout fad? Well, it’s as close to a fitness miracle as you can get short of an appearance from the Ghost of Granted New Year’s Resolutions. The only trick [...]

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Why I Need Therapy (And Why You Might Too)

December 12, 2011

Some people go to talk therapy, others find solace living in the gutted intestines of a mouthless kitty. You’ve got options. Hi-ho, hi-ho it’s back to therapy I go! And for the first time I’m really happy about it. In the past when I’ve sought out therapy (or was kinda sorta forced into therapy) it’s because I was in a really dark place and was afraid of sliding all the way off the cliff. But this time is different. First, it is nothing related to eating disorders of any kind! That alone feels like kind of a coup. I’m still [...]

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