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I Took A Banned Drug And Didn’t Even Know It

February 8, 2012

From now on I’m sticking to sugar as my pre-race pep. Jelly beans are happy pills indeed. Bad news bodybuilders: dimethylamylamine (DMAA) may be responsible for the deaths of two soldiers, according to the U.S. Army. Eh, just another day and another story about a sports supplement gone wrong? Not for me. This story hit me hard. Probably because I have some DMAA in my cabinet as we speak. You may not recognize DMAA by acronym alone but it’s also known as Asian geranium extract and it’s found in some of the most popular – and most effective – supplements [...]

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Eating is Now A Spectator Sport: How do you play?

January 31, 2012

Now THIS is a good reason to bust out your camera phone in a restaurant. You know, for when the boy toys come back. A waitress friend of mine recently snapped a pic of an overweight patron’s meal. Why? So she could text it to several of her friends. Sure her customer’s meal was appalling – One of every appetizer? Yes, please – but even more so was the realization that now, more than ever, eating is a spectator sport. People feel they not only have a right to see what other people are eating but also to pass judgment [...]

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From Oscar-Seeking Stars to Empathetic Personal Trainers: What happens when people try to gain weight?

November 21, 2011

When super-fit personal trainer Drew Manning decided to “get fat” for six months and then lose the weight, chronicling his journey on his website Fit2Fat2Fit, his story shot into the media limelight faster than a starlet’s nip slip. Everyone, it seems, wants to know why Manning would voluntarily shed his rock-hard body – one he’d used to model in the past – and trade in his thin privilege for something most Americans are doing their darndest to get rid of? He explains, “My goal is to inspire people to get fit, teach them how to do it and give them [...]

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Irishman Kicks Rihanna Out of His Field & Reignites the Sexy-Jealousy Debate [When your body is your body of work]

September 27, 2011

 image courtesy of the BBC On Monday a farmer in Northern Ireland, upon meeting the international pop star Rihanna, did what I imagine very few red-blooded men would: he publicly admitted to not knowing who Rihanna is. Okay, that’s true, but my great uncles would probably all say the same. No, his real shocker was kicking Rihanna out of his grain field where she was filming a music video. Her crime? Looking too sexy. Alderman* Alan Graham explained that when he saw the singer strip down to a red bikini top and jeans he “felt things were getting inappropriate.” He [...]

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Ethical Dilemma: The Politics of Feeding the Poor [Ban on using food stamps to buy soda struck down]

August 21, 2011

Disappointed. That’s the only way to describe how I felt after my first month of volunteering every day at the battered women’s shelter. It started out all fun and spy games, with the coordinator telling me to meet her on the corner of a crowded intersection and to come alone. Once I got to the shelter, I had to be buzzed in through the razor-wire topped fence by a guard on duty 24 hours a day. The rules were: no men (no male children unless they were under 13), no unapproved visitors, no alcohol, no drugs. Everyone had to go [...]

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How to Help A Child Lose Weight [Help a reader out!]

May 24, 2011

Courtesy of the State of Georgia’s new childhood obesity campaign Three hours of hysterical sobbing, a whole box of kleenex thrown and self-inflicted eye poking (yes, really) is what my third grader did when I assigned him a second sheet of math problems after he lied to me about having homework so he could go play with a friend after school. I am well aware that kids often do not do what we want them to. But then if parenting was meant to be easy they would’ve given us the user manual in the hospital. Instead we do everything we [...]

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How Far Does a Parent’s Example Go When It Comes to Food? [Michelle Obama is not fat!]

February 23, 2011

Okay, this would definitely be taking it too far. Definitely maybe. Aw heck, I’d totally do this if I could fit in my fridge (and not suffocate). File this one under I can’t believe I’m giving this guy more press: Rush Limbaugh announced on his eponymous talk show yesterday that Michelle Obama is a hypocrite when it comes to healthy eating and then he called her fat. To wit “The problem is, and dare I say this, it doesn’t look like Michelle Obama follows her own nutritionary, dietary advice. And then we hear that she’s out eating ribs at 1,500 [...]

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Binge Eating Disorder: What it is, what it isn’t and how to get help

February 16, 2011

Anyone curious as to what happens to the male anatomy when running in sub-zero temps? Sorry, can’t help you. How about what to do if an adorably squishy-wishy koala bear wanders into your back yard? Again, I have no idea. Even things that you’d think I’d know something about, like CPR – I am actually certified in both pediatric and adult – often fail me as evidenced by the time I was faced with a student having a stroke in my adult computer literacy class and my first instinct was to Heimlich the poor woman. Therefore, in writing this blog, [...]

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Your TV and Computer are Trying to Kill You [Research says you sit too much and your mama dresses you funny.]

January 14, 2011

I suppose this is one alternative. Strangely I don’t think researchers would look kindly on this method either. “Why don’t you kids go watch TV for a bit? Mommy has some work to get done.” “But we’re not allowed to watch TV in the mornings!” (It’s true but since when did they become such rule-abiding sticklers? The unflushed toilets and mound of dirty laundry says otherwise.) “Well you are when you wake up at 6 a.m.” (I get ONE hour every morning to work. ONE hour of peace and quiet where I can write two sentences without being interrupted. My [...]

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Kate Middleton: Does the Title of Princess Come With An Eating Disorder?

December 3, 2010

Land mines and bulimia: those are my only two real memories of Princess Di. Being young enough that the ’80s were just a (colorful plastic-scented) blur of Rainbow Brite and Strawberry Shortcake, I wasn’t much interested in fairytale weddings unless they came with a cartoon prince and soundtrack featuring Robin Williams. So I missed all the drama that plagued Diana Spencer from the moment she added “Princess of Wales” to her moniker. But like any good celebrity, she did leave a legacy and for me that included her good works with victims of land mines and even more vividly, the [...]

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