I Watch to Mock - Ruby

You remember when I wrote about Ruby - The Style Network show about a woman's weight loss journey. I used to watch it to see her struggles to lose weight and her life as a person of size. I knew there were fake elements - like Ruby deliberately torturing herself by going to candy stores - but there were real elements like her trying to stay on track on the indignity of not having a big enough chair to fit you.

Sadly, now I just watch the show to mock because damn if Ruby isn't nuttier than a Payday bar and the show isn't faker than Miley Cyrus' mom.

First, Ruby has bought into her own hype and thinks she is an Oprah-style role model. Ruby, Oprah was a broadcast journalist and Oscar nominated actress before anyone let her have her own tv show. STARR JONES was a prosecutor with actual knowledge of the law before she got on tv. You got on tv because you lost weight. Losing weight is a big deal and I'm sure it gives you strength and insight but PLEASE, put it in perspective. You act is if the mere fact you're on tv gives you more insight than any other person who has lost weight. It didn't. It just made you luckier.

But it hasn't made you smarter. To quote Tai from Clueless "I'm not going to take advice from a virgin who can't drive." The girls in your Girl's Fat Night have a zillion times more experience with sex and relationships than you. They seem to be able to use actual real word to discuss their health (Christmas doctor = gynecologist). They dress better than you (I know low blow but it's true). And they seems to be actively invested in their own recovery (doing the damn 12-step assignments). You can learn WITH them but don't think you have anything to teach them.

Also, everything is reality show setup. I don't believe that you and Denny have mad chemistry no matter how much your friend Georgia says you do. It's also hard to believe that were ever in a romantic relationship with Denny for eight years when he was completely harassing Jeff and his girlfriend about not having sex after three months. I don't believe all of these trips to the restaurants because you should know by now that going out requires that you develop skills to cope with not being able to eat anything on the menu. I also don't believe that Jeff is straight but that's neither here nor there.

Finally, I am so over your quest to recover your missing memories because: a) it was something so horrifying we don't need to see it on national tv; or b) it was as fake as the rest of the scenarios.

Health Care Reform - One important point

As all of my facebook pals know, I have been extreme skeptical of the health care reform bill. But someone with diabetes points out how important the rule that noone with pre-existing conditions can be denied coverage OR be charged up the wazoo. Here's what this person has to say.

Bittersweet Victory

So this weekend, I did a set of blood tests. You see, my blood sugar readings have been on the high end (120 - 130) and I've been worried that they have been going up. AND I've just been gaining some weight. Nothing huge, but I'm about 10 pounds over my lowest weight last year. So I've been emailing my doctor to get me back on the metformin and he said I should get a batch of blood tests done to see if it's necessary.

And the blood tests showed - I'm perfectly fine.

My overall cholesterol went down a few points. And everything in the cholesterol panel was well below normal in the "kicking ass" range.

AAAANNND - The blood glucose are fine. They are slight higher than before (103 as opposed to 100 and 5.2 as opposed to 5.1) Both in the doing very well range.

So in the end, everything is fine and what I really need to do is get my glucose meter recalibrated.

This is where our priorities lie

I know First Ladies try and avoid controversy like the plague, but it's a bit disingenuous for Michelle Obama to advocate for healthier living when the federal government subsidies are so whack.

Check it out.

Carrots & Couscous, Oh My!

I've been thinking a lot about my Dad lately, especially because tomorrow is his birthday. He was a really good cook, and was really happy that I was finally learning how and shared a lot of advice, recipes, and enthusiasm with me. So, this weekend I decided to pull one of the cookbooks he gave me off the shelf and give something new a try. I've been thumbing through this book of North African cooking for months, and it all looks amazing. Tonight, I made a variation of the Moroccan Carrot Salad. By adding couscous, it's become a really substantial side dish that I'll be eating all week.

The recipe starts with 1 lb of grated carrots... that was fun. Since trusty cat Cleo has an inexplicable addiction to carrots, she was very happy to get a few little pieces tossed her way.


That's a lotta carrots! You then mix the carrot with raisins, slivered or shaved almonds, olive oil, lemon juice, honey, and cinnamon. The recipe also called for rosewater, but even with Scotte's good advice I was thwarted at the grocery store - my Giant doesn't carry it. It seems fine without.

I made 1 1/2 cups of plain couscous to mix in with the finished salad. I always underestimate how much couscous really cooks up, and I ended up with a huge amount, so this will last me quite a while.

Here's the finished product, dished out in a lunch portion with a grilled pork chop. I'll look forward to that tomorrow!


This carrot salad is really tasty, sweet with rich flavors. I added in extra honey when I mixed in the couscous, which I think was a good move. This would make a great vegetarian dish and a good contribution to a pot luck sometime. I will definitely make it again. Thanks, Dad.

Speaking of Fat Jocks

Yours truly ran 11 miles on Sunday in preparation for my 10-mile race in April. I'm still recovering from the run but still, I'm taking names and kicking ass.

This is what an athlete looks like

So this guy won an Olympic Gold medal on Friday in bobsledding. He won a medal that the U.S. hadn't won in 62 years and for those of us who like our men on the solid side, he's total eye candy.

His victory really shows how much we need to change our cultural lexicon when it comes to the image of health because it's a guarantee that his BMI would put him in the "overweight" category. Think about it, there are tons of football linemen, shot putters and wrestlers who are built like trucks. They trainer for horus every day and are in peak physical condition, but if most of us close our eyes, someone who looks like this:



isn't what we would picture. Both these people are Olympic Gold Medalists. Both train like mofos and are in peak physical condition. Both are healthy. And both would be labels as overweight. What is wrong with this picture? And it's not the two hotties in the pictures.