First things first — who won the Crispy Green give-away?!

That would be Lori from Finding Radiance! Congrats, Lori!

If you want to learn more about Crispy Green’s freeze-dried fruit — check out the site here.  I am really happy with this product because it’s real, portion-controlled fruit without preservatives and it has a ton of uses (I usually grab on the go, but you can add to your oatmeal or cereal, etc.).

In the News — Interesting Articles This Week
In case you missed these articles this week, check ‘em out and let me know what you think!

• Article titled, “Unhealthy Appetite: Is ‘Fatsploitation’ Fuelling the Obesity Crisis?” in The Independent asks whether the preponderance of reality t.v. shows featuring obese people helps exacerbate or ameliorate the “obesity problem.”  To me that’s a loaded question full of presumptions I already don’t agree with. But I’ll save my spiel for another post.  See Big Fat Deal’s response to this article here. Do you guys see shows like “Drop Dead Diva” as fueling the “obesity crisis” and feeding into stereotypes about overweight people? I’ll also ask, if we do feel the plus-sized protagonist unfairly stereotypes overweight people, what does the dumb, shallow, thin, blonde chick represent?
• Article titled, “Thinner Wallets, Fatter Bellies” in The Boston Globe discusses how the economy may be affecting our waistlines and how this challenge may be turned into an opportunity. Has the economy affected your waist?  I want to know!
• Article titled, “XXXL: Why are Americans Fat” in The New Yorker discusses books in obesity and health studies to address why Americans are at a historic “obesity high” (my term), including books using an evolutionary and social perspective.  I highly recommend this article if you want to get a snippet of the great books out there right now addressing these topics.

Give-Away Round Up

• My beloved Cranky Fitness is giving away a subscription to Fitness Magazine along with some swag.  Check it out here.  P.s. Wow, I’ve seen this one on 3 different blogs now (good marketing, Fitness Magazine! But why haven’t you contacted me yet?! Boo!!!)

Plans for the weekend? I’m going to wrap up some writing and reading projects, work out (duh, right?) and we’ll see what else.  Nothing spectacular planned!  What about you guys?

I leave you guys with this adorable pup — my boyf’s lil Boston Terrier enjoying a ride in the beach cruiser

<3, The Cranky One

Here we go:

• Starting Weight: 138 lbs.
• Last Weigh-In July 13: 131.2 lbs.
• Today’s Weigh-In July 20: 129.2lbs.



• Loss since last week:  2.00 lbs.
• Total loss: 8.8 lbs.
• Left to go: 1.2 lbs. by 8/1/09
• Can I just add that I haven’t weighed in my 120s since I was like 11 or 12?…

Here are my daily exercise and calorie consumption stats from last week:

• Monday — 2000 calories, one hour rollerblading
• Tuesday — 1600 calories, 45-mins walk, ran 6 miles
• Wednesday —1600 calories, one hour rollerblading, 30 minutes Turbo Kick Boxing (only 30 mins. b/c my 14-month niece was crying in the kid’s room!), 10-min run
• Thursday — 1550 calories, ran 4 miles
• Friday — 2000 calories, 1 hour rollerblading
• Saturday – 2000 calories, ran 6.25 miles + does slaving in a kitchen from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. count as exercise? Why yes, yes of course it does!
• Sunday – 2500 calories, rest day

So?

I’m happy about being a little over a pound away from being done with this challenge.  This challenge has been, well, a flippin’ challenge.  It’s been mentally and physically exhausting — so much so that I’m ready to escape to a deserted island, forget my academic and professional goals, wear a coconut bra and lay on the beach for the rest of my life.

I kid, I kid…’cept about the coconut bra…

I guess pushing myself outside of my comfort zone was the plan, weight loss was the goal, yadda yadda yadda. I’ve been up and down like a bobble-head convincing myself that all I want is to be “fit” and then contradicting myself by caring about the number on the scale.  I guess that’s bound to happen when you’re involved in a challenge where what counts IS the number on the scale (note to self — don’t do this again!).

Earlier this week, a couple days ago actually, I was ready to write you all and exclaim, “I’m free!  I have not binged or wanted to binge or had any emotional eating issues whatsoever!  Alert the media, I’m dropping everything, heading out on a book tour and joining Oprah on stage where we will wheel in a cart with lard in the amount of all the weight I’ve lost!”

Then I had a couple bouts of eating beyond being full and felt like I had been eating without being conscious of what I was eating.  Realizing I’ve still got work to do on fixing myself? Check!

Goals

Last week I had a goal to do more strength training.  Did that happen? Nope.  Am I lame? Yes. What’s the point in having a goal if it’s just empty promises and no follow-through.  I really don’t have much compassion for myself — no matter what’s going on — if I don’t follow through.  So this week, I better follow-through or I’m going to make myself do something really uncomfortable.  What do I find really uncomfortable?  Well that’s a long and way too personal list, but I promise you guys this – if I do not strength train at least three days this week for at least 30-minutes each day, you will get to post a truth or dare in the comments section next Monday and I will choose a random generated number and have to comply with that entry (if it’s not against the law or morally repugnant, of course)! Am I a silly 12-year-old or what?!

**Give away!**

Crispy Green sent me over some samples, SWEET! THANKS, that I have tried and loved.  They make these adorable portion-controlled pouches of freeze-dried fruits.  They are the perfect portable snack and great if you want a snack that satisfies your sweet tooth AND gets you a serving of fruit. Now I want YOU to try and adore them!  I am giving away one of each bananas, apples, pineapples and pears pack, ranging in 36-55 calories each to one reader.

How to Win* (1 entry each for the following, please separate each comment)

• Leave a comment telling me your favorite way to eat fruit
• Add me to your Blogroll and leave me a comment telling me you did so
• Subscribe to my RSS feed/or via Google Reader and leave me a comment telling me you did so
• Link back to this contest on your blog and leave me a comment telling me you did so
• Winner announced this Friday, July 24

*Limited to readers in the U.S. only, sorry!

You can buy Crispy Green from their online store here, from Amazon.com here, or from Whole Foods.

Full price via the online store, is $1.33/pack, sold in 6-packs for $7.99, free shipping on orders of $50 or more.  Price via Amazon.com is $1.09/each, free shipping on orders of $25 or more.

More Give-Aways

• Check out MizFit’s Fitness Magazine give-away here.
• Check out The Apron Goddesses’ Shabby Apple dress give-away here.
• Check out Girl, Get Strong’s Purely By Nature Make-up give-away here.
• Check out Girl, Get Strong’s Spicy BBQ gift-pack give-away here.
• Check out Carrots ‘N’ Cake’s “mint julips” earrings give-away here.

Oh and I almost forgot!  How was the bridal shower/bachelorette party, you ask?!  Let’s just say I can’t provide pictures because they would be too incriminating, especially the picture I took of a rather indecent pinata.  Not going to go there!  My favorite part was probably what most people thought was the lamest and that was the bridal shower game where you write out your “recipe for a good marriage” to share with the bride-to-be.  It made me reflect on how what works for some of us, as individuals and couples, varies across the spectrum. In applying that to the purposes of this blog, what do you think goes into a recipe for a healthy lifestyle?  If a friend was about to enter the life-long journey of obtaining and maintaining her personal best health – what ingredients for success would you give her?

How was your weekend?

Have a wonderful Monday!

<3,

The Cranky (and sleepy) One