"Fat people will take anything if you tell them it's gonna make them lose weight." -Roseanne

Roseanne Barr on the diet industry...and such.


I'm a true Roseanne fan.  I love her housewife and diet jokes.  I like her take on the diet industry and weight loss.   I couldn't get enough of the working class Illinois family she created in the 80s/90s.  I loved watching her show on Nick at Night and now stream it on Netflix.

This month Roseanne returns to tv via a new Lifetime show titled, Roseanne's Nuts.  This reality show will follow Roseanne as she runs a nut farm in Hawaii.

Here's the preview

The future freaks me out

"Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.”

~ Author, Robert H. Schuller



Singer Jennifer Hudson lost weight with Weight Watchers. 
Photo from TheHealthyTeacher.com



Anyone who's ever tried to lose weight knows it can involve a lot of getting on board, falling overboard, climbing back on and starting over again.  It's no wonder the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 100,000 people die annually as a result of obesity, and it is estimated that 65 percent of American adults older than 20 are overweight or obese. 

I've tried it all - Jenny Craig, Slim Fast, Diet Pills, Skipping Meals, Calorie Counting.  With temporary fixes, I saw weight loss but none of it lasted.  I only lost to gain back the pounds I lost plus 10 more.  Personally, I know that the only way to lose and keep it off is to be consistent in whatever method you try.  Always staying active, always eating sensibly, always climbing back on board when falling off said wagon. 

Of course knowing what to do and actually doing are two different things, especially since most folks my age grew up in the age of "Eat Crap and You'll Feel Better" mass marketing.  Bad day?  Indulge in ice cream.  Money tight?  Eat like a king with this affordable fried chicken dinner.  Want to make everyday a Friday?  Head to the nearest Thank God It's Tasty joint and get a full day and half worth of calories in burgers and fries.  Hungry?  Why wait.  Follow your impulse and eat a chocolate covered calorie buster.

Since the decade I was born, the number of overweight children has doubled.  Since the '90s the rate of obesity among adults has grown by more than 75 percent.  A weight gain of 11 to 18 pounds doubles a person's risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. 

Even with all the warnings, it's so easy to put health on the backburner.  So easy to backslide to McDonald's.  Eat a burger.  Side of fries.  Dip the fries in ranch.  Swallow it down with a Shamrock Shake. However, no matter how many times I backslide, seeing body transformations always inspire me to get it back into gear.  Whether I'm watching everyday obese folks on A&E's Heavy transform from pitiful sedentary blobs who can barely walk to 5K-running athletes, or celebrities like Valerie Burtinelli or Jennifer Hudson stick to a lifestyle change, I'm inspired.


Back in 2009, Cyn snapped this photo of J. Hud performing
 on the streets of Chicago at Oprah's 24th Season Kickoff party.

Before Weight Watchers, 5'9" Jennifer Hudson wore a Size 16.  It's now reported that she wears a Size 6.  AMAZING.  Valerie Burtinelli, also transformed with Jenny Craig.  Regardless of how anyone loses weight, the main takeaway is a tidbit of hope that I too will be able to have my "before" and "after" to show people and say, "Look at me.  Can you believe I used to look like this?  No really.  That was me."

TV star Valerie Bertinelli's amazing weight loss
Photo from DietsInReview.com


Weight loss is no overnight success, but as I used to remind myself when I struggled to complete a five-year college program in four years, es mejor viajar con esperanza que llegar -   it's better to travel with hope than to arrive.

Think like Charlie Sheen, lose weight

I'm a huge fan of positive thinking.   Daily, I see the power of having a positive perspective. Positive thinking is part of why I got my first job, it's why I've lost weight in the past, why I'm going to meet my fitness goals in the future and why Charlie Sheen feels the only thing he's addicted to right now is winning.

Read Charlie Sheen quotes - Funny or Die

Weight perspective - What's in five pounds?
5 lbs of fat (left) vs. 5 lbs of muscles (right)

Over the last few years I've gained weight.  However, this gives the opportunity to lose weight, learn about my body and push forward.   And in true Charlie Sheen-like thinking, as I make progress toward my goals, I find any contribution to those goals as positive.  A 5-min walk?   I'm on my way to slimming down!  25 crunches?  Getting so close.  Running a mile?  I'm pretty much on my way to running a marathon.  ;)


Here's what David Leonhardt, creator of The Happy Guy says about perspective...


What do happiness and success have in common?

Both are a matter of perspective. This point is well expressed in an
article I once read in "The Toastmaster" magazine. A teenager sat next
to Albert Einstein at a public gathering. The teenager asked Einstein
what he did for a living. He replied that he studied physics. The
astonished teenager said, "At your age! I finished physics two years
ago!"


Think about what you do for a living, for hobbies, for your family,
etc.  How do you describe what you do? More important, how does your own
description about it make you feel? If your description does not sound
like you are a success, maybe it is time to find a new description.

True Blood Diet

I love love love True Blood.  It's amazing.  I was there for season one.  I was there for season two.  And now, in season 3, unfortunately I'm a no show because I don't have access to HBO at the moment.  Regardless, I still watch show snippets via Hulu.com, got super excited by news of the True Blood comic book, follow up the actors/actresses lives and cannot wait until Season 3 is on DVD!  Recently, fitness trainer Josh Hillis wrote of Anna Paquin, aka Sookie on True Blood, and her "Bikini ready" diet via his Fat Loss & Fitness Blog. Read it here.  Anna says her diet is simply a, ""Well-what-would-you-eat-if-you-were-being-photographed-in-a-bikini-tomorrow?" diet... I mean, it's not anything wildly specific. I eat a lot of vegetables. I eat a lot fruit. I don't eat fast food ever. I don't eat a lot of dessert. I don't eat a lot of crap." I guess that means she and I don't share a love for M&M McFlurries from McDonald's.

The Summertime Salad at Egg Harbor in Lombard, IL:
Lotsa fruits, greens, avocado and lean chicken salad

How Sookie inspired me
So today, when I went out for my first "going out to a restaurant meal" for September, I decided to try her "diet" and I pretended like I was going to be photographed in a bikini tomorrow (false).  At the restaurant, I looked over the menu and really really wanted the Mexican egg scramble with chorizo and sour cream and chedda.  So not a "bikini ready" meal...unless I wanted to look like Britney Spears circa 2008, or whenever Britney did her infamous performance of "Gimme More" on MTV.  Instead, I opted for a lighter Tomato soup & Summertime Salad combo.  It felt real good to eat that fresh goodness.  It was tasty and would make Anna proud.   Since she has done me good so far today, I will also think of her tonight as I power thru my Turbo Jam one-hour workout at the gym...thinking of her in a non-creepy way, in the same way it's not creepy to be married to a man who plays a vampire on tv...opposite of you.

Other healthy things I've eaten over the past month that would probably make Anna proud:

Breakfast of zuccini & egg scramble, veggie snausage and a little bit of french bread with oj

Baked chicken with a lil bit of BBQ sauce, corn on the cob, green beans and low fat Jimbalaya

Veggie soup from Icosium Kafe in Chicago.

A Veggie Crepe from Icosium Kafe, garnished with fruit and sunflower seeds.

Baked chicken, green beans with tri-colored peppers and corn on the cob
(ok this one is a throw back from July 2010 but was still pretty fresh and healthy)

Fully-cooked & salted Edamame from Trader Joe's.  Super protein/fiber snack!

Blackberries.  The blacker the berry...

More Sookie-licious meals to come this September, fo sho.