Have a great day - eat something healthy.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Are You Fat?

Anyone remember the Kellogg's SpecialK ad campaign from 1982? It was called "Can't Pinch an Inch on You" and it showed an array of people using their thumbs and forefingers to grab the skin just to the right or left of their belly buttons, or on their sides, just above the hipbones. And the message was if you could pinch an inch, you needed to lose weight.

Fast forward two and a half decades to the era of muffin tops and wide loads. There are many reasons for all the excess flab, but a simple one can be traced back to the '80's. Because back then, when we were all pinching ourselves to make sure we were in shape, we were also eating 500 calories (on average) less per day than we do now. And 500 calories per day translates to approximately one pound a week.

I know, a commercial is designed to compel a consumer to buy a certain product. But in the case of SpecialK, they might have been onto something. An extra inch of flab doesn't do anyone any good - and an extra 500 calories is just excess.

So today, when nobody's looking, give yourself a grab. What do you come up with?

6 comments:

  1. Uh, enough that I needed the other hand...:(
    I'm working on it though!

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  2. You crack me up, Jenny! I know you're exaggerating!

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  3. I'm with Jenny. I'm still sort of skinny with my clothes on...but to the naked eye (pun intended)I have more than a handful of extra around the middle. I have been conveniently placing the blame on external circumstances, i.e. I ran my knees into the ground for 20 years and now I can't do my favorite sport. And I'm too busy, I am overwhelmed, I don't take the time to prepare, I have an addiction to sugar...Jesus! I sound like a crazy woman. If the girdle fits...I'm stoked for the cleanse we're doing and I'm ALL IN, Ivy. I love the "Special K" reminder that hey, cut out a simple 500 calories a day (for me that's making one or two wiser choices a day) and average a pound a week weight loss until VAVOOM! I'm back to smokin'. I'm in!

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  4. Maggie, you rock! Have I told you that lately? You're so right about how we make excuses - that's so much easier than doing the work! Maybe during this cleanse we should examine all of our excuses more closely. I believe there's an answer to every one of them - it's just a matter of thinking it through, articulating it, and then acting on it. I'm so glad you're in for the cleanse! I know you're going to bring a lot to the party! Here's to VAVOOM!

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  5. VAVOOM
    Right, I am so grabbing more than an inch and after the "weigh in" and measurements with my daughters on Saturday (getting into dress shape for a wedding) I was very disgusted with my body. Soooo how does one do a cleanse?

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  6. Ease up on yourself, L! Don't be disgusted; just be aware. You're on the right path now, and you're gonna get there! Take a look at my post from yesterday called "An Invitation" - it will tell you exactly what we're going to do. Our 21-day cleanse will begin on April 18th. And before we begin I'll be sending out a shopping list and a ton of recipes so you can be well prepared, which is very important when you're eating a diet that's so different than the one you're accustomed to. Like I mentioned in the post, we're not going to be guzzling vinegar or the cleansing products you see in stores; we're just eliminating foods that keep your body from being its best - caffeine, sugar, alcohol, gluten, and all animal products. And it's only 21 days - there's no lifelong commitment to a monklike existence. So I'll be providing a lot of tools and we'll have our forum right here to share our ideas, insights, victories and stumbles - the rest is up to you! I'm really glad you're in!

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