Yeah, so. We meet again. And again. And then one more time. And hey, look! Again.
Of course, I'm assuming anyone is still reading this. I've seen lots of unfollows on Twitter, which is expected when I never update. Can't blame 'em! But, I'm not ready to give up this blog. I'm going to scale back my original plans for it, though. Initially, I'd seen this site as this awesome resource, similar to how it was when we launched and were so popular in 2003. But I have precious little time and frankly, I don't feel like jockeying with the many fitness and weight loss magazine type blogs out there these days. They're all great and they work hard to deliver that good content. I don't really feel like blogging stuff you can read on 3 other blogs or in this month's Self. They've got it covered and they're doing a fine job at it.
Plus, I don't know... I think initially, I'd felt like I needed to be some kind of motivator or something because when I first started this site I'd recently lost 100 lbs on Weight Watchers (of which I've gained back a little over half). So many people told me I had been such an inspiration to them and I didn't want to let them down, so I got all wrapped up in being a resource, providing "content" that I started to do the exact opposite, froze up and pressured myself into being an ostrich when it came to posting here -- and when it came to losing weight in general. I seriously had to get over myself.
2011 was a year of faux commitment in terms of dieting. I wanted to care, but I just didn't. Last January, I started Weight Watchers again in earnest -- and I lost about 22 lbs. Then I started to stray... it must be Weight Watchers, right? It wasn't working anymore! I felt restricted! I needed freedom! So I quit Weight Watcher and started tracking with Lose It!, which is basically just straight-up calorie counting.
But that wasn't sticking either. What it boils down to is that I just haven't been all-in. I haven't wanted to track my points. I haven't wanted to report that extra slice of pizza. I didn't want to have to log anything or tell anyone or ask permission or tweet it or track it. I was being plain stubborn.
And it shows on my ass.
Something has to give because I feel like hell. It's not as much about "looking hot" anymore (though that's always a bonus), I want to feel hot. I'm going to be 40 in twenty-two months -- just under two years. I do not want to feel like this at 40. I look at myself sometimes and have no idea who that person is. And as arrogant as this might seem, I look at myself as if I were someone else and think, "Dude, you're way too fabulous for this rubbish."
And you know? I totally am. I'm not getting any younger, do I really want to waste more of my youth being a frump? I'd like to wear a pair of jeans from the Gap again before I'm pushing daisies, thanks.
I rejoined Weight Watchers today. I started a new account, thinking that maybe not having my previous graphs and expectations waving me in the face might be good. (More smoke and mirrors!) I don't want to be reminded of how I screwed it all up, I just want to move forward.
I like Lose It still and am hoping to track in there, as well, mostly because I'm curious how the points vs. calories add up. I just think the structure of Weight Watchers is what I need now, despite my resistance to it. Plus, I know a few other folks who have inspired me recently with their Weight Watchers successes, so I'm willing to give it another go. It does work, it worked before -- I just gave up before I was finished, if I'm being honest.
So, anyway, I hope to blog more here. I am cooking more and want to share the recipes that I try. I won't be able to post more than one or two a week because there are only two of us and most recipes have leftovers, but it gives me something to blog about.
In the meantime, I'm going to just let this blog become what it wants to be. That goes double for me.
While awake at 3am in my hotel room the other night, I was watching an informercial for a workout system called "Mama Wants". It seems like a great workout that's time effective and targets notorious trouble zones for women. I was genuninely interested in buying it. I may not have kids, but I've got a gut I wouldn't mind ditching and not a lot of time to devote to exercise.
But the longer I watched it, the more annoyed I became. I understand that it's called "Mama Wants" and it's designed to be marketed to moms. Moms are hot right now. I totally get how marketing works.
An aside, back in 2006, Kathy and I were asked to author a tech book specifically marketed to women with a "girlfriends tone", heavy on the sass and girlie extras that one doesn't normally find in a tech book. So we did and that was one of the biggest complaints about out it. Some women didn't like feeling pandered to, they didn't like that "their" book was pink, etc. I respect that perspective, but our point of view on that was, "Thank you for your opinion, but you don't have to buy it. If pink isn't your thing, buy a different book." Everybody wins. We didn't ever imply that the book was for every woman. It doesn't say "For all women" on it. It just happens to be pink and has the word "girl" in the title -- a title that made sense for the pop culture at the time.
So I totally get that this system is targeting a niche and that I could do the workouts without being a mom and shut up about it or just buy some other workout.
This is more of a marketing critique -- a way they could have increased their sales. I think they could have acknowledged that there are women on this planet that don't have kids that still could benefit from the workout. Just one line in their informercial like "And it's not just for moms!" or throwing in a testimonial from a non-mom would have included a whole audience of women that they've virually excluded. By not even throwing them a bone, they're basically saying "This workout won't benefit you unless you've carried a child", thereby implying women aren't important unless they are moms.
I realize that sounds overly sensitive or bitter even as I'm even typing it, but that was the reaction I had. Marketing is all about reactions, so I'm conveying how their marketing affected me. I'm not anti-mom -- I had a mom, my friends are moms. It's not about that. But you can't escape the mom frenzy online right now and non-moms would still like to be acknowledged once in a while. Guess what? We buy things, too. We have disposable income, even!
Most women face the same trouble zones when they're overweight, baby or not -- glutes, inner thighs, triceps, and the all-important abdominals. And in my opinion, all women need a stronger back, not just the ones with kids on their hips. All women lift things, most carry groceries, do housework -- we can all benefit from those sorts of strengthening exercises. We can all benefit from these workouts.
I think, if they'd just added one line or one testimonial from someone who wasn't a mom in their marketing, I wouldn't have had this reaction. As I said, I understand the marketing tactic, I get the demographic it's trying to reach. But by negating the rest of the women on the planet, it just pissed me off. That one tiny bit of copy, that one testimonial would have allowed me to accept, "Hey, that's their target audience, I can still do the workouts!" and go on to squat, lift and stretch to endless mom-related chatter. That would have been my choice. But to broadstroke that it's for moms specifically makes me not want to buy the product at all. Sale lost. And isn't that ultimately what it's all about?
But I guess their response could be the same as ours to our book, "Thank you for your opinion, but go buy another workout if you don't like it." The difference is our book had pretty much the same technical info found in other tech books, served up in a fun, less-dry, girlie package. I've not seen a similar non-mom workout. It's too bad, really, the workout looks really great.
Let's spare everyone the "I haven't posted much" apology and just jump right in, shall we?
I was cruising Target's frozen food aisles for new stuff and stumbled upon Vitalicious' VitaSandwiches -- basically egg mcmuffins in your freezer, but healthier. They had two options: veggie and cheese or egg n' cheese. The veggie one also has egg, but it's just got little red and green pepper flecks in it. I chose the simple Egg N' Cheese version.
For those not in the know, Vitalicious are the folks that bring you Hungry Girl's beloved VitaTops muffin tops. I should probably disclose that I'm not really a fan of those, but it didn't influence my opinion of these sandwiches, since they're completely different products.
Cut to this morning. I normally hate how microwaved bread tastes, so I was happy to see they had two variations on how to cook them: "regular" (in the microwave, wrapped in a paper towel) or "extra-crispy". The extra-crispy version required that I dismantle the sandwich in frozen form, then toast the bread for 2-3 minutes while microwaving the egg part for 55 seconds, then reassembling and re-microwaving to melt the cheese for an additional 10 seconds.
I went the extra-crispy route, which was all fun and games until the cheese-melty part took an additional 20 seconds, resulting in a rubbery muffin and tough egg. But really, for microwaves breakfast sandwiches, that's par for the course. You can't predict the results of every microwave. I've had worse (*cough*healthychoice*cough*).
Overall, the sandwich was just ok. It was only 150 calories, which was a huge bonus, but it wasn't very filling and I really wasn't into the weird honey flavor of the english muffin. I assume it was honey wheat, but I'm not big on sweet with my eggs and cheese. I think a standard wheat would have been better, but that's subject to your own palette. The cheese was tasteless, as far as I'm concerned. I wouldn't have noticed if it were missing. The egg was actually fine, aside from being a bit rubbery. It tasted like... well, microwaved egg, which I don't really have a problem with when time is of the essence.
Personally, I'd rather grab a Deli Thin or Sandwich Round or whatever, microwave my own fresh egg (or even a 1/4 cup of egg beaters) and add Laughing Cow or a half-slice of my favorite reduced-fat cheese. A real egg would up the calories, but 1/4 of egg beaters would be result in a sandwich about the same as what they're selling in about the same amount of time. And at $4.00 a box -- for 2 sandwiches -- I don't feel the VitaSandwiches are worth the cost. However, if you'd like to try one for yourself, they are offering a coupon deal on their site.
I suppose if you're on the go, these are fine, but if you're going to do the extra-crispy prep, you might as well just make your own sammich. I wouldn't buy them again because I'm not "on the go" -- I work at home. But I think if they were on sale, or you had coupons or you found 'em at Costco, someone might dig' em. That someone is just not me. Sorry, Vitalicious!
I give this 3 donuts.
