The BMI: A History

Introudcing....the BMI! When you punch your height and weight in an online calculator, this is what it does:

BMI= weight in pounds x 703
           height in inches squared

Thank you Wikipedia for that somewhat bewildering formula (703? I'm assuming it's some kind of a conversion factor, the orginal equation was metric...still, 703??). While I'm sure I could look up how it was derived, I'm not sure it's quite worth our time. Anyways, on a more practical note...

The BMI is over a 150 years old, and originally developed for physicians so that they could discuss over and under weight issues with their patients using a simple, objective number. In fact, the article specifies that the BMI was originally for use with sedentary patients.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that sedentary patients don't have much muscle mass. I'm going to go out on another limb and suggest that this is why, according to the value produced by the BMI, Arnold Schwarzenegger is clinically obese. The BMI was not designed for athletes.

The BMI has its flaws (doesn't count bone density, muscle mass, the equation doesn't work as well at taller heights, etc), but historically it has provided a good jumping off point for over and under weight discussions. It's simple, and pardon my frankness but....

If you are quite honestly fat (like dough boy fat) and you want to know if you're obese, this may be the way to go. After all, it's only a suggestion. Or if you're really bony and you're not sure if it's healthy, it may be a good suggestion to take into account. Of course, I'm not a doctor or a trainer. I'm just a blogger looking at the potential usefulness of one of the most prevalent "figures" in modern fitness.

Let's Talk, BMI

I have a few choice words for my BMI: suck it.

For those of you who don't know, BMI measures your body mass index. Hypothetically, by putting in your height and weight into a little equation (calculators like this one even do it for you), it can tell you how fat you are. Less than 18.5? Underweight. 18.5-24.9? Normal. 25-29.9? Overweight. Over 30? You're obese. Well, at least according to that calculator.

I went and played with another one specially formatted for children and teens, and put out by the CDC (link to it here). This one had a different standard, with this funky little spectrum.

Now that I've introduced you to the BMI (BMI, meet the reader; reader meet the BMI), it's time to get a little bit gnarlier. Frankly put, it's not me...it's you.

Flaws with the BMI as a measuring tool have come up before (anyone remember the Megan Fox interview?). BMI doesn't take muscle into account, or gender, or frame...or any of those little human quirks we have. Need more proof? The second calculator told me that if I weighed 119 pounds, I would still be at a healthy weight. By the standards of the modeling industry, that would totally fly. For intance, in 2009, a story went around about a 5'10, 120 pound model being fired from Ralph Lauren....for being too fat. Don't believe me? Google the story, read this article...it's out there, it happened. I'm 5'8. If I were a 120 pounds, I would still be a fatty by those standards. Thankfully I have the BMI to tell me that I'm a normal weight!

That would be fine and well until I looked in a mirror. Now, I'm not totally sure what I would look like at 119/120 pounds, but I'm going to guess it wouldn't be pretty, and I doubt I would be as strong seeing as muscle weighs more than fat.

So, about the muscle weighing more than fat issue...BMI, stop telling me I'm fatter, because the mirror says I'm not. During this summer, I've gained four to six pounds...but I look better, lost about a size. And according to my BMI, I'm fatter. Math makes you skinny, but what it gives with one hand it takes with the other.

I'm not exactly sure where the blame falls. Me, for exercising more? Society, for using the BMI the way we do? The BMI, for being an imperfect calculation? Society again, for proliferating the use of the BMI beyond health clinics?

I think it's high time for a new project....How to eat like a model vs the BMI.

PS: for all of you metric users, those calculators will work in metric conversions. Enjoy!

Math Makes You Skinny

Twinkies make you skinny.

Need proof? I've got a CNN article from November 2010 aptly titled "Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 pounds."

Oh my gawd, get me a box of Twinkies....or twenty.

Kansas State professor Mark Haub lost twenty seven pounds over ten weeks by eating total crap. He ate Twinkies. He ate brownies. Doritos. Zebra cakes. He ate everything you're never supposed to eat if you're on a diet. And then he lost weight.

From a mathematical stand point, this makes sense. As long as he was eating less calories than he was using, he was creating a calorie deficit and bound to lose weight. So, by setting a daily calorie limit and sticking to it, he lost weight....and his cholesterol dropped. Take that Skinny Bitch! And again; get me a box of Twinkies.

So he's slimmer than he was when he started, and the typical health signs (ie blood pressure) look healthier. But is this healthy? The science is still undecided. This is one short run experiment, it's hard to take any lasting conclusions away. Except for maybe....

Portion control. Portion control is really cool (at least, as long as you're getting big enough portions to begin with). And portion control is pretty easy when all your food product comes conviently wrapped in plastic.

Not that I'm recommending this (just like I didn't recommend eating like Megan Fox or going vegan). Although it would be really cool if someone tried it again...

Arsenic and Brownies (at least you won't get fat)

I'm working on getting in touch with my featured food scientist. In the mean time, I did some research on the risks of being a vegan. What did I find?

Not much, and not anything that can't be easily fixed. Low protein? Eat soy. Low calcium? Find it in certain vegetables. B-12 deficiency? Take a supplement....or cave in and eat a little bit of animal product each day. I'm sorry, but supplements aren't fun.

Ok.....so, that wasn't very fruitful. So, back to Skinny Bitch. I loosely remember it's abrasive and somewhat dangerous suggestions....

And so do a lot of people. One of my favorite reviews came from a feminist website (full review here). Like the other reviews out there, it points out that the book encourages eating disorders, fear of food, and seeing being skinny as being healthy. So eat arsenic, at least you won't get fat.

So, one more time, skinny does not mean healthy (Meagan said it before in the Megan Fox interview). And vegan does not necessarily mean healthy. Just like eating brownies doesn't necessarily mean you'll get fat...but more on that some other time.

Winners and Losers, VB6 Style

The VB6 diet is finally done. I celebrated this morning by eating some chicken product (an egg) and drinking some cow product (milk) because those are the types of exotic foods I like.

Any-who, it's time for my personal winners and losers of the vegan diet. However, I'll start with the winner of Silk vs Milk. I'd like a round of applause for Nathan Hastings, who has actions that speak louder than words. When faced with the query of dairy vs non dairy coffee creamer, his reaction was to drink straight half and half...in the middle of the restaurant setting. Congrats, you've earned your pint of cow product.

So....

Winners.
1) Conscious eating. I was very aware of what I ate.
2) Vegan desserts. I could probably ditch animal product desserts and enjoy their lower fat counterparts. Will I? Probably not. Could I? I definitely could.
3) It didn't make me bitchy. In your face, Skinny Bitch! While the Megan Fox diet made me crabby, I was in a considerably better mood for this one. Plus I got to eat food, not too much, and mostly plants. I felt pretty good about myself.
4) You could do this for awhile. Or at least adapt to do it for awhile, and you would probably lose weight while having easy maintenance. What I'm trying to say is, if you're a vegan model, it might work. Providing you actually eat.

On the fence about....
1) Food science and animals. The food science behind my coffee creamer made it pretty good. And I guess I harmed less animals in the long run...but I have my personal debates about that. For instance, if I took to raising chickens in my backyard and using their eggs for all of my needs, would that really be an animal rights violation? And maybe eating eggs won't make me Skinny Bitch thin, but it sure as hell makes me happy.

Losers.
1) Skipping out on whole wheat bread and salad because of minute amounts of animal product. It seemed a little ridiculous to skip otherwise really healthy foods because of the tiny amount of offensive material in them. Sorry Skinny Bitch, I don't agree with strict veganism.
2) Imitation foods. I didn't eat many of these, just the coffee creamer (and I didn't think that one was too offensive). But vegan Oreos? Give me a break...or at least a real cookie. And imitation meat? Don't get me started. I remember what meat tastes like, I know what I'm missing out on...and a flimsy tofu-ish cardboard flavored Boca burger only makes it worse if you still crave meat.

FINALLY, I'd like to announce that, yes Virginia there is going to be a wrap up interview....with a food scientist. If science makes you anxious, go eat a science free vegan cake. Even then, I think you'll find it interesting. So, in the meantime, go enjoy your crude oil! I'll have the interview for y'all soon enough.

Natural Flavoring and "How would you like your crude oil today?"

I was asked about natural flavors the other day. It was a good question. The answer seems simple enough...until you stop to think about it. So, I opened my mouth to respond, and what came out was something like this:

"Well...it's flavor...that's naturally occuring in food. I think."

Twenty four hours and a Wikipedia article later, the simple answer is...

It's natural flavor in food.

Or, according to the US Code of Federal Regulations natural flavor is:

"the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or any other edible portions of a plant, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose primary function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional."

Intense. So, if natural flavor comes from food products, what does artifical flavoring come from?

Well, they can come from natural chemicals...or crude oil or tar. YUM.

Oh wait...I think I'll pass on that. However, I will not pass on any food related questions you have to ask me. Keep 'em coming!



Look Ma, No Science!

If there's one thing I like more than science, it's cake.

I like cake, and I'm willing to admit that I enjoy it in all of it's buttery, eggy existence. Normally I don't have cake cravings though, so I thought I'd be able to just pass it by in a week of veganism.

Wellllll....not exactly. But I didn't eat any animal products.

Crescent Dragonwagon has a fantastic vegan cake recipe. The thing is, it makes a whole pan. I don't need a whole pan of cake. With the weather pushing 90 degrees, I don't need to go through the temperature increase of baking a whole pan of cake. What I'm trying to say is.......

I made a vegan cake...in the microwave.

Please stop cringing. It was actually fabulous--for a chocolate cake, nevermind being a vegan cake or a microwave cake.

Science Free Chocolate Microwave Vegan Cake
1) Mix 1/4 cup flour, 1/4 sugar, 1/2 tablespoon cocoa powder, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, and a pinch of salt in a large mug. I used my Manet mug because I think food tastes better when surrounded by Impressionist paintings.
2) Add 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil, 3/4 teaspoon white vinegar OR cider vinegar OR lemon juice (I use white vinegar, but the three should all work the same way), 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and a 1/4 cup of water. Mix will with a fork.
3) Put it in the microwave for 2 1/2-3 minutes (it all depends on your microwave). When it's done, it'll look bubbly. You can eat it on the mug, or take it out in all its crumbling glory and cover it with fresh fruit and eat it on a plate.

Is this healthy? Absolutely not. It has 200% of your daily recommended sugar, and it's a little big for one person. But it is a fantastic cake, a worthwhile occasional treat. Bonus points if you share it.

And for those science loving skeptics out there, this is why it works. (In the most basic of terms. You actual science types might appreciate this explanation more.)

Ever make a volcano in school with vinegar and baking soda? Same kind of reaction right here--the vinegar (or whatever acid you choose) reacts with the baking soda, making fizzy little bubbles (you probably noticed the cake looks a little pock marked). This makes the cake lighter...kind of like if you beat egg whites and added them.

In the meantime, a close up of the Manet mug so you can enjoy your cake:

And don't forget to weigh in on Silk vs Milk!

Silk vs Milk, an Attempt at a Cruelty Free Breakfast, and OMG a Giveaway

It started off smoothly yesterday, with a nearly cruelty free breakfast....no I didn't have animals for breakfast, however that ant did NOT belong in my kitchen. To all the insect lovers out there, I apologize.

So. Smooth sailing as of yet...but there are some interesting vegan conundrums. And by some, I mean two really bizarre ones that have caught my attention already. If you don't like science or veganism, don't read them. If you want a part in the giveaway but hate bread, just skip to the second part.

1) White vs wheat. When making my own bread the other day, I had two easy recipes to pick from: King Arthur Flour's whole wheat recipe, and Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day's white recipe. I tended toward the whole wheat...until I saw that the recipe required 1/4 cup dried milk. Milk = not vegan. Artisan bread it was, the ingredients of which are white flour, water, yeast, and salt. Depending on your views on white flour, it's not inherently bad for you. Providing time and good baking conditions, I'd pick it over the packaged bread that's currently in my kitchen (although that calcium peroxide and sodium stearoyl lactylate is really tasty...). Still. Even the artisan bread website (hyperlinked above) admits by default that the recipe isn't the best for you--if it was, why would they have a competing Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day?

I'm sure there are vegan whole wheat bread options out there, I just didn't have immediate access to it. Being a serious vegan apparently takes serious planning. When 1/4 cup dried milk keeps me from eating whole wheat, something feels a little wrong.

I'm willing to call a winner here: I'll take the dehydrated animal product over the white wheat bread.

2) Silk vs Milk. Calling a winner in the first scenario was pretty easy for me. This one...I'm still conflicted.

Consider exhibit A, your typical half and half. Half milk, half cream. 40 calories, 3 grams of fat, neglible lactose, and slightly less than a gram of protein in two tablespoons. Ingredients? Milk, cream, and a preservative (at least mine had a preservative. You can probably get it without one). Skinny Bitch barely considers this an appropriate food (eww, you're eating cow product and you're GOING to get fat), while Michael Pollan would argue in defense of it.

Consider exhibit B. Exhibit B is scary. Go look at it. I dare you to. I don't even know why we have exhibit B in the house. It's a non dairy creamer (yay! Vegan?) with...a milk derivative? (Maybe not vegan. Actually, definitely not vegan.) Although flavored creamers are fun on occasion, on a day to day basis I think I'll take either my milk or no milk. Milk derivative? Geez, it's like drinking calculus for breakfast.

And finally, exhibit C. I picked exhibit C up at my local Whole Foods store after realizing I need some kind of coffee creamer because I like coffee. I guess I'm not a Skinny Bitch (they hate coffee. With a passion. And while it's arguably bad for you, it's food and I'm willing to defend it.). Exhibit C is a cute little pint of Silk Hazelnut creamer that, according to the bold print on the back, I'm not allowed to use as infant formula. Good thing I'm only using it as coffee creamer. Exhibit C is proud of a lot of things. It has "1/3 less fat, 40% less sugar and 40% fewer calories than the leading non-dairy creamer" (Coffee-Mate Hazelnut) and actually has comparable calories to half and half. 100% vegan, the ingredients are as follows: all natural soymilk (filtered water, whole soybeans), all natural evaporated cane juice, palm oil, soy lecithin, natural flavors, potassium phophate, sodium citrate, tapioca starch, carrageenan. Interesting because...
     1) "All natural evaporated cane juice" is sugar. Fancy sugar, but still sugar. Yes, there are benefits to it. Because it goes through less refining than normal cane sugar, it maintains more nutrients. According to this health foods site, it's a good source of riboflavin...although you probably shouldn't be looking to get your riboflavin from sugar. Anyways, I don't have a real issue with the sugar (I put it in my coffee normally, or use a creamer with sugar). In fact, this may be a winning point--more enviromentally friendly sugar already incorporated into my creamer? Alright! But as far as labeling goes, it's just a tricky way of saying glucose.
    2) Soy lecithin is an emulsfier. Don't groan, I told you there would be science. Basically, it mixes the fat and the water for consistency, bringing us to...
    3) Tapioca starch and carrageenan, both used to thicken the consistency. Leading to...
    4) This is an imitation creamer. In all respects, it's trying to be a flavored half and half. It tastes alright, and it does a good job. It's mostly natural, and the company has some good enviromental measures.

In summation, there's a definite loser: exhibit B. If I'm going to use a non dairy creamer in a not exotic flavor (I find an occasional guilty pleasure in a particular Italian sweet cream flavor), Silk has my vote. But Silk vs Milk? It rhymes!

I'm going to get a professional opinion on this, but in the mean time, feel free to weigh in. Who knows, a local someone may win a free pint of the winner. YES this is the lamest blog give away ever...but I really want to know.

So make a comment below, email me, write obnoxious Facebook messages, and give me your opinion on Silk vs Milk.

Introducing VB6

What do Avril Lavigne, Natalie Portman, Weird Al, Leonardo da Vinci, and Tobey Maguire all have in common?

Well, according to this list, they are all on or have been on a vegan diet. Vegan diet as in no meat, no fish,  no eggs, no butter, no milk...no animal products. None. Zero.

Sounds like fun right?

At least I'm already half way there (I've been a vegetarian for years). And I'm not going to go totally vegan. Instead, I'm adopting Mark Bittman's vegan before six plan (VB6...is the post title starting to make more sense?). The diet? You go vegan...until six.

Why am I doing this? Let's be honest, vegan before six isn't nearly as sexy as Megan Fox dieting, nearly as radical as Rihanna dieting, or nearly as ridiculous as the grapefruit diet.

As it turns out, there are some actual models who are vegans. So How to Eat Like a Model is actually *gasp* going to eat like a handful of models. Also, let me reintroduce Skinny Bitch. The book is basically a call to arms for vegans. So maybe I'm cheating by eating animal product after six but...

Michael Pollan (author of all those fabulous food books, including In Defense of Food) would say that it's not a bad thing to 'cheat' like this. "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants" encourages me to eat food, not too much, and MOSTLY plants. Not all plants, mostly plants. Mostly plants I can do. I think...

Anyways, I'm starting tomorrow (wish me luck). For the next week or so you can expect....

1) Reviews of Skinny Bitch chapters. Yes, I'll acutally follow through with that.
2) VB6 updates. Which sounds really cool, like it's some kind of James Bond code. Too bad it's just a lot of plants.

Skinny Bitch Smackdown...Postponed

In my eagerness to take Skinny Bitch down, I forgot to see if there was an easily available copy...and as it turns out, there wasn't. This makes it extremely hard to review it, especially when I'm trapped up north sans bookstores/libraries.

SO. I read Mimi Spencer's 101 Things to Do Before You Diet: Because Looking Great Isn't Just About Losing Weight. Although she clearly points out that she doesn't like the term diet (in fact, she uses the slightly saccharine term 'live it'), it still reads like a diet book. And guess what?

Diet books are boring.

I'll admit she had some interesting points (horizontal stripes make you look thinner? According to this study, they do) and I liked her writing style (I actually laughed out loud). I'll also admit that the content of the book was mainly...boring.

Image from http://wholefullysimple.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/in-defense-of-food.jpg

Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food also made it onto my list. This was more interesting, seeing as it *gasp* isn't a diet book and I *second gasp* enjoy reading science and sociology books.

Read this if you are at all interested in food. The manifesto "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." is possibly the most useful seven word piece of advice you'll ever find. It's a fairly short book (200 pages) and goes quickly. Because of this, I don't feel the need to review it in depth...it's easy enough to pick up for yourself. 

Now that I'm back from up north and have access to libraries, book stores, and a variety of food, I'll get my hands on Skinny Bitch and get going on another diet. Diet suggestions? Make a comment! I have a few crafty ideas, but I'm willing to consider anything you guys can think up.

Skinny Bitch Smackdown

This will be my last post for about a week and a half (I'm going up north, no Internet for me!). However, I plan to make good use of that time off...

Image from http://www.fitsugar.com/Weekend-Reading-Skinny-Btch-287442

Does this cover look familiar to you? If you went to Central and actually took a health class, it should. This book was a popular diet fad...although not necessarily a safe one. One of my favorite all time rant topics, I plan on taking it apart, and finding the good, the bad, and the ugly...the very, very ugly (I still have fond memories of being called a "fat piece of shit" by my overweight health teacher during her read aloud...oh wait....fond memory?).

At the same time, in defense of vegetarians (I am one) and vegans (I am not one), I'll look at books like The Omnivore's Dilemma  and books along those lines.

Once I'm back in the Twin Cities, I have a few new plans...including (yes!) a new diet plan. If I can actually follow through with this one...it seems a little extreme.

Have a good Fourth of July!

Meagan on Megan: BMI and Exercise

If you couldn't figure out from the title of the post, this is the BMI and exercise part of the Megan Fox wrap up interview.

As you may recall, the Megan Fox regime consisted of 30 minutes of cardio three times a week along with some core workouts.

Meagan on the three times a week: "If you're already at a lower weight, you don't have to do as much to maintain that...the ASCM [American College of Sports Medicine] recommends 30-50 [minutes] a day of moderate activity."

And what makes moderate activity? Apparently it's all about heart rate. Moderate activity should be 55-60% of your heart rate max (calculate that here).

She continued on the topic of exercise. "The more trained you get, the more your body adjusts to exercise, you don't have to do as much...the optimal fat burning zone is two days a week of moderate activity for 30-40 minutes, and two days a week of 20 intense." (Intense activity--target heart rate is 70-85% of max.)

The benefits? It increases your VO2 max (it's a good thing) and strengthens your heart. In addition, it changes up the exercise level, also important. "Most people constantly stay at even keel...think of losing weight as a plateau."

Fair enough, that's the basic idea behind calorie cycling.  And as for the core training?

"I want 6 pack abs, a flat stomach...you can't just work out the core..think about the long term. Strength training is especially important for women...build bone mass when you're young."

Young? "Teens and twenties...I use the terms strength and resistance training with my clients. It doesn't scare women as much."

This sounded like a mismatch. Girls should be strong, but we tend to aim for skinny?

"Not just women and girls...the exercise movement is a new concept...a new revelation to most people. Moving from working on farms and in factories to desks, our activity level has decreased tremendously."

So what about using BMI as a tool for health? I got a slow head shake.

"I don't like to use it to qualify someone. There's so many limiting factors. It's very easy...but it doesn't take into account gender, or lean mass to fat mass."

She prefers to use body fat to measure health and underweight. "Elite women athletes have about 12% body fat..anything under 12% body fat is extremely unhealthy."

And in the case of celebrities? Again, she shook her head and began talking about her clients.

"I want them to be confident, strong, and not constantly compare themselves...if you see someone who is skinny and thin and think they're healthy, they're probably not."

Surprise, surprise...healthy and skinny aren't the same. She addressed the social issues too.

"Being underweight is not as addressed...society appreciates it...There needs to be a shift from appreciating the super skinny to the healthy lifestyle living...to emphasize to girls that strength training doesn't mean beefed up woman, and get away from comparing ourselves. What is it going to take for me to feel confident?"

Finally, she threw in some added wisdom about the supplement market and fad diets.

"For credible nutritional or physical information, look at scientific journals..I really like Idea Fitness Journal--all professors, researchers, and peer reviewed articles...look for credible sources."

Smart stuff. That wrapped up the interview. Upon leaving, I promised to try that cardio kickboxing class--you guys should look into it too. Details in this post. Maybe I'll see you there!

Meagan on Megan: The Diet and Nutrition

Before I get into the interview (yes, I'm FINALLY posting it--thanks for your patience!), a few things.

A) That handy little subscribe button on the left? Or even that 'follow by email' one below it? They're really cool. Do it. You know you want to.
B) I've been asked a lot of "what's next?" type questions. Don't worry, there's definitely a next. But until then....
C) Yes, this is only half of the interview. However, when I put the whole thing together, it was long and naturally in two parts--diet and nutrition, and BMI and exercise. Between the information readily available and the links, there's enough to get you thinking. So, presenting....

Diet and Nutrition
I met Meagan at a Caribou on Friday, ready to discuss the end results of the Megan Fox diet. After we sat down with our drinks (god I love my mochas...), we dug right into it. First up? Cider vinegar.

Meagan looked at me like I had a screw loose. "There's no nutritional benefits," she said. "And if you don't feel like eating...that isn't the best way to diet and lose calories. Your body will go into starvation mode, move into fast and famine...and try not to burn fat or calories."

Um. Yikes.

When I asked her about the detox effects, she still didn't change her position. She recommended probiotic supplements, or drinking water with lemon. However, she very quickly added that it was important not to have "too many acids--the body's pH is very sensitive." I cast a very sad glance at my coffee.

We moved onto the diet next. I wanted to know if there were any benefits to the high fat and protein diet. She sighed.

"I don't like the term diet," she said. "Your body needs carbs, fat, and protein...I do believe in portion control. Eat in moderation. If you're going out to eat--take it and automatically cut it in half...take away a half or a third when you're eating at home."

As for the protein?

"It depends on the activity...generally, Americans get more protein than they need." She then gave me a break down of how the calorie intake should be broken down--about 40/50% carbs, 20/30% protein, and 15/20% fats. Healthy fats that is--"no trans fats. Monounsaturated, poly unsaturated..."

She specified rules about grains too. "Your body needs carbs...make a smarter choice when eating grains." Her recommendation? "Oatmeal in the morning for breakfast, it's a whole grain and the fiber makes you feel full." And when it comes to buying bread? Look for 12 grain.

"Wheat is misleading...it won't necessarily have the complete grain." She followed this by her stance on the no-grain rule in Megan Fox's diet.

"Again, I don't like the term diet...it will lead you to cravings. The body needs grains." Her solution? Moderation. Using the example of a baguette:

"If you have cravings, you might go ahead and eat the whole baguette. Don't. Enjoy a piece of the baguette--make a sandwhich out of it. Don't feel guilty about it...if you have cravings, you might eat twice as much."

Again: yikes. And even if she doesn't stand for dieting, she's all for what she calls "tricks."

"We're...unconcious eaters. People aren't thinking about what they're putting in their body." I'll agree with that--during the Megan Fox diet, I was suddenly paying a lot more attention to what I was eating. She still doesn't endorse diets.

"Don't do it for four weeks, six weeks. Ask 'is it sustainable?'...think of it as a lifestyle change. Your body needs calories...and to lose weight you do need a calorie deficit. There is a basic level--1200-1500 really needed calories."

This turned the conversation into the topic of diet supplements. I recalled a particular instance of a diet supplement that claimed to work quickly, all you needed to do was take the supplement...and eat 500 or less calories a day. She shook her head.

"The supplement market isn't regulated by the FDA...they say whatever...to make money." Her suggestion is to "go back to [a] basic well rounded deit getting away from processed food, getting away from fried food..." However, she thoroughly endorses 'cheating.'

"Don't live your life in deprivation...I'll have a couple Oreos once a week. Enjoy it...I say there's two different kinds of people: people who eat to live, and people who live to eat...appreciate food for what it is. Americans...are always in a rush. That leads to unconcious eating."

This was a natural break point in the conversation. Thank you Meagan for your time and your information! The next half will be up tomorrow, covering the BMI and exercise portion, along with some other fun topics (like osteoporosis...). Subscribe! Meagan had a lot of interesting things to say on these topics.

Introducing....Meagan Smetana!

Meet Meagan Smetana! Meagan so kindly volunteered her time for the post Megan Fox diet interview. The interview went great, and I'll be posting it soon. However, in the mean time, here's a little profile.

Name: Meagan Smetana
Education: University of Wisconsin Eau Claire
Where: Fisico (617 Snelling Ave St. Paul)
Classes: Cardio kickboxing, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7:15 (see here for details)        
Personal:
Favorite food (healthy): strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries
Favorite food (junk): Oreos
Favorite work out song: Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO
Guilty pleasure: US Weekly

Finally, a teaser quote from the interview:

"I want them [her customers] to be confident, strong...and not constantly compare themselves...ask what is it going to take for me to feel confident."

She covers everything in the interview--from the food to choice to nutrition to exercise and even BMI. Insightful and sincere, she shed some light on the basics behind the Megan Fox diet. Again, thank you so much Meagan for volunteering your time for the interview!

Trainers, Tips, and Techniques

Firstly: big thanks to Meagan Smetana for agreeing to an interview! The results to the interview should be up soon, as will a profile of Meagan, including more information about her current cardio kickboxing lessons.

Now, time for tips and techniques. I had a question about the core exercises. According to this site, Megan Fox's core exercises consist of three to five sets, a two minute rest, and then a repeat of the sets. These sets consist of planks, hanging leg raises, oblique crunches, and lying leg raises.

The planks were my personal favorite. As tacky as this site looks (and ignoring the somewhat sketchy looking diet pill advice), they give a pretty good explanation of planks. The list at the bottom of the page gives a bunch of other good ideas.

If you have an exercise ball on hand, pike rolls are also a good workout. This video shows the proper technique. I'll admit, the first go around they kind of suck. But they make a difference.

The nice thing about core workouts is that there are so many different ways to do it. It's never the same thing two days in a row. If you're like me and easily bored with stuff, it's a pretty good solution.

Thanks again Meagan! Finally, a professional opinion on the Megan Fox experiment.

Winners and Losers

No pictures quite yet, but here's a list of the winners and losers of the Megan Fox diet experiment.

Winners:
1. The ab work outs. 15-20 minutes three times a week, at least 5-10 minutes every day...it felt AMAZING and they were easy enough to do at home.
2. Biking. Honestly, I don't always have the motivation to go running. The biking worked out pretty well.
3. Less social eating. According to this, we overeat in social situations. The restricted diet made it really hard to eat in social conditions, so I already felt limited.
4. Fruits and veggies. I'm not sure I would have tried using carrots in place of chips without this diet, but when it came to hummus and guacamole, I enjoyed it. Plus I could portion my food more. Score.
5. The food in general. Yogurt, almonds, fruits, veggies, eggs...once I got over the carb cravings (which I eventually did), I enjoyed what I ate.

On the fence:
1. Water and cider vinegar. The first time I tried it, my appetite immediately went away...because I felt too sick to want to eat. Other than that, it tasted alright. Depending on how much I put in my water, I could bring that sick feeling back though. Under no means am I endorsing Fergie's cider vinegar shots, but it tasted acidic and crisp and...fine I guess.
2. Carb cravings. They did disappear...but they sucked while I had them.

Losers:
1. Rude. I felt really rude not being able to eat normal food. And I was SUPER cranky the first few days because of it.
2. Lack of variety. I ended up eating the same things...all the time...
3. Overeating. With the original carb cravings in full swing, I overate to try to hit the cravings. I guess I have no self control. Oh well.

Stay tuned for the trainer interview and further details!

How to Eat Like Megan Fox: Day Five

For the record, PMSing and not being able to eat grains/chocolate sucks. My replacement? Carrots and hummus. Nom nom nom....but not the same.

This is a close up of almonds. Honestly, I don't know how I feel about almonds. An ounce a day isn't bad, but I don't enjoy them as much as I did the first few days. Like eggs. Don't get me started on eggs.

Anyways, enough whining. I'm excited to announce that the trainer is lined up for the post diet interview. I should have a little profile of her up soon...until then, she'll be a secret.

Finally, I've recieved a few what's-next type questions. Once the diet is done, I'm going to post my personal winners and losers of this diet. Although the no grains thing has rubbed me the wrong way, there's been some things that I've enjoyed. Hopefully that'll be up Sunday, but as I'm going out of town this weekend that may be a bit of a stretch. The trainer interview will be up sometime in the next week too, as well as a full recap of the diet (pictures, weight, etc...). Until then, no grains...and another 3 ounces of almonds.

How to Eat Like Megan Fox: Day Three

Forgive me, all of you, for I have slipped up.

I've been eating a little bit over on the calories. Yesterday was a friend's birthday, and I was put on cake duty. For the record, it was a delightful flourless cake...so I didn't break the grains rules. However, in that silver of cake, there was definitely some added sugar. There was also five eggs in the whole thing, and I topped it with almonds. Redeeming, possibly?

Upon eating all the fruit/fish/eggs in the house, I started to crave carbs yesterday. Not fun. Although for the most part I feel full (a few almonds now and then does the trick), when I want grains, there's no easy way out.

However, it's a new day. I'm satisfied. For the record, the breakfasts so far (peach/egg/water/coffee/almonds, 2 eggs/coffee, no fat yogurt/fruit/almonds/coffee/water) have been great. I feel full, I feel healthy and most importantly I'm enjoying my food. Enjoying my food and eating breakfast are two of my favorite eating tips, and I'm sure I'll go into depth on them later.

For now, it's more almonds (!), water and cider vinegar, and some intense core workouts. On the plus side, I think I've managed to wrangle up a trainer to do a post diet interview. Hopefully she'll be able to answer my questions about the long term sustainability of the diet, the effects of cider vinegar, and a handful of other issues.

How to Eat Like Megan Fox: Day One

After a weekend of grad parties, it's time to finally start eating like Megan Fox. To the left is a picture of my breakfast, minus the coffee I drank. (Quick note: I couldn't find cider vinegar, so it's just lemon in the water...for now.) I have to say, after two days of cake and other highly processed foods, this is was actually pretty good.

A question arose recently about how I was going to eat. An earlier post shows all of Megan Fox's stats, and for the sake of comparison it's time to give mine.


I'm 18 (she's 25), about 5'8 (I'll get measured soon, I promise) and weigh around 140 pounds. I have a BMI (thank you National Health Institute) of 21.3 which is in the normal, healthy range (from 18.5-24.9 is considered healthy). I bike everywhere, and consistently get exercise five days a week. I will, however, introduce her core workouts three days this week.

What does this mean?
A) I'm two inches taller and about 26 pounds heavier than Megan Fox. To have her BMI, I would have to weigh 121 pounds. I'm pretty happy with myself, I can't see that happening.
B) I exercise more, and I'm seven years younger. The difference in just our Basal metabolic rates (BMR) is already impressive. (For those of you who don't know, the BMR measures the amount of calories used regardless of exercise.) Using this calculator, Megan Fox has a BMR of around 1344. Mine is around 1500. Whereas Megan Fox would have to eat 1200-1300 calories to lose a pound a week from dieting (again, this is using the assumptions of the previous post), I'm going to give myself 300 more calories per day (1500-1600).

And this is how Day One starts. I feel good for now...let's see what the week brings!

How to Eat Like Megan Fox: Part One

Let me start this by saying I know that Megan Fox isn't a model. However, her body routinely ends up on the hottest/sexiest/etc-iest woman lists. With her too skinny body allegedly leading to her May firing from Transformers 3, the time seemed ripe to try the Megan Fox diet and exercise regime.

First, the stats. Reportedly Megan Fox is 5'6, and weighs in at 114 lbs. Using the National Health Institute's BMI calculator, with BMI of 18.4, she's underweight. Plugging in her height, weight, and age (25) into a few calorie calculators, the expected calorie maintenance for her weight ranges from 1760-1980 calories. These calculations were made based on the assumption that she exercises 3 times a week, a fact backed up by the Megan-centric site http://www.meganfoxdiet.net/.

Specifics about her diet: apparently she eats an ounce of almonds a day, and a few eggs. No grains/refined sugars for her; it's strictly fruits, vegetables and lean proteins. In addition, she has been quoted as using cider vinegar to help detox her system. As far as exercise goes, it's 30 minutes on a stationary bike and 15-20 minutes of intense core work out.

So this is how to eat like Megan Fox. As of this coming Sunday, I think I'll give it a try. Wish me luck!

The Beginning

This last year or so has been difficult.

Very difficult.

In my last year of highschool, I found myself confronting one Big Issue: my weight. I was a gymnast, I was an athlete, I ate healthy food...and I still wasn't happy with myself. I started to count calories. I stressed constantly. I exercised for hours. Now, stepping back from it all, I realized one important thing. It was time to appreciate myself.

Before I get too far in, let me say that I value the high fashion industry. It's an art form, and I have respect for anyone in the industry. This isn't to say that I'm for obesity either--you can be underweight, you can also be overweight. Neither is good. Diet and exercise are important no mater who you are.

However, moderation is key. I'm all for weight loss--but you have to be healthy. You can take diet and exercise too far, and that's what pop culture has a tendency to do. This is where the concept of this blog lies. I'm going to explore the differences between health, normalcy, and the images we're bombarded with on a daily basis. Between social experiments (ie attempting 'model' diets), nutrition reviews, and relevant interviews, I want to examine the real effects of eating like a model while looking at where real self value lies.

Finally, this is a no shame zone. Everything is open for discussion. Ask questions, make comments. It's time to have a real conversation.