PastaQueen reviews the Crocs RX Relief shoes which are comfy but not ideal for throwing at the president.

• Continue reading "Review: Crocs Rx Relief"

I don’t have cable, but if I did I would be watching “Ruby” on the Style Network. “Ruby” is a new documentary-style reality show that follows the charming and delightful southern belle Ruby Gettinger as she seeks to lose over 300 pounds. “Ruby” isn’t a game show like “The Biggest Loser.” She’s not competing against anyone, though she does have professional help from an obesity expert, a trainer, and a therapist. Ruby has to live in the real world and doesn’t get to move to a ranch where she exercises six hours a day. Instead she lives at home on disability with her nephew’s assistance. Ruby is an average Georgian girl with one serious problem she’s decided she must overcome or die trying.

I may not have cable, but I did receive a screener of the second episode and was able to watch the complete first episode on the show’s web site here in the “Videos” section. (ETA: Looks like they have taken the episode down now. Sorry!) As I watched the show, I found myself [...]

• Continue reading "“Ruby” is a gem of a show on the Style Network"

After a high-stress day, I came home to a box of ice cream in the mail. Was the universe sending me hate mail or a love letter? I couldn’t tell. I was sent the ice cream so I could sample it and write about it on the blog. I usually turn down offers like these because I don’t want to be seen as a corporate shill. However, she among us who can turn down chocolate fudge brownie is a better woman than I.

Only, the ice cream wasn’t at my front door. It was at the FedEx depot.

All I had was a claim sticker stuck to my door and the knowledge that a box of dry ice was sitting on a shelf somewhere near 90th street and I-69 (the highway of love). So, I drove about 8 miles, missed my turn and got lost in a corporate office park until I finally found the FedEx depot tucked behind a landscaping company that had a sign taped to their door which said, “This is not FedEx.”

When I [...]

• Continue reading "Two weeks of free ice cream – Tweet for Treats! (It’s a Twitter contest)"

I got nine bug bites while reading Stephanie Klein’s book Moose: A Memoir of Fat Camp, so I felt fully immersed in her camping experience even though I never attended a fat camp myself. I suppose that’s what I get for reading on a wet bench in the park after a rain storm. But reading outside was the only way I could stop myself from eating after reading the vibrant descriptions of food in some of the earlier chapters. She has a way a with words. In fact, I stole picked up the phrase “happy weight” from this book which I used in an entry last week.

I was particularly happy to get a copy of Stephanie’s book because she is a blogger, writing regularly at Greek Tragedy. She’ll also be one of the keynote speakers at the BlogHer conference in two weeks, which I’m also speaking at, so hopefully we’ll bump into each other. Until then, the PastaQueen and the former Porno Queen conducted an email interview about her latest book, though you’ll have [...]

• Continue reading "Reading burns calories – Moose: A Memoir of Fat Camp by Stephanie Klein"

Hungry Girl: Recipes and Survival Strategies for Guilt-Free Eating in the Real World by Lisa Lillien

I think I first became aware of the Hungry Girl web site and mailing list when someone linked to her Rome Apple + Diet Dr Pepper recipe. Cooking with soda seems so inherently wrong that I had to try it. The baked apple itself was rather underwhelming, but I liked the upbeat, fun attitude of the site and the cute illustrations. Plus, all the recipes are low-calorie and aimed at healthy eaters.

Earlier in the month I was trolling around the Amazon best-selling books list, by no means doing anything as self-centered and vain as checking my own book’s Amazon ranking every hour (it was more like every day), when I saw that Hungry Girl, aka Lisa Lillien, has a book out too. How cool! I love to see writers who started on the Internet getting books published. Only, it wasn’t coming out until today. Eager to get my hands on it, I threw what’s left of my weight around and [...]

• Continue reading "Reading burns calories: Hungry Girl"