A Quick and “Linky” Monday Post

Hello from the other side of chocolate hell! I made it through Easter relatively unscathed by the malted milk ball/Reese’s Peanut Butter egg/Cadbury/Lindt/Dove/chocolate-bunnies-on-a-motorcycle onslaught. Phew! I wish I could say the same about the cheesy potatoes at Cassie’s house and the ones I made for Mark and his kids, but that’s why there’s exercise. And restraint. The carb fest was a one-day event and its remnants will only linger a day or two.

I read some potentially good news on the clothing size front this morning in the New York Times. In “One Size Fits Nobody: Seeking a Steady 4 or a 10,” Stephanie Clifford writes about a company that offers a full body scan to determine what size you would fit into in a number of major clothing stores. It’s a good start, but I’d like to see standardized sizing like they have in Europe. In the meantime, I wouldn’t mind trying the scan. I get so frustrated trying on jeans especially.

“Some brands are taking their own approaches to make the fitting room less demoralizing. Mary Alderete, vice president for women’s global marketing at Levi’s, said, ‘When we try on 10 pairs of jeans to buy one, the reason you feel bad is because you think something’s wrong with you.’”

Exactly. I have size 6, 8 and 10 jeans in my closet and they all fit. These aren’t my “skinny” or “fat” day jeans. They each measure the same waist and hip size. So frustrating that I have to go through so many sizes in each brand to find what works. I know I’m not alone.

Don’t even get me started on vanity sizing…

If you haven’t listened yet, I was recently interviewed by the awesome duo of Carla (MizFit) and Shauna (The Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl) for their podcast Two Fit Chicks and a Microphone! It was by far my favorite interview ever. LOVE those two, AND…I get to meet them next month at FitBloggin ’11! Any of you bloggers going?

Speaking of bloggers, I've recently been turned on to The Healthy Skeptic written by Chris Kessler, an accupuncturist and Chinese medicinal practitioner. I've been enjoying his series "9 Steps to Perfect Health," especially #9: Practice Pleasure:

“In their book Feeling Good Is Good For You, researchers Carl J. Charnetski and Francis X Brennan set out to review the emerging evidence that pleasure can boost our immune systems and lengthen our lives. According to the authors: ‘In every way, stress is the antithesis of pleasure. It jangles your nerves, juggles a whole host of your body’s hormones, elevates your blood pressure, and makes your pulse race… It also weakens your immune system’s ability to resist illness and disease.’

“If stress is the antithesis of pleasure, then it follows that pleasure is the antithesis of stress. So the best way to fight stress is with pleasure.”

I know I'm guilty of reserving pleasure for when I feel I "deserve" it. But deriving and enjoying some bit of pleasure every day should not be a reward. It is necessary for our emotional and physical health.

Today's bit of pleasure for me will be planting a few pansies, my favorite annual. What will you do for yourself today?

One final link. My favorite quote this week comes from Cammy over at Tippy Toe Diet: "This mindful living thing can sure get in the way of a good time sometimes." Yes, yes it can :)

Happy spring, everyone! Hope you all get some much-deserved outdoor time in the upcoming days.