Oh No! Not Cookie Monster, Too...
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By Giselle Gerber
eDiets Content Manager
Last week, one of my co-workers, Mr. Blog-Champ-in-Training -- if you must know -- asked me a random question (he's full of those by the way.) The question was if the Cookie Monster is changing his name in an attempt to lead a healthier life.
The Veggie Monster? Could it really be true? Horrified, I quickly Googled this (a frequent procedure I have for answering random questions that come up). After doing some research, I learned that back in 2005, the folks at Sesame Street decided that my beloved Cookie Monster needed to clean up his act.
Apparently, the phrase "C" is for Cookie" has been replaced by "A Cookie is a Sometimes Food"... What? Scandalous, if you ask me.
Since then Sesame Street has kicked off the "Healthy Habits for Life" programming, which encourages young viewers to be more active and lead more nutritious lives. My favorite blue-furry friend also sings about fruits and vegetables and teaches kids about "sometimes" foods and "anytime" foods.
Growing up I always loved the gooogly-eyed Cookie Monster and was never influenced to mimic his sugar-indulging ways or pipe-eating antics. He was just a cool monster that had a slight weakness for cookies. Is that so bad? Does changing the Cookie Monster's image from cookie-lover to sometimes-cookie-lover help lower childhood obesity rates?
What do you think? Is
And just for old times sake, this blog post was brought to you by the letter "C" for Cookies!
What's YOUR Excuse?
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We all know how the saying goes: Excuses are like a**ho!#s; everyone has one. And you know what? Truer (curse) words have never been spoken.
I'll start my diet next Monday because this week I have a wedding to go to... I can't stay on a diet because I don't have time to cook... I don’t have time to work out... I can't start eating healthy because my husband likes to eat steak every night for dinner...
According to our research, the top dieting excuse of all time is "I just can't resist my favorite foods." Makes sense. I personally know of at least one dieting attempt of my own that reached its breaking point over an ooey, gooey, cheesy, greasy pizza meltdown. And I'm quite sure that plenty other diets out there met their match because of cake, chocolate, Alfredo sauce or Coca-Cola.
And as far as putting off starting a diet, that's a whole other sack of excuses. Procrastination is an art form, and dieting is something that is all too easy to put off until "next week" or "next month" or "after I eat all the un-diet food in the pantry so it's not wasted."
Well, like the caring, helpful, encouraging people that we are here at eDiets, our experts are coming to your rescue! Our experts Pam (nutrition) and Raphael (fitness) are looking for the Top-10 List of Excuses you have for not starting or following through with a diet. They'll be checking this blog and compiling the most popular excuses out there, and then -- and here's where it gets good -- they're going to come up with some sure-fire solutions to bust through all of them!
So help yourself and all your fellow dieters out, and comment below with your personal dieting excuses. And don't be shy about it, because like we said at the beginning, we know you have one… :)
Labels: diet, exercise, lifestyle, weight-loss
My So-Called, Off-Scheduled Life
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By Dorian Wagner
eDiets Senior Copy Editor
How many of us are actually where we thought we'd be at this point in our lives?
Personally, I'm what I like to call "off schedule." And with my birthday coming up (April 30, if you'd like to send presents -- thanks!), I can't help but think about things...
I say I'm off schedule because if you asked me 10 years ago where I'd be right now (turning 28), I would have told you I'd be married, planning kids, living somewhere in a lovely house -- that my husband and I own, of course -- with a cat or two and a dog.
I would have told you that my plan was to have kids by 30 (don't want to be an old mom), but that I wanted at least two years to enjoy married life and my husband before bringing children into the mix. And considering most people date for at least a year before getting engaged, and then there's the whole wedding-planning fiasco… I figure that in order to hit my "kids by 30" goal, I'd have to start that whole process by… oh, TWO YEARS AGO. Heh.
And, honestly, if I want to be married for two years before having kids, I'd have to get married by next Wednesday. Vegas, anyone?
Reality check: Still single; no ring in sight. No ring and no one thinking about buying me one. My mom actually made cardboard cutouts of "virtual grandchildren" last time I went over for a holiday at my parents' house. These virtual grandkids even sat at the dinner table with us. I guess it's as close as she figures she's going to get anytime soon.
But there's also a trade-off. Although I don't have a hubby or a little mini-me running around, I am doing better career-wise than I thought I would be at this point. So, that's a good thing. Not that I wouldn't mind sitting at home or shopping all day with my husband's credit card while he works to support me… But still, it'll be nice to contribute equally when (if?) I ever get back on schedule.
And all this got me wondering. How many of us are actually "on schedule?" Not just with marriage and kids, but with careers, life goals and personal accomplishments? How many people are actually what they wanted to "when I grow up?" I'd bet that although things don't normally go as planned, they usually work out for the best.
Things happen for a reason, they say, and I've come to believe that. After all, good things come to those who wait, right?
Labels: career, lifestyle, relationships
Boob Tube: Could You Live Without TV?
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By Shawn McKee
eDiets Staff Writer
How much time do you spend watching television? Seriously, think about it. Got a number in mind? An hour per day? Two hours? More?
I inadvertently didn't watch a single minute of TV over this past weekend because I was moving and: A) didn't time to watch; B) didn't have a place to sit and C) didn't have a TV to tune in to. It was the single most productive weekend I've ever had.
But it took this perfect storm of circumstances to keep me away from my regularly scheduled programming. It got me thinking about how much time I waste in front of the tube.
If you answered that you watch 2 hours of TV a day, you're well under the national average. The average American watches more than 4 hours of television a day, according to the global marketing firm AC Nielson.
But not watching TV for an entire weekend and seeing how it affected my productivity levels was a real wake-up call. Do you think you could give up TV for 48 hours? I dare you to try it.
We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you this emergency movement message. Turn off your TV, get off the couch and go do something fun!
How are you going to spend your extra hours? Let us know how it goes. Good luck!
Labels: lifestyle
What's the RIGHT Way?
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By Cathy Cox
eDiets Testimonial Manager
What's the RIGHT way?
…YOUR way!
So we all have that one thing that has to be juuuuuust right, else it's juuuuuust plain wrong. Rationality goes straight out the window when it comes to this thing, yet despite your best efforts, you can't help it. After all -- you're right!
You know that "thing"... It might be different from my thing, or your husband's or your neighbor's thing, but we all know you have at least one thing.
Mine is the dishwasher. I need it to be loaded in a very specific way, or it's all wrong and the dishes just won't get clean. They just won't. Period. If you put something in my dishwasher, you better do it right, or I'll have to do it all over again for you.
Maybe your thing is the toilet paper. I hear this is a big one! How WRONG is your world when you go into the bathroom and the toilet paper is coming from underneath the roll instead of over the top of the roll? To some it may feel so wrong that they may even go so far as to take it off the holder and put it back on the "right" way.
Is there a "right" height for your shades or blinds? Do they have to be a specific few inches from the window sill, else the entire room be thrown out of balance? How's that closet of yours looking? Does it have to be organized by clothing type? Better yet -- color? Lest it's simply IMpossible to find anything? Ever?! CD organization technique has been known to spawn the need for marital counseling, and I have an acquaintance that simply CANNOT leave the house without having ironed every stitch of clothing on his body. No, really!
So let's fess up here guys. We all have a few things in this life where "my way is the only way" rules around the roost… Live in shame no longer! OWN your way, and let's hear just how right you are!
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