melting mama

Which diet foods EXAGGERATE their claims? (DUH.)

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The blender shot is enough to make me go drink a coffee. Forget food.

What if You Ate Only What Was Advertised on TV?

In the land of obesity it's not that far off to suggest that many of us DO EAT WHAT IS ADVERTISED ON TV.  Think about that for a second.  I don't right NOW, but it's very easy to slip into a pattern of  fast food, microwaved meals, fast food, quick-serve meals at The Olive Garden, repeat!  TOO EASY.

What If You Only Ate What Was Advertised On TV ? TIME-

It should come as no surprise that the typical American diet isn't exactly brimming with healthy goodness — rather, it's laden with fat, sugar and salt. And now new research published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association points to a troubling reason: TV ads for food may be skewing our decisions on what we eat in powerful ways.

I am posting a sort of naked photo, so you better be nice.

Image via Wikipedia

I went shopping today to find an outfit or two to wear to the Obesity Help SO CA Weight Loss Conference.

I had promised that I would do a live product review of the Slimpressions "The Have Nots" Body Shaper.  I have to tell you - 

I need MORE Slimpressions.  

All of them.   I want my WHOLE BODY COMPRESSED.  I felt 100% more secure once my extra skin was, you know, IN PLACE.  Not that I haven't had, you know, my belly squished into Spanx, but this was different.  My arms were compressed, as well as my sides, back, belly and hips.  And, it, um, gave me boobs.  I'm a 36A.  This made Things Appear Larger Than They Actually Are.

Here is the product on a model on the website:

 
 

Um.  I took a blurry iPhone photo in the dressing room before I tried on an outfit, in only the shaper. Don't laugh, because I'm likely to delete it and run and cry.

White Castle Burger Candles (Probably Perfect For Post Ops?)

Image via Wikipedia

  That totally looks like "c a n d i e s."  Blech.

 I have never had a White Castle Burger, in fact all I really know of them is what I have seen in movies, and that the grocery store now has frozen ones.  (Uh, gross?)  They're like Krispy Kreme Donuts, we just don't HAVE them here.  Massachusetts is the Bermuda Triangle of Food.

But, then I saw this:  A hamburger scented candle.

Whaa?  

It's a White Castle Burger Scented Candle in a Ceramic Sleeve, sold for $10 and proceeds go to Autism Speaks.  

Get this - the candles - totally sold out.  If you have to have one - they will be available again and you can get on a waiting list.  

 
 

You know, for an ONION SMELLING CANDLE.  O-o

(Yeah, I would buy several.)

Putting this in the scope of on topic here?  This might be (however silly it is) A Good Idea for a WLS post op.  I am serious.  Think about it -- sometimes smelling food is all we need.  (For me, it's bacon, or a roast turkey.  I don't need to eat it.  I just want to smell it.)  I am not sure I want to smell a BURGER, what, whatever floats your boat!  In those days of OMG I MIGHT KILL SOMEONE FOR A BITE OF THAT it could help --- hinder --- I dunno.

 

PR Newswire -

COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Just two days after White Castle launched the sale of its steam-grilled-on-a-bed-of-onions-scented candles, the fast-food chain's online store www.houseofcrave.com received a record number of sales and officially sold out of the candles Tuesday evening.  "We're thrilled with the overwhelming customer response to our one-of-kind White Castle candle," said Jamie Richardson, vice president of corporate relations. "White Castle fans from around the country have responded so enthusiastically that our online inventory sold out in record time. Best of all, net proceeds from all candle sales will be donated to Autism Speaks."

Richardson said candles are still available at some White Castle restaurants, but they're selling fast. The candles, which are packaged in a ceramic holder that reproduces the signature cardboard sleeve of the White Castle hamburger packaging, will be available for sale again later this year around the holiday season.  

"It's the ultimate gift for Castle lovers everywhere," Richardson added.

Candles were sold for $10 each to commemorate the 18th annual celebration of National Hamburger Month. White Castle teamed up with Laura Slatkin, founder of Nest Fragrances, often called the "queen" of home fragrances, to introduce a candle with scent of America's first fast-food hamburger.  The idea for the candle was sparked when White Castle executives met Slatkin, who sits on the board of Autism Speaks.

Established in 1921 and the nation's first fast-food hamburger chain, White Castle has been the official sponsor of National Hamburger Month since 1992.

Related articles by Zemanta

• White Castle Scented Candle: The Stink of Success [Bad Ideas] (gizmodo.com)
• White Castle candle (boingboing.net)
• Candles offer a whiff of White Castle's burgers (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

At the risk of making my daughter hate me: BIEBER FEVER!

Lyrics:

Hey yo, its me again. Im everywhere and 
Im still rockin lesbian hair

Im on your T.V. Im on your phone
I declare this world a Bieber zone

Im made of cupcakes, ice cream, and flowers
Young girls are helpless to my dark powers

They cant stop screaming they dont know why
They pee their pants then they fall down and cry

Chorus
All these shorties got Bieber Bieber Fever 
They love me like Milfs love Derek Jeter

I got em drooling like golden retrievers
They all bow down to me cus I am their leader

SCIENTIST 
It starts with screaming, and OMGing
Followed by weeping and lots of tweeting

Once theyre infected they are insane
The only cure is to disable the brain

JASPER
I hate this pop crap, I like to rock
Hes worse than Backstreet Brothers on the Block.

CHET
Hes aint so bad, he could be worse. (He becomes hypnotized)
I think I love him. 

JASPER
(Hes now hypnotized as well) Hey, I saw him first!

SCIENTIST
If your daughter catches Bieber Bieber fever 
Chop off her head with a meat cleaver 

REPORTER
Can adults contract Bieber fever?

SCIENTIST
Yes! But its mostly single moms and substitute teachers.

Lil Wayne
Weezy F. Baby and you know Im paid
I dont want to drink no Bieber Kool aid

I sip on syrup and smoke that Cheeba
Im way too gangta for Justin Bieber

I dont want to do a do a duet 
This little motherfuckers gonna ruin my rep

Every rapper has to do a song with this cutie
Its the hip-hop version of jury duty

Ill never sell out, cus Im little Wheezy
Im feeling light headed and a little queasy

Wanna carry you around on my shoulders
And tattoo your name up on my shoulders

You could be my little caucasian brother
If we go to the movies do we have to bring Usher?

I got a baby mama but I want to leave her
Cus I gotta bad case of the Bieber Fever

BIEBER
Bieber Bieber Fever
Now the whole planets got Bieber Fever
The streets will flow with blood of the non-believers

Theres no defense against Bieber Fever 

LIL WAYNE
Bieberback, Bieberback. Bieberback, ribs. Yummy.

The Apple Jacks are sending me a subliminal message.

It's the last day of school vacation, and I need groceries.  Dad's working, and I have completely OCD'ed on Peapod again.  I always do this, I fill my cart and quit, because it kills me to see the price in advance, I have the whole cart > estimation thing down pat, but I am still one cheap mofo. 

I'm up to $300.00 and it's making me want to tip it over and go to Wal-Mart.   (I did.  It timed out on me, and I gave up.)

BUT -

I am distracted.  I keep following the pattern of ads above the categories.  You want veggies?

   

Soy milk?

   

Tofu - you say?
   

How about brown rice?
    
 
See?  I search for what I want, get distracted, and I'm thinking, "OH, POP-EMS!  Those used to be FUN!"  Advertising doesn't work?  HA.

     

*No, there's none-of-that in my cart, but I'm still not wanting to check out.  :P

 

Lane Bryant Says Fox, ABC Censored Spot but not Victoria's Secret

• Lane Bryant Says Fox, ABC Censored Spot

Lane Bryant is up in arms that two networks -- Fox and ABC -- have resisted airing a sexy lingerie ad from the company in time periods where the networks have broadcast other racy fare.

In a post on LB's Inside Curve blog, the company complains that "ABC and Fox have made the decision to define beauty for you by denying our new, groundbreaking Cacique commercial from airing freely on their networks." The ad, which was initially available on YouTube and at lanebryant.com/sexy, has since been removed. It was created by Omnicom's Zimmerman.

The post also claims that ABC "restricted our airtime" and refused to air the spot during Dancing With the Stars, while Fox "demanded excessive re-edits and rebuffed it three times before relenting to air it during the final 10 minutes of American Idol, but only after we threatened to pull the ad buy."

The post continues: "Yes, these are the same networks that have scantily-clad housewives so desperate they seduce every man on the block -- and don't forget Bart Simpson, who has shown us the moon more often than NASA -- all in what they call "family hour.'" 

The ad depicts several attractive, plus-sized models in the latest line of Lane Bryant lingerie. Ample cleavage-which Bryant says was a problem for the nets-is on display in the ad. "The networks exclaimed, 'She has...cleavage!'  Gasp!'' the blog post states. 

"While it's no secret that Victoria's Secret 'The Nakeds' ads are prancing around on major networks leaving little to the imagination, steaming up TV screens and baring nearly everything but their souls, our sultry siren who shows sophisticated sass is somehow deemed inappropriate ... Does this smack of a double standard?  Yep. It does to us, too," the post continues.

Not surprisingly, comments from readers on the blog support the ad and chide the networks. "I have been advocating for curvy girls for about 20 years now ... and STILL there is bigotry against women of size. We're deemed inappropriate, unintelligent, and we're shunned. This happens to us on a daily basis!," wrote one responder who identified herself as Willokeays. 

"What is wrong with people? She looks gorgeous," added another writer, responding as Marycontrary.

Reps at the two networks could not immediately respond to the client's complaints about their treatment of the client's ad. 

"How to lose your belly?"

  

Who makes these silly diet ads and considers them effective?  

And worse, WHO BUYS INTO THIS SHIT?  

"Look, I WAS four months pregnant, and THEN I was a fitness model in a porno after I took your pill!"

It disgusts me.  I am very lucky that these ads rarely show up on my blog.  Thank you Google.  In fact, I've only had to block a handful of bizarre-o ads like this.

Old Spice Woman Pleasin' Scents?

This ad is currently hanging out in my leaderboard spot. (Thank you Google, you know what I like. And, hush, it's just an ad.)  You have to know something about me. I HEART man-soaps. LOVE. I snort the scent of AXE's orange scrub -- it smells of fir trees and I love love love it. I fully admit to making the baby a man-smell bath. She comes out smelling like Christmas.  I may or may not admit to using them myself because the scent lasts longer than my wimpy chick soaps.  You didn't hear that.

A New Weight-Loss Plan: Getting Paid to Shed Pounds

 
Welcome again to that time of year -- the resolutions have been made and likely already broken, and those contests at work (Whoever loses the most weight wins the money!) are going full swing.  

What do you think about this?

A New Weight-Loss Plan: Getting Paid to Shed Pounds.

A new site will pay overweight members $100 if they slim down and up to $1,000 if they put some of their own money on the line.

I know I blogged about this topic before, "getting paid to lose weight," but to find it?  Yeah.

Thing is, it works.  A little.  For a while.

Financial Incentive–Based Approaches for Weight Loss

Kevin G. Volpp, MD, PhD; Leslie K. John, MS; Andrea B. Troxel, ScD; Laurie Norton, MA; Jennifer Fassbender, MS; George Loewenstein, PhD

JAMA. 2008;300(22):2631-2637.

Context  Identifying effective obesity treatment is both a clinical challenge and a public health priority due to the health consequences of obesity.

Objective  To determine whether common decision errors identified by behavioral economists such as prospect theory, loss aversion, and regret could be used to design an effective weight loss intervention.

Design, Setting, and Participants  Fifty-seven healthy participants aged 30-70 years with a body mass index of 30-40 were randomized to 3 weight loss plans: monthly weigh-ins, a lottery incentive program, or a deposit contract that allowed for participant matching, with a weight loss goal of 1 lb (0.45 kg) a week for 16 weeks. Participants were recruited May-August 2007 at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center in Pennsylvania and were followed up through June 2008.

Main Outcome Measures  Weight loss after 16 weeks.

Results  The incentive groups lost significantly more weight than the control group (mean, 3.9 lb). Compared with the control group, the lottery group lost a mean of 13.1 lb (95% confidence interval [CI] of the difference in means, 1.95-16.40; P=.02) and the deposit contract group lost a mean of 14.0 lb (95% CI of the difference in means, 3.69-16.43; P =.006). About half of those in both incentive groups met the 16-lb target weight loss: 47.4% (95% CI, 24.5%-71.1%) in the deposit contract group and 52.6% (95% CI, 28.9%-75.6%) in the lottery group, whereas 10.5% (95% CI, 1.3%- 33.1%; P = .01) in the control group met the 16-lb target. Although the net weight loss between enrollment in the study and at the end of 7 months was larger in the incentive groups (9.2 lb; t = 1.21; 95% CI, –3.20 to 12.66; P = .23, in the lottery groupand 6.2 lb; t = 0.52; 95% CI, –5.17 to 8.75; P = .61 in the deposit contract group) than in the control group (4.4 lb), these differences were not statistically significant. However, incentive participants weighed significantly less at 7 months than at the study start (P = .01 for the lottery group; P = .03 for the deposit contract group) whereas controls did not.

Conclusions  The use of economic incentives produced significant weight loss during the 16 weeks of intervention that was not fully sustained. The longer-term use of incentives should be evaluated.

A little motivation in the form of cash is like a dangling carrot, I feel it would be motivating enough for a while... but eventually wear off.  What about you?  Is money motivating enough to get YOU going?  How much would it take for you to GET TOTALLY SERIOUS ABOUT IT AND FOLLOW THROUGH?

I already know my answer.  No.  The money isn't going to do it, unless it comes with a personal trainer, an we all know that isn't always the answer either, enter in Oprah and TBL Fails  I have already been in this position several times, friendly competition with family or friends and through this blog.  Fail. Even with a substantial dangling carrot, MM doesn't diet well for payment.  

MM cannot be The Taco Bell Fresco Diet Girl, she'd run in and ask for Sour Cream on her naked taco.

Wait.  Nevermind.

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