I saw on the cover of a magazine the other day a super skinny model holding a piece of cake up to her mouth and I thought, “yeah, right!” Frankly I couldn’t see how her toothpick legs were holding her up with such a heavy object in her hand and she probably cut that piece of cake with her knife-blade hipbones.

Throw that thing down the hatch and she’ll have a cake-shaped lump in her lack-of-stomach for days. It surprises me that we can still see images like these on magazine covers after all the backlash against the skinny hype in recent years.

I remember when titanic came out some years ago and everyone thought Kate Winslet was fat. I think that may have been the beginning of this recent shift in public thought. People got fed up with it and started coming out and defending Winslet as the healthy, normal person she was. Not too long after came the Bridget Jones’ Diary movies which were a huge success. We’re now making fun of those sickly skinny Hollywood types like Nicole Ritchie.

But that doesn’t mean that we see any fewer advertisements for fattening food and it doesn’t mean that it makes it any easier to look at these skinny models eating what we want to eat and looking like we want to look.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could all look like the women on McDonald’s commercials and Pepsi billboards? The fact is that the reality they portray is not real. These models’ careers depend on not eating fattening and sugary foods like those they sponsor. Ironic, isn’t it?

Not that this should get us down. Instead, we must understand in a personal sense how our bodies respond to certain foods and exercise so that we can be realistic about the goals we set for ourselves. Never get sucked into discouragement because it appears someone else can eat whatever they want and can maintain a perfect figure. There has to be some give and take for everyone—yes, everyone.

Decide what is most important to you and what will best fit in with your lifestyle. If you find yourself in social situations often where you feel obligated to eat, then pick up the slack in your exercise routine. If you just don’t have as much time to exercise as you would like, watch your calories and carbs closely. There should always be a balance between diet and exercise but just make sure those are in balance with your lifestyle as well.

I was never impressed by the 100 calorie packs. If I’m going to count calories I want to stretch every one of them as far as I can. So I’ve compiled a list of foods that are around 100 calories and will fill you up longer:

- 1 Cup of La Choy Chicken or Beef Chow Mien

- 1 Cup of Cheerios (many non-sugary cereals give you more food for fewer calories)

- 25 Crinkle Cut French Fries

- 1 Cup of Progresso Chicken Noodle Soup

- ¼ Cup Artificial Crab with 5 Ritz Crackers

- 1 Cup of Strawberries with 1/4 Cup Whipped Cream

- 40 Pretzel Sticks

- 3 Cups of Popcorn with 0 Calorie Butter Spray

- 1 Cup Tomato Soup with 20 Oyster Crackers

- 2 Large Pickles

Of course eating low calorie foods, especially junk foods, is not a solution to weight loss. But I hope this gives you some ideas of what you can get for every precious calorie you take in. If you have your own 100 calorie foods, please share your ideas below.

If you haven’t figured it out already, I’m all about losing weight the easy way. I don’t mean popping a couple pills before bed easy though. I truly believe that you have to be willing to make lifestyle changes to be successful. I’m talking about the fun kind of easy. That’s right, exercise, diet and fun.

So, what if you just don’t like to exercise? If that is what you are thinking right now, I’m going to prove you wrong. Dead wrong.

But to do this, I need your mind to be opened and ready for change. Okay- are you ready?
First, think of what you crave doing most. If you have the day off, what do you picture yourself doing? Why does this matter? Well, I think that there are three types of weekenders and there is a different exercise plan that each will enjoy.

Weekender Type 1: Working is relaxing. You like to enjoy the outdoors to the extreme. Mountain biking, hiking, boating, skiing, you love them all and you’re not afraid to get dirty. You probably don’t struggle as much with keeping a regular exercise routine either. Because these activities are what you like to spend your time doing, you naturally work them into your daily routine.

It’s not hard to prove that these weekenders have a reason to enjoy their workout, so let’s move on to something harder.

Weekender Type 2: You like to be with and around people. Your weekend is spent with friends or family at dance clubs, restaurants, or even an evening around the fire chatting until the early morning hours.

So for your exercise routine, focus on things you can do with other people. Go to an aerobics class with a group of friends, take a morning walk with a neighbor or co-worker. If you can’t find someone to exercise with you on a regular basis, go to the gym and find inspiration from the other people working out all around you. Because you feel energized just being around people you love, you will feel motivated to work longer and harder.

Weekender Type 3: For those of you who pictured yourself reading a book, taking a bubble bath or watching your favorite movie, I haven’t given up… In fact, this is the category that I fit most.

Here are a few exercise ideas for the more relaxed weekender. Purchase a treadmill or a low impact exercise machine and place it in a room where you can visibly see a television. Any thoughts of quiting you might have will be washed out when you flip on your favorite show.

If you love shopping, then spend, spend, spend (this is my personal favorite). The more you shop, the more time you spend walking and shedding calories. You can also try more low impact exercise routines like yoga or pilates and send yourself on a relaxing journey to weight loss.

The small changes are what will make the biggest difference for you. Try getting a balance ball to give your core muscles a workout while you’re sitting at a desk. And get on a diet plan where healthy meals are delivered to your door.

For all types of weekenders, take the stress out of weight loss, and feel guilt free about it. Use the variety of dieting options out there to your advantage. Check out the review section to find a plan that fits into your lifestyle- but make sure above all that you have fun doing it.

You probably already know that the United States is the most overweight country in the world, but how big is the margin? Well, it has been reported that as much as 30 percent of the U.S. population is overweight. Compare that to 3 to 4 percent for Japan and Korea. Our closest neighbors, Mexico, come in second but are still 8 percent behind us. There is a huge disparity between the U.S. and other countries as far as obesity goes.

So what are they doing differently? It must be all that healthy food they’re eating, right? But that can’t be. Foods fried in oil, flower tortillas, corn, fried rice, are all the kinds of things I’m told to avoid when I’m on a diet. At least that’s what I get when I go to Asian or Mexican restaurants. And that’s what my husband go the two years he lived in Korea.

They do eat a lot of fish in Korea and Japan which is certainly healthier than other kinds of meat, but do they eat more fish than us in Mexico? That doesn’t seem to be the answer either. I would say its McDonalds and Burger King that are making us fat, but they have those in every country in the world and they are definitely making money everywhere. They open new American fast food joints in Asia all the time, but it’s not making them fat.

Could it be that people in other counties are simply exercising more than us? It’s possible. But I seem to recall reading recently that PC rooms and video games are extremely popular in Japan and Korea, not to mention 50 hour work weeks; I even read once about someone kneeling over from being in a PC room too long without moving. I don’t know how well Mexicans are doing with exercise, but with all the Spanish channels available on cable TV I’m sure they’re doing their fair share of sitting around in front of the tube.

So what is it? I don’t have the answer but it’s clear that they are doing something right. Will we Americans ever catch on and get in better shape?

Something I have struggled with since I started working in an office is getting active after I clock out. It makes no sense, but the longer I sit, the longer I, well, want to sit.

And to make matters worse, I used to have a job that provided vending machine tokens to every employee each day. Instead of two 15 minute breaks, I got cake and chips and soda. It sounds ideal, but as soon as my doctor said I was putting on the ‘marriage pounds’ (I was a newly wed at the time) I knew something had to change.

While I am still working off some of those Doritos, here are some things that noticed make a change in how I feel after a long day at work. They help me get motivated and move, instead of sit, then sit some more:

1. Stay active at work: It sounds simple, and it is. To feel energy when you get home, you have to get invigorated while at work. I used to find excuses to walk up and down the stairs when my building had a staircase. Now that it doesn’t, I enjoy short breaks to walk around the perimeter. Instead of jumping in your car right after work, try one of these activities to get your heart pumping.

2. Get a buddy: Just this evening my husband had to dislodge me from the couch where I was half asleep to go on a walk. And, as much hard as it was to initially get up, I was grateful that he encouraged me to enjoy the evening with him. There’s nothing like holding hands on a cool evening to make you feel motivated.

3. Make a set schedule to engage in activity: I know that if I don’t set a time to exercise or take a little walk, I’ll procrastinate until it’s too dark or too late at night, or too something… Set a time and mark it off on your calendar each day you meet that goal.

I hope these simple suggestions help you overcome the blob. Feel free to write your own ideas below.

I used to have a couple cats that lived in the back yard. They were always climbing up on the window screens and meowing for attention. They ruined two or three screens completely this way.

It was a big problem. I was getting really frustrated with them and yelling at them of course didn’t help much. I told my friend about it one day and she said that she’d heard you can train cats by squirting them with water when they’re doing something bad. They hate it.

I decided I’d give that a try so I bought a dollar store squirt gun and put it by the cats’ favorite window. The next time I saw the cats climbing on the screen, I gave them a couple shots with the squirt gun. They hissed and got off immediately.

After a few more times of this they learned their lesson. Climb on the screen and you get wet. They never did it again.

This technique works great with pets but I’ve found that it can also work with humans. Think back to when you were little and your parents gave you brussel sprouts or some other green food for dinner. I would just play with it on my plate and make faces.

Dad would tell me I couldn’t have dessert if I didn’t eat it first and I would be thinking, “no way am I eating that junk,” and dig my heels in. An argument ensues and the next thing I know, I’m in my room with no dessert in my belly. Most people probably went through this as a little kid. Unfortunately, these types of bad experiences get stuck in our subconscious and, if you’re like me, you never really get a liking for certain vegetables.

On the other end of the spectrum, think about the associations you’ve had with foods that are bad for you. We have cake and ice cream at birthday parties, we got a cool toy every time we went to McDonald’s and had hamburgers, and sometimes mom and dad would give you candy as a treat for doing your chores or being good.

With all this training from the time we are little it’s no wonder we like to overindulge on things that are bad for us. So how does all this relate to your next diet? Well, go buy a squirt gun, give it to someone who lives with you and every time you go to the fridge and pull out a piece of cake. . . No, not that.

What I’m getting at is creating a positive experience with the foods that are good for you. When you’re watching your favorite movie, munch on carrot sticks. When you’re going to your favorite place for fun, bring along a piece of fruit. I’ve found that when I do this a piece of fruit starts to look more like a piece of candy. We need to train ourselves to have good associations with the foods that are best for us. Then maybe we won’t feel like a wet, angry cat every time we eat a healthy meal.

Have you noticed it’s getting harder and harder to remember the names of your favorite actors and actresses, musicians, idols? I found myself struggling today to remember the name of my favorite band in high school. I finally remembered after pulling out my old cds but it bothered me that my memory has gotten so poor.

Or is it my memory? There are so many stars today compared to just five or 10 years ago that it is impossible to remember even our favorites. Radio stars, movie stars, reality tv stars, musical stars, even internet starts. Just a few years ago no one would have imagined that kids running into fences, ’singers’ like William Hung, and even people looking to lose weight could get famous from doing well, anything.

There are so many venues and so many people looking for entertainment of every kind that really everyone that wants to has a chance to get famous in their own way. I think we are starting to see the wisdom in Andy Warhol’s words, that every one would have their 15 minutes of fame in the future. We have every opportunity, it’s just a matter of having the guts to take them.

So, when is your 15 minutes of fame due? Don’t worry, they’re coming soon. Enjoy them while they’re there and then love your life even more when they are quickly over.