Special thanks to Jenni for alerting me to this particular finding. You know me too well.

1. You Skip Meals

This tactic always backfires. You end up so hungry later on that you can’t help but overeat. And when you do, more fat will inevitably find its way to your midsection. Eating small- to medium-size meals every three to four hours, however, fills you up without resulting in a layer of flab.

2. You Go Vegetarian

Women will often avoid foods from the meat, fish, and dairy groups because they think they are packed with calories and fat. But remember, these foods are protein superstars that help boost your metabolism so you can fend off tummy pudge. Opt for low-calorie, low-fat choices, like cottage cheese or tuna (one 6-ounce can fulfills three-quarters of your daily protein requirement).

3. You Think Bread Is Bad

White bread, yes, but whole-grain breads and cereals? No way. These allow insulin levels to rise more gradually, reducing the chance that you’ll add fat to your belly. Wild rice, oatmeal, or whole-wheat tortillas once a day can make a difference.

4. You’re Crunch-Crazed

Sit-ups tone muscle, true, but they don’t have any effect on the layer of fat covering them. So doing 50, 100, or even 500 crunches won’t make your jeans feel any looser. What does work? Cardio. Instead of wasting all your time on crunches, spend an extra 10 minutes on the treadmill.

5. You Booze a Lot, but Infrequently

Alcohol has lots of calories yet doesn’t fill you up at all. So when you binge-drink, nutritionists say, you’re basically inviting flab to settle on your midsection. If you crave a drink, make it red wine; research suggests it may actually help fight pooch.

6. You Eat “Lite” Products

You may think you are doing your body a favor by opting for sugar-free yogurt, diet soda, or any other snack labeled low-fat or low-cal. But those versions are often loaded with artificial sweeteners, which some nutritionists believe may trigger your metabolism to increase fat storage.

7. You Think Fatty Foods Are the Enemy

As counterintuitive as it may sound, foods high in monounsaturated fats help burn off belly fat and lead you to consume less. Nutritionists recommend slicing one-quarter of an avocado onto a sandwich or drizzling olive oil and vinegar on your salad.

Yes, I feel I can say with certainty that our weather pattern has now entered the cute-jeans-and-tight-shirt faze. If you spent your winter working out, good for you. If you ate your way through the cold, um, I might be able to help you out.

Here are my top 3 strategies for looking fab in the spring and avoiding the dreaded muffin top:

1. For the love of God, wear a pair of jeans that fits. I carry my weight in my stomach, which means my jeans will always be loose around my legs to avoid a muffin top at the stomach. Yet I am amazed how many women ignore this advice and instead go for the 80% fit method. I must be a size 6 if everything but my stomach fits in these jeans. Don’t be an idiot. Muffin tops are avoidable if you just get over the number on the tag and focus on the fit. Recommended reading: Big Girl in a Skinny World (because British humour on weight is excellent)
2. Wear the proper knickers and brassieres. I’ve said it before – the right bra completely changes how clothing fits you. I bought this super cute dress one time, and I couldn’t button it across my boobs. Then I got fitted for bras and all the sudden everything — including this dress — fit me better. For your knickers, I’m a huge fan of Hanky Pankys’ (which are one size fits all) — just to avoid the dreaded pantie line. Recommended Reading:Nordstrom’s Bra Fit Guide
3. Make your face appear thinner. It’s amazing how one haircut and one trip to the eyebrow lady can make you look 10 pounds lighter. And Spring is the best time to get a new look! So make an appointment with your hairstylist and walk through what styles will best compliment your face. It may not be the latest craze, but who gives a crap when you look thinner? Same theory with the brows. Too thin and you look fat, too thick and you just look like a mess. Recommended Reading: Style expert’s Charla Krupp and her top tips for looking thinner

Any other suggestions? Leave ‘em in the comments!

In fact, I’m pretty sure the only reason I haven’t blown up into a balloon is the fact I can’t eat anything. Food is pretty limited, but I find work arounds. Lots of tofu, mushrooms, veggies and rice to be exact. Nut Thins are also a god send. If I really want something awful, I tend to eat it at night so I can sleep off the pain. No, I do not condone such behavior.

However, I do recognize that we have a pretty big picture shoot looming on the horizon. And, as a bit of a motivator, I’ve plastered my iPhone and fridge with pictures of models from Victoria Secret. Nothing says, “don’t eat that” like a model in her underwear.

I’ve also started to attend bootcamp with the other @fatroll ladies. I LOVE it. Also, I highly recommend Black Swan yoga. The power and sweaty yoga classes are fantastic. It’s also donation based, so you give as much as you have (*though they suggest $10-$15 per class).

What I really need are some new workout routines. Anyone have any recommendations?

Well, I found one this morning and jumped right on it. The deal:  $49 for one month of Fitness Boot Camp from Fitness 4 Mind and Body. Typically valued at $149, I had to buy it. I’m obsessed with bootcamps. Guess, I’m a masochist and enjoy being yelled at early in the mornings.

The site offers so many great deals. Just check out the side bar for today’s $10 wine tasting + bottle of wine! I love the concept and think this is a great spin on the traditional coupon. Plus, the UI is pretty slick. *sorry g33k speak* I also subscribe to the Dallas and SF feed since I seem to be there every month.

With less than 2.5 months left in this round,  I need al the help I can get. I’ve never tried Fitness 4 Mind and Body, but will make sure I put up a review at the end. If anyone else wants to join me, sign up and let me know which session you pick.

I often find myself judging such foods with the thought, “this is why we [Americans] are fat”. I had one such moment on Sunday when I was waiting in line at the grocery store. Already bored with the usual tabloid magazines, my eyes started scanning the candy that I avoid like the plague. As I perused the rows of deliciously sinful candy bars, a coupon caught my eye. It read “Buy any three (3) Mars Single Candy Get 4th FREE!”. I laughed to myself because not only is this coupon giving you the incentive to buy multiple candy bars (3 to be exact) but it’s throwing in an extra one in for FREE!

I wonder if you see coupons like this in Europe where they emphasize quality and not quantity (or so I hear). They may eat real cream, butter, and other non preservative-filled foods, but they know when to stop. The reason we Americans can’t seem to do that is because of promotions such as this one where we are constantly encouraged to eat more. How about putting a coupon like that in front of the bananas instead?

Well, imagine my surprise when I witnessed the cupcake concoctions of Butch Bakery in NYC.  Yup!  That’s B-U-T-C-H Bakery.  And what is their specialty?  Manly cupcakes.  Oh yes, they went there.

This awesome business came to be when the owner looked around and noticed that cupcakes were becoming awfully popular, but were way too girly.  What man would want to be caught enjoying a “pink, sweet, cute, and magical” cupcake?  He figured that there was a niche for a more manly cupcake alternative so he started the Butch Bakery.

Boasting no-frill cupcakes topped with a decorate cookie featuring woodland camo, woodland grain, houndstooth, plaid, checkerboard, or marble, the bakers at Butch make a cupcake that no man would be ashamed of.  Not only do they have a masculine look, these small cakes are offered in a variety of unique flavors, including:

• B-52: Kahlua soaked madagascar vanilla cake with Bailey’s bavarian creme filling
• Beer Run: Chocolate and beer infused cake with a beer buttercream, and topped with crushed pretzels
• Tailgate: Caramel cake with a salted caramel filling

These ain’t your ordinary cupcakes, and the guys behind Butch Bakery are proud of it.  If you have a man in your life that would appreciate a less cutesy approach to cupcakes, send him a Butch Box, which includes every cupcake variety Butch offers.

Thank you to Jeremy for being so perplexed by this concept, he had to send me this link.

According to the The Journal of the American Medical Association, the “small changes” theory fails to take the body’s adaptive mechanisms into account. As the article points out: “A person’s weight remains stable as long as the number of calories consumed doesn’t exceed the amount of calories the body spends, both on exercise and to maintain basic body functions. As the balance between calories going in and calories going out changes, we gain or lose weight.”

Well, right. We learn in elementary biology that our body  constantly works to maintain homeostasis. So, does this really come to a surprise? Sort of.

Let me put it in @fatroll speak. You may eat that extra cupcake, but your body will eventually just adjust to include that cupcake into your total caloric burn. If you begin to cut out the cupcake, your body will learn to function at that level without the sweet treat. This partially explains the plateauing effect during weight-loss.

Now, we’re not condoning running out to Delish to buy a dozen cupcakes. Incremental improvements are still important and a great step towards better health. Just remember that it takes a whole mix of tricks to lose the weight.

Work trips are the worst for this reason. You are expected to go out to eat at somewhat nice restaurants and you know everything is going to be reimbursed, so maybe you order the bagel and salmon with cream cheese instead of just smoked salmon for breakfast.

Or you’re on the plane (like I am while writing this) and even though you brought your own items to snack on (a kids’ Clif Z Bar – excellent energy bar snack option – and an apple) I still almost got the cookies they were offering along with cran-apple drink because it was free and they offered it to me.

So here are my top 3 tips for avoiding the travel @fatroll fails:

1. Bring your own snacks on the plane and in your luggage for the trip back. Keep it healthy while making sure it isn’t perishable. Fruit and nuts are great for this.
2. Don’t order room service. It’s a bad trap. Find a coffee shop near your hotel (and maybe a nice stroll to burn a few calories) to get something that saves your budget (or your company’s) while reducing your calorie intake. Plus, you’ll get more of an idea around the local offerings then being a lazy sloth. (Me in Vegas = Lazy Sloth)
3. If you are going to a nice restaurant, be sure to look up their menu online and pick out something in advance. This keeps you from making the “Oh, it’s only this one time” snap decisions that lead to a fattening wedge salad, lobster bisque soup and a 10 oz Fillet. Or maybe not. At least you’ll have time to prepare at the gym for that fail though.

You have any tips for traveling? Share in the comments!

In order to help with this issue I decided to seek low-calorie alternatives to straight-up water.  In doing this, I decided to expand my knowledge of Wyler’s Light drink mixes, which I have blogged about before.  I had always loved the Pink Lemonade flavor but I recently tried the Cherry, Peach Tea, and Raspberry Lemonade varieties as well.

Wow!  I had really been missing out.  All of the Wyler’s flavors are delicious and at only 5 calories per serving they are guilt-free.  This has helped me not only make sure I’m hydrated enough but has also helped to curve my over-active sweet tooth.

I seriously recommend checking them out.  Wyler’s is keeping me from breaking my resolution!

ANDI Scoring at Whole Foods

Reading the signage in the store, and this helpful blog post from Whole Foods, an ANDI score (which stands for Aggregate Nutrient Density Index) is a way for you to make sure you’re loading up on the fruits and vegetables that make a difference. A score from 1-1000, the higher the number, the more micro-nutrients there are in that food. For example, the apples I bought this morning had an ANDI score of 72. Pretty low — and you realize that apples are nice, but not that great when you compare it to kale, which gets 1,000 points.

ANDI is based off of a Dr. Fuhrman’s Nutrient Density Scoring System. And apparently this system is very important for weight loss:

“Keep in mind that nutrient density scoring is not the only factor that determines good health. For example, if we only ate foods with a high nutrient density score our diet would be too low in fat. So we have to pick some foods with lower nutrient density scores (but preferably the ones with the healthier fats) to include in our high nutrient diet. Additionally, if a thin person or highly physically active individual ate only the highest nutrient foods they would become so full from all of the fiber and nutrients that would keep them from meeting their caloric needs and they would eventually become too thin. This of course gives you a hint at the secret to permanent weight control.”

Am I willing to give this a try? Sure. Why not I have a high school reunion coming up! Haha.

Picture courtesy of Whole Foods