The secret to waist management, part. 2

This theme started here. I noticed an article by that title in my new first issue of Boho, about which I wrote at my hobby bloggy In the beginning on premiere issue journals.

The article is written by Shelagh Waters, who has an impressive list of credentials, such as a BS in Nursing from Villanova and one I’d never heard of , CHC of the AADP, Certified Health Counselor of the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. But hey, I can’t know everything, I just pretend to on the Internet. Shelagh (I assume that’s an alternate spelling of Sheila) works out of something called Corwellness Lifestyle which involves four pillars of health--nutrition, fitness, stress reduction and self-care. I can go for all that, if she’d add in good genes, good works and faith in Jesus. After all, I’m in this for the long-haul, not just for a Friday night date! Look at that face! She didn't get that look without good genes!

But back to the waist. I looked through the entire article p. 82-85, and there is no mention of a waist-line! She writes about balanced blood-sugar (I agree--‘cause if I’m going to eat pancakes with syrup, I’m sure to add in an order of sausage or I get light-headed. The Patio Restauant at Lakeside has awesome pancakes). I loved the imagery of this line (directed to teens):

“So, next time you go to eat think about whether or not you want your hair to be made out of a bag of Doritos or out of organic local, farm grown fruits and vegetables!”

The two are totally unrelated--vegetables are good for you whether or not they are organic and local--but it made me picture hiding my little bag of corn Fritos in my desk and then combing my colored, thinning-from-age, hair. Gosh, do you suppose. . .?

From balanced blood-sugar she moves on to the importance of burning fat. That’s not such a great theme for a magazine aiming at teen girls, especially since the magazine contains photos of very skinny models, and a short feature on Audrey Hepburn who battled anorexia. There are so many good reasons to keep moving, I hate to see “fat burning” promoted as the most important. Exercise really helps our bones as we age, is a natural stress reliever and sleep inducer, assuming you don’t do it in the evening. But I see way too many girls and women pounding their skinny skeletons along busy streets in Columbus--a very sad sight.

I do have to laugh at these dance and exercise websites and DVD promotions. Shelagh suggests MyDanceTime.com. About 5 years ago we took dance lessons, and discovered that the only place we had room to move was the garage! We have a very clean garage if we move the cars to the drive-way, but with the music blaring, I’m sure the neighbors thought we were crazy, plus concrete isn’t the best surface for your legs. In the living room, where our 15 year old TV with the DVD player is, I’d have about a 3 x 7 ft. space for dancing (on a carpet), and in the family room with the 21 year old TV and the VCR it’s about 3 x 4 ft. Best to go outside for burning fat, building bones, lifting spirits and inhaling fresh air.

So that’s the entire article! Blood sugar and burning fat! Not a word about the waist. Probably because you inherit your waist measurement, and there’s not a whole lot you can do about it. Even if I got back to my high school weight (120 lbs), I’d have to find that ½” in height I’ve lost, and stand on my head several hours a day to see if the thigh fat would return to my face--because at 120 lbs, I'd look like death warmed over.