If you noticed slightly fewer baby panda-related posts on The Frisky last week, your eyes were not deceiving you. I was out sick, or I guess I should say “in” sick, because all I did was sleep, read Gone Girl, and sleep some more.
Because I’ve been a recluse from society and have no idea what’s going on — apparently Ryan Gosling sells knives on QVC now!?!?— all I have to tell you about today is my observations on the best/worst parts of being sick. Keep reading »
When I got my period for the first time, I cried. Hard. Just a few months before, while waiting to board to the bus to head to camp for a week, I saw a girl from my class bawling her eyes out. “What’s wrong with Becky?” I asked one of my friends.
“She got her period,” my friend replied solemnly. “She has cramps. And she doesn’t want to deal with wearing pads all week.” Keep reading »
I am writing this post for the most part as a response to Amelia, whose number two New Year’s resolution was to drink more water. But also, because I am passionate about drinking water. I like to refer to myself as a water enthusiast, although I am probably more of an aquaholic. (Sometimes I drink more than the recommended eight glasses a day.)
I grew up in the Arizona desert, where the arid air gives you permanent dry mouth and the tap water is undrinkable. Or at least, I had a conspiracy theorist teacher in middle school who spent entire class periods telling us how the fluoride in the water supply would kill us all. That’s when I stopped drinking tap water. Even if it wasn’t dangerous, it tasted like rust to me. So, I got into the habit of always carrying “safe” water on my person. My dad, a serious athlete, kept massive amounts of bottled water in the house, and I got into my water habit at an early age. How hydrated I am directly correlates to how good my day is going. If I didn’t drink enough water, chances are, it was a bad day and I was all tense and running around. That is a sad day in my world. Keep reading »
When I was in college studying in Italy, I got insanely, disgustingly skinny. My host mother fed us very little. I think she requested vegetarian students because she thought vegetarians ate less. Each night, she would stir a tablespoon of canned spaghetti sauce over a 1/2 portion of pasta, cigarette in hand, and when we were done eating (she never ate — she was the size of a mouse) she’d look at us with threatening eyes, shrug and say, “What else you want?”
I was just so happy to be there, so willing to assimilate into my new lifestyle, and always a little nervous about doing new things, that I was too timid to ask for more. After a while, I didn’t even realize I was hungry. And my stomach got smaller and smaller. I weighed about 120 pounds when I got there, a healthy amount for my 5’2″ frame. After a few months in Italy, since I didn’t have a scale, I can only guess I was down to about 90 pounds. It scares me to type that number out. So much. Keep reading »
It will never get worse than this.
I’m thinking that to myself as I rock back and forth on a toilet in a noisy bar. It’s Saturday night, a table full of my friends is wondering where I ran off to, and I have a potential date/booty call in a couple of hours. I’m sweating, I’m shaking and I’m trying to figure out what did it this time.
It, of course, is another horrific bout of diarrhea, one of the charming effects of irritable bowel syndrome. I felt it coming on as we walked to the bar, and made a beeline to the gas station across the street. I had to wait while the cashier bullshitted with a cabbie, shifting weight from one foot to another while cramps amped their way up my abdomen. Keep reading »
It’s that time of year. New Year’s Day is just a few days away, and that implies that it’s time to start planning for 2013. What do we want in the new year? What are our goals? What will it take to finally reach true happiness? Well, all of those things can include a healthier body, mind and spirit. Yes, we all know that most resolutions don’t stick. In fact, by the end of January, a third of us will have let our resolutions lapse. The reason? Our goals and strategies are often based more on willpower than on small, simple changes. So, to help you become healthier, happier and more fit in 2013, here are some New Year’s resolutions you can actually stick to:
1. Only eat when sitting down. It’s true, we tend to eat mindlessly and “graze” more when standing up. Sitting down encourages us to be present and eat with more focus–things that can prevent us from overeating.
2. Use small dinner plates. Using a smaller plate, research has shown, leads to taking smaller portions. If you’re trying to avoid overeating, this is a simple trick. Read more…
Men who inaccurately believe a woman’s body “just shuts down” during rape aren’t just all up in your legislature making your laws. They also sit on your courts.
California Superior Court Judge Derek Johnson has been publicly admonished in a 10-0 vote by the CA Commission on Judicial Performance for his comments that a 2008 sexual assault victim “didn’t put up a fight” during her rape and that her rape was only “technical,” whatever that means, and not “a real, live criminal case.” Rape can’t happen because if a woman’s body doesn’t want sex, Johnson said, because her ladyparts “will not permit that to happen.”
Good to know he was also a former prosecutor on the Orange County DA’s sex crimes unit, huh?
Warning, there is a description of a very violent threat of sexual violence after the jump. Keep reading »
Dieting is probably my foremost hobby. It might even take precedence over my two other main interests, which are 1) lying on the sofa complaining of feeling faint like a Victorian anemic and 2) staring at myself in the mirror. Of course, dieting for me just means eating healthily, because my idea of eating whatever I want includes sandwiches composed of whole baguettes with an entire pig’s worth of prosciutto, several slices of pepperoni pizza, and entire pints of ice cream in one sitting. The world in which I can eat as I please is a world in which raw kale does not exist. (Baked kale chips can stay.)
So it only makes sense that, however unpleasant it may be, I force myself to eat in a reasonable, controlled manner, which means cutting out some of my favorite foods altogether. Once I get them in front of me, I cannot resist, and then I’m eating all of it, because food is my drug. Which leads me to this: much like the gravitational pull of your favorite flavors can put you induce a drug-like euphoria, being forced (by a self-imposed or otherwise mandatory diet) to stop eating high-fat and high-sugar foods can cause withdrawal symptoms and depression. It’s science! Keep reading »
White bread, rich cheeses, and red wine are beloved staples of the Gallic diet. They smoke, they drink, they consume loads of saturated fats… yet they don’t have an obesity problem, they don’t lose their looks with age, and they have the lowest rate of cardiovascular mortality worldwide. What gives, France? We’re not the only ones who are dying to know: researchers call it (and, furthermore, how they get their hair to look so perfectly disheveled without being greasy) “the French paradox” as they seek to explain the link connecting the way the French eat (and, yes, drink) to their long, healthy lifespans, second only to Japan. Keep reading »
This weekend I was wandering around one of my favorite stores when I spotted a sliver of blue plaid fabric peeking out from the crowded rack of dresses. Blue is my favorite color, and plaid is my favorite pattern, so I was immediately intrigued.
When I reached into the mass of hangers and pulled out the mysterious dress, there is a good chance I audibly gasped. It was lined in silk, with a cutout in the back, a sweetheart neckline, and a flowing hourglass shape. It was surprisingly formal, but the plaid fabric made it feel playful and fun. It was unique without trying too hard. It was, quite possibly, the most beautiful dress I’d ever seen. “I would pay $200 for a dress like this,” I thought, flipping over the price tag to reveal numerous crossed-out sale prices making their way toward a grand total of $39.97. I practically skipped to the dressing room. Keep reading »
