Fit Geek

I am a creature of habit. Most days I have a routine that I stick to, and for the most part it’s good. It keeps me productive, and I find something comforting about having a schedule to occupy my time. My routine makes me feel normal. (My boyfriend says I’m a control freak. Whatever…I’m an only child.)

However, this past Sunday my routine was not cutting it. For some STRANGE, unfathomable reason, cleaning and cooking for five hours just didn’t seem appealing to me. I decided to break out of my 50s housewife box and do something FUN and SWEATY and DIRTY.

First, David and I went to the park across the street from my house to play catch with a football. I figured it would be good to get out in the sun and work on my hand-eye coordination. It was hot as hell, and playing catch while you’re just standing there can get boring pretty quick. So we started running and throwing the ball to each other. That was A LOT more fun and fast-paced. I can even see myself doing that like…for cardio, lol.

Then we went to Tropical Park to see what was going on over there. Word is that some LARPers practice there every Sunday. David is into all that nerdy stuff, and I wanted to investigate. We found them, however we didn’t actually get out of the car to talk to them. Next week we plan to, though. So keep an eye out for that.

(Random fun fact: I used to box at the amateur gym in Tropical Park when I was 17.)

We tried out some of the park's fitness markers.

Monkey style.

I know that it’s a universal truth that Sundays are great park days, but I seem to have forgotten that somewhere along the way. Going to Tropical Park reminded me. That place is huge, and it’s buzzing with activity–birthday parties, basketball, fencing, baseball, bike-riding. If you ever need inspiration to just get up and get moving, TP (haha) is the place to go.

Blurry in-car-paparazzi-shot of people fencing.

Basketball!

Another paparazzi shot of people riding these bike-cart things you can rent at the park.

We practiced some more running while playing catch, and I’m actually starting to not be afraid of the ball. This is the perfect example of doing a physical activity for FUN, and then realizing that it counts as exercising too. By the time I got home, I was really glad I broke my routine. And I even managed to get most of my cooking done. Huge win, I say.

I always throw high. High balls, that is.

So now it’s your turn. Do you have a routine? Do you feel “off” if you don’t stick to it? Or does occasionally straying from it revitalize you?

Tone is the four letter word of the fitness world. Do you say it? Here’s something to think about the next time you do.

The word “toned” is a huge pet peeve for bodybuilders and people who take working out seriously. Just go to any bodybuilding forum or workout community and you will get flamed for saying that you want to tone up. So why do they get so huffy and puffy about it? Well first of all, let’s dissect what the average person means when they say they want to tone up. Usually it implies looking slim and tight with slight muscular definition. You know, like a dancer or a yoga instructor. For those of you out there who use the term “toned”, am I correct in my assumption?

That’s all fine and dandy. The problem arises when it comes down to how you attain this “toned” physique. A lot of people are under the impression that you can reshape your muscles and your body to your liking by doing the classic “toning” exercises–high reps with low weights. ‘Cause you know, you don’t wanna bulk up.

I’m glad to break it to you that using 10 lbs to do 3 sets of 18 reps of triceps pulldowns isn’t gonna be NEARLY anywhere enough to get rid of your flappy flappers and tone up. And  doing 100 donkey kicks is not going to tighten those saddlebags.

According to this article, “Muscles do not go from soft to hard or hard to soft – they either shrink or grow in size. Muscles themselves do not “firm-up” or “tone”.”

And according to this very awesome website, “This school of thought says that if you lift heavy, you’ll get huge, and if you lift light weights with high reps, you’ll just “tone”. AAACK! The T-word again! Muscles only know how to grow one way, and just how big they get depends on gender and genetics.” (Seriously, read that site.)

The bottom line is that if you want to look “toned”, you need to burn fat to reveal the muscle you do have, and possibly increase the amount of muscle you have with quality strength training.

Even though he eats rabbit food, Sumo definitely isn't toned.

Although I do want to (sort of) clarify that the term muscle tone does mean something valid. What exactly that is, I’m not sure. According to Wikipedia, “muscle tone (residual muscle tension or tonus) is the continuous and passive partial contraction of the muscles, or the muscle’s resistance to passive stretch during resting state.” I dunno wtf that means, but if you can figure it out, please share.

So, back to the part about fitness enthusiasts getting pissy when other people talk about toning. The thing is that no one who is serious (yes, that needed to be italicized) about fitness uses the word “tone” when talking about working out. I’m referring to people who take their time to extensively research the things that are involved with building strength, muscle and athleticism. And fat loss too. I think the only time they do use the word tone is when they talk to someone who isn’t as knowledgeable about fitness to help them understand.

For instance, if I’m talking about making a physical body change, I speak in very specific terms. I say that a person is either losing fat or gaining muscle, or doing both simultaneously if they’re a lucky mofo. But I’d never tell someone who I was showing some workout moves to that it was going to help them tone whatever body part.

It doesn’t really bother me when other people say they want to tone because I know what they mean. But personally I try to stay away from saying it. It’s just the whole brainwashing context that’s behind it that gets to me. Toned is something that magazines and advertising companies use to sell gimmicks. Toned is the driving force behind the BS perpetuated by ridiculous trainers like Tracy Anderson. Toned is supposedly what the Shake Weight can do for you. Toned is infomercials and the newest weight loss fad. Whenever I hear someone say that they want to tone, I can’t help but think of all the empty promises they’ve been sold and all the lies they’ve been told, like light and easy workouts are the way to look killer.

They’re not. If you want to look killer and be killer, you’ve gotta kill yourself to get there. But if you still want to use the word toned, it’s all good. I certainly won’t kill you for it

So what do YOU think about toning up?

This photo is somehow related to this post. How? You'll just have to figure it out.

Ah, arms. They have so many uses! You can wrap them around people, you can carry stuff with them. You can cover them with tattoos. They lift you up, they push you off the ground. Just don’t flex them if you’re a girl and you have anything more than an ounce of muscle. You wouldn’t want to gross people out.

Okay, so I’m exaggerating. But in my opinion, attractive arms have always been something that men owned the rights to. If they had muscular, defined arms, they were considered all the more sexy. But women’s arms weren’t really to be considered. As long as they weren’t flapping in the wind or giving a bodybuilder competition, they were fine. Just another unsexy part of the body, like knees or armpits. Two dangling, formless green beans which should be used primarily to carry babies and laundry.

Men are usually expected to have at least slightly muscular arms, but not women. However, I actually like it when women have some muscle and shape in their arms. To me, a woman with sculpted arms and shoulders stands out from the rest. She’s probably either athletic or works out hard, and I can respect that. I think it’s awesome when a girl can point you to the gun show. I also realize that I’m a minority in feeling that way.

So now, let’s look at some pictures.

Fitness model Jamie Eason. Probably considered bulky by most. Her arms don’t bother me though.

I think just about everyone has seen this photo of Madonna. I don’t really consider her arms bulky. She is just extremely lean and in very unflattering light.

Michelle Obama. Recently lauded in the media for her strong, toned arms. I think she’s a pretty good example of someone who walks the line between “toned” and “too manly”, depending on who you ask. If you ask me, I think her arms look good.

Typical girl arms, and what I assume is desirable for most of the population.

For my own PERSONAL aesthetic, I’m going for something that’s perhaps a step up from Michelle Obama and a step down from Jamie Eason. I hear a lot of “eww, no!” when I tell people that, but whatever. I’m not trying to get huge arms, just enhance what I currently have.

I mean, I understand why people aren’t into girls with defined arms. It comes from the long-standing notion that strong is not for women. Women are soft and delicate, and if the slightest bit of bicep or tricep pops out they’re probably secretly hiding a penis in their undies. Also, women have weaker upper bodies compared to men. We’re not muscular on top, so I suppose it’s a natural thing to be indifferent or even opposed to. Still, I can’t help but mentally roll my eyes whenever a girl says she doesn’t want to lift too much because she’ll get bulky, manly arms. And then I wonder what exactly her definition of “bulky, man arms” is. Michelle? Jamie? Madonna?

Either way, those girls have it easy. As long as they stick to cardio, maybe a bit of light resistance training and eating healthy, the soft yet petite look they’re after is certainly within reach.

Check out those...pecs?

But if you appreciate a lady with a little definition in her arms, you’ve got your work cut out for you. Here are some tips to turn your peanut biceps into nicely arched potato biceps.

• If you’re a beginner, try just doing compound exercises (push-ups, bench press, rows, etc.) to build your foundation strength and muscle before moving on to isolation work. Master chin-ups and bar dips before curls and tricep extensions. Not that it’s wrong to do curls and tricep extensions if you’re a beginner. But you should try putting the most effort into compound exercises.
• If you’re at an advanced level of working out, and you have naturally thin arms (like me), and you feel like your arms are one of your lagging body parts, set up a day to work JUST your arms.
• With biceps, full range of motion is important. (And why is this buff chick so mad?)
• Make sure you work both heads of your bicep and all three heads of the triceps for even muscular development. That means using different grips and angles when you work your arms. (1) (2)
• If you’re a woman, don’t worry. It’s going to take a LOT for you to get bulky arms, unless you’re genetically predisposed to it.

It’s my birthday! Well, it was my birthday…two days ago. Sorry for the delay, but I’ve been lost in a post-birthday-party haze (aka I’ve been recovering from being drunk.) But anyway, let’s rewind back to the 17th, the 27th anniversary of the day I escaped from my mother’s womb. I don’t know about you, but to me birthdays mean you have a free ticket to do whatever you want. Well, this whole week has been “do whatever I want” week since I’m on vacation. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I have free ticket to make people do what I want. And I wanted them to workout with me.

So I dragged a reluctant David and a not-so-reluctant Chris to the park for a morning workout. I recorded the routine, but unfortunately my camera is not that great and the video came out super grainy. Instead, I wrote out the routine here with links describing the exercises if you are inclined to try it.

Do each movement for the prescribed time, then go on to the next exercise without stopping to rest.

Squats – 2 minutes
Plank – 1 minute
Step-up to bench (alternate legs each time you step) – 2 minutes
Plank – 1 minute
Reptile plank – 2 minutes
Easy mountain climber (do exercise as described in the video, but put your hands on a bench) – 2 minutes
Bench Dips – 2 minutes
Bench pushups – 2 minutes
One-leg hip raise – 1 minute per leg.

Doing the whole thing once is good, but twice is better

And of course I undid all the positive effects of exercising by drinking numerous alcoholic beverages later that evening. Whatever! It was my birthday. I can get stinkin’ drunk buzzed if I want to!

Today in the shower, while I scrubbed the dead skin off my feet with a pumice, I started thinking about how pointless it all feels sometimes. Not life. Blogging. You see, I have an issue with the inherently narcissistic nature of it.

How egotistical and pretentious is it for me to assume that anyone cares about what I do? Do I think I’m some kind of aspiring Internet celebrity with the way I air my life and opinions? I’m not even a fitness professional, just a passionate enthusiast.

Does anyone care that I walked to CVS wearing shorts with a big hole in the butt?

No shame.

Does anyone care that my boyfriend is a nerd and a weirdo?

Nerd.

Weirdo.

Why even put it out there? Why bother trying to be something that seems so…vapid and attention-seeking?

…

Well, I think most of us find it fulfilling to contribute a part of ourselves to something we care about. And although there is definitely a narcissistic aspect to blogging, the truth is there ARE people who care about what you do, whether it’s because they know you or they’re bored at work or looking at your blog is a form of inspiration or escapism for them. However, I don’t want my blog to be a tabloid of my life.

Yes, I will include details about my life. But while posting a picture of almost every single thing you eat or what you wear might work for other bloggers, it’s not what I’m aiming for. I’m not trying to sling veiled insults at bloggers who do that either. You can get very successful doing those things, and I do read blogs that are like that, but it’s not part of my own vision.

To get myself out of this rut I had to remind myself that I’m blogging because yes, I want to share a part of myself with the world. But it’s for the connection. I’m not looking at my blog as my own personal red carpet. When I sit down to write, I think of it as like having a conversation with a friend. And as a matter of fact, I’ve had this very conversation with certain people.

For example, my parents. I actually want to get into more detail about that conversation at a later time, but the gist of it was them asking me what exactly my message is with this blog.

It’s about fitness and being healthy, with an emphasis on being STRONG. It’s about being hardcore and taking pride in that. And it’s through the eyes of a girl who isn’t like other girls. I’m not married. I don’t want to get married. I curse. I’m crass. I like to lift heavy weights. I’d rather wear Chucks than heels. Yeah, you get the point.

Hopefully that doesn’t make me too narcissistic. I don’t know. My brain is starting to hurt from thinking about it. At the end of the day, who cares. I enjoy blogging, and that’s all that matters, right?

SO ANYWAY. Today’s workout, compliments of simplefit.org. (Great site, btw.)

I did a circuit of one chin-up, two pushups and three squats for max rounds in 20 minutes.

I did 46 rounds. That’s…alright. I can definitely do better. This workout was actually not as difficult as I anticipated, and the time went by faster than expected. It’s definitely worth doing! Try it out and let me know what you think. I’m going to add this one to my roster of “cardio” workouts.

Last week I was on a mission to not spend money on anything extra (i.e. things I didn’t REALLY need.) However, during my Saturday grocery excursion I forgot two key items: eggs and cheese. So by Thursday morning I was down to one egg and NO cheese. Instead of heading to Publix to re-stock, I decided to wing it the rest of the week with whatever I had left at home.

I came to an important realization. LIFE IS POSSIBLE WITHOUT CHEESE. I used to think that omelets and salads weren’t even worth considering if they didn’t have some cheddar or mozzarella or something going on in there. But I found a way to make both of those things taste awesome without a little help from dairy.

Just like my frittata discovery, the answer was ridiculously simple. Tomato or marinara sauce. I used DelGrosso Fireworks Sauce. I got it at a Whole Foods event a while back and it was just sitting around.

It was all I needed for my breakfast omelet.

Omelet guts!

And it was all I needed for this salad I brought to work.

Turkey sausage, spinach, DelGrosso Fireworks sauce

Looks funky. Tastes surprisingly good.

They were both very satisfying. People might be skeptical about how good these meals would taste with just tomato sauce, and understandably so. It’s so…simple. But don’t underestimate simple. Simple is the shit.

I’m also getting into using not-so-traditional dressings for my salads. Next up I’m going to try salsa and hummus. Separately, and maybe together too!

Aaaand I know I said I was going to try to not spend any money, buuut I kind of slipped up on that one. See, a lot of the time I workout on my lunch break. I had brought some bread to eat after my workout, but I was so hungry I ended up eating the bread before heading to the gym. So I had no post-workout carbs. That lead me to spending way too much on this carbage.

Grossaroni.

Tasted like crap. But I supposed it was better than nothing.

After work I broke my no-spending-money promise again, but this time it was actually worth it. I totally believe that fun and socializing are part of having a healthy lifestyle. It was Miss Guru Rabbit’s birthday, so I got my drink on and I got my munch on. (Check out her post for a re-cap and more pictures.) Good times, good people, and my hangover was hardly anything! The next day I even got everything I set out to do at work done. Which was a lot, because I’M OFF ALL NEXT WEEK! WOOOOO!

Bunneh Birthday Celebration

Yes, my birthday is coming up, and the best gift I could give to myself was a week off work. I deserve it! I have no idea what I’m actually going to do for my birthday. But yanno…whatever! Last year’s was weird. But that was 26. This is 27. Odd years are always better.

Me and my hoes last year on my birthday.

I’m not lazy. I’m busy. There’s a difference! So if there’s a way I can make ANYTHING more efficient, I do it. Especially cooking. If it’s quick, easy and healthy, it’s probably on my roster of things I eat on a regular basis. So I don’t know why I never thought to make a veggie frittata until recently. Wait, yes I do. It’s ‘cause I didn’t know what a frittata was until like, last week. It’s basically a mix between an omelet and a quiche.

I was inspired by this recipe. After reading it I knew I had to make it ASAP. I’m seriously happy that I did. I’m aware that I might be getting overly excited about something that’s so simple and obvious, but I still feel like I struck gold. This frittata is easy and adaptable. You can have it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. You can pack it with veggies. (I have trouble eating vegetables in the morning, so this is a great way to sneak them in.) And most importantly, it tastes gooood. It stores well too. I was worried about how the frittata would reheat and taste the next day, but I think it actually tasted even better.

Instead of asparagus I used broccoli, in addition to a few other substitutes. But flexibility is part of this recipe’s beauty. You can make it with a variety of spices, vegetables and cheese and it will most likely still be tasty. For example, you can use spinach, tomatoes or chopped artichoke hearts. You can add ground meat. You can play around with herbs. You can add a lot of things and it won’t break like an overstuffed omelet! So anyway, here’s my version of the veggie frittata.

INGREDIENTS
1 egg (or 4 eggs if you don’t want to use egg whites/beaters)
3 egg whites or egg white beaters
1.5 cup chopped broccoli (or veggie of your choice)
.5 cup onion
4 tablespoons of bacon bits (totally optional)
1 cup cheese of preference (I used mozzarella and cheddar)
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to broil.
2. Lightly beat eggs until just mixed.
3. Heat olive oil in a large oven-safe pan.
4. Cook onions until golden brown.
5. Add broccoli and cook until it softens, about 4-5 minutes.

6. Add bacon bits.
7. Add salt and pepper to taste.
8. Pour eggs into the pan and let cook until they’re slightly runny on top.

9. Sprinkle cheese on top.
10. Put the pan in the oven and cook until cheese is melted, about 3-4 minutes.
11. Take out of the oven with mitts, cut, serve and enjoy!

I ran out of mozzarella so I added a slice of cheddar.

The final product on David's lap. He approved.

Saturday evening I had an interesting night at Peruvian restaurant, Las Totoritas (7365 NW 36 St, Miami, FL,  33166). I’ve been to this place a number of times before on my lunch break, and their ceviche has always been my favorite out of all the places I’ve tried in Miami. I’m half Peruvian, and I love the cuisine. I was really craving it, and I figured it was about time I did another installment of Healthy Eating Miami. That was all the motivation I needed to haul my cookies over to Doral in the rain.

As soon as we got there our server offered us some sangria. Hell yeah! From our seats I could see her preparing it, but to my dismay she poured about a third of a 2-liter bottle of ORANGE SODA into it. Hell no! I looked up a few sangria recipes online and some of them include ginger ale, club soda and orange juice. But orange soda??? Listen, I’m not that picky. It wouldn’t have bothered me that they put it in the sangria, but I swear there was more soda in there than anything else. We asked if they could pour a little more wine in, but they told us we’d have to buy another one. Um…no. I let David finish it and I didn’t really bother with the rest.

Bleh. Sorry for the dark shots!

Besides that disappointment, the rest of our meal was quite satisfying. I ordered the shrimp and fish ceviche (cebiche de pescado y camaron), and like all the other times I’ve been to Totoritas, it was awesome. Ingredients include spiced lemon juice (leche de tigre – I could seriously drink the stuff straight), large roasted and fresh corn kernals (choclo), onions, tilapia, shrimp and sweet potato. If you’re trying to eat healthy, I think this is a great option. They also serve it with just fish, just shrimp, or mixed (fish, shrimp, calamari, octopus).

I will say that the ceviche portion was smaller than it used to be. That’s a good thing if you’re trying to watch your waistline or lose weight. However, if you’d like a much larger serving you could order the family size. I was in the mood for a hearty meal, so I ended up ordering a soup — parihuela, which is tomato-based with lots of seafood. It had calamari, octopus, fish, shrimp and an oyster in the shell. It comes in a large serving, so David and I split it.

Don't look like much, but it was goooood.

This one is also a healthy option, but if you’re squeamish about your food having a face…you might not want to order this soup. We found these guys in there.

Say hello to Mr. Shrimp and Mr. Octopus.

Ugghhh. IT HAS EYES!

Yuuuuck.

He has an octopus fetish.

Despite that, I still really liked the soup. It gave me a nom attack. In fact, everything I ate at Totoritas gave me a nom attack (with the exception of the sangria, of course.)

And on the less healthy spectrum, David ordered the jalea (a huge fried seafood platter). It was GOOD. Like really good. Although it also had one big shrimp with a face.

Mmmm. Fried heaven.

Overall we had a good experience here. The place is usually packed, and for good reason. If you’re ever in the area and would like a healthy, delicious meal, I’d highly recommend the ceviche. The parihuela is tasty too! And the jalea is off the chain, but not if you’re trying to be healthy

A few things to keep in mind:

• Totoritas can be a little hard to find if you’re not familiar with the area. It’s in the shopping center right next to the Wendy’s.
• Most of the servers primarily speak Spanish, but they can still accommodate someone who only speaks English.
• If you happen to come at a really busy time, there is a hidden room aaaalll the way in the back with more seating.

So, in part 1 I discussed how you can do a glute-ham raise at home with a partner.

David is now a member of my gym so he was able to get some footage of me doing a glute-ham raise on an ab bench. (Very crappy phone footage, but whatever.) We had to be kind of discreet filming because I don’t think it’s allowed in the gym. Sshh, don’t tell.

So first of all, find an ab bench that looks like this.

Make sure the ab bench you use has pads on the foot-holder dealie.

It should have cushions on the foot-holder thingies. I’d recommend putting a towel on the part where your knees will be resting because this exercise can be rough on your knees. Trying to describe how to mount this thing to do a glute-ham raise is kind of awkward. I think the most accurate way to put it is to think of the way you’d normally slide in to do an ab workout, but do it upside down. Just watch the video, haha.

I mentioned in my first glute-ham raise post that this exercise is HARD. So try it out if you’re feeling hardcore. One thing you want to watch out for is not leading with your butt too much. You want to be as straight as possible coming back up. I’m leading with my ass a little bit in the video, but it’s normal for that to happen to a small degree.

To make this exercise a little easier, you can put a bosu ball on the bench and use that to push yourself back up. It shortens your range of motion and gives you a little more momentum coming back up.

Also, I’m small and I have short legs, so this modification on the ab bench works for me. I’m not so sure how well it’d work for someone with longer legs. I’d get David to try it out but his knees are all scabbed up from a drunken fall.

And if you’re curious about what else I do for legs, here are some videos. Once again, terribly sorry for the horrible quality.

Me squatting 125 lbs for 4 sets of 4 reps. It’s not the prettiest squat ever, but this was pretty hard for me. I’m small, okay!

Romanian deadlifts. 3 sets of 8 at 120 lbs. These are actually pretty easy for me, but my biggest issue is my grip going out. I need to do farmer’s walks!

In other news, good weekend was good. I partied with cool people and ate an overly-teriyakied chicken sandwich at Vagabond. I had good ceviche (review to come soon!) I also saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Yeah, it was as cheesy as you’d expect it to be, and there were a few loopholes in the plot. It did, however, make me wonder how my pet bunny, Sumo, would feel about me if he suddenly got super intelligent. Despite his cuteness, he’s a pretty hateful little turd. It’s probably for the best that he stays dumb, lest he turn into an evil, brainy bunny bent on taking over the world.

He already thinks he rules the world.

So cute....so evil!

The first order of business: photo re-cap of the weekend.

Had another boot camp this weekend. Two new recruits came. Sweat was sweated. Groans were groaned. Puke was puked. All in all, good times.

We're not even half way done and Chris is dead.

One-leg bench squats.

When I dip, you dip, we dip.

Then after the boot camp we gathered at my parents’ house for a pool party. Unfortunately I cannot divulge the details of this pool party because…just because

I lost the chicken fight. I blame David.

The second order of business: relationship weight. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. Two people start dating and they gain weight. You know, because “they’re happy.” And happy usually means going out to eat, sitting around watching movies and cuddling and um…yeah. That’s pretty much it (not counting doing the nasty.) Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But when you first start dating someone it seems that leisure, fun and indulgences tend to trump other priorities. Some might argue that while in a relationship we’re also less motivated to “look good” in order to attract a partner, which translates to us becoming more lax about our healthy eating and exercising habits. In short, when we’re in the throes of love, we tend to eat more and move less. That’s my theory anyway.

I’ve never been the type to give up exercising and healthy eating because I have a boyfriend. My motivation to do those things transcends attracting a guy. I actually like being healthy. I did gain a little weight when I first started dating my boyfriend, but eventually I went back to my previous size. What I do struggle with is the introduction of someone else’s habits into my life. Like when they start coming over and buying food and leaving it here, food that I would never buy myself because I just can’t deal with the temptation. Like Fruity Pebbles and cookies.

I’m sure my boyfriend would appreciate me putting up this disclaimer: While he does sometimes buy junk food to eat at my place, I eat more of it than he does. If there is anything sweet in the house, it’s not going to last so long as I’m under the roof. Like I said, that’s why I don’t buy treats. He jokes that he has to have a secret cookie stash if he actually wants to enjoy any of the junk he buys.

He says that I should just…NOT EAT IT. Duh, right? Unfortunately it’s not that easy for me. I truly sympathize for mothers who are trying to eat healthy while avoiding a cabinet full of cereal, cookies and sugary carb goodness intended for their children. It’s hard. And it’s not really fair for me to ask him to stop eating that food (at least in my presence.)

I think people who live at home also have this problem with their parents. They’re trying to eat healthy, but if their parents do the shopping they buy whatever they want to buy, and it’s not usually the best stuff. I know when I go to my visit my parents’ I’d have to muzzle myself to stay away from the fried chicken and ice cream.

He's not always eating Swedish Fish.

It can be a tricky situation. The only solution I have is to be an inspiration to your partner (and not a nag.) Start making better choices, and hopefully they’ll follow along. If eating healthy is really that important to you, then I’m sure you and your partner can come to some kind of agreement. I don’t forbid my boyfriend from bring junk food over. But when he does, I try to just eat a little and not go overboard. At the same time I think my healthy eating habits have rubbed off on him. When we go shopping together he is much more likely to buy healthy food that he likes rather than junk food. Either way, lucky for him he’s a skinny ass mofo who doesn’t have much of an appetite, so he doesn’t eat that much. Unfortunately that aspect of his eating personality has not rubbed off on me

So, how have your partner’s eating habits affected you? Are you more likely to adopt their habits? What do you do when they don’t place as much importance on being healthy as you do?