You Can Be Skinny; But You'll Get Cancer

Trans Fat. Shmans Fat. It’s all over the place. It’s driving me crazy.

So on the Today Show this morning they were talking about an all out effort to remove Trans Fats from New York City restaurants; because Trans Fats can kill you. They had foods displayed like donuts and KFC and McDonald’s French fries. Hello, like I already didn’t know these things are not the greatest for me. But forced removal? Seems awfully Big Brother to me.

I guess the food industry doesn’t have the almighty dollar that the tobacco industry has. We know smoking is bad, why haven’t we removed tobacco from the planet? Sugar can kill me. Should we burn the sugar cane fields? Alcohol can kill me. Shut down all breweries! Sex can kill me. Spay and neuter everyone! When will the madness stop?

I think a good compromise is to post a “You Can Die If You Eat Here” disclaimer on every restaurant on the planet; just like we do on cigarettes.

Or we can just let the idiots that don’t “get it” keep eating that crap; while the rest of us lead longer, happier, healthier lives. What do you think?

Oh, and Janet Jackson still looks hot! She was the musical guest on Today.

Lose $10 or Lose Weight. You Decide.

Only a few days left to take advantage of your $10.00 savings off “Yes, You’re Fat! I Like You Anyway” – the audio program. A seven CD set of Rich spouting off to keep you motivated and inspired to continue your weight loss journey. Listen to a few clips over on the right and then visit the Getting Skinny department at http://www.shop.nevergrowup.com/

I know you know at least one fat person who might need some encouragement. Buy it now; give it to them as a holiday gift. They’ll be armed and ready come January; and you will have started your holiday shopping early – like you always say you will.

Slop-ipe!

You might call it a recipe; but I’ll call it Slop-ipe!

Last night I got a little stir fry happy. I cooked up a healthy chicken stir fry (chicken, green and yellow squash, red peppers, garlic, pea pods and mushrooms.) I cooked it in a little oil and soy sauce. But there was way, or should I say “weigh”, too much food.

Well I just had the most awesome lunch. I threw a potato in the nuclear wave oven; cooked it for 7 minutes; mashed it; poured in some of the remaining chicken stir fry (with the juice that accumulated at the bottom of the bowl) and nuked that for a few minutes. Mashed it all together and had a yummy meal that is not only full of vitamins and nutrients, but is low in fat and calories!!!!

And who said comfort food has to be fattening?

I’m calling it Chicken Potato Slop! And I can’t wait to have it again!!

I'm Not Fat; I'm Big Boned

Any South Park Fans out there? If you are, you know that line; “I’m not fat. I’m big boned.” They are the words of Cartman. If you’re not a fan, shame on you.

Well the show is about some incorrigible elementary school kids. I’ve been watching the show on and off for years; one of the few television shows I will actually watch. Rent the DVD of the feature movie; the Kyle’s mom is a bitch song will have you peeing in your pants all of that water you’re drinking.

Anyway, I love that the kids call Cartman a fat ass. They’re telling him the truth. He’s fat. He’s not big boned. And neither are a lot of you reading this.

You can come up with all the excuses in the world. You can rationalize your eating habits until the cows come home (or you look like one). But always remember there are people out there like Stan, Kyle, Kenny and yours truly that are ready, willing and able at any moment to bring you back to reality and tell you the truth. And it is because we love you, because we care; not because we’re mean.

So stop saying you’re big boned. Stop blaming the dryer or the dry cleaner. You are what you are. And I’ll bet you’re doing a great job working at changing it.

Right, fat ass?

Disco Still Rules!!

Don’t know if you recall one of the Airplane movies where the plane is flying through Chicago as a radio station is broadcasting how Disco Lives. Just at that moment, the plane hits the radio tower. Oh well, so much for Disco living.

Well I’m in Chicago, sitting on my ass working for three days. I needed to get some movement. It’s been two days of what seems as eat and work – at times in that order.

I hate the gym. Nobody wanted to go walking with me. What’s a boy to do?

So I had a thought. What if I download some of my favorite disco music to my PDA? It’s already on my laptop. And what if I rename the fitness center “Funhouse” – which was my favorite disco back in the day. (528 W. 26^th St. NYC) And then what if I get on one of those exercise bicycles and create my own little spin class?

40 minutes later I am back in the room. And some of the guests at the Radisson now know I am a Macho Man – with a very bad voice.

Have you figured out a way to make your dreaded exercise routine fun?

Another Monday; Another Diet

Another Monday! Another week to start a diet. Another day to get back on your diet. Hooray! The weekend is over. Repent. Repent.

I was having dinner with my colleagues last night. One of them just got turned on to this Eat for Your Blood Type diet. I have no idea what it was about, but what I did notice was his excitement about the program. He was sharing how good he feels. He was carrying with him a book of foods he should be eating, not eating, avoiding, limiting, and getting out of town if they come within 500 feet of him.

I was sitting there smiling. I remember the excitement – even though it was a different program and almost 18 years ago. But I remember the excitement of that first few weeks when the weight was falling off.

But here was the cool thing about last night. He was looking forward to the foods he was about to enjoy; not feeling that choices were being made because he “had to.” That’s how losing weight should be, no matter what program you’re following. Don’t you agree?

Make your weight loss program something exciting today.

Well I’m off to take a shower and meet them for my favorite meal of the day – BREAKFAST!!!!!

I'm trying to diet this week

I was walking around the warehouse club yesterday afternoon and overheard a couple talking. He had just tried some cheesy pastry-like something or other. He wanted to buy it. She told him she was really trying to stay on her diet this week and would prefer if they did not bring it in the house. I kept walking. Don’t know who won the discussion, but it did get me thinking about a few things.

• She was trying to stay on her diet this week. Why only this week? Or does she just take it one week at a time? I’m thrilled if I just get through today, what about you?
• What does “staying on the diet” mean? Unless you’re on some extreme diet, can you not have those cheesy things? Might not want them, but I can have them.
• Good for her for asserting herself and asking for the cheesy thing to not enter the house. Sometimes you’ve got to know what will tempt your little tummy. How honest are you being with yourself? I hope very.
• How come nobody is ever sampling the sliced pear at the warehouse club?

It was a simple sentence; an exchange between a man and a woman; yet gets you thinking; or at least I hope it does. Well it should.

And a heartfelt thanks from those of you who have already ordered your CD program. Enjoy it. Learn from it. Get SKINNY from it.

Don’t forget the savings code. It is a couple of entries down.

Click on the listen to a few minutes link over on the right side of this page.

Who do you travel with?

Driving home from Boston this evening I was reading a billboard for Dunkin’ Donuts on the side of the road. It was a picture of a cup of coffee. The ad read “Never Commute Alone.”

It got me thinking of my friend Lucy. She onced talked about traveling with grapes – in order to stay out of trouble; to stay out of rest areas. Now I think that is a brilliant idea, much better than the can of cashews I used to commute with once upon a time.

Well boy do I wish I had grapes with me tonight; maybe that fat-laden pretzel made by Auntie Someone would have been avoided!!

Who do you commute with to stay out of trouble?

Save $10 on Rich to Go!

BE AFRAID!

BE VERY AFRAID!

It’s here! It’s done! You asked for it. I went and did it.

I’ve spent months in the studio. You told me you wished I was with you during the week. You told me you wished your friends could hear my thoughts on weight loss.

You told me you wanted encouragement and inspiration available to you 24/7/365.

You’ve been reading the blog, receiving the Hey Skinny newsletter………………

But now, you can own your very own copy of "Yes, You’re Fat! I Like You Anyway" – the audio program!!!

Check out the Getting Skinny products at www.shop.nevergrowup.com

Order by 9-30-06 and save yourself $10 – enter the coupon code IAMSKINNY at the checkout.

And if you happen to recognize yourself in the program, it is your fault!

Have Fun! Play With Your Food!

Losing weight can be fun. If you choose it to be.

If you make it a task, a chore, a bore, you’re destined for doom; you’re destined to be fat, unhealthy and unhappy.

Actually life can be fun, not just losing weight. For more thoughts on that, check out my other blog http://www.donewhining.blogspot.com/. Fun is a mindset. And I believe fun has its place everywhere; at home, at work, and even in your diet – especially in a diet.

When you were a kid you were told not to play with your food. I say play with your food. Play with it while it is on your plate. Play with it by experimenting with food concoctions. Play. Play. Play. And then call your mother and tell her what you’re doing!

Make your weight loss efforts fun. Today.

I did Amy this afternoon

I did Amy this afternoon. She was hot!! She was really hot. It was also a quickie. I think the whole thing lasted 10 minutes. Ah, there’s always the next time.

Who is Amy? She’s a new “friend”. I met her in the healthy crap section of the supermarket. She has her own frozen food line. Well food can be a friend, right?

Try something new this week. Do Amy.

Even if you’re a girl. This is the year 2006. Get over it.

It's 7:33 AM

It’s 7:33 AM on a Saturday. The rain has stopped. I am going out to check the tire pressure on the bicycle tires, walk the dogs, and then I am going out riding. The last few days of rain have been a wonderful reason to not move any part of my body. Atrophy has begun to set in. I feel and look like gelatin; which is not a pretty site. It is time to move.

Perhaps I’ll see you while I’m Trekking around?

Remember to have some fun today!

Rich

Eat Cookies, Not Spinach

Oh great, now Spinach can kill me!!!!! See http://www.courant.com/news/yahoo/hc-ctillspinach0915.artsep15,0,7686390.story?coll=hc-aol-yahoo-nws-hed

My favorite vegetable. The vegetable of Popeye. And now I might die if I eat it. Great.

What’s next? Chicken? Tuna? Lamb? Beets? Corn? Asparagus?

Why couldn’t it be something like cauliflower? Cauliflower is a useless vegetable. It smells like farts when you cook it. It has no taste, unless you add lots of butter and milk as you try to make believe it is mashed potatoes – which it is not. Why couldn’t it be cauliflower!!!!!! And what will happen to Popeye now? Will Bluto finally win Olive – forever? This is awful.

Why can’t someone die from eating potato chips? Or cheese doodles? Why can’t someone get violently ill from eating a food that really has no nutritional value at all?

Why spinach? I’m heartbroken this morning. I’m going to find some cookies.

Do you have your copy of 101 Weighs To Laugh Away the Pounds? You should. Buy one today at www.richdigirolamo.com/products.html

Before and After

Did you ever look at those before and after pictures in diet and fitness ads? Don't they make you want to puke sometimes? Smiley, happy, and perky people! One ad has been using the same people for years. Did they run out of success stories?

I want to know what happened in the middle. I want to know about the first day that person started their weight loss or fitness program. I want to know how they felt; what they were thinking. I want to know about all of the challenges, successes, obstacles, and victories that happened along the way. I want to know if they're truly happy now. I want to know how many times they attempted this battle. I want to know when they were ready to give up. These are the types of things I want to know. And I want the truth; because we all know that this is no easy task.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I want those thousand words; the real words.

What's behind your before and after picture?

Too Good To Be True

So there it was, on television, late at night, very late at night; okay it was 2:30 in the morning; the time I tend to watch television if I cannot sleep. It was the Pasta Perfect maker. Too good to be true I thought. You just place your pasta in a long cylinder, fill the cylinder with boiling water, seal the top and you’ll have perfect pasta in just a few minutes. Curious I was; but I saved my money.

Just last week I was in one of those close out stores and there it was Pasta Perfect – and it was priced at only $4. Hey, I’ve spent more money on lesser things. This should have been a hint – it was in a close out store. But I bought it. I went home to make my Perfect Pasta.

Perfect Crappy Starchy Pasta is what I got. I’ve tried it two times. It’ll make a perfect donation to the Lake Association Tag Sale.

Should have lived by the old rule. If it sounds too good to be true it is. Kinda like all those ridiculous diet pills, diet short cuts and fly-by-night programs out there that so many have tried. Wouldn’t you agree? Good things take time, dedication and the right tools.

Are you using the right tools to achieve long term weight and health success?

Food Frenzy at the Fair!

I went to the fair yesterday. There was a musical group performing in the late afternoon. They go by the name of 38 Special. Do you know them? I had heard of them, but that was it. I was told they were very popular during the 80’s. Of their first nine songs I knew not one! (Guess that’s what happens when you’re a disco leftover.) I left the concert and went looking for food.

Well I had a lot of my favorites yesterday; sausage, peppers and onions on a “grinder”, ¼ lb of cashews, apple crisp and French fries. It was delicious!

Now I know what you’re thinking. Hey. I wanted those things.

Oh, by the way, I was there with Jackie, Janet and Carl. One grinder was bought. ¼ lb of cashews was bought. One apple crisp and one order of French Fries was bought. All that food was split amongst four people.

And that my friend is a great way to enjoy the fair without guilt! Everyone picked something they liked and we all picked!

Rolls of Fat!

What’s for lunch today? Is it going to be one of those big ole grinders, subs, sandwiches, hoagies or wedges (which is what we called them in Yonkers, NY).

People are watching you. They are encouraged by your success at weight loss.

Today, and every day, is your opportunity to be a role model. Or you can choose to be a roll model.

What’s for lunch today?

Your Butt Just Passed Me On The Highway

Dateline: September 1, 2006

Location: Eastham, MA (Cape Cod)

8:05 AM – Went out for a bike ride yesterday morning. While riding, a couple approached me. They were a bit on the “chunky” side. They were jogging. He was pushing the stroller. She was running right behind him. Good for them I thought.

9:30 AM – Heading back towards the house. There is that couple again. Now they are on bicycles. He has the one of those trailer things attached to his bicycle. In the trailer is the child and assorted beach accessories.

I guess they were heading to the beach to get in a swim and finish their triathlon.

And what type of movement did you include in your life today to help reduce the size of your butt?