The Eat Every Two-Hours Diet

While meeting with a friend the other day, his phone alarm went off.  He showed me the text alert: "2 hrs. Eat #3"  What in the world?  "This is the way I'm losing all the weight!" he tells me, while asking the coffee barrister to please wash a green pear that has suddenly appeared in his hand. 

The diet makes sense, really.  If you keep your food intake continual and regular by eating small amounts frequently, your body metabolism should go up.  The science behind it has something to do with fat stores and whether or not your body feels like it needs to "save up" fat for a potential famine (long period of growling hunger).  So, if you happen to be washed ashore on a deserted island within the next 4-5 hours, you will have the stored up energy your stomach has so politely kept for you!   By quelling your hunger every 2 hours, the body feels like "Oh, plenty to eat today, I don't have to store this energy up, because I seem to be getting food all the time!"  You then become a lean, fat-burning machine.

My enthusiastic dieting friend explained that he divides his day up into two-hour intervals, coming out with a total number of "eats" per day.  I don't exactly remember how many "eats" he got to have, but my guess is that it would vary, depending on the length of your day.

I had always had the facts of this dieting method in the back of my brain, somewhere.  Just not the part about militantly eating at the two-hour mark every time.  I thought I might give it a whirl, already determining if my phone had an alarm application to go off every two hours and how would I be able have nutritious snacks on my person at all times, etc.

I furthered my research by going to the libr- no!!!!  THE INTERNET!  I googled "two-hour diet".  My search returned mostly results pertaining to eating every three hours.  I discovered a book entitled The 3-Hour Diet by Jorge Cruise.  According to Jorge, "The secret lies in eating the "right foods" every 3 hours to stabilize your blood sugar, which controls your appetite. This steadies your moods and boosts your energy all day long.  Proper timing helps increase energy levels, alertness, muscle mass and, most importantly, helps reduce abdominal fat. In as little as two weeks, individuals who eat frequent, small meals are able to reduce cortisol levels by more than 17 percent. Truly amazing, isn’t it? Just imagine what a lifetime of eating this way will do for you."  If you go here, you can watch skinny fit Jorge as he hyper-ly energetically tells us about how to get rid of belly fat by keeping your insulin levels low.  Evidently the diet is working fabulously for Jorge!

The High Heel Conundrum

more often than not, i'm finding the old saying "all fashion ends in excess" to be very true!  lately, this rule seems to especially apply to shoes.  venture into a local shoe store or go online to find a pair of nice high-heeled shoes.  there you have it!  you must take your pick between five-inch nose bleeders or scuff-along-the-floor flats.  to me, this is just not much of a choice!  where are the mid-sized heels?  where are the 3-inchers?  i'm guessing these are just not enough of a fashion STATEMENT these days!

being tall, as in long-tall-sally, i can't get away with wearing such high heels - unless nobody stands near me, especially in a picture.  nobody!  i scare dogs and small children in catwalk heels!

flats....well, do you remember pop eye's olive oyl?   'nuff said.

I couldn't resist:

in search of..... the perfect leather jacket

...specifically a black (or dark brown) leather jacket, and i'm not talking eighties bombers' jacket.  ahh, those jackets of yesteryear only served to make me look like the michelin tire man...a little bit like a pair of legs with a large black bee-hive on top.  today, of course, "eighties are back"(...yea, whatever.)  not so much for me.

i'm looking for the perfect blend between tailored and feminine; detailed yet sleek.  one that is versatile and looks great with anything from a pair of jeans to a cocktail dress.  i prefer a soft, buffed leather instead of the thick, shiny stuff.  the leather-jacket-look has always been a bit of a gamble!  there is a very fine line between chic, lady-like versus edgy, rocker-girl here.  the idea, according to louloumagazine.com, "...is to look sexy and nonchalant. Look like a million bucks effortlessly."

according to this article in about.com,  "leather is relatively easy to care for if you take preventative measures. store it so it can breathe (no plastic!), wipe off spills and dirt on smooth leather with a damp cloth, regularly brush suedes and nubucks. fix hem problems with a touch of rubber cement. for major cleaning, avoid at-home products (especially waxes and other items that clog up leather pores); find a leather cleaning specialist."

here are some ideas.  what do you think?  ...or do you practice the "just-say-no philosophy" with this look?  LOL