Revenge of the Curves

See You In September!

Friends, Frenemies, Twitterers, lend me your ears...

Instead of guilt-tripping myself into trying to keep up with three blogs and offline responsibilites, I am taking a break.  I will see you in two weeks, just after Labor Day and just in time for New York Fashion Week Spring 2009 and the inevitable Black Model Watch.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Nichelle

Curves Ahead (Next Week)

Sorry for the spontaneous, unplanned hiatus.  Revenge of the Curves will return next week with my complete confession of falling off (and getting back on) the David Kirsch "ABCDEF" bandwagon.  I have also been trying out Serena Williams's Spontaneous Workout.

In the meantime, help me wish Angela Bassett a Happy 50th Birthday!

And can't forget Madonna! She turns 50 too on August 16th.  Is there a special gene that makes women born on August 16 become workout fiends who look amazing at 50?  Hmmm...

Friday Treat: A Jamba Juice Smoothie!

Happy Friday Ladies!

Click here for a buy one get one free coupon that expires on July 30.  Hat tip to Author, Foodie and Rockstar Felicia Sullivan.

Obsessive Cumpulsive Perfection (Or Something Like That)

The more I looked, the more I felt myself expanding. Can you feel yourself expanding? I couldn’t remember. I only remember being very fat. My first childhood memories were fat child memories. My teenage memories are fat girl nightmares. I am not fat, but I dream about being fat. I look in the mirror and see my belly hanging over my pants. My fingers look like sausage links. My face like that fast food worker I saw, who looked like she had just had a baby like, minutes before she walked through the door. I walk down the street and my butt cheeks look like a rippling bean bag going up and down. I feel like everyone is looking at me – shaking their heads like, “Well, I guess she’s supposed to be fat after all.” I get home and I try squeezing into my clothes.  Anything.  Even the size eight jeans that are too big on me, but I can’t get them past my leg. I’m on the bed, writhing trying to get them on. And then I wake up and immediately grab my stomach....

I was planning to write about stress yesterday, but things didn't go as planned and that turned out to be, yes, stressful.  I also spent some extended, unplanned time on the phone with a "customer service" rep regarding my cracked Blackberry screen and the time just flew by. 

The opener is from my will-be-completed-when-I-can-get-back-to-it novel Admiring Camille.  The protagonist is Dawn, a personal trainer who grew up overweight, anxiety-ridden and a little obsessive.  Like many writers, I have incorporated some aspects of my own life into the character.  I did not grow up overweight, but I was certainly anxiety-ridden (for a variety of reasons like a lot of teenage girls) and I was definitely a bit of the perfectionist - and it has followed me into adulthood.  And, of course, the tendencies have shown up in my writing as well as my eating and workout habits for better or worse.  Mostly worse.  One screw up like a missed workout or forgetting not to eat some verboten food that doesn't fit the diet eating plan I am on always has the potential to make me want to just chuck it all in.  I have an all or nothing personality and it hasn't always worked out for me.  After all, you would think if you were driven so hard to perfection that you would get it right sometimes. Ha!

Are you a bit of the perfectionist? Take the Perfectionism Test.  [Psychology Today]

My score? 69 out of 100. Heh...