Tag Archives: blogging

“You’re Real! – In which I meet other bloggers I admire. FitBloggin’ Part 2

Posted on by

Me and Kenz!

One of my favorite things about being a drone of the internet webs (in day job and blog life!) is that you make some amazing connections online. I still remember the first time I met “blog friends” in real life – I was meeting up with Kenlie from All The Weigh and Alexa from The Curvy Nerd. I got lost on the way there and my frazzled nerves were all worried about “Will we have awkward silences? Will they judge me if I eat bread? What if I want seconds at the salad bar? Do you think I can reveal my sarcastic sense of humor?” Of course, once I met them and we eased into conversation, it was so much fun – and they were both exactly like the people they were online. No big sweat. I got to see Kenlie again at FitBloggin’ and she was her usual sparky and enigmatic self. Isn’t that a fabulous dress on her?!

Skinny Emmie and Double Chin Diary rock!

I also got the pleasure of meeting Skinny Emmie - a weight loss blogger who’s lost over 100 pounds and works in social media. She’s very charming in real life and has a sweet little Southern twang. Aren’t we cute? Emmie petted my shirt, claiming that she loves textiles. It is a nice shirt, if I do say so myself – soft, stretchy and flattering to those with large… erm.. parts.

 

 

Me and Tara from Media Remedial

I also met Tara, from Media Remedial on my first day at the conference. I was jet lagged and disoriented, and after I got my lunch, I felt like a grade-school student looking for a place to sit in the cafeteria. All around me people were busy having conversations and eating their quinoa with gusto, so I felt a little lost. Tara cleared off a seat for me, looked up at me with a big smile and invited me to sit down. She’s a genuinely warm person and I was so happy to get to meet her and hang out with her through out the weekend. (Bonus points: Like me, she’s also a crazy cat lady and harsh media critic. It was love at first sight.)

Alyssa and Fat Girl Vs World Duke It Out

I was also lucky enough to meet Robby, from Fat Girl Vs. World. Robby and I have been Twitter pals for quite some time, and I actually started following her because she did boxing. At the time when I started boxing for fitness, I felt like not many females did it, so it was fun to find somebody who shared my enthusiasm. She always provided me tips on posture and hand position, so that’s why we’re “duking it out” in this pic. As usual, my wrists decided to go back to flute-player style, so I’m workin’ on that. Robby was super nice and funny in person – just like her blog.

Alyssa, Shelly and Beth

Two more lovely ladies I met were Shelly, or “Egg Face“, and Beth, from Melting Mama. I also met Nikki from Bariatric Foodie, but I didn’t get a pic with her! I first met the awesomeness that are Shelly and Beth because I was live blogging a session and Beth referred to now-skinny people as “former fatties”. As someone who uses humor to blog daily, I found her sassiness refreshing, and like a moth to a flame, I was drawn to her! I’ve already conversed with all these gals several times since the conference, and they’re the perfect example of why I need to attend conferences like this. It’s all about finding people with common interests who can help you remember what’s important – and for me, that’s losing the weight in any way I can, even if it’s slooooow like molasses. I’ll get there! :)

How about you? Have you ever met blog or internet friends in real life? Would you? I still have a few on my “must meet” list,  one of them being KJ Pugs!

 

Cupcake Decorating: My fav new hobby

Posted on by

Tonight, I baked and decorated over 70 cupcakes – 50 mini, and 24 full size. Why? Because I felt like it. So tomorrow, my coworkers and matt’s coworkers are going to be very hopped up on sugar.

Easter Cupcakes!

I feel like I’ve stumbled on a lucky little pot of gold for myself – I used to hate baking, but I’ve come around to it, thanks to my cake decorating class. I spent two hours tonight just relaxing with a piping bag and frosting, listening to music and decorating cupcakes. It’s a good stress relief for me, but what’s even better about it is I pretty much have 0% temptation to eat any cupcakes! I’ll work one into my calorie counting every now and then, but what I love about making cupcakes isn’t eating them – it’s the process of making something pretty, and then sharing that creation with friends.

Marbled pastel buttercream

I’m also glad because I feel like I’ve been doing a good job keeping the creativity in my life the last few months. One of my goals for 2012 was to do more creative things, and this blog, cupcake decorating and a few other things have been great for nurturing my artistic side. You can do a lot with cupcakes – marbling, filling, piping, sprinkling… the sky is the limit. It’s kind of easy to fall in love with. The only thing I hate about making cupcakes is the clean up!

Tonight I played around with the SkinnyTaste Coconut Cupcakes recipe, and made a batch of straight chocolate cupcakes as well. I used peeps, cadbury eggs and shredded coconut on top of standard butter cream to decorate. My kitchen was trashed afterwards, but oh well – it was a good time, and in some small way I might brighten someone’s day tomorrow with a pretty cupcake!

Cupcake baking makes for a messy kitchen!

What hobby have you found that just takes you away for a little bit? Reading, cooking, running, painting, etc? I wanna know! I hope you’re having a great day!

****Don’t forget to enter the EatSmart Precision Pro Kitchen Scale Giveaway! Visit my post here, and just leave me a comment telling me why you want to win! http://doublechindiary.com/review-eatsmart-food-scale-and-giveaway/   *********

Review: EatSmart Food Scale and Giveaway

Posted on by

39g of Dried Mango is only 120 calories! Score!

Hi there! How was your weekend? Mine was AWESOME… because I spent it in the garden, getting my hands dirty and planting veggies! Pix later this week. Today, I’m delighted to review the EatSmart Precision Pro Scale and give you a chance to win one of your own! But first, here’s the stuff good bloggers should always admit: Disclosure: I did receive a complimentary scale from EatSmart for this review.Remember how I was getting frustrated with Points Plus and said I would be starting to weigh out my portions? I knew I needed a scale to make sure I wasn’t fudging any numbers. I like to eat things like dried mango, and the calorie count is measured in grams – for example, 38 grams is 120 calories. How would it even be possible to measure grams without a scale?!
Here’s what I loved about the scale:

  • Super easy to use. I didn’t even have to read the manual to know how to toggle

    Measuring is easy thanks to the Tara function that deletes the container weight...

    between different measurements, to turn it on and off, etc.

  • It has a nice, sleek look that would match any decor well.
  • It comes with batteries (so convenient – I loved that), and has an automatic turn off after 3 minutes if you get busy doing other things.
  • The display window has big, easy to read numbers and letters – perfect for people like me who always lose their glasses.
  • Wipes clean with a damp rag – no need to wash, and the plastic material seems like it would be easy to clean up should you have a big spill.
  • It does the trick easily and measures accurately, which is the most important thing!
  • Affordable price. On Amazon, this scale is priced at $25.00 and has over 3,000 5-star reviews. WOW – feedback like that doesn’t lie.

    Nice, simple packaging.

I only have one nitpicky thing to mention -

  • The stainless-steel looking buttons show finger prints pretty easily. If you want to keep it out on the counter top, you’ll have to be a little more maniacal about wiping it down more if you’re a spaz like me :) But, most normal people won’t even notice, so carry on!

Overall, the PrecisionPro Scale is a GREAT choice if you’re looking for a food scale. It also comes with a 2 year warranty, which is a big deal in today’s economy. If a company is willing to back something up with a long warranty, you know it’s a quality product. Check out EatSmart’s website for more details – how cute is this red retro scale? It totally reminds me of something Rachel Ray would have in her kitchen.

Want a chance to win your very own EatSmart scale? It’s super easy – just leave me a blog comment telling me WHY you want to win – and then when you do that, you’ll unlock five more easy entries! Make sure you use a real e-mail address when you comment so I can contact you if you win! This giveaway is for US residents only. Also – for every new Facebook “like” that Eat Smart gains in April, they’ll donate .50c to the Susan G Komen Foundation. So even if you don’t want a scale – “like them” to help raise money for breast cancer research.

I use rafflecopter for my giveaways, so I will randomly choose one winner on the morning of Tuesday, April 10. I think that’s all! Let me know if you have any questions – and GOOD LUCK!

Continue reading →

Makin’ New Friends Along The Weigh

Posted on by

Weight loss is hard. It’s annoying, irritating, bothersome and takes up a tremendous amount of time. It’s also rewarding, sometimes. And it’s also necessary for me, so you can slap me with a trout now and I’ll shut up and move on. (If anyone gets that reference… plus 5 for you!)

Thankfully, I’ve recently learned that I don’t have to go through it alone. I’ve made some wonderful connections and friendships with people in real life and also in “online life” thanks to our shared struggles and accomplishments. On Friday, I had the pleasure of meeting two highly-esteemed and successful weight loss bloggers, Kenlie of All The Weigh and Alexa, The Curvy Nerd .

Alexa, Alyssa and Kenlie - a terrific trio!

We gathered for dinner at the local Souplantation, me arriving frazzled and flustered 15 minutes late after somehow ending up in Inglewood instead of Beverly Hills. Los Angelenos know that those are absolutely DIFFERENT parts of town… and let’s just say only I could map something out and still end up getting lost. Both of them were so friendly and welcoming right off the bat, which helped put the voice in my head that was saying ”Omg! I’m late meeting new people! Especially famous weight loss blogger people! They’re going to think I’m a total flake!” at ease.

Our conversation ran the gamut – from our history with weight loss, to the blogosphere, to Hungry Girl, to the new Points Plus system, to where we’re from, to Harry Potter, to cats, to Richard Simmons, to babies. It was surreal for me to go from the online world to the in-person world, but it was so cool to meet the faces behind the voices I’ve grown to know and love. There were a lot of laughs!

Dragon Fruit, which I have aptly renamed the "Cut Up Dalmation Fruit"

After dinner, we got Yogurtland fro yo, where I tried something new… Dragon Fruit! I believe I described it as looking like “a piece of a cut up dalmation”, and the jury’s still out on wether I liked it. It was… squishy, and kind of tasted like unripe watermelon, but not half as good as a kiwi. I’ll try it again and we’ll see what happens. After Yogurtland (And this is how I know I definitely hit it off with these girls) – we wandered into Ross. Those of you who know me know that I love my discount stores – so being able to browse the random aisles of tsotchkes and useless crap with two new friends was a lot of fun!

I get to see these awesome gals again on Thursday night, where I’ll be sweatin’ to the oldies with Richard Simmons, live in the flesh! Definitely watch for the post on that, to see how I get my groove on with The Weight Saint.

Have you met online friends in person? How was it? Who would you love to meet in person? I can think of a few more people right now! :)