3 good reasons to skip today’s workout

Posted on June 10, 2012 | Leave a comment

1. I’m sick with a fever.

2. I’ve been kidnapped and am bound with rope in the trunk of a car (and I don’t think it’s headed for a yoga studio).

3. I’ve suffered muscle exhaustion from yesterday’s workout and literally can’t move (this happened once, but only once).

Seriously, there are hundreds of reasons to skip today’s workout, and tomorrow’s, and pretty soon it’s the end of the week and I feel like a doughy blob.

Yet funny how I didn’t skip meals, or showers, or feeding the cats twice a day, or doing the dishes, or picking up the mail, or answering email.

I thought about this today when I attended a yoga class via Skype at 8 in the morning, and we ran into all sort of technical difficulties with the call, and the cats were yowling to get out, and because I was using the hallway instead of my usual yoga area I ended up with cat hair and little bits of grit and cat food all over my feet…and the mat.

It was a great workout anyway.

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Naked ladies and bright-colored jeans

Posted on June 2, 2012 | Leave a comment
photo of orange, blue and red Gap jeans

Gap jeans (Photos: Gap online catalog)

I desperately want a pair of this summer’s hottest fashion: lightweight, bright-colored jeans. In melon. Or maybe cherry red. Perhaps lime green.

But it’s not going to happen.

The chances of me finding a pair of jeans that fit are so slim (pardon the pun) that it just isn’t worth my time shopping for them. I can go to a major department store and try on dozens of pairs of pants without finding a single pair that look decent. For some reason, the only jeans that work for me are ones that turn up at consignment shops — strange brands no one has heard of, or past-season styles that are long out of production. My current favorites are:

• Kut from the Kloth straight-leg dark-wash jeans. I found a pair of Kut jeans at a local Buffalo Exchange shop — they turned out to be a size too large, but they inspired me to go to Macy’s to try on other Kut jeans in a smaller size. The style that works for me now seems to be out of production, but I’ve got two pairs and love them. The waist runs a bit large, but wearing a belt or the Hip Hugger from Hollywood Fashion Secrets takes care of that.

• Eddie Bauer chino-fabric capris. I bought these last year at an end-of-sumer sale and they’re no longer in production. Finally got them shortened to the perfect length this year. However, in the intervening year capri fashion got so much narrower in the legs that these now look baggy — what’s called “boyfriend” style. But one pair is a fashionable melon color and looks great with a lime tencel blouse.

• Jeans D boot-cut jeans-style pants. This pair of lightweight jeans-style cotton pants with a “Jeans D.” label turned up at a “naked ladies” party (where friends bring clothing to try on and exchange). I’d never heard of the Jeans D brand, but have since managed to locate them in the Juniors section on eBay, some under “Jeans D” and some under “D Jeans.” If anyone knows where I can buy them retail, please get in touch.

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Zumba rekindles the flame for aerobic exercise

Posted on April 26, 2012 | Leave a comment

If the word “aerobics” makes you think of a bunch of gals with big hair prancing around in puffy white trainers and pink leotards, think again.

Zumba instructorZumba, a Latin dance-based aerobic workout created by trio of Miami fitness instructors, has taken the fitness world by storm.

After hearing so many endorsements of Zumba by women of all ages, I decided to try it out — and where better than in Southern Florida, the home of all things Zumba?

The Zumba teacher at the East Naples Community Center, Casta Melendez, simply blew me away. She turned on the music, took the stage, and the room went wild. And it couldn’t have been easier. I was able to follow all the moves simply by watching her example. She doesn’t speak during the class, and relies on hand signals and what I can only describe as “whole body” signals. The effectiveness of this technique made me realize how distracting it is to have jazzercise teachers shouting verbal directions that I’m madly trying to decode while moving.

I was intrigued to discover that Casta’s students wear belly dance hip scarves with small coins so they can “hear” the degree to which they are moving their hips. It’s great feedback, as well as colorful, sexy and fun.

Now that I’m back in Seattle, I’m looking to find a Zumba community that’s got an aggressive, guerrilla vibe (think black cargo capris and olive-green racer-back tank tops) and real Latin pop tunes (not the American stuff that’s started creeping in). I’ll keep you posted.

BTW, no matter how much people rave about the exercise value of Zumba, I’d be hesitant to rely on it for anything beyond low-impact cardio. Yes, it burns fat effectively, but you’d need to supplement it with other workouts to strengthen your core, develop flexibility, or get your arms in shape. (A branch of Zumba called Zumba Toning is attempting to address these issues.) The bottom line: enjoy Zumba, but don’t “ditch the workout!”

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Shoes: They’re Simple. No, they’re not.

Posted on April 11, 2012 | 2 comments

Simple sneakersI’ve been looking for the past five years for great pair of fashion sneakers. Something I could wear with jeans and casual clothes — without leaving the impression that I’d been in the midst of cleaning my garage.

I didn’t want the puffy white marshmallow-type track shoes I associate with soccer moms at Jazzercise class.

But I found that a lot of the contemporary “retro” sneakers had even less arch support than the cheap canvas Keds they are suppose to evoke.

A few weeks ago I was visiting my favorite fashion blog, Fashion for Nerds, when I spotted the perfect pair of sneakers. The blog lists all the items shown in the photos, and the sharp black and white sneakers (with grey ribbon laces) were “Simple.”

Indeed, it was simple to find them. But I was horrified to discovered that the eco-conscious Santa Barbara, CA, company that made Simple sneakers closed recently and all that are left of these beautiful and comfortable fashion shoes are a few size 5s on Zappos.com.

Ebay to the rescue!

It took only three days on eBay for me to find Simple sneakers in my size (I held out for the black-and-white ones with the grey ribbon laces). They arrived, they fit, and I spent all last weekend racing around a convention in them. Yesterday I walked a few miles through town, and my feet felt great.

Yes, I’ll be hunting for a second pair of them.

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Celebrity beauty secrets revealed!

Posted on March 20, 2012 | Leave a comment

I will never be able to watch a beauty products commercial again without thinking of this one:

Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

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Kork-ease is back

Posted on February 28, 2012 | 2 comments

I am a sucker for fashion from the late 1960s and early 1970s. I loved the revival of embroidered jeans, woven bags, and Frye boots.

What’s back this spring are Kork-Ease wedge sandals. These classics are among the 25 shoes chosen for the Landmark Shoe Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.

Kork-Ease classic Ava sandals

I look at these and I am transported back to May, 1971, in Northern Virgina. I want to grab an underground newspaper and a falafel sandwich with tahini. I want to skip gym class and hang out down by the creek. (It won’t surprise you to hear that these shoes appear in a recent episode of Cougar Town.)

They come in two heel heights (3-1/4 inch and the saner 1-3/4 inch) and I definitely remember the pale natural leather (Vachetta leather that will rapidly “turn” to darker tan with time). Kork-Ease sandals also come in black and brown leather, and some bright colors.

Are these shoes still comfortable? Were they ever? Hell if I know. I have a vague memory of tripping along in the higher-heeled version wearing a split-front patched and embroidered denim maxi skirt. I won’t be doing that again!

But I am going to buy a pair of the lower-heeled classic Myrnas when I’m in Florida next month. In black — I live in Seattle now, not Northern Virginia.

 

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Fitness: Envisioning 2047

Posted on February 27, 2012 | Leave a comment

Here’s where I’d like to be in 35 years.

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New research explains how exercise improves health

Posted on February 19, 2012 | Leave a comment

Mouse exercisingYou’ve probably read about the effectiveness of restricted-calorie diets for increasing longevity in animals and in humans.

Now those of us who prefer exercise to dieting can take heart: A study described in the January 2012 issue of Nature reveals that exercises uses the same mechanism to increase health and longevity.

The research article itself is limited to magazine subscribers, but Gretchen Reynolds’ New York Times article “Exercise as Housecleaning for the Body,” hits all the main points. Apparently, exercise enhances the natural system the body has for sweeping away damaged proteins, invasive viruses and bacteria, and broken down cellular components. The cleaning system, known as “autophagy” tends to slow down in middle age…but the new animal studies suggest that exercise can speed it up again.

Of course, I’m all over this study because I’ve long hoped that I could focus on exercise while continuing to eat a generally healthy, but varied, diet. For me, it’s just easier (and way more fun) to “go for the burn” three or four times a week in an Ashtanga yoga class or on a neighborhood hike than to silently beat myself up every time I enter a grocery store, go to a coffee shop or restaurant, or sit down to dinner at a friend’s house.

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Fashion trends: Winter 2011

Posted on December 6, 2011 | 1 comment

I know that any appropriateness of the season’s fashion to the season’s weather is purely accidental, but this winter in Seattle the clothes actually make sense.

I attended a technology conference last month and stood in the registration line with two or three hundred professional women ranging in age from the mid 20s to the late 50s. I saw exactly three women wearing skirts and maybe two dozen  wearing shoes that were not boots. A few of the shoe wearers had some kind of flirty dressy shoes; the others were wearing urban-style athletic shoes.

The uniform was clearly boots and jeans.

Riding boots

Not only were boots ubiquitous, but most of them were low-heeled riding boots (ranging from English style riding boots to Frye/Harley style “engineer” boots). Talk about comfortable and attractive!

Skinny jeans

I’m rather sorry to say goodbye to boot-cut jeans, but there’s no question about it: skinny jeans are back, and there are styles that flatter even non-skinny people. More good news is that the show-the-crack hip huggers with rips all over them are  gone, replaced by a “just below the waist” contemporary fit jeans in dark denim — a look that works for most shapes and sizes.

Sweaters and scarves with complex personality

The relatively conservative boots and pants are set off by sweaters in interesting knits and colors — the chunky, bulky, complex knits are a departure from the figure hugging cashmere of recent seasons, and definitely look either handmade or handmade-like.

Long ethnic scarves are still the thing, but this year’s variation on the theme subtle. Instead of felted wool and nubbly brocades, the new materials are a bit limper, made of cotton/hemp gauze or rich wools with steampunkish paisley designs.

Sweater, scarf, skinny jeans (photo: Sundance Catalog)

Enjoy it!

So, enjoy a season of warm, comfortable boots, flattering jeans, and fun colorful sweaters and scarves. It may be years before we see anything this sensible again.

Sad to say, it took me nearly an hour to find an image of a woman wearing this style you see every day on the streets of Seattle. All of Nordstrom’s jeans were shown with stiletto “hooker” heels. Bleh. I had to go to the Sundance catalog to get something close to the Seattle look. So excuse the snow and the lack of a messenger bag!

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Yoga: Effective — if the cause of the pain in your back is physical

Posted on October 26, 2011 | Leave a comment

A study conducted at Seattle’s Group Health Cooperative for the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine has found yoga to be effective in relieving low back pain. But the study is attributing the effectiveness to the stretching component of yoga, rather than to any stress-relieving components.

You can read more in this Wall Street Journal report.

I’ll confess that, based on my own yoga experience, the study results have me puzzled. I’d have thought that the reason yoga relieved low back pain was because it strengthened muscles in the back, legs, and abdomen, thus providing more support for the body during activities such as bending over, or lifting heavy objects, and reducing the likelihood of injury (throwing your back out or straining muscles).

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