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Despite many failed attempts to exercise more, eat better, and take better care of myself, I've decided to make the "Trophy Wife Resolution." Since I am the complete anti-thesis of a trophy wife, let's see if I can rise to the challenge!

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

A Little Help From Alpha Male's Friends

Like the Alpha Male, my husband's friends never shy from giving me unsolicited advice. Not surprisingly, the Alpha Male's European twin, also known as The General, shared his recent story about losing weight and training for the Boston Marathon. (A pre-requisite for any encounter with The General is a required read of latest issue of The Economist cover-to-cover.)

Like the Alpha Male, The General's work and family life involve sporadic sleep schedules and over-indulging in too many carbo-filled client dinners. He read the book Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes, which changed his life. Not only did he lose 50 pounds in three months, he was able to train and get in enough shape in six months to transform from a sedentary lump into finishing a 26 mile race.

Apparently, the book changes conventional wisdom about how much fat we should be eating. While the book seems to have an Atkins diet feel to it, I'm personally skeptical from the onset as any diet based heavily on meat doesn't seem particularly healthy considering corn feed is forced into most animals that weren't designed to eat it.

I attempted to challenge The General on this point and we did not get very far. We wound up verbally running in circles debating if our hunter and gatherer ancestors ate more hunted meat or gathered vegetables. Luckily, The General's wonderful wife brought out the most delicious grilled vegetables with balsamic vinegar to redirect us from an unprovable debate. Since I find the General a worthy debater, I'll read the book and submit a decision about whether I'll be trying Mr. Taubes' tact.



Alpha Male's high school friend and his wife, who happens to be a dermatologist, also visited us recently. The Dermatologist bestowed wonderful free samples she picked up at her medical meeting in town. Never one to turn down a freebie or feel shame for asking for free medical advice, I thanked her and proceeded to show her the luggage under my eyes that could carry enough junk to circle the Earth twice. Other than plastic surgery, I inquired what could treat it. Thinking she would recommend a high-priced product or laser solution, she said, "Try Neutrogena. Anything with retinol should help."

I'm currently on the Neutrogena Anti-Wrinkle cream for $20 for a 2-pack at BJ's. I've been using it for about 2 weeks and it seems to work well on the face, keeping the laugh and crow lines at bay. However, the eyes are still carrying a lot of crap underneath. My dermatologist friend sent ROC also, so I'll be trying that next month.

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