Supernatural Botanicals

It’s the second week in January….are you still keeping your fitness goals?  Keep yourself inspired and motivated with magazine subscriptions to fitness magazines.   Fitness magazines, such as Oxygen, Self, or Shape magazines keep you learning and yearning for more.  It’s literally the gift that keeps on giving.  Each month you’ll learn about new techniques and exercises to help you achieve a lean, strong, and healthy body.  And if you subscribe to a fitness magazine, you’ll get a new dose of inspiration every 30  days.  Without a doubt, you’ll see a body in those magazines that inspire you to work out harder, eat better, and push yourself to achieve your fitness goals.  From rookies to advanced gym rats, you’ll find something inspirational every single month.  *Frugal tip:  Borrow magazines from the library and have access to all the fitness magazines on the newsstands.

Here are five great magazines to get to know better. 

  Body + Soul Magazine:  Articles on whole living, living green, health and fitness articles, recipes.

  Cooking Light:  Hundreds of light, low calorie, and low fat recipes each month.  Great fitness articles.  Wellness.

  Organic Gardening:  Advice on green gardening, eco-issues, environmental issues, living organically.

  Every Day with Rachael Ray:  Many recipes each month, lifestyle advice, decor, girlfriends, household tips, etc.

  Cincinnati Magazine:  A favorite resource guide for local Cincinnatians.  Shopping, dining, events in and around Cincinnati.

We’ve all been there.  We’ve all looked at the magazines Kim Kardashian is in and wondered….how does that body go together?  How can she have a more than ample backside, yet her thighs are small?  How can she look so curvy, yet so skinny?  It’s something that makes you want to throw the magazine against the wall and jump on the treadmill for another hour.

There’s absolutely no denying that this girl oozes good looks.  She’s beautiful!  Beautiful enough to make you jealous.  And the reality is, even though she is beautiful, she doesn’t have skinny thighs and a flat belly like we see in magazines.  Thank goodness for photo-shopping!  It’s out there just to make us feel horrible about ourselves.

I understand it.  Beauty sells!  Even though we say we do, we really don’t want to see cellulite and flabby bellies on magazine covers.

But I do love that this picture has slipped out.  That is reality.  When we wondered how her thighs seem so tiny compared to her backside…now we know.  She doesn’t have tiny thighs.  That’s the magic of photo-shopping.  When we wondered how her belly seems so flat compared to the rest of her…now we know.   They have photo-shopped about half of her belly out of the picture.  They have given her a lift in the chest region, and also made her skin lighter.

Photo-shopped or not, Miss Kardashian is a stunning beauty.  I adore her fashion style.  And secretly, I’m glad Miss Kardashian isn’t the freak of nature that magazines make her out to be.  If anything, I’m all about promoting self-confidence and a healthy lifestyle.  So take a long look at this before and after, and remember that the next time you are looking in magazines and feeling bad about your appearance.

   Have you ever considered vintage?  I truly appreciate vintage…vintage linens, vintage dresses, vintage magazines, vintage jewelry, etc.  This vintage Vogue magazine reminds me of my senior year in high school.  In 1986, my home economics teacher had scads of vintage magazines around the room, magazines from the 70s.  I would pour over them and fall in love with the fashion and with the notion of being an independent woman with ultra style and class and dancing at Studio 54.  In 1986, I was quite certain that I’d move off to New York the next year to be a fashion designer.  I had no doubt that I’d make it.  I had planned on being a Rockette, you know, as a side career to support myself in New York…at least until my name was synonymous with Gloria Vanderbilt. 

Not only would my home economics teacher let me day dream and share my vision of my oh so successful future, she encouraged it.  Never once did she question if I’d be a successful fashion designer, or even a Rockette, for that matter.  I think she liked seeing a student dream big and she supported it fully.  It was a very special time in life, filled with hope. 

I applaud those who teach kids to dream big.  My teacher inspired me and made me feel I could do anything I wanted to do.  She made me believe in myself, and even let me turn in sketches of dresses for grades.  She taught me the beauty of vintage, taught me to appreciate beautiful old objects such as pressed napkins and gorgeous tablecloths, and made the 1950s housewife seem like someone I aspired to be…that along with the fashion designing career and Rockette gig on the side. 

Discover vintage.  You may just fall in love with vintage style.  I did.