How Do You Feel About Women’s Magazines?

Hello :) I hope you are having a kick-bootay start to your week.

How precious are these ducklings and duck?!

Not sure why, but I had the impulse to Google pictures of ducklings last night. ;) Last year we saw some in our area so I am hoping to see them again this year! So gosh darn cute.

Something else that made me smile was coming down to Vegan Overnight Oats on a Monday morning. I decided to turn the VOO into Banana Soft Serve VOO. Even though I was cold, I was just craving this breakfast again! I bundled up in my robe and dove in…

Banana Soft Serve Vegan Overnight Oats

Ingredients:

1/3 cup oats
1 cup almond milk
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 banana, mashed
1/2 scoop Amazing Grass Amazing Meal chocolate powder (optional)

Directions: Whisk ingredients together and place in fridge overnight. In the morning, make the Banana Soft Serve and layer in a glass as shown.

Don’t forget the awesome nutritional stats of this breakfast too!

I also made some fresh juice this morning…

4 carrots, 1/2 grapefruit, 1 lime. It was way too tart though! Next time less grapefruit and lime, and more carrots. ;)

Updates:

There are more Spring Glo Variety Packs, RUN, Adore, Empower, Chi, Classic, Renew, and Endure Glo Bars added to the store!
Banana Soft Serve and parsnip fries spotting
New page alert! Don’t forget to check out my new Quotes and Before + After pages.
Check out these great kitchen tips and tricks in the comment section. Lots of great ones!

This morning as I was eating my breakfast I started to think about this advertising campaign that I saw earlier this year…

It is an advertisement by the National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC). You can drop your magazines into the slot to support ‘shedding your weight problem’. I originally posted about it here.

I have never seen an ad like this before and I thought it made quite a bold statement.

My question to you today is, how do you feel about women’s magazines? Do you read them? What about women’s health/fitness magazines? Are there any that stand out from the pack?

I personally used to be the magazine QUEEN. I used to buy 1-2 magazines per week! Eric says that I was addicted. I was looking for the cure to my body/weight/hair/skin problems. However, once I entered grad school, I needed to make cut-backs to save money, so magazines were among the first to go. Now I never buy them because I just got out of the habit. Last year my Father in law got me a subscription to Runner’s World, and I actually enjoyed that magazine quite a bit. It stood out from the others.

I am off for a couple business meetings this morning. Lunch may be in or out, depending on how long they go. This afternoon I am doing another huge order for Ambrosia and then also baking up my other orders. Not sure what my workout is going to be. I may have to squeeze it in over lunch or do an evening workout.

Have a great day! See you for 1,000 words this afternoon.

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Kristy

14 years ago

Yea! What she said ;-)

Tina

I could not agree more about women’s magazines in general. Even the ones that claim to be more about healthy living, still focus on shedding those last 5 lbs…get abs by Friday…etc. I know those are the things that sell, but if all magazines changed gears (hello dream world) it would be amazing to see how the perspectives of the women who read them also change for the better. That is a really cool ad!

Kilee

Thank you for linking back to my blog. I have been lovin’ your recipes! Regarding the magazine question, I never really thought about how magazines poorly affected my mindset until my boyfriend got mad at me for reading them. He was upset because I would constantly compare myself to the airbrushed images and be upset that I’d never look like them. He actually threw some of them away. Now that I have a strict “no buying magazines” rule, I feel better about myself. The magazines that I do get are Women’s Health, InStyle and Bon Appetite. I have to remind myself as I flip through InStyle that the photos are airbrushed and that I am fabulous just the way I am.
Thanks for this great post and I love that ad campaign!

Amy

When I was a young teenager, I used to read my older cousin’s Seventeen magazines. Later I started buying Cosmo. But as I got older I started to notice the same headlines, screaming about how to please your man 217 thousand ways, how to behave to attract a man, mind games to play, rules to follow, and the importance of having a man at all… what to wear, what products you absolutely can’t live without, and it started to bother me. Now I think these magazines are poison to women, pure and simple. What it boils down to, is that a woman’s value and self-worth are being measured by how sexually attractive they are to men. To me, this is brainwashing, and it’s a terrible message to be feeding impressionable young girls. But put a popular female celebrity on the cover, airbrushed to impossible proportions and unattainable perfection, and it will continue to be digested by the masses. It makes me sad!
But there are some magazines I enjoy, including Runner’s World and Clean Eating Magazine. I like that they focus on health and fitness, rather than body image and weight loss.

Anna @ Newlywed, Newly Veg

I love magazines, but really just because of boredom!! Their tips are always the same…and not all that helpful!

zoe

ugh i am not a fan of women’s magazine’s (i.e: cosmo, glamour, elle, vogue etc.). besides gender stereotyping and being ridiculously repetitive (anyone else notice how EVERY issue seems to have the same story/tips page with the only difference being the name of the article?) i used to loooove them but about a year ago i gave them up. surprisingly my self esteem went up and i stopped worrying about my “problem” areas or by “unclear” skin or if i was “good in the bedroom.” sheesh. they only ever focused on my “problems.” for magazines that are supposedly trying to empower women, all i ever felt was inadequate!

Amber K

I am a total magazine junkie. I subscribe to probably about 15. I really enjoy the reading material. I like reading it at the gym. I like learning new things and sharing them with my husband. And I always rip out the ads, so I don’t usually pay any attention to them. A lot of times I don’t even like the cover models because the photo shop is so obvious and fake. But I just really like the content.

My favorite is Marie Claire because they do a lot of news and current events stories that affect women.

Claire

I love the new layout!

About magazine reading…Well, I was a magazine major in college. Technically I was a writing, literature, and publishing major so I was very rounded in all writing fields, however focused on magazines most. I think that magazines can be very creative and I am more into high end fashion/art magazines than say, your typical fitness and health magazine. I sometimes read them while cross training but the only magazine I subscribe to right now is runner’s world because they write about all types of people from beginner runners to elite runners. Also, the tips are phenom. The magazines that frustrate me most are tabloids. I know that some people say that any press is good press but I am sorry, I just don’t think that just because you are an actor, you deserve to be picked apart for your “husband cheating and why you deserved it…” etc. I feel awful that our media has gotten so terrible and intruding.

Mary

I Love Runners World! that was one of the first magazines that I got a subscription to. I also get women’s health, but I will not be renewing my subscription to that this year. I’m a magazine junkie…. guilty.

Noelle

I like Self Magazine and Women’s Health because I think they have good recipes and basic health tips although they can get pricey. I find these magazines to be motivational and provide a bit of escapism. Reading novels can be a bit cumbersome at times. My brain needs a break.

Plus Self magazine does promote a healthy body image by featuring celebrities like Chelsie Handler and Ellen. I think its interesting to hear what certain women do to maintain their energy levels and fitness.. The same reason I enjoy reading blogs.

But for anyone who has a history of obsessive working out and other compulsive ED’s they probably aren’t a good idea.

Camille

My favorite “women’s” magazine is Self magazine, which is more of a health/fitness magazine than anything else. It is one that always uses models that look strong and healthy and doesn’t boast “cure-all” tips.

Margarita

Growing up I was obsessed with magazines. But after a while, you realise that a lot of the information, tidbits and tips are all the same, on repeat. And much of this information you already know, you don’t need a magazine to tell you. There are some magazines that I do enjoy (Paris Vogue, Mark) just for the images alone.

Triathlonbabe

I like Cristie (Honoring Health) response about how a lot of women’s magazines really do perpetuate our weight. However, I’ve been a reader of Runner’s World for over 10 years and I do subscribe to Health magazine but more so for the health advice as a whole and not just for women.

I just recently purchased a juicer, haven’t used it yet but do you put your fruit and veggie peels in there too when you make your juices?

Angela Liddon (Oh She Glows)

Author

Reply to Triathlonbabe

yup!

Shannon

Like you, I used to read them/subscribe all the time. I went through ED counseling during grad school and there was an exercise on magazine/media impact on women, particularly those with ED. It was really powerful and, since then, I rarely even look at them.

Bree

I love the new blog layout! So clean and appealing.

I also used to be a magazine junkie – usually reading them while slaving away on the elliptical for hours in college. From Cosmo, to People, to US Weekly…I read them all! After a while, I started to realize that Cosmo was mostly the same rehashed articles and advice over and over. It wasn’t helping my self esteem, either. My biggest pet peeve is that most of the fitness/health advice is crap in most of them, and is usually the same thing over and over again. I can find much better advice and inspiration from REAL women via the awesome blogs I read!

Now the only magazine subscription I get is Real Simple. I had Cooking Light last year, but decided to switch it up.

I still have three magazine subscriptions left and I am done with them. I am so sick of them esp with “lose 5 lbs in a week” yet you see a fit woman with 6 pack abs. What the?!?! I feel they do nothing but make me feel less of a woman b/c I am not tall, skinny and I have nowhere near a 6 pack.
So I have decided I will not be buying/subscribing to anymore magazines that make me feel worthless. I may try Runner’s World but sometimes I feel inadequate as I am not a runner at all (even though I did a 9 mile run but it took me 2 hrs to do :-()

Tracey @ I'm Not Superhuman

I still read them on and off but not nearly as much as I used to. I think most cover the same stories over and over again, so I get bored. I do like home design magazines, but those are closing left and right. And, yes, I like reading US Weekly when traveling.

Paige (Running Around Normal)

I used to be a magazine junkie, too. I have a select few that I love now – Runner’s World, Clean Eating, and Real Simple. I like the Shape/Self/Fitness ones for workout ideas (some of them ARE decent!)
Have a good one Angela and all :)

Retta @ RunRettaRun

I absolutely love that ad!!!! Gave me tingles. I used to subscribe to Mademoiselle and buy Glamour in my early 20s but eh. I got over that. I currently have a subcription to Fitness and although I enjoy it, it’s getting a little mundane. Would love a subscription to Women’s Running. :)

Jocelyn @ Peace.Love.Nutrition

Hey! I used to be addicted to reading woman’s magazine also. I don’t buy them anymore but I still read them sometimes- BUT I take the information with a grain of salt. I eat a 70% raw diet and most of these magazines don’t give the kind of holistic advice I am intersted in now

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Banana Soft Serve Vegan Overnight Oats

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