Want Free Ben & Jerry's? Go Vote

JeanneSager — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:27:00 GMT

If the future of our country, state of our economy, healthcare situation . . . aren't good enough reasons to vote on Nov. 4, I've got one that's (almost) as good. Ben & Jerry's is handing out a free scoop of ice cream to everyone who votes.

What's the catch?

There is none. But it does have its benefits (that stretch beyond your belly). Want to show your kids that voting is worth it? You can talk to them all you want about poverty, war, campaign finance reform. But show them there's free ice cream in it for them? Dude, I'm so totally there. Maybe it's a cheap shot, but, hey, if it works. . .

They don't even care if you care who you vote for; as long as you do it. So when you're done picking the next president, get yourself (and the kids) over to a Ben & Jerry's scoop shop with your "I voted" sticker or a snapshot of yourself in front of the ballot box. The promotion runs from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., so even late voters can get creamed.

Just save me some Phish Food.

Image: JunkFoodBlog

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What's Worse, Getting Fat or Getting Pregnant?

JeanneSager — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:08:00 GMT

Been on a diet lately? If pregnancy's in your future, you might find the scale climbing a lot higher than you thought. A study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association this month shows women with a history of dieting are more likely to gain weight.

Following 1,200 expectant moms, researchers from the University of North Carolina determined it doesn't matter what you weigh when the sperm meets the egg. It's your history that counts. Ironically, in the same month, the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care claims women are more afraid of gaining weight than they are of getting pregnant. That's what's driving their birth control decisions. It was what they call a "snapshot" study with just 55 women, but together the two offer a look at the delicate balance too many of us are trying to strike in our lives.

Excuse the woman who was once pregnant and is still showing a bit of that state around her mid-section for thinking, but when you get pregnant, AHEM, you gain weight. Well, unless you're pregorexic, but that's another post. Going into pregnancy, I think every woman knows in her head that she's supposed to grow, that watching the numbers on the scale rise is normal. But women who struggle with their weight often have a disconnect between what the brain knows and what the brain sees on the scale or in the mirror. It's the difference between plain old smarts and emotional intelligence.

And so I've wondered if we don't over-compensate when we get pregnant. Knowing our tendency to eat poorly, to make an issue of our weight, we fight the urge to diet to the point where we overeat. I've always been pretty open about my bulimic past. When I was diagnosed with the severe morning sickness they call hyperemesis gravidarum during pregnancy, a small part of me was grateful. I had to smack myself back into reality when I realized that despite the misery, I was happy knowing I wasn't gaining weight. Then I started to feel like this was punishment for years of making myself throw up. Now I literally couldn't help myself.

When the medicines prescribed to chemotherapy patients to help them battle nausea finally took hold, and I began to eat again, I did so with a vengeance. When I swallowed pints of Ben & Jerry's to soothe the heartburn in my throat, I told myself I was doing my baby a favor. I wasn't taking more medicine, and I wasn't denying our two bodies what I would have denied my one. It's no wonder I found myself, B&J in hand, devouring Greek Tragedy blogger Stephanie Klein's new book, Moose, through tears. The book follows her from the day the doctor orders her to pack on 50 pounds to feed the twins growing inside her straight back to fat camp. How could it not? After years of being told NOT to eat, Klein wasn't just being told to eat, she was ordered. And when the order comes from a doctor, when you know you have life inside of you, you do it. And, yes, sometimes you do it to excess.

Because fat or thin at the beginning of pregnancy, the acceptance of "fat" on a pregnant woman brings out what we once were in ways nothing ever will. We will always be the fat girl. As Klein says in one of her blog posts about the book, "While you might be tempted to say when I realize I've outgrown that puffy girl, then I'll be real, you're wrong. Realizing that Moose is who I was, and who I will always fear being again, is who I really am."

So women fear being fat more than they fear getting pregnant. Women who fear getting fat get fatter when they're pregnant. Yes, it all makes sense when you're the fat girl.

Image: Stephanie Klein

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Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day Today!

Stefania Pomponi Butler (CityMama) — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 17:33:00 GMT

For ice cream lovers, this is the best day of the year. It's the day participating Ben & Jerry's stores hand out free cones from noon until 8PM.

Parents, this is your dream come true. For those that are into extrinsic rewards and bribes, you can hang this over your kids all damn day! Kids not listening? "No Phish Food for you!!!" And if you play your cards right, you may be able to hit up every store in your town. (But you didn't hear that from me.)

Now grab the Chunky Monkeys and go get some free ice cream!

Strollerderby : ben & jerry's

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Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day Today!