[Never Say Diet] Dreading the Gym? Don’t Go. Read This Instead.

I’m excited about today’s Never Say Diet post because it features the wisdom of my friend Michelle Segar, PhD, who is an exercise psychologist at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender at the University of Michigan. And she has really smart things to say about why you should make exercise more fun. Even if it means you get less of a “workout.” I know. It can be hard to wrap your head around that concept. So go read and tell us what you think!

You can also say hi to Michelle (and ask her any questions you might have) over on the Smart Women Don’t Diet Facebook page.

Wanna See Where I Live? (Beauty Schooled in ReadyMade!)

But not in a creepy stalker way? Then you should get the new issue of ReadyMade, because me and my house (and my husband, Dan!) are totally in it.

My friend Amy (who is the RM deputy editor) brainstormed this fun package called “First Time’s A Charm” about first-time homeowners. And she asked me to write about why you should put a big hole in your wall the second you buy your first house. Because we did that.

You can read the whole thing and see more photos of our place (including one of our cat Arthur, ahhh, he’s totally famous now!) over here.

(Yes, this post has nothing to do with beauty or body image. Hello, it’s the first Friday of summer! Just roll with it.)

[Photo: Dan and Virginia on the porch by John Frances Peters.]

Pretty Price Check (05.27.11)

The Pretty Price Check: Your Friday round-up of how much we paid for beauty this week.

• Thieves stole $150,000 worth of hair extensions from a Texas beauty salon. As you know, I have a lot of feelings on the subject of selling hair. (Via New York Times.)

• If you’ve ever wanted to see 12 models without professional makeup or retouching, now you can. Phew.

• BellaSugar asks: Does $38 worth of makeup work as well as $209? I totally can’t tell which side of the model’s face got which products. And I’m a trained professional, yo.

• Teen wears $25,000 dress to the prom, reports Jezebel. Hope no one spilled the spiked punch on it.

• If the Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act passes, developers building new strip malls (you know, where beauty salons live!) would have to require tenants to pay $10 per hour plus health insurance or $11.50 per hour without it. Fingers. Crossed. (Via Broadside)

• Lead was found in 96 percent of cosmetics tested in a new and scary study, reports No More Dirty Looks. Don’t worry, arsenic was only in 20 percent of samples.

• 40 percent of consumers do not trust cosmetic companies, reports Stacy Malkan from the Sustainable Cosmetics Conference. Couldn’t have anything to do with that thing I just said about lead and arsenic right?

And happy Memorial Day Weekend! Here’s the Environmental Working Group’s latest sunscreen report, so you can be safe when you’re sun-bound this weekend.

Oh and if you’re in LA (why am I not in LA?!) you should totes go to this amazing photo exhibit, Beauty CULTure.  If you’re not, at least you can read this New York Times story about it.

See you Tuesday!

[Photo: Hair on 125th Street by SpecialKRB]

[Never Say Diet] Is Size the New Glass Ceiling?

New research says that overweight women earn less than their thinner counterparts. But the same bias doesn’t seem to exist for men. What’s that about? Read more on Never Say Diet.

PS. Apologies for this Headless Fatty picture. Some days Getty is on fire with the great, body positive imagery. Other days, not so much. (At least it’s a model presumably paid to be headless, not some poor person shot walking down the street.)

[Never Say Diet] The Perfect Eater Problem

Attention vegetarians: I come in peace! But you might not love today’s post. If so, blame Katie over on Health for the Whole Self. She started it by being some damn insightful and all.

[Never Say Diet] Do You Deserve to Eat That? Yes! (So Stop Asking)

I’m making bold moves today, people! Bold moves. As in, I’m daring to suggest that you don’t have to “deserve” to eat that cookie.

You can just eat it.

And nothing bad will happen to you.

I promise.

(So let’s stop talking about food like it’s the round-trip ticket to New Zealand that you’ll never have enough frequent flyer miles to get.)

[Never Say Diet] Getting Busy and Your Body Image

New research shows that sex makes women feel bad about their bodies. Now, that’s just not right. Check it out over here.

[Never Say Diet] Shouldn’t Yoga be for Every Body?

Can I get a holla for the beautiful picture on today’s Never Say Diet post? When you’re limited to stock photography collections (as we are in daily blog land, since there isn’t enough lead time or money to go out and shoot our own stuff) the body positive pickings can be pretty slim — which often translates to nothing but skinny white girls, as you guys have noted in your comments. But uber-talented iVillage folks have been on the case and here we are. Hooray for a little diversity!

Now you know I don’t mean this in that unhelpful “finally, a REAL woman!” way. Because skinny white girls are real women too. The goal is to represent everybody (and every body), not just flip size discrimination on its head. Which is a concept the purveyors of plus size yoga seem to be having trouble grasping, so you should go check out today’s post about that.

Just Saying.

This landed in my inbox this morning.* Our Princess Obsession really is out of control.

*Thanks Aunt Donna! (If anyone knows the actual source, please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due.)

[Never Say Diet] This One’s For All You “Gilmore Girl” Fans…

I’m having a total girl crush on Melissa McCarthy — our beloved Sookie, now even more awesome in “Bridesmaids!” — over on Never Say Diet today.

(Yes, this means yesterday I got to go to the movies. In the middle of the afternoon. And call it work. Sometimes, my life is very, very hard.)