The Fat Girl's Guide to Living

“I recently heard that coffee stores fat. Please say it isn’t so! I’m not ready to surrender my morning latte!”

We consulted registered dietitian Joanne Larsen of Ask the Dietitian for the straight scoop on the link between java and fat. “Plain coffee does nothing to store fat,” she says. “What causes people to store fat is eating more calories during a meal or snack than they need in the next 4 – 6 hours.” If you’re worried about fat over-staying its welcome, Larsen emphasizes the tried-and-true “eat less, move more” standard and suggests taking a walk after meals.

We also asked Ms. Larsen to address claims that stress causes us to store fat around the midsection – and coffee’s  potential to increase stress. “Stress doesn’t cause us to store fat around our midsection. Eating more calories than we need plus a lack of exercise to burn those extra calories causes us to store fat from our neck to feet,” she says.

However, Larsen adds, some people overeat in response to stress because eating – especially carbs – brings us comfort. “When we eat, blood pools around our intestines and moves away from our brain, often making us sleepy or more relaxed,” says Larsen. “Exercise is a good stress reliever. Go for a walk instead of eating when stressed.” (Editors’ note: We’d like to add sex to that list, too!) Larsen points out that stress does increase cortisol levels in our bodies, which is related to inflammation in ways scientists are still trying to discern. And while some research has linked caffeine intake and inflammation, the jury’s still out on this issue.

So, can we keep our coffee? All signs point to yes–in moderation. (Editors’ note: Woo hoo!) “Coffee doesn’t exacerbate stress. Caffeine causes our heart to pump harder and our kidneys to filter out more fluid,” she says. “However, people who drink decaffeinated beverages have no less abdominal fat than people who drink caffeinated beverages; otherwise, decaf would be the new miracle diet food.”

Want Coffee? by Trinaaj

Who, us? Absolutely! We loved the this image, and not just because of our Pavlovian response to invitations involving coffee. How’s this for a cool idea: when Trina (above) moved back to Adelaide, South Australia, she decided to call one person a week to meet with her for coffee, then photographed the person and shared a little bit about them on flickr. What a great idea for anyone relocating to a different town! (See the whole project so far here).

Got any great ideas for a photography project? Tell us about it in the comments, and if you think of a fun, creative, or sultry self portrait, share it with our FGG Girls Flickr group. We showcase one image from the group every Sunday, and select a winner from each of those to win a prize each month. C’mon over and show us what you’ve got!

Some days you just have to celebrate. If you don’t have a reason, find one because life’s too short!

Cake is always a good way to celebrate and you don’t have to have a boxed mix in your pantry to make one. Before you click away because cakes made from scratch are too much work, please give the recipe below a try. It’s seriously just as easy as a cake mix and not only will it taste great, but you’ll be able to control which ingredients go into it. As an added bonus, you can boast that you made it from scratch and let everyone believe that you toiled in the kitchen to bring them such a wonderful treat.

Some great things about this recipe:

It’s egg-free (great not only for those of you – or your friends or family – with egg allergies, but also for those of us who decide we MUST have cake when there are no eggs in the house).

There’s no need to plan ahead to let butter soften – this recipe relies on vegetable oil (but when you’re ready to start baking, put one cup of butter out to reach room temp for the frosting).

You can use a stand mixer, but it’s also easily prepared with a hand-held mixer or even by hand.

To transform it to a regular chocolate cake, omit the espresso powder. You can also substitute some additional vanilla or chocolate (either cocoa or good quality melted chocolate) for a different frosting flavor.

If you make cupcakes instead of a full cake, you’ve got another portion-controlled treat… AND you can freeze the extras to keep temptation out of sight.

This is one of the moistest cakes you’ll ever make!

Chocolate-Mocha Cake
3 cups flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tablespoons espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil (vegetable, canola, etc.)
2 cups water
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon vanilla

Mix all ingredients together and pour into a 9×13 cake pan (or 2 6″ round cake pans and a lined 12-cavity cupcake tin… or 2 lined 12-cavity cupcake tins). Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes (or 15-20 minutes for smaller pans) until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Mocha Frosting
1 cup butter, room temperature
1.5 pounds powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon espresso powder

Cream butter until light and fluffy. Slowly beat in powdered sugar and heavy cream. Once incorporated, beat on high for three minutes. Add vanilla and espresso powder and beat for another two minutes. Taste and add additional espresso powder if desired… add a bit more heavy cream if frosting consistency is too heavy or a bit more powdered sugar if consistency is too light.

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Looking for more great recipes? Visit my blog at
http://culinography.wordpress.com