Its Wednesday, and my butt wont fit in any skinny bundles.

Hello from Los Angeles, where were scrutinizing our cable bills, waiting for Jim Gianopuloss car to drive through the Paramount gates, and handing out barf bags at the Nuart.

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Every month I pay a DirecTV bill roughly equivalent to the G.D.P. of Samoa for the handful of channels I watch most oftenHBO, TCM, FX, Bravo, and HGTV. My husband also watches a lot of sports and cable news, so we also pay for a bunch of channels where guys in fitted suits yell at each other. Along the way come freeloaders we dont ever watchsorry, Golf Channel. But that might change soon. Both Variety and The Wall Street Journal published in-depth, data-driven reports this week about how these kinds of giant cable packages are going on a diet, as media companies shut down the niche networks with smaller audiences to trim costs, and cable companies try to hold onto consumers deserting them for cheaper streaming services. Journal reporters Shalini Ramachandran and Keach Hagey analyzed the financial and viewership information for more than 100 TV networks, and found within some downright bargainsthe Hallmark Channel, for instance, is super-cheap for cable operators to carry considering the giant audience it brings in for its feel-good original movies. MTV Classic, meanwhile, is priced well above retail.

Matthew Broderick in The Cable Guy, 1996.

From Columbia/Everett Collection.

In a slightly more wonkish Variety cover story on the same phenomenon, Cynthia Littleton and Daniel Holloway quote Turner Broadcasting distribution president Coleman Breland on the effect niche channels have on the marketplace. So many of these networks do less than 100,000 viewers in total-day average; there just arent enough eyeballs to support them, Breland said. But theyre taking money out of the ecosystem. The Variety piece also has an exhaustive, color-coded chart that lays out all five of the slimmed-down cable options currently available. Alas, none contains the precise collection of shows I watch, so Ill just keep shaking my fist at the sky every month when my bill comes.

Complaining about your cable/satellite bill is, of course, a long-standing consumer practice. (If youre wondering what a cable bill is, its the thing your parents pay so you can have their HBOGo password.) Which is why I found this one little statistic in a Morning Consult study out this morning on the future of TV so interesting: 80 percent of Americans have a favorable view of Netflix, the biggest name in streaming, vs. 43 percent who have a favorable view of Xfinity, the biggest name in cable/satellite. Buffer that news.

The Motion Picture Association of America released its 2016 Theatrical Market Statistics report today, and there are some interesting nuggets in here. Overall, global box office grew 1 percent to $38.6 billion, while the market in the U.S. and Canada rose 2 percent to $11.4 billion. The average cinema ticket price in the U.S. increased by 22 cents to $8.65 in 2016, and moviegoing in the U.S. essentially stayed steady, with 1.32 billion tickets sold. Still, the M.P.A.A. wants us to know, Movie theaters continue to draw more people than all theme parks and major U.S. sports combined.

One thing that stands out is that per capita attendance is up among non-white audiences. The group the M.P.A.A. classifies as Asians/Other Ethnicities reported the highest annual attendance per capita, going to the cinema an average of 6.1 times in the year. And the movie that drew the most ethnically diverse audience, the M.P.A.A. says, was Disneys live action Jungle Book remake, a big-screen spectacle that starred an Indian-American newcomer (Neel Sethi) and an international cast of voice actors including Idris Elba, Bill Murray, Lupita Nyongo, Scarlett Johansson, and Ben Kingsley. Two other Disney movies, Finding Dory and Captain America: Civil War, were next in line. I can tell you categorically that there is an effort to provide more diversity and inclusion in the creation of content, M.P.A.A. chief Chris Dodd said on a conference call about the data. Theres no question in my mind the message has been received [by the studios].

After a two-week courtship, Paramount Pictures and former Fox chairman Jim Gianopulos appear close to making their match official. The negotiations for the man the town knows as Jim G to take the top Paramount job have played out in the trades with increasing breathlessness. Will he or wont he?! Gianopuloss insistence on autonomy in greenlighting has been a sticking point for Via, according to multiple outlets. The Hollywood Reporters Kim Masters and Gregg Kilday quote multiple sources saying the parties are closer together than ever now, writing, Viacom is now offering Gianopulos greenlight authority for films with budgets up to about $100 million or perhaps more, ensuring that he can operate without a greenlight committee except for the most expensive movies.

VF.coms Joanna Robinson e-mails:

Even smaller-scale dramas are getting in on the Game of Thrones and Walking Deadesque secret-keeping. Until she cropped up unexpectedly in Tuesday nights episode of FXs The Americans, the fate of Alison Wrights much-abused secretary Martha Hanson was up in the air. In an interview, Wright told us that, like Thrones star Kit Harington and The Walking Deads Steven Yeun before her, shes been endlessly hounded with questions since the day Martha disappeared last season. Martha isnt a typical hero like Jon Snow or Glenn Rhee, but Wright explains the allure of her low-level F.B.I. employee: Shes what all of us would most likely be in this scenario. Wed like to think that wed be the Jenningsthat wed be badasses. But the likelihood is that wed be the Martha. This is a huge week for Wright, who also makes her Broadway debut in Sweat and steals the show on this Sundays Feud. In other words, never count a Martha out.

VF.coms Yohana Desta e-mails:

Raw, French director Julia Ducournaus bloody drama, is making quite a name for itself. The gory cannibal film, about a girl whose palate shifts to something more carnivorous (a.k.a. human flesh), made headlines when it was reported some filmgoers at the Toronto International Film Festival gagged and passed out during screening due to the movies graphic content. Paramedics had to be called intwice. But never fear, the Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles has come up with a fun way to ease queasy viewers: handing out custom-made barf bags, of course. Pamela McClintock of The Hollywood Reporter writes that a staff member at the Nuart thought it would be fun to make barf bags out of paper lunch bags, and pass them out right before a screening. Just in case. Imagine the pure horror of someone who decided to blindly go into a Raw screening, only to later be approached by an usher wielding a barf bag and going, Hereyou might need this.

Thats the news for this cloudy Wednesday in L.A. What are you seeing out there? Send tips, comments, and the name of a channel I should be watching to rebecca_keegan@condenast.com. Follow me on Twitter @thatrebecca.

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TV Is Going on a Diet - Vanity Fair

Jessica Murnane suffers from stage four endometriosis, and was told at the age of 33 that she would need to undergo a hysterectomy.

As a last-ditch effort to save my uterus, I decided to try a whole-foods plant-based diet, Murnane writes in Tuesdays Lenny Letter newsletter. Aside from the fact that candy, cheese and fun were not on the approved list of foods, I think a lot of my resistance came from just being plain tired of trying.

Over the years, I had tried everything to feel better, she continues. I went through multiple surgeries, tried yoga, experimented with legal drugs and not-so-legal ones, and even went to therapy because of my depression caused by my pain. Nothing worked.

Naturally, Murnane was skeptical that cutting out junk food and focusing on a plant-based diet would actually make a difference but she says for her, it did.

To my surprise (Im still surprised), it actually worked, she writes. After weeks, my symptoms and pain started to fade. And after a couple of months, I felt better than I ever had. I never got the surgery.Six years later, Icant imagine eating any other way. Good food changed my life.

Gynecological surgeon Ceana Nezhat,MD, FACOG, FACS, fellowship director of the Atlanta Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery and Reproductive Medicine,says that improved diet can alleviate endometriosis symptoms for some women.

Changing yourlifestyle and certain eating habits has a significant, positive effect on severeendometriosis, he tells PEOPLE. Apatient of mine had a similar situation and was offered a hysterectomy. She came to me, and not only did she not have surgery,[but changing her diet]helped her conceive as well.

Cate Shanahan, MD, a Connecticut-based board certified family physician and author of Deep Nutrition, explains that there is indeed a link between diet and endometriosis symptoms.

There is a relationship between diet and pretty much all chronic conditions and certainly hormonal issues, Shanahan tells PEOPLE. The link in all of this is the fact that omega-6 fats, which come from soy oil and canola oil and are also found in animal feed, are pro-inflammatory.

She explains that by eliminating meat and processed foods, you are cutting back on omega-6 fats, which can help with endometriosis symptoms.

There is definitely a direct reason why you would expect someone to be able to improve their endometriosis if they improve theirdiet, she says. One of my patients who suffers from endometriosis got better with diet change, so I have seen it happen.

RELATED VIDEO:Halsey Opens Up About Endometriosis Battle

Ken Sinervo, MD, MSc, FRCSC, ACGE, medical director of Atlantas Center for Endometriosis Care, says that while changing a diet can alleviate symptoms of endometriosis, it will not eliminate it.

The disease is not going to go away with diet alone, he tells PEOPLE. The most effective way of treating endometriosis is with excision or cutting out the disease. That being said, we know that diet can affect many of the symptoms of endometriosis. There are a lot phytoestrogens in certain types of food, especially foods that have soy as their basis, which can result in inflammation. Sugars, carbohydrates and processed meats can also increase inflammation and make symptoms worse.

Sinervo says that Murnanes situation is the exception rather than the rule.

There is a very strict endometriosis diet which eliminates most meat and is largely plant-based, but the diet is extremely limited, he says. I had one patient who did it for 10 years, and it did seem to help to her symptoms, but eventually her symptoms became worse again and she did need surgery.

Rebecca Brightman, MD, FACOG, a board certified OBGYN in private practice in New York City and educationalpartner with the ME in EndoMEtriosis campaign, which encourages women to get educated about the disease, says its imperative for women to seek professional medical advice before trying to self-treat their endometriosis with diet.

Everybodys different, and no one really knows why some people have endometriosis and other people dont, Brightman tells PEOPLE. There is some thought that eating natural foods and clean foods may actually help people feel better. There is also some data that suggests that people that avoid alcohol and caffeine may improve their symptoms. However, it depends on the severity of the symptoms. The care has to be individualized.

People need to talk to their health care providers, she continues. Traditional treatment is medical therapy, surgical treatment or a combination of the two.It would be really unfortunate for someone who can benefit from medical treatment to self-treat.

The rest is here:
Woman with Endometriosis Says She No Longer Needs a Hysterectomy After Changing Her Diet - PEOPLE.com

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A fasting diet doesnt mean you feel like you're starving.

Numerous studies have shown fasting impacts the reduction of chronic disease risk, longevity and weight loss. Most diets are all about giving up what you love and feeling deprived; whereas fasting diets may actually make those cravings go away. Here are five ways to get started.

This essentially means front-loading all of your calories to avoid consumption after a cut-off time, like 5 p.m. Many of my patients fast while they sleep, or skip dinner all together, allowing at least 12-14 hours between their last meal of the day and their first meal the following day.

Choose your plan based on your goals. Fasting is not a one-size-fits-all approach, and success often means trying different models.

RELATED: Intermittent fasting: Is restrictive eating right for you?

You'll have two "on days, where you'll consume 500-600 calories, split between breakfast and dinner. The other five days of the week are your off days, where you'll follow a healthy diet without calorie restriction. This intermittent fasting plan may help to reduce hunger and cravings and may also have beneficial impacts on insulin and C-reactive protein.

Studies show a monthly, periodic approach to fasting can help to increase longevity and reduce your risk for cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

For five consecutive days each month, consume about 35 to 50 percent of your normal calorie intake, divided between 10 percent protein, 40 percent carbohydrate and 50 percent fat. For example, if your normal intake is 1,800 calories, youll bring it down to 700 calories, and focus on lean proteins, healthy fats and high-fiber carbohydrates.

RELATED: Should you really be fasting? 3 diet myths get busted

While on any of the plans listed above, try to choose carbohydrates that are higher in protein and fiber they'll help you stay fuller, longer. Here are a few changes to make:

Dehydration is often misinterpreted as hunger. Fill yourself up by choosing calorie-free herbal tea, decaffeinated coffee and sparkling or plain water. Avoid artificially sweetened beverages, which will only increase sugar cravings and appetite.

If youre attempting a fasting diet, lack of sleep is a recipe for disaster because it negatively alters your hunger and satiety hormones. Finally, as with any new diet, have a discussion with your doctor beforehand.

Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, R.D., is the manager of wellness nutrition services at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute in Cleveland, Ohio, and the author of "Skinny Liver." Follow her on Twitter @KristinKirkpat. For more diet and fitness advice, sign up for our One Small Thing newsletter.

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6 ways to make a fasting diet work for you - Today.com

The Mexican had bulked up over the winter to better cope with the more physical nature of 2017s cars, but has been asked by his Force India team to trim off some weight because its new challenger was too heavy in testing.

I have tried so hard to lose weight in the last couple of weeks since Barcelona, said Perez, who has already lost more than two kilos since testing finished.

Obviously I increased my weight from last year purely by training harder, putting on more muscle, but I was on an extreme diet all last week and still now until Saturday [I will do the same].

I am all the time very hungry. As much weight as I can lose, the better it will be for us.

Perez said the issue of car weight had come up at Barcelona, but the team would only find out properly in Australia just how much it needed to lose.

We havent weighed the car actually, because in testing you have a lot of sensors and things on the car, he said.

Right now, considering that I lose two kilos or three since Barcelona, then probably we might be quite close.

Perez was confident, however, that the weight issue would not affect Force India for long, as fixes would be in place by the Bahrain Grand Prix at the latest.

I think the weight, sooner or later we will be on it, he said. If not this weekend, then latest by Bahrain, so I dont think that is a big issue.

Perez believes that Force India has the platform to challenge strongly again in 2017, but says it will not be starting the season in the perfect position.

The objective is still to finish third, to move up, he said. What we have seen in winter testing is that we are not at the level that we would like to be to start the season.

But I think this year especially this year the upgrades we are going to have, not only us but the rest of the teams, are huge. So I am still very optimistic.

It is not important where you start, it is where you finish. The season is very long and I am still very optimistic and very confident that the team will do a great job this year.

The rest is here:
Force India's overweight car prompts "extreme diet" for Perez - Motorsport.com, Edition: Global

Some people become vegetarians because they love animals. Some, as comedian A. Whitney Brown put it, because they hate plants.

But vegans are committed. Not only do they not eat food that harms or kills animals, some don't even want food that inconveniences animals.

Like honey. Hardcore vegans will not eat honey because, as Noah Lewis of vegetus.org puts it, "the simple fact is that the bees are enslaved." Similarly, some vegans will not eat sugar because, while it comes entirely from a plant, some sugar is whitened by using bone char, which comes from animals.

Although the vegan diet lacks in meat, dairy and egg products or because of it the diet can be better for you than that which the standard American eats. In 2009, the American Dietetic Association took the position that vegetarian and vegan diets reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes, and lead to lower cholesterol and blood pressure.

It can be healthy, but there are some things to watch out for when on a vegan diet: You have to make sure to get enough protein and vitamin B-12 and calcium, iodine, vitamin D, iron, zinc and n-3 fatty acids.

Fortunately, a well-balanced vegan diet provides all of these essential nutrients, though you may want to take vitamin B-12 supplements, just in case.

Still, cooking a well-balanced vegan diet can be difficult, at least if you want to stick to what most Americans think of as normal ingredients. Many vegan recipes attempt to re-create meatless versions of familiar meat-based dishes, and to do so they rely on such potentially off-putting ingredients as vegan chicken, egg replacers and nondairy cheese.

Other recipes use soy products such as tofu and tempeh for their protein, and it is one of these that I tried first in cooking a vegan diet for a day.

Mee Goreng, which is a type of stir-fried noodles, is popular street fare in the Philippines. When I have had it before, it always had meat in it, usually chicken or shrimp or both. But then I came upon a vegan recipe for it using tofu, and tofu fans are sure to be instantly hooked.

If they like spicy food, that is. As with a lot of street food, Mee Goreng usually packs a kick. If you want it milder, simply trim down or eliminate the amount you use of sambal oelek, the all-purpose Indonesian and Malaysian ground chili paste.

Also as is the case with much street food, Mee Goreng tends to be a little oily. The recipe calls for 5 tablespoons of oil for four to six servings; I got by with four tablespoons, but that is still a quarter cup of oil.

Do you need it? Yes. The oil brings the dish together, from the spicy sambal to the faintly bitter bok choy to the sweet sauce made from equal parts of soy sauce, brown sugar and molasses.

The tofu, which has the amazing ability to soak up all the flavors in which it is cooked, serves as a protein-rich punctuation to the meal.

1 pound fresh Chinese noodles yellow wheat or "stir fried" or 12 ounces dried spaghetti or linguine

cup packed dark brown sugar

4 large shallots; 2 minced and 2 sliced thin

2 teaspoons sambal oelek, see note

14 ounces extra-firm tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes

5 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

1 pound bok choy, stalks and greens separated and sliced -inch thick

4 scallions, sliced thin on bias

Note: Sambal oelek can be found in the international aisle of grocery stores.

1. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in a large pot. Add noodles and cook, stirring often, until tender. Drain noodles and set aside.

2. Whisk sugar, molasses and soy sauce together in bowl. In a separate bowl, combine minced shallots, garlic and sambal oelek.

3. Spread tofu on a paper towel-lined baking sheet and let drain for 20 minutes. Gently pat tofu dry with paper towels, season with salt and pepper, then toss with cornstarch in bowl. Transfer coated tofu to a strainer and shake gently over bowl to remove excess cornstarch. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add tofu and cook, turning as needed, until crisp and browned on all sides, 8 to 10 minutes; transfer to bowl.

4. Add 1 tablespoon oil to now-empty skillet and heat until shimmering. Add sliced shallots and cook until golden, about 5 minutes; transfer to paper towel-lined plate.

5. If necessary, add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to now-empty skillet and heat until shimmering. Add bok choy stalks and cook until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Clear center of skillet, add garlic mixture and cook, mashing mixture into skillet until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir into vegetables.

6. Stir in noodles, tofu, bok choy leaves and scallions. Whisk sauce to recombine, add to skillet and cook, stirring constantly, until sauce is thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Sprinkle fried shallots on top. Serve with lime wedges.

Per serving (based on 6): 665 calories; 26 g fat; 11 g saturated fat; no cholesterol; 18 g protein; 91 g carbohydrate; 29 g sugar; 6 g fiber; 1,624 mg sodium; 264 mg calcium

Recipe from "The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook," by America's Test Kitchen

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The vegan diet meatless masterpieces | Lifestyles | pantagraph.com - Bloomington Pantagraph

Most women have poor diets around the time of conception that may increase the risk of pregnancy complications like excessive weight gain, high blood pressure, impaired fetal growth and preterm deliveries, a U.S. study suggests.

During the three months around conception, the study found that women got roughly one-third of their energy from so-called empty calories like alcohol and foods loaded with sugars and fats. Their top sources of energy were soda, pasta, cookies, cake, bread, beer, wine and spirits.

"In particular, the fact that soda was the primary source of calories was concerning," said lead study author Lisa Bodnar, a public health researcher at the University of Pittsburgh.

"Soda provides essentially no nutrition," Bodnar said by email. "But it is something that can be replaced with water or other non-caloric beverages to eliminate those extra calories that may be contributing to obesity."

For the study, researchers examined data from dietary questionnaires completed by 7,511 women when they were 6 to 14 weeks pregnant. Participants were asked to recall what they ate during the three months around conception, then researchers scored women's diets with up to 100 points for following every aspect of healthy diet guidelines.

Overall, the average score was just 63 points, researchers report in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

However, more white women got close to achieving an ideal diet than the Hispanic or black women in the study. About one quarter of white women scored in the top-fifth, with scores typically around 79, while only 14 percent of Hispanic women and 4.6 percent of black women were in this healthiest-diet category.

Among all the women, higher education levels tended to go along with higher-quality diets.

It's possible the racial and ethnic differences in diet quality may help explain differences in pregnancy and birth outcomes for women of color, who have higher rates of complications like preterm birth and poor fetal growth than white women, Bodnar said.

One limitation of the study is that it relied on women to accurately recall and report on what they ate right before pregnancy, the authors note. The study also isn't a controlled experiment designed to prove that eating or avoiding certain things might influence the risk of specific pregnancy complications.

It's also possible that the women were reporting eating habits during rather than before pregnancy or describing healthier diets than they really had because they were already pregnant when they completed the surveys, said Dr. Emily Oken, a public health and nutrition researcher at Harvard University in Boston who wasn't involved in the study.

Women planning a pregnancy should ensure they are consuming a healthy diet at least three months before they conceive and try to maintain this diet throughout pregnancy. This includes avoiding soda and sugary drinks as well as eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and low-fat dairy, Bodnar said.

One place women can go for guidance is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's MyPlate Daily Checklist, she added (http://bit.ly/2b9ygoS).

Nutrition is important, but it is just one aspect of health women should try to focus on before getting pregnant, Oken said by email.

"It is critically important that women enter pregnancy with healthy levels of characteristics that are related to diet and nutrition - adequate nutrient intake, healthy weight, normal blood pressure, and normal blood sugar," Oken said. "These factors are important for long-term maternal health, as well as child health, and the very early pregnancy period is especially critical."

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Many US women start pregnancy with poor diets - Fox News