I had moved into the middle of the road sized pants in my closet and had my eye on the dusty stack of jeans in the back.  My pants were loose and my spirits were high but just when I was feeling cocky about my waistline those damn carbs came along and kicked by gut into gear.   Now my pants runneth over and it’s not even Halloween, and I don’t need to tell you all that if your pants are tight in mid-October, it’s bad news for the rest of the eating season.

So I’ve turned to The Daily Plate.  It’s an online calorie tracker that helps you meet personal goals…and it’s free.  Basically you enter your stats and your overall weight goals…I was tempted to enter “gain two pounds per week” so I would feel good about accomplishing something I set out to do, but my pants already hurt when I sit down so I decided against it.

This nifty tracking tool keeps track of calories, fruits and veg, carbs, protein and a whole host of other useful dietary stats that would give Dr. Oz a wet dream.  You get credit for exercising and there is something sobering about seeing your calorie count climb and you don’t have to do any math to succeed.  Phew.

Rating: 2 Carats.  Just for fun we’ll hold a contest, whoever achieves the highest calorie count this week will win a spanx inspired prize.  Leave your totals in the comments.

Now I will be the first to admit that am not an all natural/organic/homeopathic kind of girl.  Certain sections of Whole Foods scare me.  I shave my legs with regularity, don’t believe babies who can speak to ask for food should be breastfed and recycle only because I’ve been guilted into it.   And when it comes to colds and other sicknesses, I feel that anything manufactured by a mega-corporate pharmaceutical company, with the FDA stamp of approval is the best way to go.  However, being that you have to be in the process of actively dying these days to get an antibiotic sometimes a little open mindedness is not a bad thing…  enter the Neti Pot.  

 I was, at best, skeptical of the Neti Pot.  The name alone sounds like you should smell like patchouli and be listening to Cat Stevens.  However, with my head filled with mucus and no prescriptions to be had for love or money, I decided that I had nothing to lose except my dignity.  And let me tell you, there is nothing dignified about the Neti Pot.  You fill it with warm water and insert the tea pot looking tip into one nostril and with your head slightly inclined some sort of reverse gravity/osmosis takes place and the water is sucked up one nostril and out the other.  You then repeat the process on the other side.  Despite it feeling like a colonic for your nose, it was pretty effective in relieving my excess snot and did effectively clear my head to the point where I actually thought I may not have to go back to school to become a doctor just so I could write myself prescriptions. 

Rating 2 carats.  Its no substitute for a Z-pack, but does provide some relief.   I will still shop with abandon at corporate America and use artificial sweeteners, but its nice to know that natural is not all that bad. 

Part of me loves switching over my closets when the Season’s change.  I love the excitement of opening the storage container to find all my long lost fashion friends of Season’s past.  It’s like shopping without spending any money…although this year when I opened the box it was more like I had gone shopping at Salvation Army than Saks.

My winter wardrobe isn’t quite what I remember it being and I am desperate need of a sweater overhaul.  Check out the links below to some of our favorite sweater finds for Fall 2009.

Victoria Secret has a fantastic sweater sale with items from $19 to $49.  Free shipping today only by entering code: FREESHIP at checkout.

Loving the sweater below for only $49.  Also available in black or winter white.

Gap is offering 25% off your entire purchase.  Just enter: GAP25 at checkout. They’ve got great basic v-necks for $39.50 in colors that will have you dreaming of Spring.

And Anthropolgie just marked  a bunch of sweaters. Loving the Corolla Sweater below, a mere $39.95.

Have you ever had a couple of super indulgent weeks where you eat and drink to your hearts content and then step on the scale to find that you’ve miraculously lost a few pounds?  Yeah, me neither.

Since rubbing Shape magazine all over my thighs isn’t having a noticeable impact and I swear to Suzanne Somers it was my grandma’s butt I saw in the 360 mirror of the Nordstrom’s dressing room this weekend, the time for a massive overhaul is here.  Apparently using my abs to suck in my stomach while I shove myself into my pants is not enough to trim and tone and the time for massive action is upon us.

So us Product Princesses are launching Overhaul for the Fall, or Overfallin’ for short.  Check back over the next few weeks for 3 carat products and practices guaranteed to polish you up while expending the least amount of effort possible.  We’re all about quick fixes and we’ll try to focus on the inside too, but lets face it, when you focus on the outside, the inside is bound to catch up sooner or later.  Let’s meet Fall head on with the goal to be fit, fashion forward, and fabulous…and make extra room in our pants for Halloween candy and mashed potatoes.

Check back often for tips, trends, and we’ll all live chic on the cheap this autumn season.

What do I love most about Fall?  The fact that I go to bed at 5pm when the sun goes down after consuming copious amounts of red wine and pumpkin flavored desserts?  Sure.  The fact that it’s too cold to exercise?  You betcha.  After all how can I store up my extra fat for the winter if I waste it with cardio?  But the very best thing of all, is that it’s now socially acceptable to cover ever square inch of flabby flesh with fabric.  No shorts, no spaghetti straps, no flimsy florals…you can’t see any dimples or bulges under my good friends denim, tweed and corduroy.  Surely that’s the real reason pilgrims and indians partied down.

In the spirit of thanksgiving, I’m saying merci  to Sara Blakely and her bridge line bodyshapers for Target. The Assets brand retails for about a third the price of her Spanx line but packs the same sucking in punch.  At $14 I am loving her black Terrific Tights available exclusively at Target.  They suck it in so you can turn it out…and they suck it in so you can eat that extra piece of pie.  They are the perfect thickness and wear wonderfully, they last and last.  Perfect with boots, pumps, or if you need a little help with your Beyonce bootie while wearing your leotard.

Rating: 3 Carats.  Perfect and affordable Fall staple available in several colors and textures.

There is nothing tackier, except maybe the opening of the NASCAR season,  than seeing a racer back tank top with two bra straps completely out of alignment with the rest of the of the shirt.  Whether it is sheer laziness or wanting to show the world the rainbow of colors Victoria’s Secret has to offer, it is not at all attractive. Unless, of course, you are moonlighting as a carriage-pulling horse…giddy up bitches.

That is where the “Strap Perfect” comes in.  At a mere $9.99 for 6 there is no excuse to board the trashy train.   If you have seen the less than high budget infomercial, you may recall that the Strap Perfect slides on the back straps of a regular bra and transforms it into a racer back bra.  An alleged side benefit? The cleavage of a French street walker.

While the placement of the Strap Perfect is a little tricky (If I were only that flexible I would never have to buy another birthday present for my husband ever again), once it is on it is fairly easy to adjust.  When it is in place, you need have no fear of  a strap snafu.   As for the cleavage claim, it is a far cry from 40 cc’s of saline, but may help the girls get a little lift.

Rating:  2 Carats.  Perfect? No.   But perfection costs quite a bit more than $9.99 and for the price this product is pretty darn good.

Ever get sick of your gut arriving somewhere before the rest of you?  Tired of people yelling “there she blows” when you bend over and your whale tail of a thong surfaces above your jeans?  Did you ever dream of wearing Spanx outside of your pants?  Well if you answered “yes” to any of these questions, the hip-T was made for you.

We discovered the hip-T from a recommendation of a wonderful reader who had just given birth and was looking for a little support in her ab region.  I have never given birth but also need help in most regions so I thought I would give it a try.  I ordered off of their website and paid $19.95 for one with lace edging…shipping was free.

The quality is ok, but the price seemed a bit high for what basically amounts to a waist scrunchie.  It did help stem the flow of my flab-o-lanche over the top of my jeans, but it didn’t work nearly as well as my other chosen support garments.  It is a clever way to layer without bulk, but I have tons of too tight shirts that I could cut wear around my waist and not pay $20 for them, and get similar support.  However it might be nice to cover up paunch during intimate moments…does it come in nude?

Rating: 1 carat.  My gut hasn’t done anything nice for me lately, why would I buy it a skirt?