I read this in the paper today during lunch and nearly lost it.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/080515/n_top_news/news_food_climate_obesity_col_1

( Article text behind the cut for link-phobic )

For reference, here's an article that talks a bit less about the OMG CLIMATEOBESITY CRISIS and more about the study: http://in.news.yahoo.com/ani/20080516/r_t_ani_hl/thl-obese-people-consume-18-more-food-en-3b18f0d.html

( Second article behind the cut )

I have my own thoughts posted to my personal journal but just thought I'd share this latest with y'all. Have a great weekend.

Gasp. I literally read all of this article with my mouth wide open. I especially hate the witty comments like, "$487 billion in gas, sweat and stretch pants" and how she assumes that if Americans lost weight, McDonald's would stop selling Big Macs and start selling steamed chicken snacks, because of course only overweight people eat bad foods.

The part about plus-size clothes costing MORE, we all know is untrue. Well, some of us. I am a size 26/28 and I have to buy clothes from Fashion Bug, Lane Bryant, Old Navy and other online stores. If I were skinny I'd be shopping at much more fashionable and expensive stores. :p

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insurance/Advice/WhatIfNoOneWereFat.aspx

It's not enough that I'm 'killing myself' but now they are blaming me for the financial woes of the entire country! Lose weight and save a child! I would be much more inclined to believe this if it wasn't peppered with nasty, snide comments like the ones above.

( The Article )

I'm so excited! We've got the first 3 paragraphs and the last 3. Glad to be pushing the fat fashion agenda!
And Guy is clearly in love with Glenn Marla, except so annoying that he got his pronouns wrong ::sigh::
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/fashion/13flea.html

Thank you to all the lj fatshionistas who came the first week, yay!!!

there are two cute pictures of us in the interactive photo part.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/04/10/style/20080412_FLEAMARKET_FEATURE.html
scroll down to the "Nothing is Ordinary" part and click on the audio and the two pictures.
I can't copy them into here. But here's a pic from my gallery.

http://picasaweb.google.com/redress.nyc/AtTheBrooklynFlea

( here's the times article if you don't want to go to nytimes.com )

Hey ya'll,

I thought this might be of some interest to the more politically-minded out there.

Utne Reader is a progressive magazine that scans about a bajillion publications for interesting, current reads, and puts them together every two months. They focus on one or two topics a mag, where there's a few articles on one topic, and the current issue has a fat focus. Of course, I snapped it up and started reading, and I recommend picking one up for yourself, too! (I think you can read the articles on their site, too.)

Has anyone else checked it out yet? Overall, I think it's great that a mag that's mostly geared toward granola-yoga types is "doing fat" (I can't wait to read the letters to the editor next issue), and I think it was an overall good lineup.

One thing bothered me, though: the article entitled "Love Your Fat Self," which was also the cover tagline, was written by someone who is not fat, and who also trotted out the tired, terribly bullshit line of "Sizeism remains the only truly acceptable form of discrimination on the planet (emphasis mine)." Um, ZUH?????? Not only is this a terrible blanket statement and fallacy, but it just alienates anyone who could potentially be an ally. And, again, it's weird and sort of disturbing to me that someone who is not fat made that statement...and that someone who is not fat is commanding me to "Love Your Fat Self"...though I don't really know how to articulate why that bothers me.

I think the "Shame on US" article is pretty dead-on, and "The Food Police" brings up good points, though I will forever and ever and ever love Michael Pollan.

So I found this little article of love and joy on my fav gossip blog. This really infuriates me because I can think of so many other valid reasons to be denied entry. Check out what is comments about the article on the Dlisted.com site. Sad...


( The world is such a nice place, no? )

I mentioned in my last post that bitch wrote a few lines about fatshionista so I was shocked and excited to see that the current issue of BUST also mentions us!! In a section called "wide girl web: the best plus-sized sites taking up space on the internet" they say:

"So those jeans make you look fat. So what? Talk it out at Fatshionista...a LiveJournal community devoted to plus-sized style. Filled with links, recommendations, sales, and swaps, it's like a fashion show, slumber party, and fat-girl flew market all in one." -Wendy McClure

Neato!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7090300.stm

Thought you'd all like this :)

I was browsing the news, when I came upon an article that disturbed me greatly. As I couldn't find it put in these terms anywhere else online, I translated it. Source, in Swedish.

Surgery best method to cure obesity
Surgery against obesity heavily reduces the risk to die in cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer. Conventional treatment against obesity at Swedish health centres have, on the other hand, no effect at all.

This was proven in a study on four thousand Swedish patients with obesity, that's published in the Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

"The consequence would reasonably be that obesity surgery becomes common and more accepted. Today we operate about a thousand a year in Sweden. I think we need to operate five, ten times as many," says Lars Sjöström, professor emeritus at Sahlgrenska University Hospital and leader of the Swedish study.

In the same issue of the New England Journal of Medicine an American study on eight thousand patients is published as well. The results clearly point in the same direction: in the American study the mortality in the operated group dropped with forty percent, in the Swedish study with thirty percent. Diabetes as a death cause was nearly eliminated in the operated group, while the risk of dying of cancer and cardiovascular diseases went down with sixty percent.

Today there is no set limit in Sweden for how fat you should be to be operated upon. But many doctors follow the American standard, which requires a BMI, Body mass index, of 40, or 35 if you have other risk factors, such as diabetes.

"I could see the limit at 34 or 35. And if I had a patient with a BMI of 30, 31 and severe disorders, like diabetes or high blood pressure, and it couldn't be controlled through medication, then I wouldn't doubt surgery," says Lars Sjöström.( continue reading... )

I found another article on it, though it was more on the basic facts. Source.

Missing Link Found: Bariatric Surgery Reduces Mortality
GOTHENBURG, Sweden, Aug. 22 -- Two research groups have provided long-awaited evidence that bariatric surgery saves lives, up to 136 per 10,000 operations.

Gastric bypass reduced all-cause mortality 40% in a study of severely obese American patients, and bariatric surgery of whatever type reduced morality 29% in a Swedish study. The results of both studies were reported in the Aug. 23 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Weight loss has been well documented to reduce mortality risk factors, including incident diabetes, commented George A. Bray, M.D., of Louisiana State University, in an accompanying editorial.

But, he noted, some epidemiologic studies have suggested shedding pounds may worsen life expectancy, possibly from confounding by unintentional loss.

For a more conclusive answer, Lars Sjöström, M.D., Ph.D., of Gothenburg University here, and colleagues, conducted a prospective controlled trial.
( continue reading... )

So, basically, they're now suggesting that gastric bypass is the best one could do, especially if your BMI is over 35? Mine is around there somewhere, and I'm a size 16/18! *headdesk* Opinions, please?

Just wanted to share a NYT article about a fat dance troupe in Cuba: A Super-Size Troupe Leaps From Ridiculous to Sublime

It's a little odd, as the choreographer says the troupe is "against obesity [sic]" and that they are "always trying to lose weight", but then the article says:

For the dancers, working with Mr. Mas has changed their lives. Several said they suffered from constant embarrassment and guilt over their weight before they began dancing. But dancing has taught them to accept, if not love, their bodies. They also say that after a performance, they feel self-esteem that is foreign to most them, having suffered from the gibes of their peers since childhood.

Barbara Paula, 29, who weighs 275 pounds, has been dancing with the troupe for five years. She said it still felt strange at times to be on stage, as if she were constantly discovering the potential beauty hidden inside her body, which for years was a source of shame for her.

“It’s something new,” she said. “I don’t have this complex anymore that because we are obese, we cannot dance, we cannot walk in the street.”

Thoughts?

From the New York Times home page. Now it might not even be safe to hang out with us..you may catch our fat. *growl*
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/25/health/25cnd-fat.html?hp

As I was perusing the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, I was thrilled to discover a full-page size version of the photo and accompanying article here about Nikki Blonsky, the bubbly star of 'Hairspray: The Musical.'

She's so cute! And they didn't Photoshop her hips away!

As an avid movie geek and amateur filmmaker,  this is a small victory for a plus-sized girl who was told to 'quit acting' in college because I'd never get anything more than supporting roles due to my size.

I actually thought this was a joke when I read the headline. 
 
Seven thoughts that can make you thin.

This "article" is so, well trite, that it's embarrassing.

To keep this slightly on topic, here's a quote:   "...keep thoughts of summer in your house all year long by hanging a bikini or skimpy sundress on the back of the bathroom door, and visualize yourself wearing it every time you head for the leftovers." 

I was tooling around at work today (bad girl, scold scold!) and found this little essay I wrote in 2002. I still think it is pertinent and wanted to share, it's an all to familiar to most of us body story.

( Holy Long Winded Batman! )

I know there are quite a few vegetarians and vegans in here so I thought this might be worth posting. The head of PETA has said this to Michael Moore.

"Although we think that your film could actually help reform America’s sorely inadequate health care system, there’s an elephant in the room, and it is you. With all due respect, no one can help but notice that a weighty health issue is affecting you personally. We’d like to help you fix that. Going vegetarian is an easy and life-saving step that people of all economic backgrounds can take in order to become less reliant on the government’s shoddy healthcare system, and it’s something that you and all Americans can benefit from personally."

This bothers me in more than one way. I think comparing him to an elephant is absolutely ridiculous. Do they think they can insult people into becoming vegetarians? I doubt that's going to happen. It also bothers me because they are helping to support the myth that vegetarians are all thin and healthy, and that everyone who is overweight is unhealthy. I'm reasonably healthy, but I am certainly not thin. I have never been thin, and I doubt I ever will be thin. I switched to a vegetarian diet nearly 8.5 years ago when I was in 5th grade, and guess what? I'm still fat! I also eat a rather healthful assortment of foods. All throughout middle school and high school people doubted my vegetarian-ness because I was fat, and it was no fun. I'm sure many of you have had very similar experiences.

Article.

    http://www.theonion.com/content/news/study_many_americans_too_fat_to

I've seen a lot of fat hate in my life, experienced a lot too, but I don't think I've ever seen anything quite this mean.  The thing that irritates me is that I'll just be told that I don't have a sense of humour for not finding this a bit funny.  I guess I'm just a fat girl with no sense of humour. :(

Spurred on by a recent post i was looking to see if there were any Fat Pride groups in the UK (specifically London)
I failed miserably but I did find an interesting article here, written almost a year ago! It's quite a long read but some of it I found quite good :)

There's a really excellent article about NOLOSE and NYC's Big Fat Queer Prom in the Village Voice, featuring several fabulous fatshionistas!

( Full text under cut. )

Hi All

 I referenced an article from the UK Observer magazine in this post here on Sunday, but didn't have access to the pictures, just the text.  So a friend at work has lent me her copy of the magazine and I have taken photos of the pictures (sorry the quality isn't so good, I don't have access to a scanner).  They can be found below the cut.

I'd be interested in your comments on the article in light of the pictures.

Hope this is an appropriate place to post this newspaper cutting? It's an Observer Magazine article about how images of medium sized (UK 16) women are not common in mainstream media:

( It's strange how images of larger women take us by surprise. After all, isn't this what most of us look like? )

Jelly in the Belly: A Diet Pill That Expands So You Don't.

( Cut for the article from wired.com, in case the link becomes stale. )

This seems weird and obsessive, because doesn't having a glass of water before a meal effectively do the same thing? Oh, pharmaceutical companies! Is there anything you won't do to create a fear and then package an expensive solution to it? I'd much rather see people educate themselves on a balanced diet that suits their body's needs than use what is basically a placebo to fill themselves with gel to lose weight.

Genes Take Charge, and Diets Fall by the Wayside

I think one of the things that really struck me was how they formulated their studies, by making everyone lose weight really quickly and then trying to get them to maintain that weight. I've had a few different doctors tell me that your metabolism goes into survival mode when you lose weight that quickly, because it processes the lack of food as the body being starving. It makes up for it by metabolizing slower and retaining your fat. I think, along with restrictive eating plans, this is one of the main reasons why diets don't last after a person has gone off of them. If the body is going to lose weight and keep it off comfortably, it has to be a gradual change. It has to slowly become accustomed to recieving less calories in a way that doesn't put it into shock.

I also thought the studies on adopted children was quite interesting. I wonder at the genetic factor, and how that plays into body politics. Are people who are genetically disposed to being fat mean they are not to be held as accountable as someone who has become fat through personal choices? It seems like it's not fair, but that's kind of what this article is trying to get at. it's like, "It's ok, they can't HELP that they're fat, so we can excuse them." I'd rather it just be that we are allowed to be the way we are if it's the way we choose or the way that's given to us. I don't this this is something that society as a whole should be dictating; it should be up to the individual.

Dear LA Times,

I'd like to introduce you to a very fine American President, Mr. William Howard Taft. While not the only fat president, he is most certainly the fattest at over 350 pounds. He was so fat that he had a huge bathtub installed in the White House - a fact they denied until it was taken out.

He also cut quite a dapper figure, and was downright saucy at times.



Sincerely,
D Boyle
Fat Canadian Citizen

* - While being governor of the Philippines, Taft one day sent a message to Washington, D.C. that read "Went on a horseride today; feeling good." Secretary of War at the time Elihu Root sent a reply message that read "How's the horse?"