Fat Chicks Rule

Resolutions

Every new year, thousands, possibly millions of people pledge to lose weight. They go on their own diets, fad diets or commercial diets.  For about 17 years that was my resolution.  I was going to lose weight and that would fix everything. And for about one month or even two I'd eat less, lose weight, and exercise.  Then I would only think of food and eventually go on a massive eating binge in which I would stop eating anything healthy or moving.

So I no longer make resolutions. I no longer say this January, I will lose weight, eat right or exercise.

Because I always will continually on Dec 31, On Jan 1, on March 5, treat my body well. I will give it love, respect, healthy movement and food it wants. Without looking on the scale. 

Watch out tomorrow for the winners of the Slim Chance Awards, i.e. the worst diets out there.

So Happy New Year! And remember the motto of the diet industry "Results not typical."

Jenny Craig, right in the womb!

I came across two disturbing stories about fat women and pregnancy

The first one I got from the Well-Rounded Mama blog (she has plenty more on this topic). This comes from the UK and it's scary. A hospital has banned fat pregnant women. Any women who has a BMI over 34 is considered high risk, regardless of their general health history. And if they happen to be at high risk, they can travel some 20 miles to get to the other hospital (the exercise will do them good! Right . . .). The hospital claims they aren't being biased but have they banned underweight moms to be as well? Not to mention forcing heavier women have to go to a "high risk" hospital may make them vulnerable to unnecessary c-sections or induced labor.

Meanwhile, a study recommends that fat women gain *no* weight during pregnancy. Which essentially means dieting while pregnant. The calorie recommendations for fat women? A mere 2000 calories. Very close to a low calorie diet. In the end, it isn't just the mother on the diet, it's the fetus and I say a fetus is too young for an eating disorder.

Food Glorious Food

Holidays are here and I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and were not embarrassed to have seconds if they wanted to.

Yesterday I watched a movie called "Food Inc". As people know I also maintain an occasionally posted blog called Fat Habitat, where I try to provide information on sustainability that does not blame or victimize fat people.

Unfortunately I can't review Food, Inc. there. Thankfully it only had a small segment on the Great American Obesity Epidemic, and I guess I can be grateful that they blamed addictive cheap food instead of the fatties. However they were nice enough to include an evolution cartoon which started with a prehistoric man that ended with a fat guy with food wrappers around him.

So is this movie we are victims instead of villains. If only Monsanto and McDonalds' wouldn't tempt us with snacks we would be super slim-and mega-healthy. Fat chance (pun definitely intended.)

Now as I've often mentioned, people of *all* sizes need to eat a variety of healthy foods. (One of the things Food inc points out is the lack of variety in foods in the US), but I'm tired of fat automatically assumed to be unhealthy.

Other people are on the bandwagon that you can be fit and fat.

Losers, Obliviously and Lincoln U.

First off, please pledge money, loving and support for the documentary "Fat Girl's Float." 

And Lincoln University has changed their fat discrimination policy, sort of.  Fat people will no longer be forced to take a "Fitness for life" class, but it will be rolled into one course for *all* students.  Many colleges require some kind of PE course (as I mentioned last week, I aced the course I took in college.) Even though the head of the college and the head of their gym wanted to keep it, faculty overwhelmingly voted to get rid of the requirement, calling it discriminatory. That being said, Fat students will still be targeted.  So there will be no more outright discrimination but expect a fair amount of bullying in the form of help.

Apparently 1 in 10 fat people either don't know they are fat or think they are okay at their size (the horror!). Actually what I think is that 1 in 10 of their subjects have body image disorders. They wanted to be a thin person, so they saw a thin person.

So are the Biggest losers actually winnersr? No. One "winner" not only regained the weight but admitted to using unhealthy methods to lose weight. He probably wasn't the only one.  I found the Biggest Loser stupid, insipid and dangerous. Even if you are pro-weight loss, most weight loss experts think that healthy weight loss is at 1-2 lb per week.

Outright discrimination

Lincoln University makes fat students lose weight and/or take a fitness class or they wouldn't graduate. I just can't grasp the idea of denying someone their education purely based on their weight.  This isn't a matter of it taking physical fitness which is a requirement of all students, this is outright targeting of a certain group because they don't fit into the cookie cutter of "normal."  I hope some of them will lawyer up and overturn this stupid and outright discrimatory law. I hope potential students choose to take their college dollars to a school other than Lincoln.  Fat people are already stagmatised enough, they shouldn't be told they can't graduate college because they are too fat. Are underweight students forced to take a class on eating more?

When I went to college, I took the require PE courses (Aced both) and I used the rec centers to swim, run and weight lift. Yet if I had being going to this college, I would have still had to take this moronic course.

Just the idea of a COLLEGE where ADULT pay to go and learn forcing a portion of their students to do something other students don't have have too is so, excuse my language, fucking ridiculous.

And just a reminder for those in the New York Area, I will be reading my essay in the Fat Studies Reader at Re/Dress along with Kathleen LeBesco and Elena Andrea Escalera. Kelli Dunham will be reading the late and missed Heather MacAllister's essay.