Fat Chicks Rule

60.9 Billion reasons the industry wants you to diet.

The American Banking and Market Report has released the annual amount Americans spend on dieting.

The number: 60.9 Billion.

Not all at once. 60.9 Billion a year.

60.9 billion dollars. That’s how much American men, women, and teens spent on weight-loss products in 2010. Marilyn Wann figured out that 60.9 billion dollars was close to the amount we would save if we ended tax cuts on the wealthy. To put this unimaginable number into some kind of perspective, 60.9 billion dollars could fund any of the following:

• A tripling of federal funding for medical research
• Universal preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds, with relatively small class sizes.
• A national infrastructure program to repair and upgrade roads, bridges, mass transit, water systems and levees.
• Twice as much money for clean-energy research
• Free college, including room and board, for about half of all full-time students, at both four- and two-year colleges.
• A $500 tax cut for all households.

Imaging if your household had 500 dollars. What would you do with it? I might...

• Buy my friend without eyeglass insurance new glasses.
• Buy a Kaplan course for my niece.
• Buy myself a new waredrobe from Re/Dress.
• Add two  extra days to my vacation.

Most of money spend was on DIY dieting about 80%, but don't think commercial weight loss programs lost out. They were forcasted to make about 3.14 billion with Weight Watchers leading the way.

Meanwhile just this past weekend an event looked at conventional obestity research and HAES.

HAES's debut at the ADA's FNCE conference in San Diego could signal a paradigm shift in modern medicine's so far fruitless efforts at "weight control." The so-called obesity epidemic may be - if HAES science is right - a misdiagnosis of what ails Americans, entirely manageable through other means. Health at Every Size challenges the value of encouraging weight loss and dieting, and argues for a shift towards weight-neutral outcomes and unrestricted "mindful" eating. 

Two weeks ago I mentioned that there is no money to be made in HAES. I have mentioned that before. The diet industry is based not on making you healthy but losing weight usually with a poor success rate. You can find the tenets of HAES here for free. HAES encourages healthy and mindful eating and fun movement to the best of your body's ability.  Not really a billion dollar industry there, is it?

Fat Chicks Fight Back.

Fantasy author Dianne Sylvan has a great blog post called 10 Rules for Fat Girls. I particularly like the first: You are not obligated to be thin, healthy, or pretty.  The stereotype is that the good fattie is always on a diet, always trying to lose weight or is fat but in good health and exercises regularly. Good fatties get almost equal rights. Bad fatties don't eat right and never exercise, or they just happen to have poor health. They are treated like second class citizens. But if a thin person didn't eat right or exercise or happened to be in poor health, their weight isn't mentioned. Anyone of any shape and size should never been denied their rights based on stereotypical moral values of health.  

The other one I liked was #7: Stand up for yourself

A perfect example is model Nancy Upton when saw American Apparel's call for big models (i.e. models who are size 12-14, whoop-de-doo), she submitted her own photos of her with food done in the motif of AA's advertiments as revenge against American Apparel

The company was co-opting the mantra of plus-size empowerment and glazing it with its unmistakable brand of female objectification.

I have long since avoided American Apparel, because they didn't make clothes for me. Now they are  apparently offering (if you have a magnifing glass) token size 2x-3xl.  Even they are a 2x, I doubt they will fit.  I tend to find that plus sizes in stores that cater to thin people tend to run small. Sorry American Apparel you don't impress me with your who uses models who are not artsy but objectification of the female form  and your token plus line.

And last but not least, the fat chick that Southwest humilited is fighting back! The woman known as Athia was forced to buy a second seat on a southwest flight, even though she flew before without one and was willing to sit with her aunt and uncle. When Southwest found out they didn't have a seat for another passenger, they hastily refunded her money to get back that extra seat.

For her humalition she received a $150 "luv bucks" voucher to fly Southwest again.  Instead of giving in, she decided to create her own love bucks to send to Southwest. 

Southwest tried to pacify me with $150 airfare. They completely disregarded my concerns and dismissed my experience. That's not okay.

I've decided to send Southwest airlines my own version of their "LUV" bucks. I'm going to send them "LOVE" Bucks so they can buy some Dignity, Compassion, Integrity, and Decency. Fake money ftw!

If you'd like to join me in letting them know what you think, you can tweet your Love Bucks to @southwestair, post it on their FB page, send it to their email or to hq at:
Southwest Airlines
P.O. Box 36647-1CR
Dallas, Texas 75235 

Remember Fat Chicks, win or lose, always fight back!

The Worst Diet in the World Part 2

Back in May, I wrote a post about how I think weight loss surgery is the worst diet in the world. 

Allergan the creaters of  "lap-band"  has been losing money on the procedure. They had previously removed another stomach band the "Easyband".  Allergen blamed the government (How convenient!) However it might have something to do with killing people.

Two doctors and the ad company who created the ads for 1(800) Get-Thin are being sued for wrongful death.

Tamara Walter died Dec. 26, three days after she had a Lap-Band device surgically implanted at an outpatient clinic at 9001 Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills, which has used several names including Beverly Hills Surgery Center, according to the lawsuit. Walter, 52, is one of four patients to die in the days after Lap-Band procedures at clinics that are connected to the advertising campaign, according to lawsuits and coroner reports.

The deaths were apparently caused by a bad anesiologist and poor care, which is why if you are thinking about getting the surgery or any cosmetic surgery, anesthesia is no joke.

To me, these weight loss clinics that promote Weight loss surgery as something easy and simple feed off people's desparation in this fat hating world. They see fat people as less than human, to experiment on and make money off. 

Early this year Allergan the markers of the lap-band has been trying to distance themselves from (800) Get-thin.

And so Allergan ceo David Pyott, who was making the rounds yesterday to chat about a recent earnings report, is now scrambling to disassociate the company from the not-so-subtle message on the billboards that “Diets fail! The Lap-Band works!” To wit, he tells the paper “that isn’t the wording I would use. We put patients’ welfare and safety at the top, so I wouldn’t support it.”

Meanwhile National Geographic has postively covered Health at Every Size.

Bacon (Linda Bacon) writes, "What no one needs, at any size, is to feel bad about how they look or what they weigh. People who live by Health at Every Size ideas tend to feel better about themselves, and that can lead to better health, too, with less stress and disordered eating."

Hmmm... on one hand, death and the other hand enjoying movement and normal eating.

I see the problem, there is no money to be made with the second choice.

Fat stigma vs. Being fat and yes, starving does kill you.

There has been some talk lately on fat stigma and whether that is the cause of "fat" health issues.  After all, too much stress can cause:

Mental health disorders, like depression and anxiety
Obesity
Heart disease
High blood pressure
Abnormal heart beats
Menstrual problems
Acne and other skin problems

What? Is that the O word on that list? So are you saying being stressed out about being fat can cause you to be fat?

So let's say you are fat and healthy. Everywhere you look there are messages saying OBESITY KILLS! You are often told you are worthless sometimes by friends, family even random strangers.  If you can actually find a job, the workplace is hostile.

Overweight individuals are often viewed as lazy, less competent, and sloppier in the workplace, classroom, doctor’s office, and at home.

Meanwhile a study in the European Heart Journal discovered if you are systematically starved, you have a higher chance of heart disease.

Those living on rations of 400-800 calories a day had a 27% higher risk of heart disease in later life.

So you are a fat person, and every day you starve yourself to lose weight, eventually having to do very low calorie diets or stomach ambutation because nothing else has worked, and when you don't lose weight, you face ridiculed at work, you don't make enough money to live on. Your insurance decided to either cut you off or raise your rates.  Your doctor treats every ailment you have by pushing weight loss.  And you can't even buy nice clothes at reasonable prices. Everyday you are constantly stressed until your blood pressure shoots up and you have other warnings about heart disease. No one would think stress was the culpit. Instead in the end, it's always blamed on fat.