Fat Chicks Rule

One stupid diet, OMG!

No blog post next week, I will be on vacation swimming and hiking. 

When I was in college,  I took a course on Anthropology and discovered that hunter/ gatherers were lazy. They did not work 40 hour weeks. 

"Experts" often give us their opinion that Our Great American Obesity Epidemic is caused by too little activity. We are not moving the way our hunter/gather ancestors did. Except that the activity levels of Hunter/Gatherers and westerners  use are apparently the same.

Despite spending their days trekking long distances to forage for wild plants and game, the Hadza burned no more calories each day than adults in the U.S. and Europe. The team ran several analyses accounting for the effects of body weight, body fat percentage, age, and gender. In all analyses, daily energy expenditure among the Hadza hunter-gatherers was indistinguishable from that of Westerners. 

Meanwhile Lancet is saying the exact opposite, people aren't exercising enough in the Americas and Europe and it's spreading. Soon people in third world countries might become fat. Oh nos! Maybe they even start having a higher life expectancy. We don't want that to happen!

Despite mentioning both studies, I am not advocating decreasing anyone's activity level. I am merely trying to show two things: one is that the OMG obesity alarmists don't necessarily know what is good or bad for you. To them all fat people are the same regardless of their health or fittness. The second is they don't really know how much exercise is good for you. When I took a class with Ragen Chastain she mentioned how some days you have a lot of energy for exercise and some days you don't. And it's true. Some days I like to walk from the subway (anywhere from 1-3 mile trek depending on the stop) and I can cover those three miles like it's nothing, other days, even the one mile can give me trouble (For me activity later depends a lot of the weather and the amount of sleep).  I mentioned a few weeks ago that a small percent of the population doesn't benefit from exercise.

According to an article on Alternet focusing on fitness may be no better than focusing on impossible beauty ideals and may be a class issue (i.e. fitness is for the rich only.)

Beyond body image, there’s also the issue of class and money. Within the pages of fitness publications are hundreds of advertisements for products that we’re told will solve our body woes and make us instantly healthier. The imagery is familiar: the woman who’s ever-so-lightly tanned, blonde-ponytailed, free of body hair, and toting an expensive gym bag full of color-coordinated gear, her legs and abs tightened by hours of private training sessions, Zumba and Pilates. Above all, you know she is upper-class.

I have mentioned before about the victimization of fat people especially poor fat people as people who are too stupid to understand fitness and nutrition. I have also mentioned that I eat fresh organic local vegetables because I can afford them and I get in my most activity during vacation. Everyone has been given a different body and can has their own limit. Not everyone's limits the same. But if we can't exchange body acceptance for healthism. 

Oh, and speaking of OMG, I saw a sign on the subway about a new revolution in dieting. It's everything the experts don't want you to know. You should take cold baths, drink black coffee, skip breakfast and in six weeks you will lose 20 lbs.

I'm sure if you follow this diet, you will lose weight. Just as I and 95% of other dieters lose weight in the beginning. Losing weight was never a problem. The first twenty pounds came off quickly until my body said "What the fuck are you doing?"

Even the author of these book has claimed this is not life style changes but merely just to lose weight quick. (BTW, I am not mentioning this book by name because I don't want to give it publicity).

It will be quick and as will the weight regain plus more.  

To me and anyone who accepts their size big or small, we will look at this and say it's another crappy fad diet, the same as all the others, but the book is marketed to teens and young adults who have the highest rates of eating disorders which makes it not just a piece of crap but dangerous. 

Looks can be deceiving

As I mentioned before I love to swim. If owned a pool, I would be in it every single day, maybe even twice a day, but I live in NYC which has a pool shortage. The pool I go to is overcrowded and often filled with obnoxious people who don't seem to comprehend other people are in the pool with them. Because of this and the fact I work a 9-5 job, I only manage to get to the pool one or twice a week. In two weeks I will be going to vacation in Vermont near a lake, where I will swim every single day, probably twice a day.  

When the pool is over capacity, I find myself on line to get into a swim lane because they only allow 6 people per lane. Three times when I got to the front of the line, the lifeguard looked me over and said "Slow". (Meaning slow speed lane), and all three times I corrected him that I needed a medium lane. 

Fat = unhealthy is so ingrained in people's head that this lifeguard looked at me and thought I was a slow swimmer.

This is Holley Mangold.

This is Sarah Robles

Both women are Olympic athletes in Women's weightlifting and will be in London. Sarah can bench press 570 pounds and has a good chance at the gold. She lives in poverty and couldn't find a sponsor. 

Meet Sarah Robles. She can lift as much as 570 pounds. In last year's weightlifting world championships, she bested every other American—both female and male. Sarah Robles is going to the Olympics in London this summer. But at home, in the United States, she lives on $400 a month.

Finally media company Solve Media did what Nike, Reebok and all the other loser companies wouldn't do, they sponsored this Olympic hopeful. Risto Sports is also sponsoring Sarah and Holley. 

Holley Mangold is athletic and comes from a family of athletes. She tried different sports including football and swimming before she decided on weight lifting. She weights between 300-390 and is not ashamed of her size

"I want people to be comfortable with who they are, whether they're big or small or have a huge nose and are uncomfortable with it, or are in the ugly duckling stage. Just be happy with who you are and what you've got," Mangold said. "I am a big proponent of trying to be healthy. I don't think anyone should be my-size big, but if you are, you should be happy at that size."

In the pool, the lifeguard may look at them and ask "Slow lane?" 

Fat acceptance isn't delusions.

For 17 years I believed the hype that if I did a diet, a weight loss plan, a lifestyle change, I would become thin, healthy, pretty and outgoing. I did everything, sensible diet plans like Weight Watchers, fad diets like slim-fast, low calorie, low carb, low fat. I went to dull gyms, climbing the stairmaster and walking the treadmill. Nothing worked in the long run. They all ended in the same way, my body not getting enough calories (even the "sensible plans") overrode everything and I began binging. During my yo-yo dieting years, I watched my cholesterol rise and my self-esteem plummet. I developed GERD, and my eating become so erratic and disordered that even almost 10 years since my last diet, I still have food and eating issues. 

Since ending the yo-yo dieting, instead of focusing on weight loss, I began focusing on health. I cut down on foods that my body did not like and which aggravated my heartburn. I refuse to ever join a gym again unless they have a pool.

Yet some people think I am deluding myself. That being proud of myself, my accomplishments and my body is a fantasy. 

Recently there was a first ever fat studies conference in New Zealand. Coverage of the event has been positive and negative.

"One of the reasons we're so fearful and hateful of fat is that we believe we can read people's bodies," Pause told AFP.

"So when people look at a fat body like mine, it tells them I'm unhealthy and that this is a diseased body. It tells them I don't ever exercise and eat nothing but junk."Pause said the reality is that some people are just bigger than others and fat studies highlighted the need for society to accept the fact, rather than constantly judging fat people and pushing them to lose weight." 

This quote from an article from Agence France Presse and picked by Alternet has more positive words from the conference organizers and presenters. 

On the other hand is this article from the Punch which starts off making fun of a fat kids, then explains it's not okay to make fun of fat people but you shouldn't going around accepting your fat because you will die. That's right fat acceptance = death. 

I call bullshit. Being fat is different, because in general it is a precursor to a range of deadly diseases. Being overweight puts people at risk of heart disease and stroke, diabetes and some cancers.

If you read my post last week, I talked about another study that proves people who are fat and healthy don't have decreased mortality (unless they happened to have diabetes and/or hypertension. (I have neither). Of course both diabetes and hypertension is bad for anyone of any weight. 

But which is a delusion?

My past belief that somehow I would join the 5% of people who lose weight and kept it off? That I should subscribe to a system that fundamentally fails most people who try?  That I should make myself crazy going on weight loss schemes after schemes, losing and regaining until I died younger than I should (which I'm sure will be blamed on my fatness)  

Or the belief that I need to feed my body wholesome foods and movement it can handle and let my weight fall where it lies. 

 

Weight alone won't kill you and Disney makes everyone a barbie.

Apparently another study (This one done as a study of other studies, aka a metastudy) found that "extra" weight did not cause a change of morbidity more than any other weight unless the person had hypertension or diabetes, then their risk increased 1.26 %.

However despite this proof that being fat (most likely) won't kill you, even if you are severly fat with diabetes and hypertension, the author of the study still wants to the doctor to tell you to lose weight.

Based on the study, Jerant recommends that doctors` conversations with patients who are overweight or obese, but not severely obese, focus on the known negative effects of these conditions on mental and physical functioning, rather than on an increased short-term risk of death. By contrast, Jerant added that it is important for doctors to talk with severely obese patients who also have diabetes or hypertension about their increased short-term mortality risk and treatment, including weight loss.

So let's get this straight. After analysing mortality studies, you discover that fat doesn't in fact kill (unless you are very fat and have diabetes or hypertension, then your mortality goes up a whole 1.26 percent). Otherwise you will die about the same time as everyone else. Despite this you still have to be bombarded with messages to lose weight and be thin. No one said, "Hey, it's normal for some people to be fat or thin, let's focus on disease prevention instead of weight loss instead!"

Speaking of being thin, one of my favorite movie characters is Urusla, the villain from The Little Mermaid. Sure she was a bad guy, but she was still awesome. She's not only a brilliant , magic-using, octopus, but a big fat fattie. Of course Disney villains are the only place for real body diversity. Every heroine is a Barbie, even non-white ones such as Jasmine, Mulan and Tiana.  Disney villains are fat (Ursula), have flawed faces (Scar) or disfigured (Captain Hook). Most the female villains are strong power woman (A no-no in society).

This is Ursula, she is confident and bold.

This is Ursula slimmed down to sell beauty supplies. 

And Ursula loses her confidence, her boldness, her beauiful curves, her tentacles now a pretty dress and Ursula loses everything that makes her different and original. She is now Ursula Barbie, pose pretty for the cameras. (And also so the designer could use the exact same mold for every doll, if you check out the other Disney villains they look the same). 

The FDA sells out and no fatness is not a disease or toxin but stigma is.

The FDA has approved the diet drug Lorcaserin (Brand name Belviq). In case the name is not familiar, I wrote about its  potential dangers  two weeks ago. As I mentioned before diet drugs and supplements have never worked in the long run and some of them are deadly. My only hope is that Belviq is merely ineffective (consider the low amount of weight loss on the drug, I don't know why anyone would think it could be successful.)

Pharma industries look at fat people as out of control eaters, hence most drugs work to try to reduce the appetite, supposedly making it easier for people to stick to low calorie dieting which doesn't work in the long run either. If your body doesn't get enough calories, it will slow down. 

Pharma ignores genetic components. Some people are fat not because they are diseased or overeaters but merely that is how their body works and it isn't normal or abnormal compared to thinner person's body. Some doctors believe fatness is a disease, while other believe it to be a risk factor for God knows what. (I've mentioned before no matter what evidence is presented and what doctors believe, the cure for everything is weight loss) If fatness is classified as a disease, then it can be treated with drugs and surgery. In this article doctors argue whether fatness is a disease or a risk factor (i.e. we can't win, we are either diseased or have fat related disease.)

Meanwhile in Australia a government agency commissioned a series of ads calling fat people toxic, further stigmatizing fat people. Okay they didn't actually call fat people toxic but they did say we were filled with toxic fat. This article features eating disorders specialist Lydia Jade Turner who mention how ads like this do little to help people get healthy, but can create eating disorders and dangerous dieting: 

Scaring and shaming people about their bodies is not the answer.
"Bullying under the guise of health is not helpful; research shows that shaming people about their body size does not lead to health-giving behaviours."
Ms Turner said anti-obesity campaigns only exacerbated the existing stigma and bullying based on body size.
"With a largely unregulated weight loss industry, many become desperate to escape fat stigma by engaging in weight loss behaviours that are harmful to health," she said.

Lydia and Sarah McMahon have created a petition against the ads. Please sign! Even if you aren't from Australia.

I have been doing a lot of posts lately about how stigma doesn't help people get healthy because it can create an atmosphere of thin or else. (As I mentioned in a previous post, fat people are even stigmatized when exercising) or eating disorders. Eating disorders have become not only common among teens  and young adults, but now it is seen in middle aged women as well. 

The researchers found that almost 4 percent report binge eating, nearly 8 percent report purging, more than 70 percent diet to lose weight and 62 percent say their weight or shape adversely impacts their lives, according to the report published June 21 in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

So guess what dieting industry? Your plan worked, you have hooked your customers into the Diet/binge cycle for life and we can thank the government agencies who helped.