Willpower Pill

There's a new diet drug being tested and approved right now, sort of a "Willpower Pill," expected to be made available by 2006.

"The drug works by suppressing cravings to smoke and over-eat by acting on the body’s endocannabinoid system, a natural physiological system that regulates energy balance."

Weight-loss drugs tend to be too good to be true (e.g., Fen-Phen and its frightening side-effects) and are scorned by people who feel like medication is the lazy way out of the problem of overweight. But so far there's been no such thing as a lazy way out or a magic pill. Even gastric bypass surgery is falliable and the post-surgery lifestyle requires a great deal of discipline.

So what about this new pill? I have no idea. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Punish Me, Eric Hentge, For I Have Been Bad

As readers of Mr. Ointy know, I'm getting very enthusiastic about the concept of good nutrition. Here's an article about the "new" Food Pyramid which seems to mesh pretty well with the new Weight Watchers plan that I am digging so much.

Except that there's a big "screw you" in the middle of this article if you're overweight, when Eric Hentge tells us: "Discretionary calories are the reward for living right. And Americans who are overweight or obese don't have discretionary calories. They used them up a long time ago."

Well, shit. In that case, if I ever meet Eric, I will be sure to bend over so he can spank me.

Bigger Hospital Beds

In a controversial move, hospitals are purchasing new equipment to help them treat severely obese people.

The negative side is that this equipment is expensive and there's a perception that these people don't "deserve" to have all this money spent on their "self-created" medical problems. And then the plus side is expressed well in the article, which says that "People who might have stayed home for years out of shame now get treatment and equipment built for their needs."

I would hope it's a small minority of people who need specialized equipment. Could these folks be helped by surgical treatment of obesity? Am I naive in thinking that nobody would be happy weighing 500+ pounds? It seems like such a restrictive life.

On Being a Fat Professor

Another personal story, from a professor who is dealing with the ramifications of being "robust."

"Weight loss is usually presented as some kind of road to personal fulfillment and salvation through self-control. But the thinner I get, the angrier I feel. The more I conform to the morality of slimness, the more I want to lash out at people. Perhaps I decreasingly feel the need to compensate for my appearance by being nice. The last thing I want to be is some fey, hyperkinetic, academic version of Richard Simmons in crimson hot pants."

His writing is intelligent, funny and defiant, but he hides behind a pseudonym and seems to be, overall, unhappy. (At least that was my impression.) Well worth reading his perspective.

This link brought to you by Nels!

Fit And/Or Fat

It may seem really obvious that physical fitness is more important than weight, but this article is well worth reading anyway, just for the way it lays it all out there. This quote (about body fat testing) is particularly interesting:

"I hate [these tests] because people become obsessed with them. People come in and they may be losing centimetre after centimetre off their waist but might not be losing weight because scales don't measure lean body mass, so they're not happy. People come into the gym ready to be scammed, and if they're not losing pounds then that's their proof. They get too bogged down worrying about weight and they get demotivated."

I was also surprised at the claim that "there's no direct correlation between weight and aerobic capacity" because I always do assume that a thinner person is going to have more aerobic capacity than I do. But it makes sense. If you gave a thin person a forty pound weight and made them climb the stairs, they would probably be out of breath at the top just like I would. Sometimes I forget that merely carrying extra weight around means I am doing more work than a thinner person is.

There is also a link to this site, which shows you ways to test your fitness level.

Foot Binding Is The New Black

"Today, surgeries such as shortening the second toe, collagen injections into the footpads, and narrowing the feet are being performed on women desperate to feel fashionable."

Otherwise known as, you've got to be fucking kidding me.

The Knowledge Base

The ideas in this article seem remarkably cogent. (And also good news for scientists, who work in obesity research.)

There is a distinction made between medical and cosmetic obesity, and an acknowledgement of all the complex factors that contribute to overweight. "[B]eyond purely biological aspects, there are economic, behavioral, built environment, cultural, and sociological factors underlying obesity. [The National Institute of Health] is heavily invested in trying to increase the knowledge base."

I look forward to seeing what emerges from this research!

Little Mystery

This story, about overweight kids not being allowed to play football in a certain county, confuses me. When I was in high school, all the really big guys were football players. I've never heard of an upper weight limit for football in my life. Have I been mistaken all these years?

Obligatory Spice Girls Mention

I had no idea that Geri Halliwell was struggling with bulimia, but it sounds like she's found a happy medium these days. She didn't really eat cake out of George Michael's trash can, did she?

I Love The Brits

But sometimes they are sort of crazy. I think only a British newspaper would go into this level of detail about Madonna's health and beauty regime.

"Madonna's leg veins could be a result of her exceptionally low level of body fat, which would make veins more prominent..."

Madonna's leg veins? Seriously?

More Vocabulary

I was reading The French Lieutenant's Woman and came across this bit and thought of our earlier discussion:

Her figure required a word from Ronsard's vocabulary, rondelet--all that is seductive in plumpness without losing all that is nice in slimness.

I wouldn't mind being considered rondelet.

Once Again: Is It Easy?

The discussion continues in the comments here, and I think the consensus is that people face genuine logistic and personal difficulties in the struggle to lose weight, not the least of which is the message we're getting that we are terrible people for "letting ourselves go" which a terrible turn of phrase but that's a whole other story.

This morning on NPR, I was listening to this report about how obesity is often linked to income. I think we've touched on this before in the comments of a previous post, how wealth used to mean plumpness (and that was desirable) and now wealth means one can afford to be thin (which is the current ideal).

This morning's story was about a woman who only has a couple of dollars for lunch and works on the road. In an effort to get the most for her money, she buys two bacon cheeseburgers. What else could you buy that was as filling, but healthy, for two dollars? Especially on the road? I haven't been able to come up with anything.

The Oblimpics

It is a terrible pun, I know. But in this article from Yahoo, Rick Berman makes the excellent point that:

"The fact that so many [Olympic] athletes are considered overweight or obese is proof that much of the so-called obesity epidemic is based on faulty assumptions and overblown statistics. Common sense faces a big hurdle when our government's war on fat counts Olympians as Oblimpians."

Guilty Pleasure

In the quest for new weblog content, I am signed up for a number of rather complicated Google News alerts. As a result, I get links to articles about the "obesity epidemic" in a different state every day. (Today is Kentucky.) And I hear an awful lot about Kirstie Alley (believe me, I spare you much of it). But today, I got a link about Clay Aiken and how he likes hot dogs. (Yeah he does.) It has nothing to do with this blog, but I think Clay Aiken is sort of dreamy. In a vaguely gay, possibly Republican way. I have problems, people. Problems.

Catholic Schoolgirls Rule

Although I went to Catholic school (those cute little plaid skirts) I think having fashionable plus-sized clothing for kids is a good thing. Certainly we shouldn't encourage significant child overweight, but low self-esteem is poison to weight loss. We should fight the battle in the cafeteria and in nutrition class, not by making kids wear ill-fitting, unfortunate-looking clothes.

On the other hand, I sort of wish clothes weren't divided into "plus-sized" and "juniors" or whatever it is these days. Why can't there just be clothes in various sizes with no line drawn between being "regular" and being "fat"? I do feel bad for the kids who will have to experience the shame of plus-sized shopping, although cute clothes do help take the sting out of it a bit.

Of course I am also in favor of kids wearing uniforms to school so that the whole emphasis on fashion is avoided entirely, but that's another soapbox.

Death Is Not An Option: Marlon Brando, Elvis, or George Clooney?

"That our perspective is insane is evident in the fact that the bodies of obvious cocaine and laxative abusers are propped up against the physiques of average people, like celery sticks crowning a roiling bowl of cheese dip."

A well-written article that does mention Kirstie Alley yet again, but is worth reading anyway. I mean, how many articles these days contain the phrase "roiling bowl of cheese dip"?

Then there's this article which is not quite as literary, but does contain an interesting tidbit. Why does he have to give up sex? (See, now you have to go read it.)

How You Know You Might Be Getting Mildly Hysterical

I was researching the care and feeding of my new tree frog, Apple. (He came with that name; I'm not trying to be Gwyneth, except that I totally plan to converse with my tree frog in a "Gwyneth Paltrow British" accent.)

I knew things were getting a little out-of-hand when I read this page and my first thought was Hey! My frog is not "dumpy" or "flabby" or "obese"! He's just happy!

To paraphrase Will Ferrell: "Psst. He's a fucking frog."

Mesotherapy

Have you heard of mesotherapy? It is a weight-loss treatment invented by the French. Oh, those wacky French. It involves "hundreds of injections," so right there I know I'm having nothing to do with it. Reading further, I see that in addition, "No one says exactly what they put into the (syringe)." Oh, that's comforting. I take it back; sign me right up.

And it took Roberta Flack a year to lose forty pounds with mesotherapy plus (wait for it) diet and exercise. I'm sorry, if I'm getting "hundreds of injections" I want to be able to lose forty pounds on a diet of ding-dongs and bad reality television.

Happy Fun Link

Okay, so the design of this site is not the best. But I did enjoy looking through the "Classical Curves" gallery; there was a lot of art there that I'd never seen. I especially enjoyed this painting by Degas. Beautiful.

A Glorified Comments Post

I think you're right, person in the comments, when you say that some people just don't get it. In this case, Mr. Anonymous, who said:

I fixed it by eating less and exercising more, with more exercise being the real key. I take care of my diet needs by eating a pretty strict diet six days a week and eating whatever I want on the seventh, plus regular weighings. That's not "obsessing", that's just keeping healthy... I think if you *have* to obsess over it there's something really wrong. Either you decide to control your weight, or not. If you want to control your weight, it's almost always feasible to come up with a low-maintenance diet and exercise plan.

Compare and contrast that comment with today's entry in the Skinny Daily Post:

Making all of the changes that we must make to lose weight permanently can feel impossible. Overwhelming. Giving up addictive food, taking on exercise, cutting back on caffeine, buying and preparing whole foods, measuring, weighing, preparing, recording. It’s a lot to ask. It’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of change. Is it too much?

Both of these individuals have successfully lost a significant amount of weight. But Mr. Anonymous presents it as "low-maintenance" whereas Julie understands that it's "a lot to ask." I don't think Mr. Anonymous was intending to attack anyone, he just hasn't had the same experience as some of the rest of us have had. He doesn't get it.

I would respond further to Mr. Anonymous, on a personal level, by saying that when I am trying to lose weight, I am obsessing about it. Because otherwise it simply doesn't happen. My habits, my metabolism, my personality-- they require it. There's no other way.

He says that if you have to obsess over it, "there's something really wrong." And that's the crux of the matter, I think. For some people, there is something--mental, or physical or both--that keeps us at the weights that we are. Whether these weights are "wrong" for us are for us to decide as individuals, not for Mr. Anonymous to decide on our behalf.

Because for me it is not a matter of just "deciding to control my weight or not." That's an oversimplification and--though it was probably not intended as such--an insulting one.

That Is Fucked Up

Some total ass clown told Joelle that, at 5'10", her goal weight of 160 was still too fat. "Well, missy, I hate to break it to ya, but your ideal weight is more like 135.  160 is pretty meaty."

"Pretty meaty"? "Your ideal weight"? Fuuuuuck that. Sounds like a guy who listens to what Howard Stern has to say about what a woman "should weigh," and unless you're interested in dating Howard Stern--or one of his mouth-breathing listeners who can't think for himself--that assessment is worth exactly nothing.

I feel the desire to punch that guy right in his hypocritical beer belly for making Joelle feel the way he did. But I will take the high road, and merely point out that not only am I five foot ten, but Sarah is too, and she had this extremely apt observation to make:

I get on the scale, and it says 133, and the nurse says, "Good for you!" Dude. At five foot ten? Hell. No. Ma'am. You could have used my wrist as a piercing awl at that point. The asses of all my pairs of pants looked all saggy and empty, because I had maybe half a buttock total, because I didn't eat and burned any extra calories crying myself to sleep at night and running around my apartment with packing tape the rest of the time. My face got all pointy and my sternum got all ridgy and I just looked grey and rough and beaten down -- and the nurse congratulates me. For looking like a box kite with shoes. That is fucked up.

Adult-Onset Hysteria

This is some bullshit, right here. As we've already established, getting hysterical over the weight of a child is exactly the wrong direction in which to go. Especially when the body mass index makes no distinctions between bodybuilders and couch potatoes, men or women, children or adults. And this page explicitly says, "It's important to note that BMI calculations aren't accurate for everybody. They aren't used for children because a child's body is growing." [Emphasis mine.]

Much better to focus, like others are, on how schools are making money selling junk food to kids.

Missing The Point

When I click on this article, I get a diet ad in the sidebar with a before and after shot of a girl in a bikini. To avoid the cognitive dissonance, click here instead. Here's an interesting quote:

"Obesity is not a disease," insisted Allen Steadham, director of the Austin, Texas-based International Size Acceptance Association. "All this does is open the door for the diet and bariatric surgery industries to make a potentially tremendous profit."

So what do you think. Is obesity a disease? I thought it was a good thing when it was classified as such, because medical treatment of obesity (if people want to go that route) can help prevent weight-related medical problems down the road. Sure, fat is not the only risk factor, but it is a medical problem, isn't it?

I thought it was a good thing when it was classified as such, because medical treatment of obesity (if people want to go that route) can help prevent other weight-related medical problems down the road. Sure, fat is not the only risk factor, but it is a medical problem. Isn't it?

The other question is, is it a medical problem that people should be treated for, or should they be expected to solve the problem on their own? It seems like both fat-activists and fat-bashers think that people should either do it themselves or not do it at all. It's interesting that they're both on the same side of the medical obesity debate in that way.

The other quote I thought was interesting, from the CNN article, was:

"The [fat acceptance] movement has found itself marginalized by drawing its membership and leadership from the far extreme of obesity," he said. "It will be more successful if it can attract the two-thirds of Americans who are being told by the government that they weigh too much."

Advertising

I already responded to this post in the comments, but on the issue of advertising, I want to call your attention to this ad from 1891 that suggests that thin wasn't always in.

Anonymous asserts that "advertising in the early 1700s showed thin women and the obese ones were ridiculed." I'd love to see a link for that so I know what the basis for this statement is. (I know we are talking about different time periods. Really, any links to old-time weight-related advertising would be fun.)

For Real?

REAL Magazine is doing a model search in New York City that supposedly has no height or weight restrictions.

"If you accept your body, your size and your life, we want to put you in our magazine!"

I haven't heard of this magazine before, but if that's genuinely what they're trying to do, I applaud them. Unlike the hypocrites at Jane who are very snotty about the whole issue. I read Jane, and they do have Katy McColl as one of their writers, but she is the only not-stick-thin person I've seen in that magazine in five years.