If The Election Isn't Aggravating Enough...

I was vaguely interested by this article until I got to the part about how "obesity is negatively correlated with intelligence" (oh but don't worry, the article acknowledges that there are some smart fat people) and "overweight people have lower expectations about what they can achieve in looking for a mate and therefore they more quickly decide someone they have found is good enough to settle for."

Well, this is clearly incorrect. After all, if I had low standards and no intelligence, I'd be voting for George Bush! (Thank you! Tip your waitress.)

Thanks to Nomie for the link!

The Biggest Loser: Reviews

I'd love know if any of you saw The Biggest Loser and what you thought of it. I've heard zero buzz and I had to work late, so I missed it!

Weekend Open Thread

I saved a bunch of posts as drafts, including this one, and Blogger deleted them. Thanks a lot Blogger! Now all my great Red Sox jokes are gone forever. Aah well. I'll just post this quote from The Fat Diaries, and invite you to comment on it as you will!

Usually an "open thread" seems to be "just say whatever" but that never quite makes sense to me. So, here's a quote for you to read (from someone who has lost over two hundred pounds so has certainly "been there") and then you can just say whatever!

"The more I thought about these size acceptance groups, the more annoyed I got.... as I dove into their website, I found a lot of propaganda, lies, and misinformation... You're talking about a physical characteristic and one, by the way, that can be changed. Unlike other protected classes, you do have the power and the ability to change your weight. I don't give a damn what any size acceptance organization says. If you're morbidly obese, it's because you eat too much... God didn't make you that way; YOU made yourself that way. Just admit that, there is no harm or foul in saying it. And don't give me that crap about how you don't eat much either and how all of your friends and family say the same thing. You may think you're fooling everybody by not eating a lot in front of them, but they don't know about everything you eat when you're alone. "

We Are Beautiful NOW

Why we should all live like Queen Latifah:

"Latifah is an example of how women in the black community show a kind of love for themselves that infects those all around them. Her celebrity franchise has opened a door. We are fortunate today that we can step out of our big-boned loving community and set an example of grace, style and boldness for big women suffering in communities clinging to a Size-4 Kate Moss Model of beauty."

The writer of this article becomes inspired to turn her back on weight-loss leaders who say things like "...don't let me down. I want to see you lose the weight and see how beautiful you'll be." What do you mean, how beautiful you will be? Man, I hate that.

Fat Elephant

Occasionally stories like this will land in my inbox and cheer up my morning with amusing mental imagery.

"'We hope to be the first zoo in the world with an elephant treadmill,' Edwards said."

Dreaded Phys. Ed.

Thanks to a couple of people who sent in this link to a story about girls feeling too embarrassed to exercise.

One link-sender-inner, Clarrie, had this to say about it:

"We should be teaching them that they can play hard, play competetive sports, run about, lift weights, jump, throw, climb, whatever - and it doesn't matter if they get sweaty and red in the face and mess their hair up in the process. By all means offer a range of physical activities, but don't tell girls they can only do graceful, ladylike pursuits and should leave the good stuff to the boys."

This sentence hit home for me, though: "The...problem is that a lot of the sport is competitive and only the children who are best at it end up getting picked and enjoying it."

That reminded me of why I hated P.E. when I was in school, although I liked other forms of physical activity. But the whole "getting picked last" thing really killed my desire to exercise at school; my coach was a bitch who did nothing but make me feel klutzy and fat; and I became a sedentary kid. That shouldn't have happened, and I bet I'm not the only kid to whom it did happen. I think a emphasis on less competitive physical exercise would have made a huge difference in my childhood.

Bait And Switch

See, you think this article is a reasonable look at women who have unrealistic expectations and diet during pregnancy and deprive their fetuses of nutrition and all that, and then you get to this:

"'There’s a lot of confusion about how much weight women should gain in pregnancy,' [Toni Steer] says. 'What they don’t realise is that it depends on how much they weigh at the outset. If they’re slim, they should gain more; if they’re obese, they should gain less. The notion that anyone should eat for two is misguided — at best, they should eat an extra two slices of toast in the last trimester.'"

Two slices of toast in the last trimester! At best! Not exactly promoting a healthy attitude there, Toni Steer. But really, mostly the article is very sensible about moderate and reasonable weight gain. I don't know why they threw in this crack-smoking quote right in the middle.

Beyonce Says...

"...that sometimes her meals comprise of a few slices of tomato and cucumber because she battles to maintain a slim figure. Her comments drew criticism that she was setting a bad example to girls at risk of developing anorexia... She has said in the past: 'I am a natural fat person, just dying to get out. I go through agonies to keep my stomach as flat as possible, though it is never flat enough for me.'"

So naturally, she's endorsing McDonald's. Because that makes total sense.

Link-Worthy

I haven't found anything terribly interesting in the weight-loss realm this week, have you? Instead I will link a very funny journal, because it mentions donuts and it may entertain you today, as it has entertained me. My standards (which, to recap, are "mentions donuts") have apparently dropped.

"I’ve been trying to figure out why parenting makes people get all chubbed out. Sure, I could say that people eat more when under stress, and the need to spend all one’s time parenting prevents a solid exercise regimen, but I think that this explanation is a bit too glib and obvious. Nothing so clearly true can be true. If we have learned anything from Science, it is that."

From The Story About the Toddler.

Let's Be Part Of The Two Percent

I was looking to alternate my controversial last post with a funny post, but instead I found the very sad statistic that only two percent of women around the world describe themselves as beautiful.

"From Brazil to the Netherlands to Argentina -- across cultures, ages, ethnicities and race -- women make it clear they believe there is a one-dimensional and narrow, physical definition of beauty. The findings show that the ideas of beauty and physical attractiveness are largely synonymous, and although both are highly valued by society, both are rendered almost impossible to attain."

See the comments button below? Why don't you hit it this morning, and tell us all what is beautiful about you.