Married Bliss

One of those random articles based on seemingly arbitrary research. This one says that married people are more likely to be fat, but more likely to be healthy overall. This happens because you're less likely to fret about your diet and appearance, but more likely to have a lot of vigorous sex.

I made that last part up.

Here's Another One!

I wanted to post this link a while ago but then it got archived. Anyway it's the "President Bush is overweight" story that made the rounds a little while ago, when he was revealed to have a BMI that is 26.3.

But the interesting part of this article to me was the suggestion that a BMI of 25 is not a magical cutoff point where anything below that is equally good. In fact, the end of the article goes on to point out that a BMI of 25 might actually be optimal, and that being too far above or below this BMI can be dangerous to your health. Very interesting.

Getting Back Into The Linking Swing...

This play by Neil LaBute, called Fat Pig and starring Kerri Russell, sounds intriguing. But did the writer really have to refer to the overweight character as a "porker"? Sure, it's a pun, but still.

Still Doesn't Explain "Shallow Hal"

An article about actors who gain and/or lose weight for roles. Apparently audiences "demand authenticity" so the solution is not to hire a plump girl or a skinny guy for a role, but to make a known quantity plumper or thinner.

"[Christian] Bale’s near-masochistic methods challenge us to examine our fascination with celebrity stunt dieting. Movie stars are already larger-than-life figures to us; the fact that they can manipulate their weight, apparently at will, while many Americans wage dietary trench warfare against themselves only enhances their mystique."