God Bless Referrer Logs

Or I might never have seen this post. Very extensive and well-reasoned debate happening here, all stemming from that recent study about the dangers of overweight being overblown.

"The point is, the '400,000' study did not get an enormous P.R. push because of scientific merit. There was an idealogical need to trumpet a study proving that fat is 'the new tobacco'; and by serving the needs of ideology rather than science, the CDC put itself in a position where it deserved criticism... The huge publicity given the '400,000' did have a scaremongering effect; it encouraged a level of anti-fat hysteria unjustified by sound science. ('Hysteria' is the correct word; the director of the CDC called fat worse than the black plague.)"

If you're at all interested in the scientific debate about weight, there's a lot of food for thought in here.

The Seven-Day Shakeup

There's no shortage of articles containing weight-loss tips, but the premise of this article intrigued me.

"Forget dieting. A new study reveals that just changing one old habit a day can help you shift pounds effortlessly. Best of all, this proven weight-loss method involves no calorie counting. Instead, you have to do something different each day. Whether it's tuning into a different radio station or giving up a favourite drink, you'll stop living on auto-pilot."

And they don't mean changing one food habit, either. One suggestion is to say something you'd normally keep to yourself. One is to go to a different supermarket, and leave your list at home. Unorthodox, but interesting.

Gay People Are Into Healthy Eating Too, You Know

Julie's site is new and improved. And funny!

"Speaking as an artistically impaired non-graphics person, if I hadn’t been told that was the new food guide pyramid, I’d have no idea. You could have told me it was a gay pride logo or the patch on the back of this week’s hot designer jeans, and I would have believed you."

C Is For Carrot

Thanks to La Wade for alerting me to this very important news story about the Cookie Monster. In an effort to promote healthy eating among kids, the Cookie Monster now sings a song about cookies being "a sometimes food."

"Even Cookie Monster is learning to control his cookie cravings... His sage advice opened our eyes to the simple joys of a tasty cookie and now reminds us that moderation is the key to healthy living."

Is nothing sacred?

Finish The McFlurry Before You Shop

An examination of discrimination against overweight shoppers.

"In the second phase, seven women acted as either obese or healthy-weight shoppers. They also carried either a diet cola or an ice cream drink and told store employees whether or not they were trying to lose weight. Obese shoppers with the ice-cream drink reported the greatest amount of discrimination, King said."

I sort of wonder how much of this is percieving offense where there really isn't any, just due to higher sensitivity. But maybe I'm just saying that because I don't notice this myself, and I always go shopping in casual clothes, with an iced coffee in my hand or what have you.

Weight & Wages

Some interesting statistics suggesting that overweight white women earn significantly less than white women of average weight. I don't doubt that this is a valid statistic, but I will offer some anecdotal counter-evidence: my boyfriend and I work for two different ad agencies in San Francisco. Our job titles are the same, and our wages are exactly equal. (Or they were before I got my merit raise.) Obviously, San Francisco is an enlightened place.

Via squoogy.