Plump Lady

I noticed in the list of Google ads in the sidebar, in addition to "Overweight" and "Weight Loss" and some of the other regular options, one of the choices was "Plump Lady." And of course I eagerly clicked, because I wanted to know what the keywords "Plump Lady" might be advertising. Is Plump Lady a hot new band? A variety of gourmet sausage? A prize-winning thoroughbred? An extra-curvy blow-up doll?

Alas! "No ads were found that matched your search." Google, you tease, I'm very disappointed in you.

But hey, if any of you want to advertise your new band or blow-up doll, you will be the one and only result for Plump Lady! So give your product this awesome name, and then sit back and watch the money roll in. You're welcome!

This Is For You, "The Ladies"

I really enjoyed Linda's whole rant about Salon's new section "for the ladies," but was especially intrigued by this part:

"You want to be taken seriously as a publication that cares about women? Quit it with the pink and start thinking coherently about the entire publication. Stop running stories about overweight girls where the accompanying picture is of a girl dreaming of a goddamn donut."

So then I had to go look at the article about the donut dreaming. It's worth sitting through the ad for, and it's even worth looking at the annoying donut picture.

"As I sit with them on the riverbank, it's clear the Wellspring girls are obsessed with food, all right -- the food they're not allowed to eat. Their talk is peppered with paeans to waffles, Pringles, beef and chicken. One girl, who has been at the camp only a week, pledges defiantly to drink a gallon of juice when she gets home. But the food chatter comes to a halt when the campers spy a girl nearby whose body is everything theirs are not."

The punchline, of course, is that the girl is ten years old.

Then there's the girl who doesn't want to lose weight, but is at the camp because her mother is scared nobody will be her friend if she's fat.

"'You're the weirdest person I've ever met in my life!' the other girl replies. 'Even tiny girls want to lose weight.' The campers chime in about how incredibly annoying those tiny girls are, the ones who whine about how fat they are but who are really a size 4 or 6 or 8. But a big girl who doesn't wish she were slimmer? The campers can't even comprehend it."

I read the whole article with interest, and recommend it!

"I'm Sure Many Of The Other Home Viewers Out There Are Pleasantly Plump Or Chunky"

This article from MTV talks about everyone from Fat Monica to Shallow Hal to Tracy Turnblad, whose quote is the title for this entry. It's about Hollywood and the fat suit. Some quotes:

"Subconsciously or not, it's easier for the audience to laugh at the fat person if they know that the actor underneath is actually trim... But to the overweight person sitting in the audience, the experience must be similar to a black person watching an old blackface minstrel show."

Brought to my attention by, Livin' La Vida Low Carb, the king of the self-promoting blog, who has some interesting things to say about this article as well.

"You know, the writer of this story is right. Think about the last time you saw an overweight person playing in the lead role of ANY film that did not make an issue of their weight. Hmmmm? Need more time to think? None coming to mind? I couldn't think of any either."

And while I'm on the subject, that poster of Ryan Reynolds in the fat suit makes my eyes roll back up into my head.

Livin' La Vida Cookie

Mr. Lo-Carb gets another link from me (he's so crafty, that guy) by inserting my giant cookie-eating picture in his entry. Cookies definitely have carbs in them; maybe now I am his blog nemesis!

Where Are You, Mary Poppins?

Two articles out of Australia for you today. The first one explains that being rich, at least in Australia, makes you less likely to be overweight:

"'People from a lower socio-economic background eat more junk food and they have less time to care for themselves,' Mr Korn said. 'If you have a nanny and you're not working, you have all day to go shopping for food to get something nice to cook for dinner which is healthy, and you can afford gym membership.'"

I promise that when I'm independently wealthy (rich thin people, feel free to click the "donate" button) I'll hire a nanny. I don't have kids or anything, but my nanny can drive me to the grocery store and to the gym, and she can make sure I eat healthy snacks at regular intervals.

The second article is depressing, actually. According to two studies, parents are focused on making sure their boys are big, strapping lads, but that their girls are thin.

"'We think it's probably related to parents being conscious of how a girl looks from an early age... Anecdotally, parents conceive that it's OK for a boy to be bigger because there's a physical advantage.'

Nutritionist Rosemary Stanton said there was no justification for focusing on girls' figures. 'We don't have any problem convincing girls and teenagers that they are overweight; sometimes we have a problem convincing them that they are not,' Dr Stanton said."

Told you: depressing.

Not Dead Yet

An update about Steve, who's still walking across the country.

"Mr. Vaught said as many as 150,000 people visit his Web site each week to check on his progress. Some view it as 'a train wreck. Let's watch this fat guy. He's gonna die,' he says. Others live vicariously through his adventures. And there are those who write e-mails, saying they are inspired by his journey.

'People's lives have changed because of what I'm doing, which is just amazing to me,' he said. 'It's changed me already. You have to focus on a lot of things out here you don't normally focus on. You can lie to everybody else around you. You can't lie to yourself.'"

Gastric Pacemaker

Looks like it could be the wave of the future.

"'It reduces appetite. But unlike the other procedures, it doesn't change the shape or the size of the stomach,'... The device itself is similar to a heart pacemaker and about the size of a silver dollar. It is implanted in a one-hour procedure with general anesthesia. Surgeons use a laparoscope to make small holes in the abdominal wall down to the stomach and then attach two electrical wires right into the outer wall of the stomach. The wires send mild bursts of electricity throughout the stomach wall. The wires are powered by a battery in the pacemaker which is placed under the skin on the abdomen.

The result is that the stomach's nerves are stimulated, which fool[s] wearers into thinking their stomach is full."

This seems like a pretty nifty invention. Although you would have to be very careful you were getting enough nutrients and preserving your lean muscle mass (see below) through exercise. But for the extremely obese, it would be safer and less invasive than bypass surgery, right?

But Exercise Sucks

Lose weight through exercise, not through eating less, says this article.

"The current definition of overweight is not like the speed of light or pi. What was considered as the normal, desirable weight is too low... Researchers in Denmark and Finland found people who lose weight by eating less food were more likely to die early. The theory is that dieting results in a decrease in the amount of lean body tissue as well as fat and that this is damaging to health, although the reasons why this appears to happen remains unclear. Losing weight through exercise avoids this problem as it preserves or increases the amount of lean mass."

I'm going to go do some sit-ups now.

Baby Klum

Heidi Klum is the latest get-thin-quick celebrity, losing her post-baby weight with the help of a trainer and some serious self discipline. What I thought was interesting about the article was this bit:

"Last year, Heidi confessed she was under contract to lose her post-pregnancy weight from Leni in just one month. The sexy supermodel's lucrative $25 million deal with lingerie company Victoria's Secret, which also bans her from 'altering her image,' required her to be fit enough to model underwear just amonth after giving birth."

Now I've never had a baby, but it seems to me that one month is a realy unrealistic deadline, even if you have a personal trainer! I guess she's got to earn her $25 million somehow, but jeez. Is that really healthy? Forty-five pounds of baby weight in a month?

Comment of the Week

I know it's only Tuesday, but it's a holiday week, so this counts, right? Anonymous says:

"[W]hat is so terrible about saying that being overweight is not a good thing? It is not natural, it is not healthy, and I'm sorry, but it is not attractive. There is a reason other countries laugh at Americans; in fact, when I was in Germany, the first thing Germans (mostly thin people) would say when they heard I am American was "Fett!" (Fat!) Is that what you want people to think of you?... Before you start attacking me, just think about this: whom do you find more attractive, Brad Pitt or John Candy? Jennifer Aniston or Roseanne? Be honest.

Feel free to respond here. As for me, I am definitely not attracted to Roseanne, but I'd totally make out with Dawn French.

Only Tangentially Related

I don't know how much occasion I will ever have again to quote "The Colbert Report," but here goes. This is from an interview between Stephen Colbert and gay congressman Barney Frank, as quoted in Houston Voice.

Colbert: "To sum up, you’re left-handed, you’re Jewish. But there is something else about you. And this is sort of the elephant in the room that I’m not naming, but as a journalist I feel like I have to name it. Um, you’re a little overweight."

Frank: "I can honestly say to you whether or not I lose weight is of no concern whatsoever to my wife."

I Love You, Flappy

A wonderful essay at Ampersand. You should go read the whole thing.

I’m going to look at myself naked in the mirror and take a deep breath and screw my courage to the sticking point and I am going to whisper, indulgently, ridiculously, I am going to whisper to each part of this body that I have such a hard time with, that I have hated and continue to hate so much, I’m going to whisper “I love you.”

Curves Are The New Black

"Curves are in and skinny minnies are out, according to a survey of British women, who named Kelly Brook, Kate Winslet and Marilyn Monroe as having the bodies women most admire... These curvaceous stars were voted way ahead of stick thin celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Victoria Beckham."

The article also mentions that Kate Winslet, voted top icon for the '90s, refused to go on a diet for Titanic. And as someone who just watched that movie about four times in a row, let me just say, she is perfection itself.

(I watched it four times to listen to all the commentaries; I highly recommend the historians' commentary in particular.)

Scare Tactics

In this article, which offers the revolutionary advice to "stop overindulging and start moving," we are told that "[Being] overweight will kill far more Americans each year than any terrorist would dare dream of taking out." and "by 2050, nearly all Americans will be overweight or obese. This would surely break the proverbial bank and totally collapse our health-care system."

Don't raise the terror level yet; a counterpoint can be found here: "Last year, life expectancy in America reached an all-time high. Death rates among all age groups have been in decline for decades. That's true across all races and both sexes. In fact, the life expectancy gap between black and white is narrowing, even though African-Americans are fattening at a greater clip than white Americans. The two diseases most linked to obesity -- heart disease and cancer -- are in rapid decline.

The article admits that advances in medical technology are responsible for much of this, but also says that if obesity is going to cause this huge public health crisis, and if we are fatter than ever, there should be some sign of it by now, and there's not. Hmm. True?

Another interesting point from the article is that "Black women, for example, don't have the same increases in mortality at higher weights than white women do. Campos believes this is because black women have healthier attitudes about weight -- they don't diet as frequently, and eating disorders are rare."

Also that the original figures about deaths from obesity are inflated. Well, yes.

Then again, this article puts a positive spin on the weight problems of those in lower socioeconomic brackets, which as we know is its own can of worms. "Let them eat Big Macs!" isn't exactly the answer either.

I Think We're Gonna Need A Bigger Closet

Interesting: there's a British production company filming a plus-size beauty pageant for a documentary. (Registration is required; I used bugmenot.com of course.) Apparently the prize is a whole two hundred bucks, and the entry fee is eighty dollars. Something about that math doesn't strike me as quite right. I guess that's not really the point, though. Plus sized girls deserve tiaras too!

From the article: "This is not about promoting big is beautiful. There are health issues with obesity," said Stamper... But her attitude is "I'm not going to sit in a closet because you think I don't look good enough to do what I want to in life."

Hey, I didn't know fat people were supposed to go in the closet. Move over, gay people! You're going to need to make room. A lot of room. You know, for all the fat people.

Comment Of The Week

In moderating the comments all at once this week (see below) I realized we get a lot of good ones here at Big Fat Deal. In this week's featured comment, Anonymous defends Tyra Banks:

"The woman cares, give her a break. Ok, she's thin, that doesn't mean that she doesn't care. She made alot more people realize what's going on in the world, if her show made one person more caring towards people of any size, then good for her and good for all of us!"

Do you agree? Disagree? Talk about it here!

I Am A Moron

I was going to post to ask you if the comments were broken, or if you were just stunned into silence by my new, daily updates. But it turns out that I am moderating comments, and I had to go in and approve them. So, um, there are some comments for you all to read. Enjoy!

Chastity Bono

As you may have heard, Chastity Bono is getting ready to join Celebrity Fit Club. I don't much care for her being referred to as "Cher's heavyweight daughter"--she's not a boxer, people--but I sympathize with the desire to fit in in Los Angeles. Except that you shouldn't have to be skinny to "fit in," should you?

She does say "I don't need to be skinny in order to be comfortable, I just need to be healthy." But she's already admitted that she wants to "fit in" with the skinny Los Angeles people. So which is it?

Hey Babe, What's Your Sign?

Lose weight with astrology! I bet her book says that Pisces and Taurus are the "fat signs" since they're associated with self indulgence (Pisces) and love of food (Taurus). What the author (Maria Shaw) does tell you is that "Skinny-Minnies tend to be Aquarius, Gemini, Libra and Capricorn."

I don't know about you, but I use my astrological penchant for self indulgence to maintain plausible deniability.

Voice Of Reason

Today's kudos go out to Catherine Zeta-Jones (of all people), who says, "I think it's awful, this competition between actresses who just had a baby to see who's first to get back to their normal weight. It's insane, I find this wave of super-skinny women scary."

Also, I saw some pictures of her in a tabloid this weekend, comparing her in 1997 to her in 2005, and it's true, the woman does not age. It's some kind of creepy Faustian thing, isn't it? It's like she's Dorian Gray and Michael Douglas is the portrait in the attic.

Clothes For Overweight Kids

This article has positive things to say about new clothing options for plus size kids. I especially feel for the girl who showed up to school wearing the same shirt as a gray-haired cafeteria worker. (No offense to the lunch lady, but man, that poor kid.)

An expert points out that this is more, not less, likely to help kids like themselves and lose weight. "If misery made people thin, there wouldn't be any fat people." Man, isn't that the truth.

Star Jones: Q & A

A surprising number of people are out there searching on Star Jones-related topics, so in an effort to give the people what they want, I present the Star Jones Q & A.

Q: star jones before after weight loss
A: Well here she is in a bathing suit, which is not a very flattering picture. And here she looks pretty skinny, if a little scary and about ten years older. She also has a picture on her official site where she looks like an alien. I think she looks pretty good here.

Q: how did star jones loose [sic] weight
A: This site reports: 'According to Star, she has not had gastric bypass surgery, though that doesn't keep fans from speculating. She did have breast reduction surgery, but only because she said she was having pains in her back. Maybe the doctor nipped and tucked a few things while he was in there, who knows? All we do know is that Star says she designed a long-term health plan with her doctors, in which she now "eats healthier, drinks lots of water and exercises regularly." She also does Pilates several times a week.'

There's also this whole "I won't diet!" thing from 2001, but that picture looks so fake, I don't know if I trust the quotes either. (Although this does sound like her: "I'm not worried about getting skinny... I'm happy with Star!")

Q: star jones weight view how
A: Not really sure what you're going for there, my friend; why not try the all knowing Wikipedia entry on Star Jones?

Q: deep dicking star jones
A: I'm terribly sorry, but there I can't help you.

Tyra's Fat Suit II

"I know it comes as a shock to learn that I’m Tyra Banks wearing a fat suit, but I hope it makes America aware that really, everyone afflicted by obesity has a beautiful person wearing him or her, too, and that deep down, they all feel real supermodel feelings."

From Pound, of course!

More About Jen Weiner

And the plus-sized heroines of her novels. Some great quotes from her, as well.

"It's important to me, because in so many books, including the ones I read when I was growing up, the big girl was the punch line or she would get Prince Charming and everything that came with it only after she lost a lot of weight. I wanted to talk about characters who were bigger than your average starlet. My God, the salad I ate for lunch is bigger than the average starlet these days."

And she does address the issue we were discussing below, about Toni Colette and her non-fatness.

"So much of Rose's problem is in her head, as opposed to her actual physical self. It's her history of always having been the bigger sister, not as pretty as the younger one. She internalized that so much that even if she were a Size 0, she'd still feel like the fat girl."

The Sisterhood of Jared's Traveling Pants

Who doesn't love Jared from Subway and his fat pants? He's apparently going from school to school to preach the gospel of the pants.

"Before putting his old tent-like trousers back into his weathered book bag at the end of the student assembly, Fogle added, 'If you only remember one thing from this, think "I never, ever, ever want to wear anything close to those pair of pants."'"

Tyra's Fat Suit

Looking for the latest Tyra Banks news and fat photos? It is here. Looking for video of Tyra on her show on February 1, 2007 talking about the pictures? It is here. Welcome to Big Fat Deal.

This editorial alerts us to the fact that Tyra Banks is the latest celebrity to put on a fat suit, to go "undercover" for her show. Tyra's website has pictures of her in the fat suit, and a description of the episode: "Witness Tyra’s extreme transformation, as she goes undercover as a 350-pound woman to see if people will treat her differently. She also speaks with overweight women who deal with weight related discrimination every day and goes on three blind dates to see how the men will react."

As the editorial linked above says, "Sure people look and point and laugh and ooh it's so shocking that one human being would treat another human being so disgracefully. But what does Tyra have to say that 'real' fat people across North America haven't been saying for decades? The same words come from a fat person's mouth and no body listens."