Lara Frater's Blog, page 15

Fat, Happy and HAES.

A study at Warwick university indicated that you remain happy in your old age regardless of your weight. 

The researchers also found that being overweight or obese did not have a significant impact on mental well-being levels, with people with a BMI of more than 30 showing similar mental quality of life levels to those considered to be a healthy weight...

...We suggest that this could be due to better coping abilities, an interpretation supported by previous research showing older people tend to have internal mechanisms to deal better with hardship or negative circumstances than those who are younger.

The good news is being fat or thin in your old age should not effect your well being. As I grow older conformist appearence doesn't bother me as much. I no longer care if I'm fat, have cooties, sport a stylish haircut or wear this season's fashion.  Coming to terms with being fat has given me a tremedous sense of wellbeing.  I think as you get older, stigma about your appearence doesn't effect you as much. Such as the scene in Fried Green Tomatoes where Kathy Bates' character hits the car of the younger and "prettier" girls who had previously mocked her due to her middle age.

Speaking of feeling good, Yahoo Shine has an article about health rules you can break including one surprising HAES rule. One which I have mentioned here about a zillion times (okay, maybe only a hundred million). Eat healthy and move and let your body decide what your normal weight is. 

(Joanne) Ikeda advises her patients to stop obsessing over their BMI, eat a nutritious diet, and log 150 minutes of exercise per week. "A healthy lifestyle results in a healthy weight." 

A New York Times blog points out the importance of exercise for disease prevention. 

To avoid that fate, he says, keep moving, even if in small doses. "When I'm really busy, I make sure to get up and walk around the office or jog in place every hour or so," he says. Wear a pedometer if it will nudge you to move more. "You don't have to run marathons," he says. "But the evidence is clear that you do need to move."

I've mentioned several times on this blog, the importance of movement and that you move to the best of your abilties (which may mean anything from a short walk around the block to running a marathon.)

So eat right, exercise and be happy!

Will Power

Last week I mentioned that Disney had put up an exhibit at Epcot about the evils of being fat. As soon as the negative press hit, the exhibit went down for retooling. In the meantime please email TWDC.Corp.Communications@disney.com. Let them know that you were offended by the exhibit, glad to hear they took it down and whatever suggestions you might have when or if they bring it back. 

My biggest issue has least to do with the villains (I actually like the Snacker. She can use her spatula wand to make food therefore solving hunger). Maybe they are villains because they are tired of people picking on them. My biggest issue has to do with the hero Will Power.  It puts forth the old assumption that fat people are fat because we lack will power, that we are either stupid or lazy for being unable to stick to their diet. Something that simply isn't true. Most fat people have done things with their lives that require will power and discipline. Fat Studies is an academic field that has people from all types of professional backgrounds including people who have advanced degrees. How do you think they got this far? Does the snacker also have a wand that grants degrees? No, we all worked hard for it (I have two master's degree, when I did my thesis for my second one, I had to forfeit weekends for three months). So to say fat people don't have will power is a misnomer. We have plenty of will power. What we don't have are bodies meant to be thin and all the willpower in the world won't change that. 

When it comes to will power you may find that fat and thin people are willing to change bad habits without pressure or stigma. (I personally changed more bad habits since I stopped dieting then when I was in my 17 year dieting/binging cycle). 

And I can't end a blog post without an update from CHOA. Over at Fierce Free-Thinking Fatties (Oh btw, keeping this blog up while working a 9-5 job, being active, having  a social life, writing and research takes a lot of will power. Other bloggers write long wonderful masterpieces that I only wish I had the discipline to do) reports that CHOA's billboard campaign will be ending sometime in March. They claim that it has nothing do with the pressure from about everyone.

 I would like to share in the jubilation of the announcement, but I'm still not satisfied with the response. Strong4Life is trying to save face by saying that they had planned all along to end the campaign in March (you would think that if this were the case, they would have made this clear up front so that all the concerned parties would know what kind of timeline they had).

Personally, I think this is a slap in the face.

After being called out by, among others, the National Institutes of Health and Jillian Michaels, S4L has essentially said, "Don't get your panties in a wad, we were leaving anyway."

it was part 1 the billboard phase was supposed to end in March and they did not bow to pressure. I'm wondering what Phase 2 will be, perhaps the encouragement of teasing at school, fat camps for all, or mandatory dieting?

Stigma is not the new black

Lately it seems that despite studies that say weight stigma can cause health issues, it is still acceptable to use. As of now, no study has proven stigma works in long term weight loss. If anything stigma probably causes weight gain and "obesity" related diseases. I wrote a few months ago how being fat can be a sympton of stress. 

It seems that there are two methods of fat stigma and three ways to carry it out. The first method is victimization which we see in the CHOA's Strong for Life campaign that I and several other bloggers have been covering the last few weeks. In the CHOA's ads, fat children are victimized. Their lifes are pathetic. They are overeaters, suffer deadly diseases, will die at any moment, and are forced to be adults not children. A new video now shows a fat kid dying at 32 after a long life of drinking soda, beer, or urine. Now if only their stupid parents would realize their kids were tubs of lard and put them on diets they wouldn't die so young. (I'm sure CHOA's doesn't want the kids to diet, merely embrace lifestyle changes and when those lifestyle changes don't make those children thin, what's next? I'm thinking eating disorders.) 

The second method is villianization. And this comes in two forms, the first is the villianization of fat on your body. i.e. Being fat is bad, but fat people are okay. The Rudd center is a perfect example of this. They are against obesity AND weight based-stigma. I see this as an oxymoron, they don't.  You can't hate fat and love fat people. (One reading compared this to hating cancer but loving someone with cancer. I call BS.)

New York City has ads that stigmatize fat by making it gross. They have an ad where a person is drinking fat. Fat is automatically assumed to be bad. You want to stop drinking soda because ew look at all that gross fat. 

The other way fat people are portrayed as villains is through dubious moral reasoning. Fatties are immoral because they are delibrately lazy and don't eat right. 

And then there is Disney who just made fat people villains and I'm not talking about Ursula or the Queen of Hearts. I'm talking about their new interactive childhood obesity exibit at Epcot Center and it is horrifying. I had planned to go into details about this disturbing attraction, but I found out on Saturday that the site is down and rumor has it so is the attraction. The blog Red No 3 does a good job explaining the details. Please sign this petition to let Disney know that if they retool this attraction, it should be free of fat hatred (There is absolutely nothing wrong with an attraction that encourages healthy eating and movement). 

Think about bullying. Does bullying improve quality of life.

What do you do with Bullies?

You stand up to them.

The good, the bad and the obnoxious.

The good.

The billboard project and We Stand! has been creating not a flurry of action, but a feel good environment among fat activists. A post on Big Fat Blog talks about how the Billboard project has helped with dealing with growing up being bullied. I for one love to look at these beautiful positve imges as much as possible. Here's anther one to enjoy:

And starting tonight, you can vote for your favorite billboard. 

The Bad

Wired Magazine has an entire article devoted to selling strategies of Weight Watchers, which is changing their diet plan, again. The article starts by humiliating a current WW poster child with the same old stereotypes.

Things aren't so bad that he would get the Kevin Smith treatment from Southwest Airlines, but it's easy to imagine him breaking into a sweat carrying a pint of Ben & Jerry's up a flight of stairs. He'll soon be diagnosed with high blood pressure and high cholesterol. His doctor suggests a statin.

Now the After, more than a decade later: close-cropped blond hair, 34-inch waist, and 15 percent body fat on his 6′ 3″ frame. In a form-fitting suit, the 45-year-old father of two cuts the figure of a Marine sergeant 20 years his junior. This is a picture of a man in control.

The author of the article manages to use every single fat stereotype there is. The fat man eats too much, exercises too little, and will have a 100% chance of being metabolically unfit and out of control.  The thin man has no health issues and is completely in control. Here fat people are villianized. If only those fatties would learn some fucking control, they would be thin. The author mentioned several factors for weight gain but leaves out the genetic component. 

The irony here is between this man and me. He put on 75 pounds since he was young. I put on 75 pounds as well but from yo-yo dieting. 

And who is he now, this humailted poster child? He is the current CEO of Weight Watchers, David Kirchhoff. He has to keep his weight off, restraining his eating because it would look bad if he were to gain the weight back, wouldn't it?

Weight Watchers changes its program based on what's popular. The low carb craze had led to a low gylcemic craze, and a hatred of bread. I'm gluten intolerant. My stomach doesn't like it. But you going to find people give up gluten in hopes of losing weight (Gluten free products aren't always low calorie). 

As part of her job, Miller-Kovach and her team constantly follow the latest trends in nutritional science. A few years before the meeting, for example, they had explored a concept called the glycemic index, or GI, which establishes a hierarchy of carbohydrates based on their effect on blood glucose. 

Weight watchers follows trends for one reason: they want your money. They don't care if you are healthy.  They are a not a lifestyle change, they are a diet, they encourage restricted eating.

The obnoxious.

My husband has traveled more than I have and I've been waiting to visit more places around the world. He mentioned we might want to wait for retirement, but I told him I wanted to go now before the airline industry implodes.

Case in point...

Apparently the UK court of Appeals have decided that fat people can't sue if they are humilated on a flight and because of this decision, airlines in the country are pushing for a "Obese tax" to pretty much force fat people to buy a second seat. This ruling goes beyond fatness, it means that if anyone is humilated on a flight, they have no recource to the law.

"The ruling confirms that disabled passengers have no right to dignity once the wheels leave the runway," said Mr Barnett. "It also means that airlines are immune if they choose to embarrass overweight passengers by demanding a fat tax."

The implosion begins. 

Is being fat the governments business and of course more on Georgia.

Last Tuesday I attended a live debate "Is Obesity the Government's Business" that featured Paul Campos and John Strossel as against the motion and for the motion was Dr. David Satcher and Pamela Peeke.

You can watch it here, so I don't have to summarize. (And see if you can spot me in the audience) I will talk about different points the debate bought up.

Dr. Satcher bought up the issue that sometimes government is good for you and sometimes it's not. He used lead poisoning prevention as an example. Here lies the problem. First off, there are still issues with lead poisoning in paint, and the fight to get lead out of paint was based in grassroots political action. The business of obesity is A) corporate driven and B) worth around $60 billion. If the government were to help fill the industry's coffers, I'm sure their shareholders won't mind. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they encouraged it. I covered this in a November post that the at least eight of the National Institute of Health Obesity board's 18 members have ties to the dieting industry. Kind of like letting the paint industry set up the government lead prevention program.

Another was a point that Dr. Satcher and Dr. "I want to be Dr. Oz" Peeke.  Dr. Peeke especially kept pushing the idea that they aren't for making people thin but making them healthy, even though a quick Google search of Dr. Peeke returned nothing except articles on weight loss. Dr. Satcher mentioned a group of men who had improved their health outcomes and diabetes by changing their habits but did not have significant weight loss. They kept going back and forth. That fat was bad but we aren't trying to make fat people thin. 

The idea is this, I don't think the government has any role in fixing "obesity" because the government's stated intenton is to make fat people thin. Now, if the government wants to create safe parks, ensure that all schools have gym classes and that cafeteria food is healthy and edible, (As a standard I don't think school cafeteria food is healthy or edible) I'm fine with that , but not on the idea of thin=health. Plenty of fat people change their habits that result in little or no weight loss (myself included). But there isn't a lot of money in that. How much would Dr. Peeke sell if she didn't have a weight loss compenent. 

My questions--which I didn't get to ask but Paul addressed near the end--is this: if, say, we increase physical activity and create healthy edible lunches the kids eat, but kids don't get thinner as a result ("obesity" rates haven't dropped but they haven't risen), is it still a success? 

Meanwhile, in Georgia, the wonderful Ragen Chastain has not only hit the second monetary goal of 15K but unlocked the 5k donation from More of Me to Love. That means over 1000 people donated to this project. I hope Atlanta enjoys the positive billboards.

This project has been covered by the Ms. Magazine, Adios Barbie and hey look, BBC News have covered this wonderful campaign.

CHOA meanwhile still defends it. 

The time for "warm and fuzzies", he says, was over. So instead, his hospital created an aggressive campaign, based in part off a previously successful anti-methamphetamine campaign. (BBC News article)

Yes, because fat children, meth-heads, what's the difference? 

If being fat the governments business and of course more on Georgia.

Last Tuesday I attended a live debate "Is Obesity the Government's Business" that featured Paul Campos and John Strossel as against the motion and for the motion was Dr. David Satcher and Pamela Peeke.

You can watch it here, so I don't have to summarize. (And see if you can spot me in the audience) I will talk about different points the debate bought up.

Dr. Satcher bought up the issue that sometimes government is good for you and sometimes it's not. He used lead poisoning prevention as an example. Here lies the problem. First off, there are still issues with lead poisoning in paint, and the fight to get lead out of paint was based in grassroots political action. The business of obesity is A) corporate driven and B) worth around $60 billion. If the government were to help fill the industry's coffers, I'm sure their shareholders won't mind. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they encouraged it. I covered this in a November post that the at least eight of the National Institute of Health Obesity board's 18 members have ties to the dieting industry. Kind of like letting the paint industry set up the government lead prevention program.

Another was a point that Dr. Satcher and Dr. "I want to be Dr. Oz" Peeke.  Dr. Peeke especially kept pushing the idea that they aren't for making people thin but making them healthy, even though a quick Google search of Dr. Peeke returned nothing except articles on weight loss. Dr. Satcher mentioned a group of men who had improved their health outcomes and diabetes by changing their habits but did not have significant weight loss. They kept going back and forth. That fat was bad but we aren't trying to make fat people thin. 

The idea is this, I don't think the government has any role in fixing "obesity" because the government's stated intenton is to make fat people thin. Now, if the government wants to create safe parks, ensure that all schools have gym classes and that cafeteria food is healthy and edible, (As a standard I don't think school cafeteria food is healthy or edible) I'm fine with that , but not on the idea of thin=health. Plenty of fat people change their habits that result in little or no weight loss (myself included). But there isn't a lot of money in that. How much would Dr. Peeke sell if she didn't have a weight loss compenent. 

My questions--which I didn't get to ask but Paul addressed near the end--is this: if, say, we increase physical activity and create healthy edible lunches the kids eat, but kids don't get thinner as a result ("obesity" rates haven't dropped but they haven't risen), is it still a success? 

Meanwhile, in Georgia, the wonderful Ragen Chastain has not only hit the second monetary goal of 15K but unlocked the 5k donation from More of Me to Love. That means over 1000 people donated to this project. I hope Atlanta enjoys the positive billboards.

This project has been covered by the Ms. Magazine, Adios Barbie and hey look, BBC News have covered this wonderful campaign.

CHOA meanwhile still defends it. 

The time for "warm and fuzzies", he says, was over. So instead, his hospital created an aggressive campaign, based in part off a previously successful anti-methamphetamine campaign. (BBC News article)

Yes, because fat children, meth-heads, what's the difference? 

Food Crisis and more on Georgia.

By now many of have heard the story of a British teen who ate almost nothing but chicken mc nuggets and suffered health issues because of it. Amanda Hess, editor of the website GOOD points out:

It's also inspired timely commentary from health "experts." Last week, a PR agency pitched me a story pegged to Irvine's collapse. A "weight loss specialist" could be made available to "comment on the dangers of Stacey's addiction" and "speak to the dangers of childhood obesity." The doctor in question has "specialized in the study and treatment of Bariatric Medicine" and has "directed the operation of multiple Weight Loss Centers."

The teen was thin. 

If you say something long enough it will become accepted as truth even if it's not.

Her health problems are not related to obesity, and they won't be solved by stapling her stomach. Yet we're so culturally hardwired to believe that unhealthy equals fat and vice versa that even photographic evidence...

An article from a foodie website was shocked that the girl isn't obese.

As I have mentioned before I believe that people should eat as best they can and move as much as they need. This doesn't just mean fat people. This oppressive moral crusade against fat people also damages the health of thin people. When thin equals healthy, thin people will assume they are healthy. I have to wonder if the teen figured she was healthy because she was thin.

Being fat is not the worst thing in life especially when there have been several studies which show that eating poorly and not fat is the cause of certain diseases. I'm not against campaigns for people to cut sugar, cigarettes, trans-fats and processed foods. (Although I question that they might be far more instustive than they should be). What am against is victimization of fat people by stigmatizing us, not for health but for moral reasons.

Meanwhile several projects against the ads in Altanta has grown by leaps and bounds. The first one the "I stand" or stand for kids campaign spearheaded by Marilyn Wann and Atchka Fatty of Fierce Thinking Fatties. There are hundreds of I Stand pictures, Pattie Thomas has done a short video here and Jennifer Jonassen created a much longer (both worth the watch) video. 

And as mentioned on Saturday, Ragen Chastian is raising money to billboards and a media campaign against the CHOA ads. She is almost to the 15K goal but needs more donations to unlock to the 5k match. Here is information how to donate either through Paypal (where you can go as low as $1) or the fundraising website (minimum is $5). I've donated three times to help get the match, so please just send $1.

 

 

Fatties fat back

The magnificent dancer Ragen Chastain is raising money for a billboard in Atlanta Georgia (Preferably near CHOA). The original goal was 10k which was passed, now it is up to 15K and it's getting there.

More of me to love has pledged 5k if Ragen can get 5k (done) and 1000 donors. (More than halfway there) Please donate. You can go as low as $1 or as high as you want. See Ragen's blog post for more info. 

Lying to create an epidemic

As of now, there has never been a diet drug that has worked in the long run. Many have dangerous side effects (including death). That being said, apparently the drug industry feels that they may give up on obesity drugs if the FDA would stop being so rigid on them.

They point to obesity drugs, where Arena Pharmaceuticals, Orexigen Therapeutics and Vivus have hit roadblocks in gaining approval for their diet pills because of potential safety concerns.

I say the FDA isn't rigid enough. Diet pills don't work, and have dangerous side effects. This is something the drug industry needs to give up on. Diabetes is slightly different. A pill that would cure diabetes would be wonderful, but according to Consumer reports, current diabetes medications are no better or safer than the ones they replaced. 

On to (or should I say back to) other liars, my favorite topic of the last three posts, namely fat hating Children's Health Care of Atlanta (CHOA). They are under more fire this week for using healthy fat actors to portray poor disease ridden obese children.  (There is also a story about NYC diabetes ad that photoshopped off a healthy person's leg.) Perhaps because they couldn't find any fat actors who had these diseases. 

Bioethicists and health communicators say untruthful testimonials in public health campaigns are wrong, even if their messages are, in a broad sense, advertisements. Falseness in these ads loses the public's trust, which is critical in public health initiatives, experts say.

Even pro-weight loss groups such as the Rudd Center disapproves of the ads.

Georgia's "Strong4Life" campaign to address childhood obesity is a well-meaning but likely counterproductive attempt to address one of the most important public health priorities in our country. It is critical to address childhood obesity, but the Strong4Life campaign takes a misguided approach that may inadvertently worsen obesity and harm the very people who are most in need of help.

This highly visible and well-financed campaign ($50 million) intends to motivate parents and children to take action on childhood obesity by using images and testimonials of obese youth (hired actors) who are portrayed with "warning" messages...

I also want to thank them for pointing out the 50 million dollar price tag. In 2009, it was estimated that 11 percent of Georgia's children had no health insurance. I'm pretty sure that 50 mil would help cover that gap. Of give the money to me and I'll start a non-for-profit insurance company called FatCo whose sole purpose would be to give health insurance to people deemed "not healthy enough for insurance".

They have also come under major fire by the  Size acceptance community who have taken them on with a campaign called "I stand" Stand4kids, which I mentioned it briefly last week when the Tumblr site was only a handful of photos. SInce then, it has grown by leaps and bounds to over a hundred photos and more are being added each day. 

And in other news about liars, fat hating Whole Foods who claims you can be thin, healthy, and beautiful if you only eat from their store has said the mean nasty government (and yes the USDA needs to be more forceful on GMO crops) is forcing them to carry GMO foods. 

And I stand for my fat! Because fat is part of my body, it is a part of me. To hate it is to hate myself.

*Disclaimer the b/w image and background were photoshopped. However the fat people in the ads are fat and the thin people are thin. Quotes underneath are 100% truth. 

 

Paula Deen, the fear of food and CHOA's lies.

I happen to like Paula Deen ever since I heard her on Wait Wait Don't Tell me (She nailed all three of her questions about Tofu). Where she had some good advice about her Krispie Creme burger. Only one serving per lifetime. (I have yet to do my one time.) I am saddened to hear that she has diabetes and even more saddened to hear about attacks on her by another chef (Anthony Bourdain) for her high fat diet (Bourdain's only qualification toward being "healthy" is that he is thin; this former drug addict is also  an unapologetic drinker and smoker, also Bourdain's recipes are filled with fat as well. Both chefs make their foods from scratch.)

She was vilified in Salon that her own cooking caused her diabetes. Paul Campos has written a good essay why that probably isn't true. 

What also saddens me is the increased fear of food. Comfort food, soul food, celebratory food, all food considered bad for us has become of limits, even in moderation. If you eat comfort food, you are psychologically damaged. Kids can't touch any cupcakes at school party because if they are fat they are bad for eating it, if they thin they might become fat.  Even cheese has been vilified (warning on the link, it's filled with fat hatred.) We have made food the enemy. Unless you have a food allergy, food is nothing to fear. Food can be amazing, even the stuff that you can only have once per lifetime, even the stuff no one in their right mind should be eating. Learning to enjoy food takes away any sinful associations, allows your body and your mind the freedom to analyze what they need.

Dieting takes that decision away. 10 years after my last diet, I still haven't fully returned to eating normally, I still can't enjoy good food the way I want. I still can't savor it without guilt, and I still have trouble slowing my eating out of fear the food will be gone.

Now to the people that hate fat children about who I wrote previously.  First off, every single child in the ad campaign are actors. Surprised? I'm not. (It's an advert, people!)

One of the children, an articulate, sixth-grader named Chloe McSwain, from Sandy Springs, Ga., is portrayed as "Maritza." At the beginning of a black-and-white 30-second spot, she stares right into the camera.

"My doctor says I have something called hypertension," she says. "I'm really scared."  In white block letters, "SOME DISEASES AREN'T JUST FOR ADULTS ANYMORE," flashes across a black screen.  In real life, Chloe, 11, actually doesn't have hypertension, according to her mother.

 Meanwhile Doug Hertz a trustee (Not a doctor or medical profession but the local beer guy) of Children's health care of Atlanta. (CHOA) has defending their ads claiming that everyone is ignoring the issue. Except I've been reporting stories since this blog's inception how weight loss is constantly pushed on children. Hertz claimed It is not about a child's weight; it is about increased risk of illnesses once seen only in adults. These include hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and liver problems, to name a few.

If it isn't about weight, why are the ads filled with fat kids, disturbed that they are fat?

Oh and CHOA, take note, Georgia has to two biggest polluters in the Country, the worst one is 60 miles from Atlanta. Maybe CHOA would like to focus on other health issues, say ? But I suppose it's easier to pick on fat kids that take on a dirty plant.

I leave you with a far more beautiful and positive image