Lara Frater's Blog, page 31

Blog post tomorrow. See you then.

In the news: Oilyshit, the fat wars and who took my brain?

Perhaps the FDA jumped the gun a little bit when it approved the miracle fat drug Orlistat (aka Alli and Xenical) for over the counter.  Seems to have a perky liver problem. "FDA notified healthcare professionals and patients that it is reviewing new safety information regarding reports of liver-related adverse events in patients taking orlistat."  The FDA isn't actually telling people not to take it, just saying a small amount of users might get liver failure. Let's say this again "Diet drugs h

In this week's news, we are stupid, depressed, poor, and living longer.

So apparently the average video gamer is 35, male, fat and depressed.  (I have to wonder what they will study next whether people who prefer Kirk are fatter than those who prefer Picard.) As someone who is part of this culture (Gamer, sci-fi nerd), I found that the culture is more open to people from different walks of life.  When I go to cons, I feel like I can be myself. Was the gamer fat and depressed *before* or *after* they started playing?

And apparently thin kids do better in school.  I'l

A$$hats of the week

The following is a dramatization... No asshats were harmed in the making of this blog.

So PETA, Heart Surgeon Delos M. Cosgrove and Whole Foods CEO John Mackey were walking down the street discussing the horrible, destructive, murderous, animal-raping obesity epidemic and what might be done to help those disgusting fatties become lean, mean, animal-loving machines.

"I know," said John Mackey.  "Let's blame the health care crisis on them!  They'd totally want to slim down if they thought they were

More Capitol Hill thrills

So here is a response to a few comments I received about last week's Capitol Hill Post.  Namely more details!

I met with three House staff members along with author Dr. Barbara Bruno and Blogger/Scientist Miriam Gordon.

The first staff member we met was Anna from Anthony Weiner's office (See picture below).   Weiner is my representative and Anna was awesome.  Not only was she attentive but she seemed understanding of fat issues.  Including a anecdote about thin people having high cholesterol.  She

I found my thrill, on Capitol Hill

I don't want to bore you with how wonderful and exciting details of the NAAFA/ASDAH conference. instead I will talk to you about the experience I had on Monday lobbying my congress member.

Three of us from the group were send to talk to our represitives staff members.  I spoke to the staff of my representive Anthony Weiner, then spoke the the staff of Nita Lowey and Eliot Engel who were the representatives of the other members of my group.

 

The essential purpose of the day's lobbying was to commun

No post today

Tune in tomorrow, same fat time, same fat station.

Just say no to BMI.

I will be at the NAAFA convention this coming weekend.  I won't have a table to sell my book but if you really want one, I will take a few with me.   However, I'm mostly going there to be active in the community, have fun with friends and lobby the government on Monday.

Why the need for lobbying?  The treatment fat people get in the US (and other western countries) is appalling.  We are constantly told to lose weight, no matter what our blood tests or medical studies say.  Yet there is no prove

The Fat Studies Reader vs. the New Yorker. (Guess Who wins?)

I had planned to plug the Fat Studies Reader when it got closer to the publication date.  However, this week it was mentioned in the New Yorker. 

I am proud to be part of this project. (My essay is about Chick-lit)  And I will write more about the Reader in a couple of months.  For those who can't wait (pun intended) to read about Fat Studies, check out Fat Studies in the UK which I will review once my copy shows up in the mail.

I am actually blogging about the New Yorker article which is filed u

Workplace "Wellness"?

I spent my vacation in Vermont.  Five days of essentially doing nothing.  Not really nothing more like swimming, walking, hiking, reading, writing, eating and watching movies.  For the first time ever I had time for all.  I exercised a few hours day, read 4 books, watched 4 movies, worked on a short story and ate mostly organic meals.  Not to mention significant alone time with my DH. 

What allowed me to have enough energy to do all this and allowed my stress levels to decrease?

I didn't have to g