Fatties need not apply.

Forgive the fact that I might curse, and completely rant in this post but I've come across three stories that are really pissing me off. 

Let's start with the first one, namely Michelle Obama on the Biggest Loser. Biggest Loser is a irresponsible show that makes contestants lose as much weight as possible through starvation and over exercising. This contradicts the the National Institute of Health tips on safe weight loss which they recommend 1/2 to 2 pounds a week. (You know the NIH which is a government agency whose big boss would be the President) As I wrote in March 2010, a contestant lost 34 pounds in a week.

That's not even pissing me off as much as this story:

So after showing that the great American Obesity Epidemic is finally dying down and while we might not be getting thinner, we aren't getting fatter. There may be different reasons for this trend. The money spent on the diet industry is still high but people may be doing less crash diets or people may also be trying to get healthy and in the process losing some or no weight but not becoming skinny.

So because of that there is more this push on this new trend of "skinny fat." Skinny fat means your BMI while still valuable and defining your entire life and that if you are 25.1 you better get on to that treadmill, you are pre-obese. Some scientists are questioning the value BMI, because you see some people who are "obese" BMI are athletes, so they are starting to look at body fat. You'll need 25% body fat to be normal but banal as athletes are now super normal. 

So while I don't agree on body fat being an indicator of health, does this mean we really can say bye to BMI.

Not according to New York State Health Commissioner Nirav Shah.

Based on their findings, Braverman and his coauthor, New York State Commissioner of Health Nirav Shah, M.D., say the BMI threshold for obesity, which now stands at 30, should be lowered to 24 for women and 28 for men.

So congrads women who are 24.1, you're obese. And congratulations Nirav Shah who if anyone adapts your guidelines, this country will have an epidemic of eating disorders beyond imagination which would be fine for this hospital: 

Overweight? Then don't bother applying for a job at Citizens Medical Center, a Victoria, Texas hospital whose hiring policy prohibits the hiring of people who are obese.

The Texas Tribune reports that the hospital's hiring policy was implemented a year ago, and does not permit the hiring of anyone with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 35. BMI is a common way of measuring body fat; a person with a BMI of 30 or greater is considered obese.

So if you're a doctor, nurse, PA, orderly etc and you go on an interview at Citizens Medical Center. Surely with a name like that, they are good and fair people who treat their staff as nicely as their patients. You dazzle them with impressive resume, intuitive and people skills. Everyone likes you but they have one more test,

The scale.

Sorry you have a BMI of 37, you cannot work at Citizen's hospital. We don't care that you don't have any health problems, we don't care if you're Dr. House, you are a big fat fattie fat and we only want you here if we can perform dangerous weight loss surgery on you.

Tell them that something stinks on their facebook or email them info@citizensmedicalcenter.org And if you live in that area of Texas be sure to let them know you will never consider Citizens Hospital as your health center.

I don't want to leave you with stories that will piss you off, so here's a good one about learning to stop putting down your body.

I have a very strange allergy. Some people are allergic to wheat, others are allergic to cats. I'm allergic to hearing women put down their appearance. I use the word allergy because something truly visceral happens to me: my toes curl, my hair stands on end, and I stumble over my words as I try to come up with the appropriate, scripted-yet-sincere response.