Healthy B.P.M.

There are so many reality shows out there.

Now losing weight on national television is becoming an interesting new way to lose weight. If you are obese enough to get selected, you might just nail a million dollars and end up looking like Erik Chopin of the Biggest Loser hall of fame.

Another show is The Fat March, an ABC series that chronicles 12 overweight people during a 550-mile, 10-week walk from the start of the Boston Marathon to the White House for a chance to share a $1.2 million prize.

Is going for a 500 mile walkathon a realistic way to lose weight? That’s what experts are questioning. It’s an entertaining way to kill the pounds but how far can it be inspirational?

Even if the contestants lose weight how long can they sustain it once the cameras stop rolling? Once viewers and contestants alike get the hang of living healthy, some could stick by it; some will tire of it all and go back to their old habits.

This is a great story on the reality behind reality shows. Read it and tell me which show you swear by or hate.

fat reality shows, Biggest Loser, Fat March. Erik Chopin

Mo told me in response to this post that there’s no way there’s an equal amount of prejudice about skinny people as compared to their skinnier counterparts. She quotes Fatfu:

Fat has been thoroughly politicized in a way that other body sizes haven’t, and fat hatred has become woven into every aspect of the culture. There are layers of intolerance and hatred, abusive and hyperbolic rhetoric and increasingly organized discrimination, which is aggravated by a full-blown global hysteria about fat…..

The phrase fat hatred stuck with me. Why does fat hatred exist? It could be because we have an innate sense of what is unhealthy. In school stronger kids always single out the weaker kids. There are always opposites fat against thin, talkative against shy, dominating against reluctant. The positive or more acceptable child will be healthier, confident and have an acceptable body type. The rest of the class consists of the ‘geeks’ and the ‘fatties’ and the ‘punies’ and the ’shorties’.
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There are trigger mechanisms all around us and these affect the way we eat and live.

1. Surroundings Trigger:You could stop mindless eating by being aware of what you are eating and where you are eating it. That means you sit at the dining table and eat, not munch mindlessly in front of the television, computer screen or while you read a book. Good food for thought by Mark.

2.Food triggers and Health:Tackling food triggers is a good idea as it could put an end to obesity problems. It could help migraine too. Ever noticed how some foods can start that head throbbing sensation….so what’s the solution? Eat in moderation and eat sensible. You might be able to battle your headaches with a good diet Stay away from chocolates sundaes, MSG and salami to stall those headaches. Read this fantastically researched article for more.

Emotional Triggers:Definitely a diet alone is not enough.According to Maria, finding your emotional trigger is as important as cutting down on binge eating. What makes you lose track of your food habits? It’s not just the food trigger; it’s in your emotional trigger mechanism as well. Stay away from emotions that ruin your diet plan.

food trigger, emotional trigger, diet, weight loss, migraine

While fat ranters are ranting away, where are the thin rants?

Why are fat people getting all the attention?

What about puny people, short people, excessively tall people?

What’s all this obesity hype?

I loved this passage from Cynthia’s short rant excerpt posted on Big Fat Deal

Why is it that the larger sized people get so much more media attention? Size acceptance websites tend to skew more to the plus than to the petite, and they seem to be very negative (not sure if it’s intentional or not) towards people who are really size zero.

I firmly believe that while there is prejudice against fat people there is an equal amount of prejudice against skinny people. It’s always better to have more than less, especially when it comes to a woman’s body type. And while fatter persons can be glamorized with sympathy excessively skinny people can turn into sacks of bones.

That is not right at all.

health, anorexia, skinny, size zero, prejudice against fat people, fat rant, Joy Nash

When I read this post I was curious about why being fat can stop you from committing suicide.

1.A fat person cannot hang himself as he can’t ascend the foot stool and if he did he would probably break it. Even if that didn’t happen the ceiling fixture to which the rope was tied would probably snap.

2.Being fat doesn’t let excessive dose of sleeping pills affect you either as blubber absorbs all the toxins.
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If you ask the fashion industry, I barely deserved to be allowed to wear clothing. And I’m definitely, definitely fatter than the girl who should not be wearing that

Don’t buy any more clothing in sizes that are too small — clothing that will ‘motivate you to get slimmer.

Throw out the stuff that doesn’t fit anymore. It’s just taking up space.

You want to hear more fat rant? Check out the video.

“A Fat Rant” is legendary fat speak. It’s a confident voice and it’s sparked off over 690 pages of debate in its comment section! 700,000 online viewers have checked out Joy’s video and yeah she’s in the papers too. As a blogger I can learn a lot from Joy Nash.

fat rant, Joy Nash, You Tube fat rant videos, obesity, weight problems

While fat employees are turning out to be a liability to companies, research shows that they are also a liability to themselves. Apparently statistics show that obese persons are more likely to be injured during work.

According to this study:

The odds of injury in the highest obesity group as compared with the ideal body mass index group were 2.21 (95% confidence interval: 1.34, 3.53), after adjustment for sex, age, education, smoking, physical demands of the job, plant process and location, time since hire, time in the job, and significant interaction terms. Injuries to the leg or knee were especially prevalent among members of this very obese group. Research findings support an association between body mass index and traumatic workplace injuries among manufacturing employees. Workplace safety personnel might consider adding policies or programs that address weight reduction and maintenance as part of ongoing comprehensive workplace safety strategies.

Some interesting observations about why fatter people get injured include:

-Obese people find it harder to fit into protective equipment and clothing. So they don’t use it.

-Increased BMI can poop you out and that could lead to accidents.

Read Hazards:Obese Employees more Likely to be Injured on the Job

obesity, fat employees, BMI, obesity-related accidents and injuries

Blogs are buzzing about Jordin Sparks for more reaosns than her nailing American Idol. Apparently Jordin Sparks is not a healthy role model. She’s being calledtoo fat.I loved this story: Is Winner Jordin Sparks Too Fat to Be the American Idol? NAAO Says Yes!

Plus size contestants like Jordin Sparks and Lakisha Jones seem to be tearing America into two components: the I-don’t care-I’m- fat America and the I’m- famous- and -so -I-should -be -a role -model America.

Check out this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svxLdNsxPSw

What do you think? Does size really matter? Is it fair to judge anybody based on what they look like? Because these are things that we do right from kindergarten.

Jordin Sparks, Lakisha Jones, American Idol, health, obesity, weight loss, size zero, Youtube video

The Size Police come in all shapes and sizes. You meet them in your extended families, in schools, in potential employers….and expectations of the perfect body are flaunted in gossipy magazines and Hollywood drama. Everyone secretly wants to be be perfect looking. Yeah I know they say “I’m happy with my body….” but there are moments when you wish or at least give up on wishing that you were perfect.

How do you deal with the Size Police?

Now if you are a certain size- be it fat or skinny- think about whether you are healthy or not. If not, then you have to work on yourself. Even if you are healthy, there is nothing wrong with leading a sensible enough healthy lifestyle. The point is your size is your problem. And if someone talks to you about the way you look like it’s a random topic(like the weather), I’d say pay no heed.

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“I think that in some cases there is nothing wrong with size zero. If you look good and are perfectly healthly then it is fine to be that size, some people may be naturally small and petite and shouldn’t be criticized as well.”

That’s what Holly said when she read my post Who wants to be size zero?.I absolutely agree. There’s nothing wrong with being smaller and more petite if you are healthy and happy.

But being thin has its setbacks. When you are in school you are called skinnny and flat. Then you when you are in college you wonder whether you should get breast implants and turn all Bootilicious like Beyonce. (more…)

I came across JM’s new blog and she used a phrase “I think I’m reaching rock bottom…” and I started thinking about all my rock bottom days and for me hitting that low means not moving out of my chair and getting the routine things done. It means just sitting and doing nothing. If some unfortunate soul comes before me, I could lose my temper and be unreasonable.

You know you’ve hit rock bottom when you read this.

How can you deal with those rock bottom days?

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I stumbled on to this excellent Book review on a book called RETHINKING THIN :
The New Science of Weight Loss — and the Myths and Realities of Dieting. You have to read it as the writer Gina Kolata looks at a lot of fat issues like

-The Thinness obsession:Kolata thinks that sometimes being fat is out of your control and that society is blowing body image perceptions out of proportion…I’d say shrinking it to size zero.

-The Weight Loss Industry that is making millions out of obese people’s heartaches.

-She tracks different dieters and fads and looks at fattening factors.

You can get an excerpt here.

Gina Kolata, fat, obesity, thinness obsession, weight loss, childhood obesity

What goes on in the mind of a fat child? Check out this post on Angry Fat Girlz.

As parents we can teach our kids some things:

-Go easy on criticism-criticizing others(think about the names kids call their fatter or skinnier counterparts) and taking it. It isn’t easy not to take yourself seriously but once you learn to laugh at your defects life becomes easier. A lot of young kids who are anorexic or have weight problems have a problem with criticism.

Some parenting tips:

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If an employee is obese, s/he might cost the company more money.An obese employee has more reasons to take sick leave and suffers from more work-related injuries. So the compensation that comapnies invest in their employees just shoots up!

Check this out:Study: Fat workers cost employers more

This calls for a change in the way employers treat their employees. While depriving employees of their health, they create more expenditure and liability. Obesity is one area. But what about the work culture in general?People work day in and day out, without time for their families, without time to read their favorite books or even to have a simple stroll in the park. Life has lost its quality. The excuse:MONEY.

But if companies are losing money with sick employees, they would have it good to enrol their employees in gyms and create an easier work culture and friendlier environment. Benefits all.

fat, obese, lifestyle

Now that the trans fat debate has lost its steam, another one coming up is: We all know that trans fat is deadly in large quantities; so what Next? What replaces trans fat? The answer is that there is no healthy replacement yet. What is being used is saturated fat and that is almost as bad.

Since the average American has five times as much saturated fat as trans fat, s/he’s still in the obesity danger zone. and runs the risk of a variety of disaeses like stroke,diabetes and heart disease. The key is Eat Healthy and that means cut down on Saturated fats too.

This is where reading your food labels (even after you figure out that the item is trans fat-free) helps.

I loved this article: Are trans fat substitutes really healthier?

health, obesity, trans fat, saturated fat, cholestorol, diet, fat