Star Jones admits she had gastric bypass surgery and was “intentionally evasive” when questions were asked. “[T]he complete truth is, I was scared of what people might think of me,” she continues. “I was afraid to be vulnerable, and ashamed at not being able to get myself under control without this procedure.” “I used to [...]

Filed under: Celebrities, Gossip, Magazines, Star Jones, WLS, Weight Loss | 25 Comments »

The group weight loss blog Pare Up, Pare Down had a very interesting post this week, courtesy of contributor Harmony. [E]very time I go into REI I feel like I am out of my element, like I don’t belong…I don’t feel actively discriminated against, but I do feel out of place, and really visible. The [...]

Filed under: Exercise, Fashion, Question | 50 Comments »

With a guest post over at Elastic Waist. It’s about being a fat chick who works out, and an incident that happened to me at the gym yesterday. I’ve learned to put a lid on the negative self-talk when I catch a glimpse of my fat rolls bouncing in the mirror. (I just shift my [...]

Filed under: Exercise, Health, Meta | 20 Comments »

According to Manolo for the Big Girl, Harry Potter is pro-fat. (Although I have to say, I hardly think giants count.) (Also, since when is Neville Longbottom fat? Is he fat?) While I notice that, at first glance, a few of the overweight characters are stereotypically written as “bumbling” or “jovial,” on the whole the [...]

Filed under: Books, Fat Positive, Fatism, Harry Potter | 16 Comments »

Remember Dagny, whose posts about being a formerly fat person sparked an interesting conversation here back in May? Here were some comments from that thread: A formerly fat person is fed countless cues all day long to repudiate fat and sing the praises of weight loss. It never ceased to fascinate me how people seemed [...]

Filed under: Fatism, WLS, Weight Loss | 41 Comments »

This is a live update from the Our Bodies, Ourselves panel with Wendy McClure (who rocks out like the superstar she is), and hey, Pasta Queen is here and Diet Girl and oh my god, I squealed like a fan girl when Kate Harding stood up and asked a question. So if you are here, [...]

Filed under: BlogHer07, Meta | 5 Comments »

So, Courtney Love can’t really spell. But she sure does post a lot of stuff to her MySpace page! Man, translating it is like trying to extract meaning from Finnegans Wake. But for you, I gave it a shot. idid the cover ofGrazia, im unsure why but my publisicts knows whgat hes doing all she [...]

Filed under: Celebrities, Courtney Love, Gossip, Jessica Biel, Media, Music | 10 Comments »

You may have already heard, but it turns out that obesity is “socially contagious.” That is to say, if we get ourselves a fat friend, we’re likely to gain weight ourselves. “We were stunned to find that friends who are hundreds of miles away have just as much impact on a person’s weight status as [...]

Filed under: Media, Science | 25 Comments »

I’ve been using the Dane Cook trailer recently as an example of all that is evil in Hollywood and the world. But Tara disagrees; I thought her comment was worth pulling out and talking about. I thought it was pretty funny. Hold on, let me explain. For one, from what little I saw from it, [...]

Filed under: Fatism, Humor, Movies | 56 Comments »

We all know that when people lose weight, they have an incredibly high likelihood of gaining it back. But what about that small percentage who are able to lose weight and keep it off? One theory is that the difference is a mental one. Researchers studied activity in different parts of the brain, and found [...]

Filed under: Science, Weight Loss | 38 Comments »

I don’t read the Manolo blog, but I know it is Famous on the Internet. Therefore, you might be interested to know there is now a “Manolo for the Big Girl” spinoff blog. The great thing about being the biggest gal in the room is that you can be the BIGGEST gal in the room: [...]

Filed under: Meta | 8 Comments »

I did a guest post over at Body of Work, which is Anne’s blog, and the reason she never posts here. (Since EW is run by a magazine conglomerate that actually pays people, I can’t really hold it against her.) Anyway, I wrote a thingy! Imagine, if you will, your best friend, for whom you’ve [...]

Filed under: Meta | 18 Comments »

I’m really excited about Hairspray, which comes out this weekend. I realize it’s got the drawback of Travolta in a fat suit (the Onion review says he sounds like Truman Capote and looks like his face is melting) and I also realize the John Waters movie is fantastic in its own right, but I am [...]

Filed under: Hairspray, Movies | 13 Comments »

1. Be yourself. Whatever size, color, religion, gender, race, or sexual orientation. Don’t make apologies for yourself. Believe in the righteousness of your cause. Believe that hate helps nobody. 2. Understand that you’re beautiful. Understand that people who criticize your body or my body or Kelly Clarkson’s body can’t take that away from you. Understand [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, Art, Fat Positive, Meta, Movies | 48 Comments »

I feel all nostalgic now; there’s news about Star Jones! Well, sort of. On a press tour for her new show, she evaded questions about her weight loss, then promised to explain all: “I know that people are curious,” Jones admitted. “I’ve changed completely from the way I looked when I first started in television [...]

Filed under: Celebrities, Magazines, Star Jones | 22 Comments »

Jaime Pressly from My Name Is Earl hates Ugly Betty. But I don’t exactly understand why. According to In Touch, Jaime Pressly thinks Ugly Betty is a joke. “It bores the hell out of me. I can’t stand it,” she said. “They’re purposefully big-upping the ugly fat girl to make everybody feel great, but it [...]

Filed under: Anna Nicole Smith, Celebrities, TV | 13 Comments »

Below is a casting call from MTV, in case you’re looking for your very own fifteen minutes of fame. It’s for an MTV show called True Life. I got an email from Alicia at the casting office, and she says that interested parties should contact her directly, rather than going through the network. Alicia says: [...]

Filed under: TV | 5 Comments »

Alerted by the Rotund, here is something happy for Feel Good Friday! It’s called the Adipositivity project, which is the best name ever, by the way. The photographs here are close details of the fat female form, without the inclusion of faces. One reason for this is to coax observers into imagining they’re looking at [...]

Filed under: Art, Fat Positive, Feel Good Friday, NSFW | 4 Comments »

turkey leg Originally uploaded by mo pie I was looking to post something happy today, but I haven’t run across any great music videos or fat positive things today. (Tipsters, I need you.) Instead, I ran across a new series of ads from Brazil (yes, that Brazil) for, apparently, a gym. The theme of the [...]

Filed under: Advertising, Exercise, Fatism | 7 Comments »

From as early as the age of three, children who are overweight are being stigmatized by adults and by other children. Youngsters who report teasing, rejection, bullying and other types of abuse because of their weight are two to three times more likely to report suicidal thoughts as well as to suffer from other health [...]

Filed under: Fatism, Kids | 15 Comments »

Another in the world’s continuing series of “[noun] makes you fat” articles. This time, it’s credit cards. And how do credit cards make you fat, you ask? Because you can use them to buy fast food. But while customers like the convenience of being able to pay for fast food with plastic, their waistlines might [...]

Filed under: Cold Hard Cash, Food | 18 Comments »

CNN has a story today about a woman who lost 110 pounds on Weight Watchers, going from a size 24 to a size 2. Congratulations to her on all her effort, but there’s one thing about the story that I find a little disturbing. (Aside from the fact that apparently it’s the beginning of a [...]

Filed under: Weight Loss | 42 Comments »

An article in today’s New York Times asks if the concept of willpower, which originated from Christian teachings about temptation and deadly sin, is obsolete–despite the fact that most diets (such as Weight Watchers) are based on the idea of using “willpower” to control what you eat. In fact, current research suggests that weight and [...]

Filed under: Health, Media, Science | 18 Comments »

I was catching up on Elastic Waist and ran across the delightful news that Sarah Jessica Parker’s clothing line, Bitten, goes up to a size 22. Size 22! Not size 12. Not even 14. Size 22! That’s not just the barely plus-size girls like J.Hud, but also the thick girls like Queen Latifah. Hell, Lane [...]

Filed under: Celebrities, Fashion, Sarah Jessica Parker | 14 Comments »

From Shakesville comes another take on Dan Savage, including quotes from his book. In the book, Savage is dismissive of fat activists and makes some anti-fat statements, while he is gay himself, and a big advocate for gay rights. Kate makes the very good point that there is some overlap in terms of anti-gay and [...]

Filed under: Meta | 11 Comments »