Tangerina wrote in wanting to talk about my favorite television show, The Office, and their season premiere, called “Weight Loss.” I thought it was an awesome idea, and got permission to reprint her e-mail here. Hi Mo! Love the blog. I was just writing because you asked for ideas, and I know this is a [...]

Filed under: Guest Post, TV, The Office, Video, Weight Loss | 27 Comments »

Sorry, everyone, for the sporadic updates. I’m in the throes of a week of wedding festivities for my dear friend La Wade, and in the meantime have a lot of work to do for the class I’m teaching. Look for a real post later today, though! (And if you have a topic idea, feel free [...]

Filed under: Meta | No Comments »

I ran across an advice column today in my Google alerts that managed to make me indignant on three totally different levels, one at a time. Allow me to take you along on my journey! It really starts with the first paragraph of the question. My boyfriend Chris is 6 foot, 7 inches. I’m 5-foot, [...]

Filed under: Fatism, Humor, Media, Sex & Romance | 30 Comments »

In this week’s issue, Entertainment Weekly catches on to the problem with the tiny bodies on 90210. But the article is worth reading even for those of us who already talked about it. First, the problem: Almost without exception, the young actresses on The CW’s spin-off are alarmingly thin, with arms that seem thickest at [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, Celebrities, Gossip, Magazines, Media, TV | 23 Comments »

I’m out of town this weekend and have been incredibly busy at work, at school, with writing projects, with staring at political polls. So tell me, what did I miss? What awesome posts are out there that I absolutely need to read, that I neglected to post about, that we need to talk about? What [...]

Filed under: Feel Good Friday, Tidbit | 6 Comments »

How’s this for a concept: Enjoying food instead of dieting, because dieting doesn’t work. It’s a movement! It’s a zeitgeist! Or at least it’s an article in the New York Times: After decades of obsessing about fat, calories and carbs, many dieters have made the unorthodox decision to simply enjoy food again. That doesn’t mean [...]

Filed under: Celebrities, Food, Health, Media, Science | 17 Comments »

This news article landed in my inbox shortly after I’d read this very funny post at Shapely Prose, and both got me thinking about exercise. At Shapely Prose, Kate writes about a recent article asserting that people who are predisposed to being overweight can avoid being overweight by exercising a mere three to four hours [...]

Filed under: Exercise, Health, Question, Science | 82 Comments »

A very cool interview OF ME by a very cool woman named Laura is up at a website called Capessa.com. Did I mention that the interview is of ME, ME, ME? Please allow me to quote… er… myself. “I didn’t wake up one day and say, ‘today I’ll go to the gym, go out shopping, [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, Meta, Personal, Tidbit | 13 Comments »

It’s Fashion Week, which means we get things like this amazing collection by Christian Siriano and another look at the size zero model phenomenon. Apparently, they’re back in style this season. (So much for Whitney’s victory on America’s Next Top Model.) Spurred on by a spike in reality TV shows promoting extreme dieting, women are [...]

Filed under: Advertising, Advocacy, Eating Disorders, Fashion, Kids, Project Runway, TV | 19 Comments »

Generation XXLOriginally uploaded by crayolarabbit I used to see this ad in San Francisco, when driving onto the onramp of the Bay Bridge. It’s an ad for Kaiser Permanente, which is the same HMO that does the “thrive” commercials. My main issue is that this ad portrays a young girl (of course it’s a girl) [...]

Filed under: Advertising, Advocacy, Fatism, Health, Kids, Media, Tidbit | 18 Comments »

Whenever I’m asked who this blog is for, I inevitably say it’s for my teenage self—and for teenagers who are like her. So it might not be too surprising that my hot button issue is the way the media talks to teenage girls. For example, in magazines like Teen Vogue that may be subtly promoting [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, Books, Celebrities, Eating Disorders, Fashion, Feminism, Kids, Magazines, Media | 17 Comments »

Thanks for letting me know the comments were turned off for that last post. I didn’t do anything differently, so not sure what happened there. Comment away!

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Ooh boy. One researcher from Britain says that, since diets don’t work, the best answer is to start performing weight loss surgery as a “preventative” measure, even on those whose BMI is less than 35. “Surgery is currently the only effective treatment for obesity … It not only helps people lose weight by physically decreasing [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, Cold Hard Cash, Health, International, WLS | 29 Comments »

You guys know the drill by now, right? Ex-barista, Starbucks addict, blah blah. So I’m always interested in the latest news from the Bux. Last week, they launched a menu of new, healthier breakfast options: lower in fat, higher in fiber, lower in calories. And it’s about time. Because seriously, it was impossible to find [...]

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

We had an office party today involving cake. And as I stood around with my co-workers making awkward conversation and enjoying my slice of cake, I overheard comments that felt very familiar. “This cake is sugar free and fat free, right? Ha, ha!” “Hey [Guy Doing South Beach], is this South Beach cake?” “Oh, can [...]

Filed under: Humor, Movies, Personal, Question, Video, Work | 70 Comments »

Wired offers us a look at a hospital bed that’s also a treadmill. But not without making sure we understand that fat people in the hospital—in the hospital—are “immense,” “weak,” and “lazy.” Sick fatties need only to flick a switch to be upended onto the moving conveyor, whence they can exercise their weak bodies and [...]

Filed under: Fatism, Magazines, Science, Tidbit | 11 Comments »

Something that we haven’t talked about yet—but which others have, of course—is the proposed increase in health insurance costs in Alabama, directed at the overweight. That is, you have one year to get “healthy” and if you fail, you have to pay an extra $25 per month in health insurance. From Wallet Pop: So, what’s [...]

Filed under: Cold Hard Cash, Exercise, Fatism, Health, Race & Ethnicity, Weight Loss, Work | 21 Comments »

Wanna hitch a ride?Originally uploaded by strph My Flickr and Twitter friend Strph has posted the best Flickr set ever. It’s called “How Not to Shoot Fat Chicks,” and it’s a collection of very familiar rules about how fat women must never be photographed—with accompanying photos that break all the rules. The rules thus far [...]

Filed under: Art, Fat Positive, Food, Humor, Meta, Personal | 22 Comments »

Henry VIIIOriginally uploaded by mo pie In the BBC Miniseries The Tudors, the creators have decided that lead actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who plays Henry VIII, should not gain weight as the time period advances. Why? Because he will no longer be “appealing.” (And apparently audiences will be too dumb to figure out why on [...]

Filed under: Art, Celebrities, Fatism, Gossip, International, NSFW, TV | 23 Comments »