We’ve spoken a lot about Health At Any Size, the myth of the fat lazy person and why BMI is bogus so it does my heart good to see an official stamp of approval from the government. Check it: “…We can be healthy and fit at any size or any weight.” While Dr. Benjamin isn’t […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Exercise, Video, Weetabix | 13 Comments »

This email landed in our inbox this week, and it inspired me to add a new category called “Ask BFD” to file this post under. I’m going to try and go back and tag some of the terrific posts that have sprung from reader questions. In the meantime, I think this is a great question, […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Ask BFD, Exercise, Question, Weight Loss | 34 Comments »

In an interview with the Examiner, Amanda Seyfried admits she’s “not naturally thin,” and goes to extremes to make sure she gets acting work. “I’m on a raw-food diet,” says Seyfried. “It’s intense, and sort of awful. Yesterday for lunch? Spinach and some seeds… If I didn’t run and work out, there’s no way I […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Diet Talk, Eating Disorders, Exercise, Movies, Tidbit | 20 Comments »

In case you missed it, Rachel had a fabulous overview of the recent coverage of fat discrimination at Newsweek, including an article called America’s War on the Overweight: The bubbling rage against fat people in America has put researchers like Levine in a difficult position. On the one hand, she says, she wants to ensure […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Exercise, Fat Positive, Fatism, Health, Magazines, Media | 4 Comments »

I’m writing this post in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, after a long and taxing Monday that those of you who follow me on Twitter are sick of hearing about, I’m sure. So my brain is broken, and instead of a real post, I give you… the five Google Alert e-mails that I clicked […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Exercise, Fatism, Humor, International, Links, Magazines, Ricky Gervais, Science, Sex & Romance, Tidbit, Weight Loss | 13 Comments »

These new guidelines for childhood obesity programs are just amazing. Rachel has them listed at The F Word, complete with highlighting. In this case it indicates not white-hot rage, but happiness. Consider guidelines like… Interventions should focus on health, not weight, so as to not contribute to the overvaluation of weight and shape and negative […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Exercise, Fat Positive, Humor, Kids, Science | 7 Comments »

A reporter named Ashley Pearson followed Madonna’s workout, which is just this side of totally insane: Our plan is this: five weeks, six days per week – one-and-a-half to two hours per day, which is what Madonna and Gwyneth do. We will do 40 minutes of cardio exercise in each session, followed by one-and-a-half hours […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Cold Hard Cash, Exercise, Gossip, Gwyneth Paltrow, Madonna, Weight Loss | 22 Comments »

I ran across this news in my google reader, and at first blush, it made me happy–a picture of a little girl with a hula hoop! The idea of a small sponsoring an exciting activity day for kids, saying Hey, kids, it is cool to go out and play and run and be active and […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Exercise, Health, Kids, Media | 13 Comments »

From the set of… Pearl Harbor? Eight years ago? Well, I guess Kate Beckinsale just did an interview with SELF and talked about the stars being forced to lose weight, and her resultant dizziness. And they did it to Ben Affleck, too! “I remember going to the fitting and trying on a few swimsuits for […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Exercise, Gossip, Magazines, Movies, Tidbit, Weight Loss | 3 Comments »

I saw a thought-provoking post on suethsayings this week about a contestant from The Biggest Loser named Eric, who lost 214 pounds on the show and then went on Oprah to talk about gaining back 107 of them. (Oprah and The Biggest Loser in the same post! When categories collide!) Oprah had invited him a […]

Filed under: Biggest Loser, Celebrities, Diet Talk Warning, Exercise, Health, Oprah, Personal, Question, TV, Weight Loss | 53 Comments »

Dita von Teese is known for being a beautiful bombshell with boobs and hips and a fabulous ass, who is comfortable with her body, who is glamourous and put-together, sexy and sexual in a way that is supposed to be inspiring, or at least make her a lot of money. I’ve always admired her for […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Exercise, Gossip | 47 Comments »

Yesterday I was at the gym thinking that, since it’s almost January 1, I might have to start waiting for elliptical machines again pretty soon. It’s the time of year where people make resolutions to lose weight, to go back to the gym, to “get healthy.” And the gym gets crowded, and Weight Watchers meetings […]

Filed under: Exercise, Food, Health, Personal, Question, Weight Loss | 23 Comments »

I don’t think I posted about this, but I do remember hearing a while back that overweight kids are not only more likely to be bullied, but they’re also more likely to be bullies. The topic is coming up again, with a new study showing that “expressions of anger” are reduced in overweight kids who […]

Filed under: Exercise, Kids, Science | 12 Comments »

Fat chicks have more sex than skinny chicks. Sorry, skinny ladies, but it’s science. The story is kind of troubling, though, when you start to look at it up close. The results seem to contradict stereotypes that overweight and obese women have less sex. If anything, the researchers said, the opposite seems to be true. […]

Filed under: Exercise, Fat Positive, Feel Good Friday, Feminism, Science, Sex & Romance | 41 Comments »

Listen, I don’t know who the hell this guy thinks he is, but I kind of want to kick him in the shins. Oh my mistake, it’s two guys; dancers on Dancing with the Stars who are calling two of the female dancers fat and lecturing them about their weight publicly. Louis Van Amstel said, […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Exercise, Feminism, Gossip, TV | 39 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 »

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 »

After a whole lot of OBESITY EPIDEMIC OMG!!1! in the news lately, finally we have some good news in the New York Times, where the headline reads “Better to Be Fat and Fit Than Skinny and Unfit.” The researchers chalk it up in part to the assumptions people make when they hear the words “overweight” […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Exercise, Fat Positive, Health, Media, Personal, Science | 18 Comments »

Are you watching the Beijing Olympics? I’m catching parts of it, and it’s a big watercooler topic here at work. The other day, Joy Nash (among others) posted some photos of Olympians of varying shapes and sizes. It kinda cracks your head open to realize that each of these people [is] perfect. They’re uniquely suited […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Exercise, Feminism, Media | 11 Comments »

I work in a giant, brightly decorated cubicle with two other people, and we often pass the days sending each other links to amusing things or dorky things or talking about the latest episode of Project Runway. Actually that all happened today. But the other thing that happened today was one of us, and I’m […]

Filed under: Cold Hard Cash, Exercise, Video, Weight Loss, Work | 23 Comments »

I think it was Ian who first pointed me to this article in The New York Times about the development of an exercise pill, although the conversation seems to have exploded everywhere. Let’s hop on that bandwagon! First, from the NYT article: Aicar signals to the cell that it has burned off energy and needs […]

Filed under: Exercise, Personal, Question, Weight Loss | 28 Comments »

A study released yesterday attempts to answer that important question, dividing adolescent girls into groups like “Jocks,” “Burnouts,” and “Alternatives,” and discovering that their peer groups are the most important deciding factor. From the press release: The central theme of the study is that peer groups of teenage girls best determine their attitude towards their […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Exercise, Kids, Personal, Question, Science | 44 Comments »

Jennette Fulda, better known as PastaQueen, may have lost a couple hundred or so pounds, but she’s been a commenter on and visitor to Big Fat Deal for a long time. On a blog tour for her memoir, Half of Me, she offered to stop by and answer the toughest questions I could come up […]

Filed under: Beth Ditto, Books, Exercise, Meta, Question, Weight Loss, WLS | 173 Comments »

Here are some songs to help you lose weight… with terrible poetry! A CD featuring songs like “I’m A Hottie Now” and “I Think I’ll Go To Saks.” Put aside the Shakira and the Kelly Clarkson and self-loathe your way to being thin with lyrics such as… Thin! — I don’t deny it. Thin! — […]

Filed under: Exercise, Humor, Music, Weight Loss | 37 Comments »

I admit; I really want a Wii. And I think the idea of the Wii Fit is awesome; one of the advantages of having a Wii is that it keeps you moving around while you’re playing games. So then why do I find this article vaguely sexist and irritating? Because the Wii Fit is being […]

Filed under: Exercise, Feminism, Kids, Weight Loss | 31 Comments »