I think it speaks for itself, don’t you? Thanks, Mychii! You rock!

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The central theme of the study is that peer groups of teenage girls best determine their attitude towards their bodies, dieting and exercise. Some points to note are that athletic teens (part of the jock peer group) had the most healthy attitude, while those who were not part of any group had the most negative attitude and were the most likely to diet or over exercise.

Here’s a more sciency excerpt:

[G]irls identifying with athletic peers (‘Jocks’) were less concerned about their own weight and seemed less likely to be trying to control their weight. Girls identifying with non–conformist peers (‘Alternatives’) were more concerned about their weight and appearance and more likely to be actively trying to lose weight. The girls who identified with those who skip school and often get into trouble (‘Burnouts’) believed their peers valued thinness and dieting. Finally, girls who did not belong to any particular peer group were the most likely to use slimming strategies.

It’s kind of ironic that the non-conformists turned out to be more obsessed with weight than the other groups. So what were you: a Jock? A Burnout? An Alternative? A Vampire Groupie? (Yes, I have been reading the Twilight series. No, that’s not a real peer group. Sadly.) Do you think your peer group had any effect on your attitude towards your weight?

I personally was a Nerd, not brave enough to play sports, and all my pressure came from home and from my own brain. My peer group never pressured me, as far as I can remember. Of course I’m speaking of high school: in junior high, I simply didn’t have any friends. What about you? What about your daughters?

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On the healthy side of things, I dislike carrots and hate The Evil. I also don’t like beans much, although I’m trying to eat them more because of all the protein and blah blah. I actually was eating an apple when I thought of this topic, because some types of apples seem overly sweet to me; it’s not my favorite fruit. Health foods I love? Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and so many kinds of fruit, especially figs, apricots, green grapes, barely-ripe bananas, and strawberries. Greek yogurt.

Unhealthy? I don’t care for cheesecake very much. This is because my high school boyfriend (you know the one who is now gay and my best friend) reportedly makes awesome cheesecake, and I would have spent all four years of high school eating way too much cheesecake while I came to grips with my boyfriend’s sexuality. My favorite unhealthy things are probably fries, chocolate-chip cookies, and sprinkle cookies. And Coca-Cola, which is the one thing I have the most guilt about indulging in, as I think I’ve mentioned before.

Probably very favorite food is chocolate-dipped strawberries, which covers both categories in a perfect synergy of deliciousness. Anyway, at various times I have felt guilty about some of these likes and dislikes—feeling guilty for what I like and what I don’t like. But it occurs to me that everyone has their food likes and dislikes, no matter what their size, and none of us should feel guilty about any of them! So what are yours?

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From someecards.com, my favorite electronic card purveyor! Also, this card reminds me to tell you I have a Twitter feed in case you’re interested. Happy Friday!

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In the meantime, are you planning to see Wall-E this weekend? (Follow that link to read our previous discussion about the film.) Red No. 3 has some thoughts about the movie as well:

Indeed, it seems like Pixar is actually being quite subtle and I suspect their use of fat shorthand will appeal to a variety of different fat prejudices. Essentially, fat is cautionary in the film. A sign of humanity’s downfall in the future. But that’s all it is. A sign, a symbol to represent something else. That can be useful sometimes, but here the effect is far more crass. Rather than making a complex point about consumerism or over-consumpsion of resources, they just rely on people’s fear and disgust of fat. Forget all the valid complaints about those things. They’ll make you FAT! That fear can be so base for people, that it doesn’t matter if someone thinks of fat as a consequences of personal irresponsibility or corporate neglect. Both will feel the fear of fat and attach their own nuanced prejudices onto that.

Wow, that’s way more profound than I can be this Friday. So who’s going to see the movie? If you see it, please report back in this thread!

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One day, FF and I talked about the fact that we were fat. It was a surprising conversation. I had never talked to another fat person about being fat. We kept it light. We talked about “Chub Rub” - the chaffing between our thighs on hot summer days. We talked about our low-hanging bellies - We called them meat curtains and envisioned theatrical events that could take place beneath them. We talked about uncomfortable plane seats. We talked about diets and childhood humiliations. We made fun of ourselves. We made fun of other fat people. We leaned in close and whispered terrible things we’d never said out loud before. We laughed until we cried. We laughed so hard we had to leave the restaurant where we were having lunch. It was the least politically correct conversation I’ve ever had, and it RADICALLY changed my life.

I have created The Fat Experience Project to humanize the life lived large.
No more headless bouncing bellies on the news with the “Obesity Epidemic” stamped across the screen.
We have faces, names, lives and stories.
What’s yours?

It’s a really well designed, professional site and such a great idea. And how freaking cute are all these contributors so far? Sorry to be shallow! You’re all very cute.

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As we were lounging and sipping, we saw a plus-size girl in an awesome striped blouse. Anne stopped her and said, “I love your blouse! Where did you get it?” She hesitated for a moment and said, “Thanks! Er, I don’t remember. Some boutique.” She gestured off into the indefinite middle distance.

As she walked away, Anne turned to me. “That’s totally code for Lane Bryant.” I said, “I was thinking the same thing.” “I want to grab the back of her shirt,” Anne said, “And find the evidence in the form of a tag that says ‘Venezia.’” We traded stories about times we’d shopped at Lane Bryant and answered exactly the same question exactly the same way. (I would also sometimes say, “Macy’s” which does sell clothes in a wide range of sizes so is slightly more plausible.)

So, yes, I’ve been there, and so has Anne. Yet this maneuver is totally transparent, it turns out. First of all, what “boutique” caters to plus-size women? None that I know of. Second of all, who “can’t remember” where they got an item of clothing? I admit it happens occasionally, but for the most part? Oh, you remember. And it was Lane Bryant. Why is that such a punchline? Why can’t we proudly say, “Yes, I got this at Torrid!” Or the Avenue! Or Dress Barn! Or Lane Bryant!

So, plus-size women, has this happened to you, or is it just us? Do you shop at an imaginary “boutique” or do you shop at Lane Bryant?

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To test out if enhanced flavor would have the opposite effect, the sciency people did a study showing that flavor crystals sprinkled on food resulted in weight loss.

In a study lasting 6 months, Hirsch and colleagues had 2,436 overweight or obese adults sprinkle a variety of calorie-free “tastant” crystals on the food they ate. They put the salt-free savory flavours — like cheddar cheese, onion, and ranch dressing — on salty foods and put sugar-free sweet crystal flavours — like cocoa, spearmint, banana, strawberry and malt — on sweet or neutral-tasting foods.

A control group of 100 volunteers used non-flavoured “placebo” crystals. Both groups were told not to change their eating or exercise patterns… [Tthe “tastant” group’s] average weight loss over a 6 month period was a little over 30 pounds or about 15% of their body weight versus 2 pounds in the control group.

There are a whole host of reasons why tastants would work, Hirsch said, “but the best hypothesis is that these powerful smells and tastes acted to enhance sensory-specific satiety.” They send messages to the brain that say “I’m full.”

So, interesting. (Even though the doctor blithely says diets don’t work “because people do not have the will power to succeed.” Way to be reductive there, doctor.) I’m curious about the concept though. Would you sprinkle cocoa or cheddar cheese crystals on your food? I would at least be curious to see what they taste like. But I would also be concerned about the questionable chemicals they no doubt contain. I mean, what do we know about these things? They are “crystals” that are most-likely crystal-shaped, and that’s all we got at this point. A little ill-defined, if you ask me!

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Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker have been banned from using the word `fat’ at home - by their politically correct young son. Little James Wilke insists the word upsets him more than any expletive.

Broderick explains, “You’re not even supposed to call people fat according to him. I guess that’s nice because it isn’t a very nice word and he’s very sensitive about it.”

Interesting. I obviously don’t feel that it’s “not a very nice word” if you reclaim it and own it and rah rah all of that, but I do feel it can be hurtful to people who aren’t all “fat pride!” about it. It used to be very hurtful to me, to be called fat. And we’ve seen that kids can be very hurt by the idea that they are “fat.”

So my question is: how do you feel about the word fat? Does that word have power over you, or has it ever? And if we teach our kids that the word “fat” is just a statement of fact and that it’s not a bad word… could we end up doing more harm than good? Let me know what you think.

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