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 »

Interesting post at TMZ of all places, about Queen Latifah’s endorsement of the Jenny Craig diet (which, if you recall I had issues with). You can follow that link to see some before and after shots of Queen Latifah, but this is the entirety of the post: We’re hearing there’s a new strategy in Jenny […]

Filed under: Advertising, Celebrities, Cold Hard Cash, Gossip, Kirstie Alley, Magazines, Media, Queen Latifah, Weight Loss | 36 Comments »

Originally uploaded by mo pie I have been reading Elastic Waist daily since it launched; especially since my friends (including BFD contributor Weetabix) write for the site. I have been on their “daily special” show and have even written a guest post or two for them. However, the fact remains that it is a corporate-sponsored […]

Filed under: Advertising, Cold Hard Cash, Fatism, Feminism, Magazines, Media, Meta | 19 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 »

There’s a company that is offering insurance when you buy a pair of jeans. It took me a few reads to even comprehend how it works. Basically, you buy jeans, send this company a percentage of the price, wait to lose weight so your jeans don’t fit, find a box, go to the post office, […]

Filed under: Cold Hard Cash, Fashion, Weight Loss, WLS | 17 Comments »

Originally uploaded by mo pie Or “overweight nude” as CNN calls it. The artist is Lucien Freud, and the painting was just sold for $33.6 million, making it the most expensive painting ever sold by a living artist. The model for the painting is Sue Tilley. (A picture of her can be seen here; the […]

Filed under: Art, Cold Hard Cash, Fat Positive, Fatism, International | 36 Comments »

Kristin e-mailed to alert us about a new ad campaign for NutriSystem, which directs to the URL nutrisystem.com/ pretty. This takes you to the main NutriSystem page, reinforcing the ad’s message that NutriSystem will make you “pretty,” i.e., thin. Kristin e-mailed NutriSystem to protest: I saw your commercial that advertised your web address as nutrisystem.com/pretty. […]

Filed under: Advertising, Cold Hard Cash, Media, Tidbit, Weight Loss | 28 Comments »

In the world of health care, that is. We die sooner, so we cost less! Okay, so that’s not exactly a generalization that anyone around here agrees with, but hell. It’s better than “you fat people are costing me health care money and that’s why it is acceptable that I am shaming you.” Here’s the […]

Filed under: Cold Hard Cash, Health, International, Science | 19 Comments »

At the gym yesterday, I saw that the Queen Latifah commercial for Jenny Craig is out—so I figured I should follow up on my original post about the issue. There was no sound, though, so I couldn’t hear it. So I just did a quick search and came up with an interview that is mostly […]

Filed under: Advertising, Celebrities, Cold Hard Cash, Exercise, Health, Queen Latifah, Video, Weight Loss | 20 Comments »

I still vividly remember going shopping for a prom dress with my mother and grandmother. I was a plus-sized teenager and, because they were clueless, they took me to a lot of stores that didn’t carry plus-sized clothes. I remember a lot of salespeople who would look me up and down, then turn to my […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Cold Hard Cash, Fashion, Personal | 28 Comments »

I’ve had the “we’re rethinking Dress Barn” tagline in the rotation for a while now, and I finally stepped into a Dress Barn this weekend to see for myself. You see, I am going to be doing a reading at this event at Colorado State University. (If anyone is in Colorado and is interested in […]

Filed under: Art, Cold Hard Cash, Fashion, Meta, Personal | 20 Comments »

How’s your wallet these days? Think back to your last pay raise. Did you get as much as you thought you would? How much of that was determined less by the size of your contribution to the company but more by the size of your ass? I’ve always had a suspicion that women in business […]

Filed under: Cold Hard Cash, Fatism, Question, Work | 23 Comments »

Thanks to Kimberly and CoryGlen, I now know that (some) Australians are crazy. Not only are they trying to ban Santa’s “ho, ho, ho” catchphrase (for being frightening and “too close to ‘ho,’ a US slang term for prostitute”) now there’s a proposed fat tax on people flying on airplanes. To be fair, this is […]

Filed under: Cold Hard Cash, Fatism, International | 21 Comments »

Well, there’s a first time for everything. Welcome to our first post about baseball! Renee sends along this article about Red Sox player Curt Schilling, who has just signed a contract that gives him $333,333 once a month for six months if he “passes” a random weigh-in; that is, if he maintains his weight. Renee […]

Filed under: Cold Hard Cash, Exercise, Health | 11 Comments »

Hooray, Star Jones news! I always miss writing about her when nothing is happening. But there’s a new controversy between Star Jones and a group called Full & Fabulous. Here’s the first part of the story: Full & Fabulous, a non-profit organization that helps plus-size women and girls cope with peer pressures, is upset at […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Cold Hard Cash, Star Jones, Video | 16 Comments »

Another find from the referral logs; a “confession” of “fat sins.” As a girl who was raised Catholic, the format really struck a chord. I love the idea of getting absolution for your fat sins. (That’s what happens when you confess, right?) I’m one of the slobs conservatives talk about who buys a 12-count box […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Cold Hard Cash, Food, Health | 16 Comments »

I’m not sure who first told me that Jonathan Coulton does a fantastic, folky cover of “Baby Got Back,” but here it is: You can sample othe album version of the song right here, and purchase it for one measly dollar.

Filed under: Cold Hard Cash, Music, Video | 7 Comments »

Guess what? Hairspray has officially passed $100 million at the box office. This is a real achievement for a musical (only five have ever done it). Not only that, only three musicals (Grease, Chicago, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show) have ever made more money. And the movie is really fun and warmhearted; the music […]

Filed under: Cold Hard Cash, Fat Suits, Feel Good Friday, Hairspray, Movies, Tidbit | 7 Comments »

Well, my local Starbucks has shifted over from whole milk to 2% milk as the default, just as Starbucks Gossip predicted. (I read Starbucks Gossip every day, by the way. Once a barista, always a barista.) They still have whole milk available, although you have to request it now. Starbucks claims it’s due to consumer […]

Filed under: Cold Hard Cash, Food | 24 Comments »

Some dickhead named Michael Karolchyk is all up in arms about the possibility of a law protecting fat people from discrimination in Massachusetts. His willingness to shock people has won extensive press for his business, which is called the Anti-Gym. It is, in fact, a gym. What makes it special is its founder’s zeal for […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Cold Hard Cash, Fatism, Science, Work | 29 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 »

Personal chefs, home gyms, lots of free time—we all know it’s easier to be thin when you’re rich. And if I were rich, I would totally try out one of those health spas. Not the ones with the eight-hour workouts, but the ones with, like, swimming and meditation and daily massages. (Note to people who […]

Filed under: Cold Hard Cash, Health, International | 5 Comments »

Morbidly obese employees cost companies more in worker’s comp claims, says a new study: [T]he fattest workers had 13 times more lost workdays due to work-related injuries, and their medical claims for those injuries were seven times higher than their fit co-workers [sic]. Overweight workers were more likely to have claims involving injuries to the […]

Filed under: Cold Hard Cash, Health, Science, Work | 13 Comments »

Bankrate recently compared five different weight loss programs, asking how much does it cost to lose 30 pounds? Their results are detailed, but don’t lend themselves to a great comparison; they included food in the cost of Nutri-System, but not in the cost of Jenny Craig, for example—and those are pretty comparable programs. Using their […]

Filed under: Cold Hard Cash, Weight Loss | 11 Comments »