I received an e-mail from Alyssa, and I thought it was worth talking about in an entry. She asks if she can be “skinny” and “built like a 12-year-old boy” and still be considered “beautiful.” Here’s her e-mail (bolding mine): I am 5’6″ and 112 lbs. I have a small bone structure and a really […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Feminism, Media, Meta, Question | 56 Comments »

I had to post about this bus stop ad not only because I work in the advertising industry but also because I’m Dutch. Oh, those wacky Dutch. The premise of this ad is a bus stop that, when you sit down, projects your weight onto an advertisement for a gym. Shakesville has a picture, and […]

Filed under: Advertising, Fatism, International, Personal, Question | 24 Comments »

I received this letter from Sara, and immediately asked if I could post it here and get your feedback. Hello Ms. Pie, I am having a bit of a dilemma. I am about to lose my virginity (at 22) to a man who I really love. That’s not the problem. The problem is that I […]

Filed under: Fat Positive, Humor, NSFW, Question, Sex & Romance, Video, WLS | 48 Comments »

I was browsing through the archives of Fatshionista today and I found a post that made me stop and think. And it made me want to know, as ever, what you guys think! I am a sexy, beautiful, wonderful plus sized chick. There are days, however few (…or many, whatever) when I can’t see that. […]

Filed under: Fat Positive, Personal, Question | 20 Comments »

The Guardian runs a feature called Private Lives, in which readers write in with their problems, and the Guardian’s expert provides her expert advice, along with a healthy helping of the peanut gallery’s remarks. The audience is encouraged to write in with their very helpful ideas on how to fix these people’s problems, and then […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Health, International, Media, Question, Weight Loss | 10 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 »

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 »

Well hello there, friends! It’s December 1, officially the Hannukah/Christmas/Kwanzaa/Solstice season, and for the Americans out there, the end of Thanksgiving vacation. Starbucks has holiday drinks (although no sugar-free gingerbread this year, FAIL) and I can finally bust out my favorite holiday playlist, including the Zooey Deschanel and Leon Redbone version of “Baby, It’s Cold […]

Filed under: Fashion, Meta, Personal, Question | 29 Comments »

Jessica at Jezebel wrote a while back about the Glamour magazine diet blog Margarita Shapes Up. What’s disconcerting is the anxious tone that has crept into her posts in recent weeks, culminating in a post about leaving her dad’s birthday party early so that she could go to yoga. It’s clear that she feels a […]

Filed under: Feminism, Magazines, Media, Question, Weight Loss | 60 Comments »

I was shopping this weekend, and it got me thinking about the way that I’ve often walked into stores that carry sizes that are unlikely to fit me (often while shopping with thinner friends) and headed straight for the accessories: sparkly jewelry, hats, bags, scarves. All the things that are (that dreaded phrase) “one size […]

Filed under: Fashion, Feminism, Personal, Question | 38 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 »

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 »

Recently I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the male perspective on size acceptance. There seems to have been a recent uptick in men commenting on this blog, and I have more than one male friend who has been known to make disparaging comments about his body size. In response to my recent assertion that […]

Filed under: Advocacy, BFDudes, Fatism, Feminism, Meta, Question | 37 Comments »

My favorite reality show that nobody but me and Kim watches is The Mole. (The first host of the show was the amazing Anderson Cooper; the current host, Jon Kelley, is equally fabulous and hot. You heard it here first.) The premise of the show is that a dozen or so contestants are competing in […]

Filed under: American Idol, Fat Positive, Fatism, Project Runway, Question, TV | 22 Comments »

It’s true that culturally, the responsibility for having an adequately-sized sexual organ is all on the guy, but a growing movement is noticing that hey, it’s not like a vagina only comes in petite. One girl’s hooha might be snug while another girl might get labeled as “cavernous” by guys in private. After all, it […]

Filed under: Fat Positive, NSFW, Question, Sex & Romance | 53 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 »

I’m suspicious, in general, of nutrition information provided by restaurants. The lowfat ice cream cone at McDonald’s is supposedly 150 calories, but I’ve had them hand me a cone that was piled so high with swirls that it was about to tip over, the dairy equivalent of a game of Jenga. I know full well […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Food, Health, Personal, Question | 29 Comments »

We all know that there is no such thing as an “ideal beauty,” right? And that we women shouldn’t define ourselves or our self-worth according to what men find sexy, right? It is with this disclaimer in place, then, that I tell you the preferred body type for men, according to this survey (link NSFW) […]

Filed under: Feminism, International, Magazines, NSFW, Personal, Question, Sex & Romance | 37 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 »

Over the weekend, I was thinking about traditionally “healthy” or “unhealthy” foods. You know, the old “good” and “bad” foods, if we were assigning morality to food, which we totally are not doing. I was thinking about the “healthy” foods I love and those I hate, and the “unhealthy” foods I love and hate, and […]

Filed under: Food, Personal, Question | 50 Comments »

Saw this tidbit about Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick’s son James (who I believe is 5 years old) and his hate of the word “fat.” 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 […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Kids, Question, Sarah Jessica Parker, Tidbit | 40 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 »

I’ve read a lot of blogs and books and heard a lot of anecdotal evidence from people who have lost weight, especially a great deal of weight, talking about the radical difference in how they are treated when they’re fat versus when they’re thin. (You also hear this from celebrities who have put on and […]

Filed under: Personal, Question | 134 Comments »

I’m fried at work today and I spent the morning at the dentist, so here’s a random post off the top of my head. I always love hearing what Jane Espenson is having for lunch, so let’s find out what’s on the menu for the rest of us today! I don’t even have a great […]

Filed under: Food, Meta, Personal, Question, Work | 55 Comments »

There’s a conversation going on in the comments about whether some people look better when they’re heavier. The discussion started with Rhonwyn’s comment right here: [w]hile I’m on the subject of Queen Latifah and losing weight: do any of you think some people just look better when they’re heavier? I hardly recognized Star Jones after […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Goldilocks Paradox, Gossip, Meta, Queen Latifah, Question, Renee Zelwegger, Star Jones, Weight Loss, WLS | 18 Comments »