I'm on Oprah's mailing list. There. I've confessed. I keep an eye on Oprah. Anyway, today, the subject line of one of her emails intrigued me: "Fat that makes you thin." So, I opened it. I think I was hoping to discover some new oil that tasted like butter but worked in the body like fiber. I can dream, can't I?
Instead, at Oprah.com, I found this tidbit:
Fat to Make You Thin After Johns Hopkins researchers genetically reprogrammed a small part of the DNA in the brains of rats, some of the animals' lumpy white fat transformed into brown fat, the type that actually burns calories. The scientists hypothesize that messages from the altered hypothalamus woke dormant brown-fat stem cells and prompted them to make new tissue. Afterward the mice gained little weight, even when fed fattening chow.
How Soon: The goal is to make these kinds of tweaks to human DNA within a decade.
As anyone who's read my BlogHer post, "The Cylons Cometh," may gather, I am leery of this coming age of changing the human body via high tech. I've read and seen too much science fiction about bad outcomes after scientists interfere in nature, I guess. However, what's scarier is that the bad outcomes are not all fiction, a fact which becomes clear when you look at the negative side effects that have sometimes resulted from scientific interference in the food industry.
And yet, I have told family and friends often that if science comes up with a way to change human DNA so that we don't gain weight so easily, I might be the first in line for that injection. I'm one of those people who can smell cake and gain weight.
Unfortunately, by the time science figures out how to turn bad, white, lumpy fat into the good brown stuff, I'll be too old to be a good candidate for genetic alteration. Sigh. Sucks for me, but it still may be good news for the folks under 30 right now.
Oprah Winfrey tells Piers Morgan in an interview for his new CNN show that her greatest failure was the movie Beloved based on Toni Morrison's novel that won the Nobel Prize in literature. She said that after the movie bombed at the box office, she went into a depression for the first and only time of her life, feeling that she existed under a veil and asking her chef to prepare macaroni and cheese, her comfort food.
Morgan asked her how much macroni and cheese did she eat. She said "30 pounds worth." Winfrey has struggled publicly with weight issues for most of the 25 years of the Oprah Winfrey Show.
I didn't hide her revelation that she feels Beloved was her biggest failure the way some news sources have in their headlines because the information is not a secret to the multitude that follows the television mogul. It is a good movie, but I've always had the impression Beloved failed due to too much Oprah; she not only produced it but also starred in it, and some people felt she should have chosen someone else to play the role of Sethe, the main characer.
I'm not saying Oprah didn't do a good job of acting in the film (while a New York Times reviewer saw a few flaws in her performance, many critics thought she was "pitch perfect"). What I'm saying is that before I even saw the movie, I remember some average people in 1998 voicing objections to Winfrey casting herself in the leaing role.
I remember people back then saying they felt she wanted too much too soon even though she'd already debuted in the movie The Color Purple and also had appeared in Native Son. You have to wonder, however, why these people were so hard on Oprah starring in her dream project, one she took 10 years to bring to fruition, but have applauded stars such as Barbara Streisand for doing the same thing, producing and starring in movies.
Oprah blames Beloved's poor box office sales on her not understanding movie distribution and marketing well enough. She was surprised when her artistic film's box office sales were upstaged by the horror movie Bride of Chucky.
Piers Morgan's show premieres on CNN January 17 at 8 p.m. central. It replaces Larry King Live.
We're seeing a lot news about the obesity crisis lately, people blaming parents, folks blaming fat people, but few people, other than a handful of documentary filmmakers and a book author here or there, addressing that how our food is grown and produced may be contributing to the nation's obesity epidemic and other nutrition-related health issues. Below is the full documentary, The Future of Food by Deborah Koons Garcia, which was released in 2004.
By no means am I saying we shouldn't each be accountable for what we put in our mouths and feed our children, but I am thinking that some of the issues related to food have nothing to do with what we've done personally but what big business has done and the government has allowed, mostly in the name of capitalism.
In the same year that Super Size Me came out, 2004, and before the other documentaries named and Jamie Oliver's TV show, another documentary on food apparently was released that hasn't gotten the same kind of attention, The Future of Food. It addressed not only the changes in how we grow food through biotechnology, but also how giant agricultural companies, like Monsanto, have gone gangster on small farmers in a move to monopolize the farm industry. It's the full documentary I've embedded at the beginning of this post. Disturbing stuff.
In addition, here are the trailers for Food Inc. and King Corn.
Food Inc. trailer
King Corn trailer
I watch these types of documentaries and wonder what can we do? How can we address this food crisis beyond cooking our meals at home, growing a personal garden and buying organic? Remember some people can't do at least two of those actions. Perhaps the clearest sign that this nation isn't run by ordinary people is how often our interests and well-being are kicked aside in favor of the interest of mega-corporations. Maybe Michael Moore is right. Maybe America is more in love with capitalism than it is democracy.
That "ugh" in the title of this blog is not to say that there's anything wrong with Geneen Roth's book Women, Food & God but to express self-dismay. As I said on Twitter, "Oh, I so don't want to be the woman haunting the self-help section of the bookstore not unless I can put what I learn into action."
My mother was always picking up self-help books, and I'm not convinced they helped her, but I, like Oprah, continue to struggle with my relationship with food. In addition, the tendency to gain weight is complicated by a documented metabolism issue, hypothyroidism, and the trek toward menopause.
Grave's Disease runs in my family, and I was treated for it years ago with radio-active iodine. Once it's treated, you tend to have an underactive thyroid. I've been this way since my early 20s, and lately my level's been dropping. I have to get blood checks more frequently.
So, I don't eat tons of food. It doesn't take much for me to gain weight. However, I think I have a sugar addiction as well, which leads to my eating foods with higher caloric density. Anyone who tells you sugar can't be addictive is a liar. Sugar and "comfort" foods switch on signals in the brain that make us feel good. Eat these foods too often and you start to crave them in unhealthy ways.
For the last two weeks I've not eaten anything that has sugar added or added any sugars to what I eat, including honey and raw sugar. Have I lost weight? I don't know. I feel like I have, but I refuse to get on the scale because then I'll become obsessed with weight rather than health. I'll get on the scale when I go to the doctor this summer.
Furthermore, I suspect insulin resistance runs in my family, but only because Diabetes does and insulin resistance is a precursor to diabetes.
After hearing Oprah talk about Roth's book and Roth herself speak, I have a feeling that Women, Food & God will not tell me anything I don't already know. For instance, I know that consistently eating what's bad for us is most likely related to filling a hole. The food is filling in for something we lack in our lives, and I know what that hole, which sometimes shifts, is for me.
At the same time, one can't completely dismiss science and genetics, especially when we've discovered that our metabolisms are so messed up that we gain weight on 1800 calories per day despite the supposed experts saying we should not. We can't make the journey only about emotional triggers when we know that sometimes two people the same height and gender can eat the same number of calories, but one will gain weight and one will not even when both exercise. To combat that part of the problem, we have to look at exercise levels, types of carbohydrates consumed, how much protein and fat we eat, etc. Throw in the kind of information heard from sources like Food Inc., and how to eat and what to eat becomes overwhelming.
I wish I could take six months and do nothing but concentrate on my health and how and why I eat poorly these days, but I can't do that. And I suck at juggling health issues--part of personal life--with work--business and earning money to pay the bills. I don't like taking baby steps toward a health goal, but that's probably the best way to do it and not go insane.
Anyway, this book has been on my mind lately, even though it was months ago that I first heard of it. I think the Universe may be telling me that I can only meet health goals if I approach them from a spiritual standpoint. So, I may buy Roth's book just to see what else she is saying.
I mean, Oprah has millions of dollars, a staff, and the power to influence leaders. If she struggles with food and weight, then you know the rest of us with this monkey on our backs have a greater challenge. We have to wrestle the monkey and cook our own meals, clean our own bathrooms, worry about how to keep the lights on and how to pay the doctor. It's a wonder more of us don't jump off bridges.
I was talking in an email thread about the recent study about weight loss and exercise that says women, especially older women, should exercise 60 minutes per day, seven days per week, to maintain their weight without dieting. Depressing. And I said I remembered the 2008 study that said obese women had to exercise 55 minutes per day at least 5 times per week and restrict calories to lose weight.
In 1972 or 1973, my mother, who was 45/46 back then lost 70 pounds on the old Weight Watchers Diet. One of the selling points of the diet is that you could lose weight without exercise.
Yes, I think we should exercise. Exercise is good for you, but I couldn't help but think that this notion that you can't lose weight unless you exercise is faulty. My mother was in her mid 40s and 70 pounds overweight. She was obese, but she lost weight without exercise. And she was not the only middle-aged, obese woman losing lots of weight on the old Weight Watcher's Diet in the 70s. So, either humans have changed or something else in the world has changed.
I suggested in the email thread that maybe humans are changing. Thread participants reminded me that it's more likely that the problem is the food we consume today has changed, not humans.
Naturally, our increasing consumption of high fructose corn syrup came up in the email discussion, and someone sent this link, "Dishing on High Fructose Corn Syrup."
Yes, we've been hearing about the evils of HCFS for years now, and have you noticed that the Corn Refiners Association is fighting back on all the bad publicity? See SweetSurprise.com, and no, I don't believe the industry's rebuttal. Furthermore, I hate the commercial its produced with the dueling moms.
Later, weight-loss blogger Deb Roby sent a note saying she thinks our weight problem today has more to do with what we eat than it does exercise. Therefore, I shared what I recalled of the old Weight Watcher's Diet.
Yeah. I still remember the old Weight Watchers diet, more or less.
3 pieces of fruit per day (teens and men could have more) No more than 2 servings of starch (teens and men could have more) 16 oz. of skim milk (24 oz for teens) 4 oz. of meat, fish or poultry at lunch 6 oz. of meat, fish or poultry a dinner (that part may have been teens, can't remember if adult women ate 4 oz again or 5 oz or 6 oz.) No more than 4 eggs per week, which had to be calculated into a meal as part of your protein No more than 4 ounces of cheese per week, which had to be calculated into a meal as part of your protein No more than 3 tsp. of fat per day At least 2 cups of raw veggies About 1 cup cooked veggies No sugar, period. Protein had to include Fish 5 times per week and lean beef 4 X per week No frying of anything: Grill, bake, broil or poach unlimited coffee, tea, or diet soda (My mom drank a lot of diet soda and still lost weight. So did I.)
While you could eat out sometimes on the plan, the crux was either you or someone at your house preparing and measuring your food for you.
I know they changed this diet later, which I've been told was actually the old New York State weight loss diet.
I included the note that my mother and I drank a lot of diet soda because I know some recent studies indicate that diet soda may contribute to weight gain, and I lost weight on the old WW diet as well. I was 13 then and had always been the fat kid. That was the first time and possibly the only time I lost a substantial amount of weight due to effort and not illness.
So, I decided to look up the old diet online and found that someone had posted the full 1972 Weight Watcher's Diet that I remember under "The Way It Was... (1972 Weight Watchers Program)." Actually, I think it may have been Dottie from Dottie's Weight Loss Zone who posted it. She lost 95.5 pounds on the Weight Watchers point system which came later.
Since it's copyrighted by Weight Watchers, I decided not to post the actual text here, and just give the link instead.
Yesterday I posted on the buzz over Oprah's Hook-up show helping to promote KFC's new grilled chicken. She posted a coupon to download at her site. The download is available at KFC's site (scroll down for links), but note that the download (not the coupon) expires tonight at 11:59 PM CST. The coupon is good through May 19 at participating KFC locations, but not good on Mother's Day.
This is all good, and a great idea to help the cause of better nutrition and healthy choices. However, the picture for the deal bothered me. The biscuit, coleslaw and potatoes with gravy adds more calories and fat than the average person wants in one meal if she or he is trying to watch a waistline. Fortunately, KFC has other choices on its menu. See links below for nutrition and calories as well as a comparison of KFC grilled calories and fat to its fried chicken.
See in the graphic below, biscuit=180 cal., 8g fat; coleslaw=180 cal. 10g fat; potatoes w/gravy=130 calories, 4.5g fat. That's 490 calories and 22.5g fat and you haven't even picked up the chicken yet. BTW, the biscuit's fat grams includes 6 grams of saturated fat.
I missed Oprah yesterday, busy doing other things, but I've got it on DVR. Anyway, I wondered why KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) was a trending key word on Twitter. I should have known--Oprah! She's helping giving away free KFC grilled chicken. Should we be surprised?
No, grilled chicken is healthy and great if you're watching your weight. But maybe I'm on Oprah's wavelength somehow. While I didn't see the show, the entire time I was at my son's award show last night, starving, I kept thinking "You should go to KFC and try the new grilled chicken when you leave."
It's too late to get your free 2-piece meal by downloading the coupon at Oprah.com. But you can get one at the KFC website!
Coupon available for printing from 9am CDT 5/5/09 to 9:59pm CDT 5/6/09. Coupon is redeemable at participating KFC® locations in the U.S. from 5/5/09 to 5/19/09, excluding 5/10/09, Mother's Day.***Click here.***
Read the restrictions carefully. **UPDATE:** KFC has extended the download deadline by 2 hours to 11:59 CDT.
I first heard about the free grilled KFC giveaway at Examiner.com. The chain was giving the freebie on April 27 in Baltimore, I think, calling it "unfry" day.
I just saw part of Greer Childers infomercial, which of course means I've stayed up too late but apparently not so late that I could be suckered into ordering anything from Greer Childers. She once marketed Body Flex, of which the video clip below may be a part. Today she's hawking Shapely Secrets, promising women they can have it all. In only seven minutes per day they can sculpt their bodies, loose lots of inches doing motionless exercise, she claims.
She also claims to be 61 years old herself. I keep thinking the facial exercises she's doing in the old VHS Gold video below must not have been as effective as she hoped because on her latest infomercial the only thing that moves is her mouth. Can you say "Botox"? But she does look good, if you like the plastic look or appearing to have your face pulled tighter than sheep skin over a new drum and equally expressionless.
You won't find her long infomercial showing her dressed like a 20-year-old online. At the end of the shorter Shapely Secrets infomercial video that you can watch at this link, she comes on but practically in cameo and the picture's fuzzy. So is the her picture in this post. Interestingly, you'll find no large, clear pictures of her online easily.
I'm curious at how she looks younger in her current commercial than she does in her old commercial below except for the fact that in the new one she looks like she's probably got an ultra-strength waist pincher on beneath her blouse that interferes with her breathing.
What's wrong with aging gracefully? I mean looking naturally your best or if you're going to buy beauty and youth then at least let it look like Mother Nature love you. Don't get me wrong, if I could look at 60 better than I did at 30, I'd take it, but I don't think looking synthetic is the look I'd want.
And really, if all it took were some exercises to look great at 60, don't you think Oprah would have had Greer on already in her quest for the fountain of youth segments with Dr. Oz? Of course she hasn't had Greer Childers on. Oprah's got her hands full convincing the public that she has nothing to do with the Acai and MonaVie scams. If Oz isn't careful, he may find Oprah washing her hands of him as well, given the Real Age controversy.
Back to Greer Childres: In addition, her expert in the new Shapely Secrets video is a "Dr. Julian Lopez" who's overweight. I kept thinking if the seven-minute workout works so well and makes your life so easy, why hasn't he used it?
Furthermore, have you noticed how most of these weight-loss infomercials, even if you only catch a glimpse of them, show the same "filling, delicious, food plan" not to mention are broken into easy payments of $19.95?
Nevertheless, I suspect what Greer's selling is old-fashioned isometric exercises.
See Greer's facial exercises below, which I recognize from Yoga.
I used to work answering customer calls at an infomercial company. While I like the company, the older people calling who'd purchased products late at night without understanding their commitment or getting exercise DVDs that they found they were too frail to use bothered me. On one hand I say let the buyer beware. On the other I know we reap what we sow and hope that applies to companies and marketers that lie to people, but folks being taken for a ride by a good snake oil salesperson is as old as the hills.
Was it only yesterday that I posted a paragraph about First Lady Michelle Obama's toned arms? Yes. Oh, my. I feel so shallow.
People are talking about her fantastically tight arms again because Mrs. Obama was sleeveless Wednesday night at the White House concert honoring Stevie Wonder with the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. It ran last night on PBS television, and she wore a beautiful, sleeveless, emerald green dress. You can view clips at this link.
Mrs. Grapevine has absolutely gorgeous photos from Getty like the one in this post, but her photos are bigger. Visit.
And from the Mrs. O. fashion blog comes a post on the First Lady's official portrait, which as you see below, is another picture of Michelle Obama sleeveless. Through that blog I also discovered the video from The Washington Post that follows the official portrait below. It's an interview with White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers who talks about the First Lady baring her sculpted arms and that Mrs. Obama is simply an authentic person.
Click the picture for more news about our First Lady.
Finally, CNN has tips for how you too can have arms like First Lady Michelle Obama. In the article a personal trainer says Mrs. Obama's showing off her body is motivating women to take care of themselves:
The Obama effect has been that women of all ages have been inspired to take responsibility for their health and their body," said Duggan. "As the first lady of the United States, at 44 years old, and with two young children, Mrs. Obama has shown the world that you are never too busy to take care of yourself and look good doing it too," he said. (Source)
The big tip from the article: Don't think you can spot reduce. To get toned arms the first step is to lose weight all over your body. Read more.
This is a new phase of Obamamania, fascination with Michelle Obama's body. I want a scientist to come forward and let us know, how much of it is working out and eating right and how much of it is great genes?
O.K. So sometime in December I was minding my own business and I get this email that I missed because I was very busy minding my own business but actually the email was directly related to my business and so I guess, since I missed it, that means I wasn't minding my own business as well as I thought. (Inhale, exhale, I'm breathing. I'm breathing.)
The email contained a request from BlogHer's community manager asking that I write a post in the first week of the new year on the topic of what is keeping me from being happy right now or what kept me from being happy in the past. Really. What the hell is wrong with her?, I thought. Doesn't she know that if you ask the average American woman what's kept her from being happy she will answer with the obvious, "I am fat!" ... Continue reading full post at BlogHer.
I don't think I'll ever eat this, but I watched part of a Paula Deen repeat of her "Deep Fried NY Party" and tuned in to see her deep frying capers and making a bagel smear with a deep friend bagel and cream cheese for her guest. Ouch! I'd be afraid tasting it would send me into cardiac arrest.
There's a recipe for a deep-fried bagel sandwich on her Food Network site. I like Paula, but even she warns that if you are concerned about weight or have problems with your heart, don't eat her food.
Next she'll be frying onions and cooking a N.Y. strip with Donny Deutsch, and later it will be deep friend cannoli with Donald Trump, Jr.. I've got to tune out y'all before I end up at Rouse's buying ingredients for food dishes I shouldn't eat.
I wish they'd repeat Paula's show with Michelle Obama. Perhaps they did and I missed it ... again.
No need to rehash in words Oprah's battle of the bulge. I've got my own war stories with weight, but I am sharing this video and quotes about her supposed "remarkable" confession, that she's hit 200 pounds. We who have TVs and watch her could see that.
The news of her weight gain spread like butter on a hot skillet around the tabloids, gossip blogs and columns. They are treating it with shock! Shock!
... What, we had to wait till Oprah herself admitted it? Girl, we could see you were back on the chips and pie. And it didn't take high-def.
“I’m mad at myself,” Winfrey writes in an article for the January '09 O mag. “I’m embarrassed,” she writes. “I can’t believe that after all these years, all the things I know how to do, I’m still talking about my weight."
We can't believe it either. Because if anyone has a pass on the rule that says women on TV have to be skeletal, it's Oprah Winfrey. Her heft is part of her appeal. It's an oft-quoted statistic that the average American woman is size 12 or larger. O looks to be about a 16-18 at the moment. And nobody's turning her show off because of that. (Elaine Liner at HuffPo)
No, there's nothing remarkable in Oprah's admission. What's remarkable is that a woman at her level of accomplishment and wealth would say that she feels ashamed or embarrassed about gaining 40 pounds. It says that this society still makes women feel like they lose value if they don't look Victoria Secret models, even older women.
Like Oprah, I have gained weight since 2006. I have had the same thyroid condition that Oprah has, but not her money and opportunities. Also, I've been through a divorce and faced other health issues, ones unrelated to weight. Should I also be ashamed?
Fighting depression, I've thought that a healthy attitude is moving forward to work to solve my weight problem while not brooding about my weight or kicking myself. In other words, pee or get off the pot when it comes to weight. I work to take action and if I'm not taking action, I muzzle the complaints on what a horrible person I am to be so fat. Perhaps that's what Oprah's doing now, still ...
How does Oprah's confession help me? I don't have a chef or personal trainer to help keep me in check. And like Oprah, I've never bought into the I can be beautiful and healthy at any size hype. I think you get to a point when you say enough is enough. I suppose Oprah's had enough.
Nevertheless, when I noticed Oprah's weight gain, I concluded that like me, she's burdened with hypothyroidism, and it's also possible she's insulin intolerant, a condition I suspect I have. I also decided that money doesn't buy thinness. It takes an inner psyching to pull off weight and keep it off, and pulling off weight comes more easily when one's genetics and thyroid works for instead of against you. I drew these conclusions, knowing I must still work hard to get myself to a "healthy" weight, and I watched Oprah's hips widen, but it never occurred to me that while I watched her she watched her self esteem fall as her pounds climbed up.
Yes, I do that too, and probably most of American women struggling with weight gain also let their self esteem plummet as the scale number rises, but Oprah has resources at her fingertips to get help whenever she wishes. So, I also considered that her gaining weight was a sign she was finally happy, had really learned to love and accept herself, but I was wrong.
Oprah would probably say taking care of yourself is the best sign of self-love and letting your weight go up, up, and awaaaaay, is not one of the signs of being all right with you. We know that Oprah's heavy with self-enlightenment advice.
Since we've gone down this road with Oprah before, I can't help but feel that she's using her weight struggle to sell magazines and boost ratings. The New Year, after all, is the time when people are most interested in weight loss. Is it possible she'll kill two birds with one stone, draw viewers and take off pounds too.
Despite my suspicions, I decided to track of how she drops weight because if she can do it maybe I can as well. Maybe she'll use her money to unlock the secret of skinniness, and I can use her for not only inspiration but also education. However, today, I saw her ads for the New Year with Dr. Oz and weight loss strategies. I also heard that she'll be hitting the gym for one hour per day. One hour every day of the week?
Wait! I can't do that. I work 10-hour days sometimes. I have obligations to offspring. I don't have a trainer to push me. The more I think on it, the more I think I may turn Oprah off and go my own way with weight loss. She's stressing me out, and you know that stress also triggers weight gain. Do I need Oprah stressing me out with her charts and impractical goals that fit her lifestyle but not mine?
Oprah expects us to learn from her and say, "See! Even Oprah struggles and is embarrassed by her weight too. She's only human like us."
I knew she was human. So, I think what she's really telling me is that when I've avoided events because I've felt fat, I was right to feel that way, that I should feel horrible when I look in the mirror until I'm a size 3, something I've never been. I should be embarrassed about my body and myself.
No, I can guilt myself just fine without Oprah's help. Yeah, yeah. I know. She doesn't call it guilting us out. She calls it motivating the nation. But, it feels like guilt to me.
Here's a bit of video from CNN, Alaina Cho reporting. It's a mini-history in Oprah's pound see-saw.
Would you use a mobile treadmill like the one in this video? On one hand I think "cool." It may be better to be outdoors and go some place than stuck in a gym or in your den. On the other hand I think, "Isn't that too big for your average sidewalk? You can't take that thing down a city street."
Remember those genetically-engineered marathon mice we heard about in 2004, the ones that scientists could get to run "twice as fast as normal mice" and who also showed an innate resistance to weight gain? Well, the doctors at the Howard Hughes Medical Research Institute have taken the marathon mouse research further and now claim to have created a pill that may make almost any couch potato build muscle like an athlete and burn fat faster too. Would you take this pill?
There's already speculation that they will need to test Olympic and other athletes in the future for the new drug so folks play fair. Yes, I'm talking about "exercise in a pill" and according to this news story, the researchers have created two.
When I heard the story from my daughter, I muttered "Scam! Another diet pill scam" because I've written about the booming diet industry before. In one of those posts I quoted the introduction to another news story: "For decades companies have been selling slim and we've been eating it up," reporter Sharon Alfonsi said. According to her 2006 report, Americans spend about $35 billion on diet products yearly.
Many of those products are bogus and not always scrutinized by the FDA. For instance, many of us who struggle with weight probably have heard the horror stories/rumors about diet pills in the 1920s that unleashed tapeworms in the system. A tape worm would help you keep off pounds, but who wants a potentially deadly parasite in their bodies. (On the other hand, there are women who would risk death to be "thin and in.")
Dieting scams aside, these two new pills from the Howard Hughes researches may be legitimate wonder drugs from the genetics field. You can read more at this link.
I tune out diet pill ads, even the new Alli plan that some people swear by (again too many potential health issues there that I think could be avoided by working without pills). However, the possibility that researchers may have found a pill that will help boost metabolism in a way that helps people overcome the genetics of obesity appeals to me. I hope it's true.
This is an excerpt from a series of post on weight and body image from one of my offline blogs. It was written in December 2006 when the web and world buzzed about Britney Spears panties or lack thereof.
Part 1 of 3 December 2, 2006
Okay, this post mentions blondie's panties, but it's not about that. I didn't know what all the fuss was over Britney Spears and her panties or her lack of panties, so I clicked on a news video at Comcast. The clip on Britney's panties was longer than most stories these days on Iraq or AIDS. Oh, but this is America and Britney is blonde and thin. Perhaps not as thin as she was in her teens, but she's no hefty mama.
As fascinated as some people are with this young woman, her story did not hold my attention as long as the CBS news story on The Business of Dieting (video). "America spends about $35 billion on diet products," according to the report. In the piece reporter Sharon Alfonsi says, "For decades companies have been selling slim and we've been eating it up." She paraphrased Dr. Louis Aronne saying that "The government is still treating weight loss like a cosmetic problem and not a serious health problem."
I don't think it's only the government's perception that obesity is simply a cosmetics problem instead of a matter of life and death. Comedians, sometimes loved ones, and strangers in the street still poke fun at fat people the same way they would a woman who wears black lip liner, pastel pink lip color, sea blue eye-shadow, and cherry red rouge with near white foundation. "Oh, don't she look like a clown," the yell and wahaaaaa!!!!, pointing. Only the truly ignorant would do that to a person they thought was ill or in a painful state of mind.
They poke fun in the same way, but the commentary is nastier, wounding fat people and fat children sometimes for life. You can wash off that bad make-up with soap and water. Fat don't go away so easy.
I've always been fat, except at birth maybe when I weighed only five pounds. Still you should see my roly-poly baby pictures. I remember being a young child and having people pinch my cheeks and say I looked adorable, but even the comments that people hope are kind can hurt: "Oh, you have sucha a pretty face." I heard that often as a child and teenager. Like others, I've gone through periods where I've said I didn't care that I tend toward fatness, but the truth is I do, and I wear my weight like a shield and a curse.
My perceptions of body image formed early. I recall being teased about being fat in kindergarten, and when I look back at those pictures, I realize I wasn't what we'd call fat today. I was a little thick. One incident from my childhood that branded me to the bones is an incident in my fifth-grade class at Phillips Elementary School, 7th Ward, New Orleans, La. Someone, and I'd bet money it was a girl, organized the entire class to chant "Fat, Fat the water rat!" in that sing-songy, brutal way of America's greatest bully hits as soon as I entered the class. The teacher wasn't in the room. I sat down slowly and cried quietly.
By the time I was 12, my mother had me at Weight Watchers. I still know the old diet by heart. Later sometime after my graduation from high school, my mother said she thinks she was kind of secretly happy I stayed "a little fat." It kept the boys away and kept me on the straight and narrow academic path, she said. Yeah, well she had a point. Another thing that's stuck in my mind and that has affected most of my relationships with men is how males treat fat girls and women. Males give lots of mixed signals about curves and rolls.
No boy wanted me as his partner in gym for square dance lessons. The teacher would usually force me on some boy who then treated me like a leper. The girls made sure he did by saying things like, "Oooh, Bruce! You know you like her!"
What made life more confusing, hence the mixed signals reference, is often these same boys would do something like try to steal or force a kiss when no one else was around. And I've had more than my share of males calling to say "I love you, but don't tell anybody." This is why today I don't tolerate men who want to be discreet about a relationship with me. Baby, if you can't shout I'm yours, then screw you! And that screwing will never be the literal bumping of hips they want. No, it's the screw of no ice water in hell. You can see this theme in the poem "Light and Only Light."
At the same time, I'm equally suspicious of males who come on strong, shun the darkness, and scream "Baby, you're hot!" ... Continued with Part 2 that may eventually show up in this blog too.
I'm on Oprah's mailing list. There. I've confessed. I keep an eye on Oprah. Anyway, today, the subject line of one of her emails intrigued me: "Fat that makes you thin." So, I opened it. I think I was hoping to discover some new oil that tasted like butter but worked in the body like fiber. I can dream, can't I? 
