I found this to be an interesting read

After 'The Biggest Loser,' Bodies Fight to Regain Weight

I never watched this show, partly because I thought it was terribly unhealthy in its approach to weight loss, and it reinforces the simplistic view that weight loss is just a matter of willpower, and there's the issue of fat shaming. Obesity and weight loss are actually quite complex issues. The study referenced by the Times was published online today in the journal Obesity: Persistent metabolic adaptation 6 years after “The Biggest Loser” competition. It's a little scary that six years after losing the weight, their metabolisms have slowed so much that to maintain their weight (and several have gained either part or all of the weight back, or even more), they have to significantly eat less than a person their size would need to. Strict dieting is not the answer, obviously. And I read something a year or two by one of the contestants (not sure who, or which season) about how the exercise had harmed her joints, going from inactive to major almost boot camp-style exercise hours per day in a short time. Why do people call this entertainment, anyway?

I'm not saying weight loss is inherently evil, or obesity is somehow good. What I am saying is that the factors involved are not entirely understood, the goal shouldn't be so much about weight loss as health and moderation in diet and exercise, and people shouldn't have horrible relationships with food--and should learn to embrace food as the staff of life, a basic necessity, enjoy flavours without gorging ourselves, and food should not be something that fulfills us emotionally, or causes us dread, or somehow makes us sick because of things we ascribe to it that aren't necessarily based in science. Food is not the adversary; our bodies are not the enemy. Making small changes, being mindful--those can help when they build up. Making good, healthy choices, can pay off. This doesn't say, 'just give up', it just says that the mindset we often have towards diet and exercise simply is not good for our bodies.

I like this

The Problem With Calling People Overweight, and why the descriptor 'fat' makes much more sense, from the Dances with Fat blog.

Disheartening, perhaps, but I believe it's true

Diet and exercise alone are no cure for obesity, doctors say: For most of the nation’s 79 million adults and 13 million children who are obese, the “eat less, move more” treatment, as currently practiced, is a prescription for failure, a group of weight-loss specialists says

A group of respected physicians is challenging the common assertion that obesity can be easily fixed by diet and exercise.

For most of the nation’s 79 million adults and 13 million children who are obese, the “eat less, move more” treatment, as currently practiced, is a prescription for failure, these doctors say.

In a commentary published Thursday in the journal Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, four weight-loss specialists set out to correct what they view as the widespread misimpression that people who have become and stayed obese for more than a couple of years can, by diet and exercise alone, return to a normal, healthy weight and stay that way.

“Once obesity is established, however, body weight seems to become biologically ‘stamped in’ and defended,” wrote Mount Sinai Hospital weight-management physician Christopher Ochner and colleagues from the medical faculties of the University of Colorado, Northwestern University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Everyone agrees that diet and exercise are important, but relying on only that ignores the constant battle those who are or who have been obese have with their biology. More doctors and insurance companies should learn about this and change their practice as a result.

Well, yeah

"Fat shaming" may make people gain more

Discrimination against overweight or obese people, commonly known as "fat shaming," does not help them lose weight and may do more harm than good, according to research from London.

Being harassed or treated with disrespect, receiving poor service while shopping or being thought of as stupid may actually lead to more weight gain, the researchers found.

"Our study clearly shows that weight discrimination is part of the obesity problem and not the solution," said the study's senior author, Jane Wardle, director of the Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Centre at University College London (UCL).

"Weight bias has been documented not only among the general public but also among health professionals, and many obese patients report being treated disrespectfully by doctors because of their weight. Everyone, including doctors, should stop blaming and shaming people for their weight and offer support, and where appropriate, treatment," Wardle added in a university news release.

Who would have thought?

Global report: Obesity bigger health crisis than hunger

The report revealed that every country, with the exception of those in sub-Saharan Africa, faces alarming obesity rates -- an increase of 82% globally in the past two decades. Middle Eastern countries are more obese than ever, seeing a 100% increase since 1990.

"The so-called 'Western lifestyle' is being adapted all around the world, and the impacts are all the same," Mokdad said. The health burden from high body mass indexes now exceeds that due to hunger, according to the report.

And for the first time, noncommunicable diseases like diabetes, stroke and heart disease top the list of leading causes of years spent sick or injured.

Well, that's some good news

A first: Some U.S. cities are reporting fewer obese kids

After decades of rising childhood obesity rates, several U.S. cities are reporting their first declines.

The trend has emerged in such big cities as New York and Los Angeles, as well as smaller places like Anchorage, Alaska, and Kearney, Neb. The state of Mississippi also has registered a drop, but only among white students.

"It's been nothing but bad news for 30 years, so the fact that we have any good news is a big story," said Dr. Thomas Farley, health commissioner in New York City, which reported a 5.5 percent decline in the number of obese schoolchildren from 2007 to 2011.

The drops are small, just 5 percent in Philadelphia and 3 percent in Los Angeles. But experts say they are significant because they offer the first indication that the obesity epidemic, one of the nation's most intractable health problems, may actually be reversing course.

A compelling look at why we're fat

Why the Campaign to Stop America's Obesity Crisis Keeps Failing: The nation’s most powerful anti-obesity groups are teaming up for a new HBO documentary—but it pushes the same tired advice. Gary Taubes on the research they're ignoring.

One of my co-workers clued me in on this story from our issue of Newsweek in the library. None of it is anything I haven't heard before--but it is largely ignored by those trying to solve the obesity epidemic. Taubes definitely has a point. It makes sense to ask ourselves 1) what has changed in our diet since the obesity epidemic really started taking off and 2) why fat people during the depression were fat, even though everyone was struggling for food. He points out that the effects of sugars on our endocrine systems is relevant, and that it isn't just a calories in vs. calories out sort of thing. We are still just beginning to understand the human endocrine system, in my opinion, in terms of the subtleties involved. He also talks about how much exercise is really required to substantially help with weight.

It really is a no-brainer that part of the problem is that sugary/starchy food is extremely cheap and plentiful, whereas healthier food such as fresh vegetables and whole, unprocessed foods, is more expensive. That's one reason there is a socioeconomic contrast in terms of obesity as well.

I know what foods I should consume, but I often fall back on convenience or cost, and that may be more costly in the long run. A friend of mine has told me for years I need to start cooking, and has been teaching me how to. I'm trying to get more fresh food and less quick stuff, but I do often fall back on the easy road to food. I know in my own case there's a certain amount of laziness when it comes to food. It takes real effort to actually make the changes that lead to a healthier life.

Nor is it all about weight. There are plenty of people who are active and overweight. I think we get a little hung up on weight these days. My size is of concern. A person who's active, eats well, and is 20 lbs overweight I'm not sure is such a big issue. I know plenty of people I would not consider overweight who constantly worry about their weight and try diets. I think it's more important to make healthy choices in general rather than focus on a number of pounds.

That's my take on things, anyway.

Okay, I know I'm fat

but this is so sad, and sick, and pathetic (not to mention unhealthy in the extreme).

No one should have to be 'fed' by those who admire them sexually (and certainly not by their own teenage children). I realise there is a fetish community out there (just as there is one for people who want to become amputees because they are attracted to that--I find that more than odd, too), but these women are killing themselves in the name of a stupid record and title that essentially are meaningless things that get you into a book, maybe have your 15 minutes of fame on the weird news, and leave you weighing half a ton. And then you die.

I guess anyone has the right to do this. But, gee....

Competition Brews To Become 'World's Heaviest Woman' In Guinness World Records

Oh, dear God

Buy a half-gallon of sugar water at KFC, give a dollar to diabetes research
A local promotion promises to give a dollar to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund if you by a mega jug--one-half a gallon of soda. 800 calories, 56 spoonfuls of sugar.

Okay, so Diabetes Type I (also known as Juvenile Diabetes), unlike Diabetes II (sometimes known as Adult-Onset Diabetes, although lots of kids are getting it these days with higher obesity rates), is an autoimmune disorder that does not directly come from drinking sugary drinks and being overweight. But...as the author, Jess Zimmerman, point out, it is somewhat ironic to

"Benefit sick kids by enjoying something they can't!" If you're going to go that route, why not go whole hog and make it a "drink this soda in front of a child with diabetes, making over-the-top yummy noises, and we'll give that kid a dollar" fundraiser

and after all,

You drink half a gallon of soda on the regular, and your chances of perma-f*cking your insulin regulation are going to shoot right up (giving you a unique sense of kinship with the children you're helping, granted). So this is basically equivalent to a "smoke cigarettes to raise money for colon cancer" promotion.

Hear, hear.

Another person, Joe Waters, writing KFC Shows They Don’t Give a Cluck. This Time with Juvenile Diabetes, wonders why the JDRF signed on board to do this.

JDRF, in a statement, points out that it is a promotion in a local KFC in Utah consisting of a single store whose owner has a connexion to juvenile diabetes. Their statement in the comments of that post basically says they value their donors, juvenile diabetes' risk is not associated with sugary goodness, and they don't endorse any particular product or diet.

So it wasn't really something they signed up for, it seems. But on the other hand, as one commenter pointed out, the actions of one store could affect the perception of a larger brand.

I'll leave it up for you to decide if this is in bad taste or not. I think you probably know my thoughts on the matter. And you know some yahoo parents are going to give their (non-diabetic) kids this thing, even though it's bigger than them, practically. And just for the record, let me say that while it was a little weird for my mom to give me diet drinks as a kid, I've been drinking them since age 8, rather than the giant cups of sugar water. Diet sodas aren't particularly great for you either, of course, and there is a lot of concern about artificial sweeteners, but I'm not diabetic because I've been swilling sugary sodas. I'm diabetic due a heavy genetic issue (having four other members in the family with diabetes at present), have eaten way too much so I'm obese, and I don't get enough exercise. So I haven't made good choices, either. But I wouldn't hand a child a half-gallon of sugar water (or imbibe it myself), so I guess there's still some sanity, and at least I'm trying to eat more healthfully and start exercising. I'm afraid I can't do a thing about the genetics, although at least I didn't pass them on. :)

Okay, speaking of diabetes, I just took my insulin, so its time to go back to sleep. I found a couple of good recipes (an heirloom tomato salad with eggs and mustard vinaigrette and also a nice tofu stir fry with bell peppers), whilst listening to blues music. It left me relaxed and I went to sleep for awhile, but I made sure I got up for the medicine. Good night.

Not surprising to me

Heavy girls likelier to have sex early: They're also less prone to use birth control, study shows

Certainly in terms of self-esteem, overweight and obese girls tend to have lower self-images than others, and that puts them at risk for being pressured to have sex without preparing properly for birth control. The need to feel special and to have external validation is common among people with low self-esteem. If someone gives a girl with low self-esteem attention, I think she will be more likely to latch onto them emotionally and do whatever it takes to keep them with her. That's certainly my experience. I didn't lose my virginity until I was a sophomore in college, at 18, but I had such low self-esteem that I really gave my brain over to the first person who said he loved me and felt I had to marry him to be a 'good girl'. I left the marriage 6 months in (but after 6 years together) because I finally came to my senses.

You think?

Bullies Target Obese Kids: Being overweight is prime factor regardless of race, family income, study finds

I was bullied as a child. I was chunky (although not nearly as fat as I thought I was; I got a lot of my self-image from my mother, who had her own issues with her weight).

I was nearsighted with thick 1970s glasses.

I wore clothes my mother made for me, mostly polyester pantsuits (it was the 70s). I don't think I owned a pair of jeans until junior high. I remember them well--pink with elephants on the back pockets. Okay, so that was also the late 70s. I didn't wear jeans regularly until my senior year of high school and in college.

I was also a terrible know-it-all without social skills whose self-esteem was rooted in how well I did at school, and although I didn't really realise I showed off, I did.

So there were several factors to my being bullied. Plus I always got along better with kids younger than myself and adults. The ones in my class were older (I skipped a grade) and I guess I just couldn't relate that well to them, with the exception of a few close special friends.

I have certain snapshots from my childhood of bullying, although there were constant barbs throughout:

One kid picked on me in our neighbourhood in Louisiana and I never really fought back until he started bullying a four-year-old (I was nine, he was eight), whereupon I hit him and gave him a bloody nose. I think it's the first of only two times I've ever hit anyone for real.

I was jumped by some Hispanic and black girls at school in California. They broke my glasses and tore my coat. There were all the factors above, plus I had a Louisiana accent at the time that they may have thought worthy of making fun of. I lost that accent by the time I got to Kansas and now the only people who think I have a Southern accent are people in Minnesota or other places far north. My mom, after getting me new glasses, drove me around the base searching for them. I'm not sure whether she planned on calling the security police or taking care of them herself. It made me feel truly loved.

I was once threatened by a black girl with certain pain and possible death at school and spent two weeks finding excuses to get my mother to pick me up rather than walk home. This is why: I was having nascent bisexual feelings and really admired her athleticism (we were in gym together). I was in my horsey-girly phase, in junior high, and constantly drew horses. I went to give her a compliment and the first athlete I thought of was a jockey. In retrospect I think she thought I was calling her a lawn jockey, which is understandably upsetting. I didn't realise what I had done until I related this story to a co-worker who was of mixed race when I was about 36. Almost all of the lawn jockeys I'd seen growing up were white, and not painted with the stereotypical black features they used to be.

Bullying had the effect of making me fearful of a lot in life and certainly didn't help my self-esteem, which has been chronically low, any. I'm much better now, but it's taken years and years to come to grips with myself and like what and who I am, and to realise that their opinions never really should have mattered.

It's not you, it's your germs

Could germs be making you fat?

Gut Bacteria Cause Overeating in Mice

That's not saying diet and exercise have no bearing on weight, but scientists have observed that transplanting gut bacteria from obese mice to those of normal weight results in the thinner mice gaining weight. So it may be one of the factors in obesity.

On the topic of diet and obesity, here's another scientific finding from today's news:

DNA test 'could predict most effective diet'

A simple DNA test may predict whether someone is more likely to lose weight on a low fat or a low carbohydrate diet, say US researchers.

The results from the small preliminary study of 101 women showed those on the best diet for their genes lost two to three times more weight than the rest.

I'm still wary of extreme bariatric surgeries

but the banding seems to be the most reasonable, and now there's this study:

Diabetes Study Favors Surgery to Treat Obese

Happy New Year

Okay, so I wasn't going to go online tonight, because it's so late and I've been painting a kitchen and utility room most of the day (1st coat, so you can guess what I'll be doing tomorrow, right?)

Then I heard a song on the radio and it kind of resonated with me, so I went online to see who did it and what it was called. Something about the music set things up for a dark, dissonant place. And the song spoke of suicide and feeling like not belonging. That's not how I feel now, but sometimes I do. The song is called 'Never Too Late' by Three Days Grace, a Canadian band.

And then I watched the video (the embedding is disabled, sorry). At first, my mind didn't register what I was watching, because I have a high 'ignore uncomfortable things' ability. But the emotions I was feeling couldn't be ignored, so I watched it again. And I felt even more drawn into it.

The lead singer, Adam Gontier, described the song as 'about being in a very dark place, but being able to see a way out.' It was written for his wife, who has battled depression, whilst he himself was in rehab for oxycontin use. In the video, symbolic imagery suggests a young girl is molested by a man, her parents blind to the abuse, and as a young woman she is institutionalised for trying to kill herself. At the end she is freed from her inner daemons. The video is well done. It is on a list of controversial videos for tackling molestation.

I was molested as a child by someone I trusted with my life, someone who was my world. That has marked me in so many ways, and my entire life has been touched by it, leaving me emotionally and psychologically stunted and for some time, unable to trust again. It is part of an environment that led to poor and often bizarre coping mechanisms, the most successful one being the ability to forget to the point where it's hard for me to remember the good in life.

I am tired of pushing the world away. I do it emotionally and I do it physically (One of the reasons I am so fat to keep people at a distance, with the idea that no one will want to have sex with me if I'm grossly obese; I also tend to hoard things as if to build walls between my world inside and the world of reality). I'm so busy hiding from the world, I'm not really living. Granted, I'm much better than I was 10 or 20 years ago, but there's still a lot of work to do.

So here's a hope for 2008--that I learn to tear down some walls, take care of myself, and to connect with my fellow humans some. It's only sort of a resolution. I don't have a plan. When you want to change your outlook, that's about changing feelings as much as it is about changing thoughts. It starts with being a little more aware of what's going on around you. So that's where I'm going to begin--paying attention to the things I do and the people around me, and any interaction between myself and others. Here's to some positive changes in 2008.

What do you want to change? (And just in case you were like me and didn't get to see the ball drop in NYC at midnight, thanks to modern technology you can see it all over as much as you want.) :)

Happy New Year, everyone. May 2008 be a great one.

Interesting

Overweight? You may just have caught cold, reckon scientists

You've probably heard of Oscar the cat by now

but if not...

There's the original essay that appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine (It requires a .pdf reader such as Adobe Acrobat Reader.)

Here's one of the news stories about Oscar.

In the same issue of NEJM, by the way, there was an interesting article on 'The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network over 32 Years'. Looking at relationships between spouses, families, and friends, the researches discovered that ties to an obese person increased chances of becoming obese as well. Here are some facts to the study:

• A person's chances of becoming obese increased by 57% if he or she had a friend who became obese.
  
• Among pairs of adult siblings, if one sibling became obese, the chance that the other would become obese increased by 40%.
  
• If one spouse became obese, the likelihood that the other spouse would become obese increased by 37%.
  
• Persons of the same sex had relatively greater influence on each other than those of the opposite sex--most particularly for males. A man had a 100% increase in the chance of becoming obese if his male friend became obese. It wasn't as significant among women.