Monday, September 12, 2011

They picked the name because of the initials


I’m not so concerned that Meme Roth or Jamie Oliver or internet trolls think fat people deserve to be treated well; and I’m much more concerned that fat people know that they deserve to be treated well.  It’s tough to lead a civil rights movement of people who aren’t sure that they deserve civil rights. And my goal is to let as many people as possible know that Size Acceptance and Health at Every Size are options so that they can make an informed choice.
There are people out there who hate their bodies solely because they don’t think that there’s another choice. They think that their shot at life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness starts 50 pounds from now.  Somewhere there’s an 8 year old girl about to start her first diet because Michelle Obama is waging a War on her.
You deserve to be treated well right now, whether or not you are trying to conform to the cultural stereotype of beauty.  You deserve respect, and you have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Right now. In the body in which you currently reside.  Even if you want to eat differently or move more or whatever, I’m asking that you consider the possibility that your body is amazing and deserving of love and respect right this minute.  Remember that no matter what your body looks like, there’s an extremely decent chance that you are the standard of beauty in some culture somewhere.  Consider that the cure for social stigma is not weight loss, it’s ending social stigma. ~Ragen Chastain, 




Jenny Craig is having its "half off" weekend.

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, BLAH.

95% of diets fail. The number of people who lose weight and keep it off for five years is statistically so small its hard to even measure.

Yet when diets fail it is not anybody's fault but the person who didn't have enough discipline, gumption, drive, desire to be thin enough. 

right? right?

NO!!!

Remember that dieting may even make you heavier - the more you diet the more your body will raise your setpoint weight to protect against future diets (future famines) as your body interprets it.

Ever heard "I lost x amount of weight a while back but gained it all back and then some...

This is so very profitable to the weight loss industry. 
You diet and depending on whose book, system, or pill you buy they make money.
It fails (not you)- like they knew it would and you try harder the next time.
That is you spend more money on the next system, pill, or even surgery.

They profit.

To further their profits they trump up claims and false studies trumpeting about the obesity epidemic and that health care costs soar because of obesity. PS - according to BMI George Clooney is obese.

Read this article that follows the money. In it says  about the background of the company RTI which released studies say state spend tons of money because of obesity:

"Our activities both mirror and support national priorities and policies as well as diverse commercial, industrial, and academic endeavors," RTI International's website says.  The nonprofit corporation's senior management includes individuals with prior careers at Monsanto Company (President & CEO Victoria F. Haynes), Glaxo, now known asGlaxoSmithKline (Executive VP of Operations Satinder K. Sethi &Executive VP RTI Health Solutions Allen W. Mangel), Salix Pharmaceuticals (Mangel), & DuPont Company (James Trainham, VP Strategic Energy Initiatives). 
Per their 2010 Annual Report, the RTI International Board of Governors includes Robert A. Ingram, former CEO of Glaxo Wellcome. Their Private Sector Client list includes Abbott Laboratories, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly & Company, GE Healthcare, GlaxoSmithKline, The Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies, Medtronics, Merck & Co.,Novartis, Pfizer, PhRMA, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, Takeda Pharmaceuticals UK, Tioga Pharmaceuticals, & U.S. News & World Report.
U.S. News & World Report? Huh.
Their list of "Other Clients" includes the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation& the World Health Organization. 
The RWJ Foundation was founded by -- you guessed it -- Robert Wood Johnson, scion of the Johnson & Johnson family (of the above-mentioned Johnson & Johnson & Johnson Family Companies).  Johnson & Johnson's products include Splenda(R) No Calorie Sweetener, Sun Crystals (R) All-Natural Sweetener, and "Realize(TM) Adjustable Gastric Band--Personalized Solution for Weight Reduction."  J & J's Medical Devices & Diagnostics Businesses include Ethicon Endo-Surgery, which "develops less invasive surgical equipment used in laparoscopic banding and gastric bypass procedures that can help people conquer life-threatening obesity."

Which means: 
The makers of the Lap band financially support the studies that say "obesity costs states millions of dollars"
so .... that they can talk states into having medicare pay for people's weight loss surgeries.
Surgeries that by the way are KILLING PEOPLE.


Don't let another diet fail you, injure your happiness and self esteem. Try Health at every size. Eat well because it makes you FEEL well. Exercise because you ENJOY it.

How many people have given up on healthy endeavors because the number on the scale did not support their drive?

 Remember its not about that number. AT. ALL.

Its time for another message - one like this, written in 1973 - way before its time, by members of the Fat Underground.

F

U

for short.

FAT LIBERATION MANIFESTO
by Judy Freespirit and Aldebaran
1. WE believe that fat people are fully entitled to human respect and recognition.
2. WE are angry at mistreatment by commercial and sexist interests. These have exploited our bodies as objects of ridicule, thereby creating an immensely profitable market selling the false promise of avoidance of, or relief from, that ridicule.
3. WE see our struggle as allied with the struggles of other oppressed groups against classism, racism, sexism, ageism, financial exploitation, imperialism and the like.
4. WE demand equal rights for fat people in all aspects of life, as promised in the Constitution of the United States. We demand equal access to goods and services in the public domain, and an end to discrimination against us in the areas of employment, education, public facilities and health services.
5. WE single out as our special enemies the so-called “reducing” industries. These include diet clubs, reducing salons, fat farms, diet doctors, diet books, diet foods and food supplements, surgical procedures, appetite suppressants, drugs and gadgetry such as wraps and “reducing machines”.
WE demand that they take responsibility for their false claims, acknowledge that their products are harmful to the public health, and publish long-term studies proving any statistical efficacy of their products. We make this demand knowing that over 99% of all weight loss programs, when evaluated over a five-year period, fail utterly, and also knowing the extreme proven harmfulness of frequent large changes in weight.
6. WE repudiate the mystified “science” which falsely claims that we are unfit. It has both caused and upheld discrimination against us, in collusion with the financial interests of insurance companies, the fashion and garment industries, reducing industries, the food and drug industries, and the medical and psychiatric establishment.
7. WE refuse to be subjugated to the interests of our enemies. We fully intend to reclaim power over our bodies and our lives. We commit ourselves to pursue these goals together.
FAT PEOPLE OF THE WORLD, UNITE! YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE ….
By Judy Freespirit and Aldebaran
November, 1973
Originally Published by the Fat Underground,
Los Angeles, California USA

Sunday, September 11, 2011

I blinked and then...

sniff. sniff.
My baby is one.

Oh my PJ, my most attached little boy.
I think about the time we spent together often. The time you were in my tummy:
 My pregnancy with you was an act of courage. And since I was fighting for courage I dug down deep to a spiritual place that I wish was easily accessible at all times.
Your birth was so empowering that my only baby blues were tears that you could be a newborn just a little bit longer.
Just a little bit longer...

Today as I carried you to your bed for naptime before your party, I whispered in your ear: 
'Thank you for coming to us. Thank you for choosing me and daddy to be your parents.'

to which you replied 

"Da-da"

We love you Parker James.














Happy, Happy Birthday

Thursday, September 08, 2011

Workshop 'bout what I'm talking about..


I'll be there - email me at oyakawa (a) gmail if you'd like to come with me...




What is the Health at Every Size Approach? 

There has been a lot of confusion and controversy lately in the media about what the Health at Every Size (r) (HAES) method is and how it is practiced.  In this fun and informative workshop you’ll hear from two experts who are successfully practicing the HAES method, and you’ll have a chance to get your questions answered in a relaxed, non-judgmental environment.
Theresa Headshot

Theresa Woodsong is a Blue Belt Nia™ instructor, teacher, coach, and fat woman. She is founder and author of Living Light For Every Body, an HAES-centered philosophy and process that helps get the true you to shine through. 


Ragen Heel Stretch

Ragen Chastain is a three-time National Champion dancer, choreographer, writer, speaker and fat person.  She founded and directed Body Positive Dance, and was the original choreographer and a principal dancer for Fat Bottom Cabaret.  She writes the HAES-centered blog www.danceswithfat.org

Register early! Cost is just $10 in advance, $15 at the door


Contact

Theresa Woodsong  ease@austin.rr.com 
512-539-7105 

When

Saturday October 22, 2011 from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM CDT

WhereGenuine Joe's Coffee House 2001 West Anderson Lane
Austin, TX 

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

hey babe.

mmm. mmm. mmm...

I love this man.

so, so much.

(a while ago he shaved off his goatee - just to see what it was like again, he didn't like it at all. I begged and begged for a beard. And for me he is growing one. I love it (me blushing)
but I suspect I'll be seeing him with a goatee again sometime soon.)

Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Biggest loser.




Ah yes. The inspirational series the Biggest Loser. Never been a fan. Just not interested, even when some of you have suggested I try to get on the show. sigh... 

But I came across a telling piece about the show recently in the blogosphere with an interview from a previous contestant. Kai Hibbard, Season 3

So just how inspirational would the show be if it was ALL on camera?

some tricks of the Biggest Losers:

Dehumanizing the contestants

So they put us in hotel rooms and they take your key away so you can’t leave. And you spend a week locked in a hotel room and if you want to go anywhere you have to call a production assistant to take you to get groceries or get dinner or whatever you might need.  You also get loaded up in these vans with other possible contestants and you’re not allowed to speak when you’re in the van, with anybody, and then we had to go through these like doctor’s tests . . . . You get poked and prodded by complete strangers and nobody will tell you a single thing about what’s going on.  And that point was where I really believe that the dehumanization process started, where they start teaching you that because you are overweight you are sub-human and you just start to believe it. Through the whole process, they just keep telling you, over and over, how lucky you are to be there.  You’re being yelled at by people [whose] job is basically to keep the ‘fat people’ in line and you start to believe it.”


it was 6 weeks before we were allowed to get mail from home and our mail was opened and censored.  And it was 8 weeks before we were allowed to speak to anybody on the phone and it was for 5 minutes at a time with a chaperone.”


On then-host Caroline Rhea’s reaction to the blown up “before” pictures located throughout the ranch:
“She walked and she saw the photos of us that were shot deliberately to make us look as poorly as possible hanging up around the house and she lost it.  She lost it on the crew and she demanded that they take them down and that it was humiliating.  [She said that] we were people and should be treated as people.”

 after exercising in 100 degree heat without cold water being offered: Eric, from New York (won my season) lost it at that point and screamed about how we weren’t animals and to please stop treating us like animals and they handled it the way they handled us always, [they] quieted him down, and reminded him how lucky we were to be there, that it was saving his life.“


Misleading you the viewer

A week is not necessarily a week: 
On the meaning of a “week” on the Biggest Loser:
“It varied.  It went from 14 days and I believe that near the end we had one week that was 5 days.”
“Unfortunately, what they’re telling you the contestants are doing and what they actually have the contestants doing are two different things, at least as far as my season goes.  We were working out anywhere between 2 and 5 hours a day, and we were working out severely injured. There’s absolutely no reason to work a 270 pound girl out so hard that she pukes the first time you bring in a gym.  That was entirely for good tv.


“I feel . . . that I have a responsibility to counteract some of the harm that that show does.  Because I took a piece of being that problem, I now own a piece of being the solution. . . . When I have people come to me crying, telling me how hard they work and how they log their food and how they’ve done everything they could and [they ask] ‘Why can’t I lose 12 pounds in a week like you?’ I feel a responsibility to get out there and go, ‘You know what?  Sue me if you want to, NBC, but I’m telling these people, I didn’t lose 12 pounds in a week. It didn’t happen.  It wasn’t a week.  And even when it looks like I lost 12 pounds in a week . . . I was so severely dehydrated that I was completely unhealthy.”


Unhealthy practices


“There was a registered dietician that was supposed to be helping [the contestants at the ranch] as well . . . but every time she tried to give us advice . . . the crew or production would step in and tell us that we were not to listen to anybody except our trainers. 


“The doctor had taken our blood and tested us and sent us a solution, I don’t know exactly what it was but it was salty, so I’m assuming that our electrolytes were off.  And when the trainers found out we were taking it, they told us under no certain terms were we to be taking that, because it would make us retain water and gain weight on the scale and we’d have to go home. The doctors had ordered us to take it and the trainers were like, ‘throw it out, right now.’  


“I didn’t learn how to dehydrate until I got on the ranch. It was every week.  Every single week, this is what a weigh-in would look like: the real weigh-ins were at 10 o’clock in the morning and they were on a cattle scale at the ranch and they weren’t filmed. . . . Now, mind you, it was shot in Simi Valley, so it’s a desert, so it’s hot.  And on the morning of the weigh-in you would get up and you’d put on your underwear, your spandex shorts, and you’d put on sweatpants and then you’d put on a sports bra, a tank top, a long sleeve shirt, and your sweatshirt, a ball cap, and then you’d zip up your sweatshirt, you’d put your hood on and you’d go down to the gym.  [The gym] wasn’t a real gym, it was a temporary structure just for shooting and it didn’t have any air conditioning and you’d shut all the doors and all the windows in the gym.  Then you would work out for two, two and half hours (as long as you could stand it) without any water.


“The trainers tell you.  And it was [trainer] Kim [Lyons]‘s first season, and I remember Kim having a conversation with [trainer] Bob [Harper] where she said, and she said it to her team, ‘You know, look, let’s do this the right way this season — no dehydrating, let’s just do it the healthy way.’  And Bob completely agreed to it.  Then, right before our very first weigh in, Kim came over to us and she said, ‘Guys, I’m really, really, really sorry.  I know that Bob and I agreed not to dehydrate our teams, but I’m watching Bob, and if you look right now, he’s dehydrating his team.  And if you guys don’t dehydrate, you don’t stand a chance.  You’re going to get picked off one by one and have to leave.


her life between the ranch and the finale:


“So I got to a point where I was only eating about 1,000 calories a day and I was working out between 5 and 8 hours a day. . . .  And my hair started to fall out.  I was covered in bruises.  I had dark circles under my eyes.  Not to get too completely graphic, but my period stopped altogether and I was only sleeping 3 hours a night.


 . . my major food groups were water, black coffee and splenda.  I got to the point that when I was nervous or upset I was literally vomiting my food up. And at one point the scale stalled, I was stuck at 163, and my trainer and the producers all ordered me to take a free day. . . .  They said, ‘oh, you’re body needs to be shaken up.’  And I was so afraid of food at that point I went in [to the store], I bought a bag of snicker doodle cookies, and a quart of milk, and a box of ex lax and I ate them all together.  And I knew that I was in trouble. And it was at this point that I was like, ‘Hey, where are those doctors and that psychologist that are supposed to be following up and keeping an eye on me that I kept hearing about?’”


“It gave me a really fun eating disorder that I battle every day, and it also messed up my mental body image because the lighter I got during that T.V. show, the more I hated my body.  And I tell you what, at 144 and at 262 and at 280, I had never hated my body before that show.


Kai on the fantasy of being thin:

“They said that they were very surprised by me as a contestant because, if you watch from the beginning of the season to the end, my personality doesn’t change at all.  And my comment was, ‘Why would it?’  But I guess that 95% of the contestants start off one person and end up a different one at the end.  And it’s because they believe that being thin will make all my dreams come true. [But] your mortgage is the same if you weigh 144 or if you weigh 268.  You’re either happy with your life or you’re not.”
Want an alternative?
I have been talking about this tons, but I didn't breakdown the components of Health at Every Size well enough for people to completely understand the basic premise (because I'm not saying "its so freaking awesome to be fat - join the club" - I am saying its so freaking awesome to be YOU, enjoy being YOU" 





  • Identifying Your Set-Point Weight
    Your set-point weight is:
    • The weight you maintain when you listen and respond to your body's signals of hunger and fullness.
    • The weight you maintain when you don't fixate on your weight or food habits.
    • The weight you keep returning to between diets.
  • How can you become Healthy at Every Size?
    HAES acknowledges that well-being and healthy habits are more important than any number on the scale. Participating is simple:
    1. Accept your size. Love and appreciate the body you have. Self-acceptance empowers you to move on and make positive changes.
    2. Trust yourself. We all have internal systems designed to keep us healthy—and at a healthy weight. Support your body in naturally finding its appropriate weight by honoring its signals of hunger, fullness, and appetite.
    3. Adopt healthy lifestyle habits. Develop and nurture connections with others and look for purpose and meaning in your life. Fulfilling your social, emotional, and spiritual needs restores food to its rightful place as a source of nourishment and pleasure.
    •    Find the joy in moving your body and becoming more physically vital in your everyday life.
    •    Eat when you're hungry, stop when you're full, and seek out pleasurable and satisfying foods.
    •    Tailor your tastes so that you enjoy more nutritious foods, staying mindful that there is plenty of room for less nutritious choices in the context of an overall healthy diet and lifestyle.
    4. Embrace size diversity. Humans come in a variety of sizes and shapes. Open to the beauty found across the spectrum and support others in recognizing their unique attractiveness.
  • Healthy Interaction
    The Health at Every Size movement has a strong presence online. Become a part of it :)

It was a process...

This is about curly hair, but really what she says can be about so, so much more.


how I care for my curls: here

Sunday, September 04, 2011

Mr. PJ

I was just telling Kyle the other day that I think its pretty dang cool that we have a brown hair'd boy, three very different shades of brown/red hair'd girls - including our true ginger
Cora, and now PJ blonde with striking blue eyes.
(and none of them belong to the postman or mailman)
Kyle + Me is one cool melting pot of genetics.
japanese, german, cajun, british, native american... 
its all in there, because I've been doing my genealogy so I know.
Have you ever done your own family names at the temple? Its one of the coolest things ever. I highly recommend it and the new Family Search makes it so do-able.





PS. I almost wrote this blogpost except this one is so much better and why re-invent the wheel? We're you born on third?

Friday, September 02, 2011

the word you are looking for is fat.


Why I prefer the term fat:
Fat is what I am.
I don't subscribe to BMI categories...
overweight? over whose weight exactly? whose ideal? obese...morbidly obese?
I am morbidly obese... who cares
I am active, healthy, happy, and fat.
In fact I haven't needed the services of a doctor in three years including gasp... a completely healthy pregnancy and delivery.

If in the mood I will also use, plus sized or big gal. If you haven't met me before but we need to meet somewhere I'll say "I'm the fat girl with curly hair" and I say it with a smile on my face and in my heart.

BMI is not an indication of health: Body Mass Index badly flawed

The following is from the BMI project which you can read more about here



Please take this thing off.


two weeks, 

TWO weeks... that is how long they recommended this collar stay on. (stupid thing - nikko's words not mine)

He got his snip, snip done and the spca uses glue not stitches and they said don't let him lick it too or much he will lick away the glue... 

sigh - poor fella.

Thursday, September 01, 2011

Don't believe everything you hear...

got this comment once:

"Go peddle your "fat love" somewhere else. I hope YOUR children that you keep poping out even though you can't afford them are the ones not left without a mother. It is dangerous to be so fat when you are pg. . .Take a look at yourself for who you really are. Only the risks you are taking are not in an effort to get better, they are so you can contunie to stay fat and unhealthy"

wow... its time for... a fresh perspective.

The news, diet industry, society, your neighbor, government, and Michelle Obama would all like you to know that being fat is UNHEALTHY... and it will KILL YOU... and cost untold health care dollars in the meantime.

Accepting your body is bad for you right? Being ok with whatever size you are is akin to throwing in the towel and giving up on your health right?

NO. NO. and no.

You can strive to be healthy without hating yourself. And society can just shut up about the lies they spew.

We are victims of Fat Politics.

"Obesity costs us millions of dollars in health care expenditures."

So say some pundits in another well publicized report. How did they arrive at this figure? They calculated the expenses associated with treating a host of conditions, including type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, hypertension, gallbladder disease, and cancer, assuming that susceptibility to all of those is caused by fat. Nowhere did they account for mitigating factors that might cause these conditions, such as genetics, activity habits, or diet - nor did they account for the fact that thin people are subject to these conditions as well.

The problem with epidemiological research (research where two groups are compared) is that it shows associations not causes.
Take for instance:

"It is well established through epidemiological research that bald men have a higher incidence of heart disease than men with a full head of hair. However this doesn't mean that baldness promotes heart disease or that hair protects against heart disease. Nor is it recommended that bald men try to grow hair in order to lessen their disease risk...instead further research indicates that high levels of testosterone may promote both baldness and heart disease."

So basically every time you hear the woes of extra weight and how damaging it is remember there is a LOT of bad science out there and journalists, diet industry and weight loss surgeons benefit from these scare tactics - you don't.

It really comes down to 2 things:

Eat nutritiously
Move your body

But for grins and giggles lets look at this a little closer:

Obesity and hypertension:

"High blood pressure is more common in obese people than lean people, however it is unclear if this is caused by fat... It may have more to do with weight cycling that results from trying to control weight than the actual weight itself. One study showed that obese women who had dieted had high blood pressure while those who had never been on a diet had normal blood pressure...

Also it is well documented that obese people with hypertension live significantly longer than thinner people with hypertension and have a lower risk of heart attack, stroke, or early death."

Does weight loss reduce hypertension?

Many studies document that blood pressure improves during weight loss... however, the long term results are disappointing even when weight loss is maintained - including massive amounts of weight loss after bariatric surgery... But a healthier eating has been shown to lower blood pressure successfully, even without lowering weight.


Obesity and athersclerosis (cholesterol laden plaque)

Since obese people have more weight on their body they must of more fat in their arteries right? Research does not support this. Five decades of autopsy studies consistently show no relationship between body fat and atherosclerosis. Obesity has no relationship to either the presence of atherosclerosis or its progression over time.
The largest, most comprehensive angiographic study examined 4,500 angiograms and concluded that every eleven pound increase in weight was associated with a 10-40 percent lower chance of atherosclerosis.

In other words, fat men and women had the cleanest arteries... Heart disease death rates have been falling for more than five decades.

Obesity and Type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is a metabolic disorder in which people have a reduced sensitivity to insulin. Type 2 diabetes is much more common among obese individuals than leaner individuals.
80% of people with type 2 diabetes are obese.

And because of those statistics diabetes is commonly blamed on weight.... But this is unfair and there is strong evidence to support that the genes that play a role in causing diabetes cause weight gain....

Chew on that though for a while. Maybe people are not diabetic because they are fat, maybe they are fat because they are diabetic.

Research shows that high levels of insulin appear before weight gain in future diabetics. In other words, weight gain is actually and early symptom of type 2 diabetes.

Though body fat & type 2 diabetes is the strongest card that the obesity alarmists hold- numerous research studies document that type 2 diabetes can be improved or reversed through changes in nutrition or activity habits, even when little or no weight it lost. Eating better and becoming more active are much more effective for curing, preventing, or controlling diabetes than shedding pounds.

Obesity and Cancer

Fat gives you cancer right? I mean its a risk factor listed for almost every cancer there is but maybe skin cancer ...The American Institute for Cancer Research was all over the media claiming that overweight and obesity increases risk for six cancers... All that was lacking in their 517 page report was convincing evidence to support these claims.
Of the fifteen case control studies only one showed a statistically significant increased risk - and one showed a statistically decreased risk.
Investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also contradicts the obesity cancer link. In their words "There is little or no association of excess all cancer mortality with any of the BMI categories."


So what to think?

Did you know there is a long list of conditions less common in heavy people than their thinner counterparts? (Lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, tuberculosis, mitral valve prolapse, anemia, type 1 diabetes, premature menopause, and osteoporosis)
Obesity is also associated with improved survival in several diseases. Obese persons with type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and chronic kidney disease all have greater longevity than thinner people. Also obese senior citizens live longer than thinner senior citizens.

My best advice would be - turn off the news, mute the commercials, and ignore the billboards (is it just me or is every other billboard in Dallas for weight loss surgery?
Read the Word of Wisdom, eat whole, real food and go for a long walk.

All credit to Health at Every Size

PLEASE READ THE REST OF THIS SERIES, by clicking here 0r the labels below.