TrueSlant's Katie Drummond interviewed Gay, 26, about "Exposed," a project in which weight-loss bloggers celebrate what they love about their bodies.

It started when Gay saw the following photo on a friend's diet blog:

"I got annoyed, angry, and disappointed," Gay told Drummond. "Why was this gorgeous, amazing woman, who has given life to a child, hating her body? Why was I hating my body?"

That's how Gay came to post this:

Several other bloggers have followed suit.

Drummond asked Gay if the growth of these types of blogs were healthy for women, or whether they just promoted anxiety. Gay replied,

[B]oth the intensely positive and negative is actualized... I follow people who don't count calories or points – you can find that if you want it. I remember when I was struggling with dieting/binging/body image and I would compare myself to those bloggers who I felt ‘have it all together'. What I came to understand is that was all have our struggles. Bloggers who have shared their lives have helped me see that no one is perfect. That even those women who ‘have it together' still struggle, but they overcome it by coming back to the core values of self-respect and love.

You could argue that exposing your body to more micro-scrutiny, even with a positive twist, doesn't do much to allay anxieties. But it's hard to quibble with a few words of kindness to your body amidst all the self-loathing.

Bloggers In The Buff [TrueSlant]
Exposed [Eating Journey]

Related: Exposed [MizFit]
Why Do You Love Your Body? [Roni's Weigh]
Exposed [Jungle of Life]

Earlier: Is Diet Blogging Ultimately Bad For The Soul?

As Time's John Cloud writes:

The basic problem is that while it's true that exercise burns calories and that you must burn calories to lose weight, exercise has another effect: it can stimulate hunger. That causes us to eat more, which in turn can negate the weight-loss benefits we just accrued. Exercise, in other words, isn't necessarily helping us lose weight. It may even be making it harder.

Cloud cites a study from the peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE (PLoS is the nonprofit Public Library of Science). The study, supervised by a colleague of Ravussin's, Dr. Timothy Church, chair in health wisdom at LSU, randomly assigned into four groups 464 overweight women who didn't regularly exercise. Women in three of the groups were asked to work out with a personal trainer for six months; women in the fourth group were the control and were told to maintain their usual routines. The results?

On average, the women in all the groups, even the control group, lost weight, but the women who exercised - sweating it out with a trainer several days a week for six months - did not lose significantly more weight than the control subjects did.

Cloud supposes, jokingly (?) "The control-group women may have lost weight because they were filling out those regular health forms, which may have prompted them to consume fewer doughnuts."

Of course, exercise has its benefits: Enhancing heart and circulatory health, helping prevent disease, improving mental health and cognitive ability. Cloud points to a study released by the University of Alberta a few weeks ago which found that people with chronic back pain who exercise four days a week have 36% less disability than those who exercise only two or three days a week.

But weight loss is a different issue. As is self-control. Cloud explains:

Many people assume that weight is mostly a matter of willpower - that we can learn both to exercise and to avoid muffins and Gatorade. A few of us can, but evolution did not build us to do this for very long. In 2000 the journal Psychological Bulletin published a paper by psychologists Mark Muraven and Roy Baumeister in which they observed that self-control is like a muscle: it weakens each day after you use it. If you force yourself to jog for an hour, your self-regulatory capacity is proportionately enfeebled. Rather than lunching on a salad, you'll be more likely to opt for pizza.

This strikes me as somewhat questionable, as I — and most people I know — tend to be quite loathe to "undo" any work put in at the gym with high-calorie snacks. But this working-out-makes-you-eat movement even has conspiracy theorists!

Steven Gortmaker, head of Harvard's Prevention Research Center on Nutrition and Physical Activity says, "If you're more physically active, you're going to get hungry and eat more." He's suspicious of the playgrounds at fast-food restaurants. "Why would they build those? I know it sounds kind of like conspiracy theory, but you have to think, if a kid plays five minutes and burns 50 calories, he might then go inside and consume 500 calories or even 1,000."

In any case, the key seems to be not to be total sloth and a lead a sedentary lifestyle but just to keep on moving. Cloud writes:

Many obesity researchers now believe that very frequent, low-level physical activity - the kind humans did for tens of thousands of years before the leaf blower was invented - may actually work better for us than the occasional bouts of exercise you get as a gym rat. "You cannot sit still all day long and then have 30 minutes of exercise without producing stress on the muscles," says Hans-Rudolf Berthoud, a neurobiologist at LSU's Pennington Biomedical Research Center who has studied nutrition for 20 years. "The muscles will ache, and you may not want to move after. But to burn calories, the muscle movements don't have to be extreme. It would be better to distribute the movements throughout the day."

Of course, since none of this is conducive to working a desk job (blogging for a living included) we're gonna add: Good luck with that.

Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin [Time]

Earlier: Does Exercise Make You Hungry Instead Of Thin?

200 children were involved in the study, which aimed to measure how much exercise children in the area were getting. The most overweight children in study apparently weren't losing any weight, despite their high activity levels, which led researchers to question the pedometer numbers, which were being tracked via satellite. "Then we realised they were attaching the pedometers to their dogs' collars," admits Professor Nicola Maffulli. Whoops! According to the BBC, the study has been extended. And while it's important for everyone to be honest about their activity levels, you really can't help but admit that the tricky participants should at least get bonus points for creativity. [BBC] via [Neatorama]

When Nicholas Sarkozy was elected, the sight of the pint-sized president jogging through Paris was found so risible by the French people that Sarko took the unusual step of hiring a personal trainer. Enter the glamorous, 26-year-old Julie Imperiali, who's trained his wife Carla Bruni for years after meeting her in a bar. Imperiali says various nifty things about being "in favor of excess," and the importance of the perineum, with which she seems obsessed, even if "the Anglo-Saxons are a bit prudish about this and say that they don't know what we are talking about.”

In under a year, she's helped the already fit Sarko, "a teetotal chocolate addict," lose nearly ten pounds and tone up via "Tectonic Wellbeing” . She describes him as "a dream pupil." As to his first lady? “Carla is une bonne vivante. She loves beer. She smokes. She likes good food. But she obviously has an irreproachable constitution." Although she has a few annoying, trainer-esque bugaboos about junk food and has cut down on Sarkozy's chocolate intake, Imperiali's approach seems basically common-sensical.“My work is 60 per cent psychological and 40 per cent sport. It enables you to reconnect the head with the body." Via Gitanes, perhaps?
The woman who got President Sarkozy's pulse racing (no, not Carla Bruni) [TimesUK]

Just like us plebs, Gwyneth likes to begin the new year by obsessing about what we can "improve, learn, be more disciplined about," and of course, "cut out of our diets." Last year, the svelte star had a little help getting rid of her "saddlebags and post-pregnancy Shar-Pei-like stomach" from trainer Tracy Anderson. As Anderson is currently on tour with Madonna, she has been working with Gwyneth via video chat, and one such video is posted on the latest installment. Gwyneth highly recommends Anderson's Dance Aerobics DVD for the rest of us, but it's hard to get motivated to "completely change the shape of your butt" without a personalized message from your trainer praising your "fabulous duck and polenta" and gushing, "I just dream about your cooking!" [GOOP]

According to two studies being presented today at the UK Society for Behavioural Medicine, whether people are 10 years old or 70 years old, males are more physically active than females. Dr Nicky Ridgers, one of the co-authors of the research, says: "It is a concern that girls' activity levels are lower than boys and, although it is just one piece in a complex picture, this could be contributing to girls being overweight and obese.

Obviously, there are exceptions. Female athletes and boys who prefer to gossip. But some women find working out in a gym to be such a boring, lone-wolf activity, which makes sense if females have the inclination to "play" by interacting verbally in small groups.

Everyone knows that physical activity is healthy: When you're young, it helps build strong bones and joints; when you're older, mobility and flexibility are important. But knowing that females play differently, even at a young age, how do we get girls — and women — to be more active? Instead of shaming "chatty" girls, is there a way to harness strong social tendencies into physical exertion?

Girls Play Less Energetically Than Boys 'Because They Prefer To Chat' [Telegraph]
Studies Reveal Lifelong Gender Difference In Physical Activity [EurekAlert]
Females 'Less Physically Active' [BBC News]
Lifelong Gender Difference In Physical Activity Revealed [Science Daily]

Thanks to the reader who tipped us off to the Flirty Girl Fitness workout system, which allows you to join in the pole dancing workout trend right in your own home. Why waste your time doing unalluring exercises like running or lifting weights when you could be giving your body a makeover with workouts based on "the world’s sexiest dance moves, from music videos, club dancing, even exotic dancing?" Check out the commercial below to learn how you can liberate yourself from non-sexy workouts, or check out their website to order your own pole, feather boa, and lap dance-inspired workouts for just $259.94.

First the bad news: a recent study found that being just seven pounds overweight increased men's risk of heart failure — by about 11 percent over 20 years. Being obese increased the risk by about 180 percent. The silver lining: exercising just one to three times a month lowered the risk by 18 percent.

More silver lining, sorta: Jane Brody at the Times lists a bunch of diet books that she promises won't require you to starve yourself or adopt stupid gimmicks. Some sound okay: "The Volumetrics Eating Plan: Techniques and Recipes for Feeling Full on Fewer Calories" tells you to eat a bigger volume of foods that aren't calorie-dense, while "The Instinct Diet: Use Your Five Food Instincts to Lose Weight and Keep It Off" teaches that the eating impulses that helped us as cavemen don't work in the modern world. But then there's "The Beck Diet Solution" and "The Beck Diet Weight Loss Workbook," which purport to teach the overweight "to think like a thin person." Which is okay if that thin person is, say, Barack Obama — but not if it's Amy Winehouse.

Shockingly, being smart may not be what keeps thin people so svelte — they may have social advantages. A study of rural Americans revealed that "obese participants tended to have less education and lower annual incomes than normal weight respondents. They also were more likely to view their community as unpleasant for physical activity, such as lacking sidewalks for walking or biking or to have few places to be active." One of the study authors says that "a lot of travel planning focuses on how to increase the numbers of automobiles on our roadways, not on how to make travel friendly by foot or bicycle," and that we should think about preventing obesity when we're planning communities. ""Everyone will benefit," he writes, "if we make the healthy choice the easy choice."

Being just seven pounds overweight can raise the risk of heart failure [Daily Mail]
Weight-Loss Guides Without Gimmicks [NYT]
Eating At Buffets Plus Not Exercising Equals Obesity In Rural America [Science Daily]

• Jenny Craig co-founder, Sid Craig, has passed away at the age of 76. • The domain name "narnia.mobi" was bizarrely given over to the C.S. Lewis estate from a father who had purchased the domain name for his 11-year-old son. • People living in London boroughs find people living in wealthy areas as being the most attractive. • Dozens of pantyhose have been left daily near an Milford school bus stop in England for 2 years and residents are planning to do their own sting operation to find the litterer. • Wal-Mart has teamed up with Disney to become the "retail headquarters" of Hannah Montana and plans on giving out free Hannah Montana "wake-up calls" in an effort to boost back to school sales. • Teens are more likely to be less sexually active if their parents do not engage in negatively controlling behaviors, a new "suggestive" study has found.• Two-thirds of people who erase their tattoos are women. • The bad housing market prompts a WWF Diva to give away her unwanted home for a charity essay contest. • A nude painting by Sir Gerald Kelly was put back on show in an a gallery in Newport, England after it was banned for 60 years for being "too brazen", only to be taken down again because the woman is depicted smoking. • Teenage girls who eat with their families during middle school are less likely to drink or smoke within the next five years.

Jessica: completed five regulars.
Maria: failed to complete a regular, did seven "girl" style.
Jennifer: did none. Try the girl kinds, I offered. "i failed at those too. i also cannot do a headstand
if that matters. oh and add to list: i can neither ride a bike nor swim."
Megan: managed 10 girly-style before her back cracked. But she is hungover.

Me: I did five. My nose got really, really close to the floor, and I blame a dust ball for wrecking my concentration. Then I tried to do girl push-ups. Much effort was expended finding a towel and placing it on the ground so as not to punish my knees. I managed 22. Then Snoop Dogg appeared on The View and I needed to get up. I totally could have done thirty. Not that I ever will again.

Hawaii Chair - Hula Workout [Random Good Stuff]

Here's the thing: Humans are overpopulating the planet. We're at the top of the food chain, eating like crazy and multiplying. And if you know anything about population patterns, our exponential growth may be followed by exponential decline. Like the dinosaurs, we're not meant to last forever. So maybe the obese will die and the thin will inherit the earth? With its limited resources? Who are we to fuck with natural selection? Survival of the fittest, for real?

It's just a thought. But it'll start with women. The report found that some see sports as "unfeminine", with thinness coming above healthiness in female priorities.

A quarter of women surveyed for the study agreed with the statement "I hate the way I look when I exercise or play sport" and a third of 18- to 24-year-olds and nearly half of 25- to 34-year-olds feel under greater pressure to be thin than to be healthy.

We haven't come very far at all; in 1934, Physical Culture magazine published a letter written by a mother about her 11-year-old daughter, Peggy. "My daughter, who had always possessed a sweet, lovable disposition, had become subject to unbridled fits of temper," writes Mrs. Helen M. Springer. "Her mood might be sparkling animation one moment, darkly morose the next. Her appetite was erratic, and her attention to things said to her very poor." Mrs. Springer started Peggy on a healthy exercise and diet plan. She gained weight, her schoolwork improved and the light in her eyes came back. That was seventy-three years ago.

If nothing changes, fate will take its course, obesity will kill the obese and global warming will take care of the rest. Can we really stop this destiny from happening?

Lack of time, Offputting PE Lessons, Social Pressure ... Why Women Face A Fitness Crisis [Guardian]
Few Women Doing Enough Exercise [BBC News]
Our Physical Culture Girls [Modern Mechanix]

Earlier: Thinking About Working Out Is Not The Same As Working Out

First: What are your reasons for exercise? Uh, weight loss, health, skinny jeans? Second: Set challenging but achievable goals. Like, one day, someday, you'll turn into one of those people who works out. Third: Learn to self-talk with positive, persuasive arguments. Um, tomorrow you'll totally jog, totally, for like, an hour. Just not today. Fourth: Stay "in the moment" during a work out — feel the breeze on your face while running. Yeah, the breeze feels great! So great that it might be nice to stop running and just stroll. Or stop in a shoe store. Fifth: Don't get stuck in a rut. Uh, too late. Sixth: Use visualization. Yeah, because after you're done picturing yourself in a kickboxing class, you won't really need to take one! Lastly: Congratulate yourself post-workout. Great job! Let's go get ice cream!

Think Yourself Fit [Guardian]

Back in 1977, the National Institute of Health hosted its second conference on obesity and weight control. "The importance of exercise in weight control is less than might be believed," the assembled experts concluded. And still, the workout culture of the 80s exploded, aerobics, Jazzercise and all.

But, Taubes argues, it's not exercising that affects your weight. It's the way your body is wired.

The key is that among the many things regulated in this homeostatic system—along with blood pressure and blood sugar, body temperature, respiration, etc.—is the amount of fat we carry. From this biological or homeostatic perspective, lean people are not those who have the willpower to exercise more and eat less. They are people whose bodies are programmed to send the calories they consume to the muscles to be burned rather than to the fat tissue to be stored—the Lance Armstrongs of the world. The rest of us tend to go the other way, shunting off calories to fat tissue, where they accumulate to excess. This shunting of calories toward fat cells to be stored or toward the muscles to be burned is a phenomenon known as fuel partitioning.

The Scientist and the Stairmaster [New York]
Exercise Will Make You Healthy, But Probably Not Thinner [WSJ]