weightloss - Jezebel

posts about #weightloss more →
Study: Fat People Dare To Think They're "Normal"
Mo'Nique Found It Easy To Play A Monster
Shine On The Dotted Line
Sarah Palin Fans Christened The "Anti-Christers" • Gay Couples Make Good Parents
Culture Clash: What If Calling Someone Fat Wasn't An Insult?
Why Is There An "Appetite" For Plus-Size TV?
More Evidence Exercise Makes You Hungry, Not Thin
"It's OK To Be Big, But Let’s Be Big And Healthy"
Do Plus-Size TV Shows Inspire Or Disgust?
Dance Your Ass Off: Poledancing & MILF Face

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BytheSea
11/18/09

In reply to Study: Fat People Dare To Think They're "Normal"
When we learned about these charts in abnormal psych, the prof said that people who measured their ideal far off from their perceived real were psychotic. Or something.
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Sputnik_Sweetheart
11/18/09

In reply to Study: Fat People Dare To Think They're "Normal"
Here's an idea. Why don't we focus on lowering blood pressure and cholesterol and managing or preventing diabetes rather than on losing weight? Kinda of like, "hey get healthy and have more energy and feel better!" rather than "hey, you're a fattie!"
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femme-bot
11/18/09

@Sputnik_Sweetheart: Psshaw. Next you'll suggest comprehensive sex ed.
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morninggloria
11/18/09

In reply to Study: Fat People Dare To Think They're "Normal"
When I first read this, I saw that the lead researcher was "Tiffany Pollard" instead of "Tiffany Powell" and I had a moment of extreme confusion that melted into delight at the thought of VH1 reality star New York asking people about their bodies.
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Benevolent_Dictatrix (patently absurd)
11/18/09

In reply to Study: Fat People Dare To Think They're "Normal"
See, I knew those frat guys who moo at fat people on the street were just performing a service for the greater public health.
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tiredfairy
11/18/09

In reply to Study: Fat People Dare To Think They're "Normal"
The misperception of body size can also be Body Dysmorphia. It's common in people with eating disorders, like anorexia, where you still think you "look" fat even when you're starving to death. The reverse can also be true. I don't know if they considered that, though.
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madeofawesome
11/18/09

@tiredfairy: Body Dysmorphia is very common. However, I don't know that it's what's going on in this case. I know people who medically classify as "obese," but who I'd never think of as obese. The people in the study probably base their perception of their weight and what is healthy on the people around them. It's a given that most of America is above the "healthy" size. It's also a given that the BMI is flawed and a person's physical "size" often has little to do with his or her overall health.
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tiredfairy
11/18/09

@madeofawesome: ::nod:: Agreed. I'm just curious because the study seems to be suggesting that these folks are somehow being "willful" about it, when there are any number of reasons. The ones you suggested are good examples of that.

#tips
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Elaken
11/18/09

In reply to Study: Fat People Dare To Think They're "Normal"
Really, isn't it time we just round all these fatties up and put them on an island? God, clearly all of society's ills are due to them.
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Flackette Goes Retro
11/18/09

In reply to Study: Fat People Dare To Think They're "Normal"
35% of obese people who felt this way had high blood pressure, 15% and high cholesterol, and 14% had diabetes.

Just curious, what are the rates of hypertension, high cholesterol and diabetes in the population at large? These numbers may be elevated, but it also means that 85% of obese people had normal cholesterol, 86% were non-diabetic, and 65% did not have high blood pressure. If obesity marks people for death, I would expect these numbers to be higher.

See, statistics are fun!

And if "normal" means "normative", then a person who is of average rate is indeed "normal."

What we have here is a semiotics fail.
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Edited by Flackette Goes Retro at 11/18/09 5:11 PM

alouette
11/18/09

@Flackette Goes Retro: Taking statistics classes has made me even crankier than I used to be. This is purely correlational though.
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Dauphine
11/18/09

@alouette: Statistics made everyone in my "stats for artsies" class crankier. I think it's more than just correlation.
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alouette
11/18/09

@Dauphine: Let's perform an experiment!
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Dauphine
11/18/09

@alouette: Yay. We'll need equal representation of science and arts majors.
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alouette
11/18/09

@Dauphine: But of course. This is science, after all; can't go cutting corners.
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gwaste
11/18/09

@Flackette Goes Retro:
in the symbols of my friend - 6_9

I'm glad you passed statistics, now try doing a more thorough literature search on the topic you're speaking about.
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Flackette Goes Retro
11/18/09

@gwaste: Honestly? I'm not invested enough to look into this at the moment. That's why I wondered out loud whether those numbers were elevated. I'm neither a doctor nor a medical researcher, and have no idea. I'm just a humble professional PR person, who gets paid on a daily basis to flip statistics around and say what my client needs them to say. Therefore, I don't trust much of anything I read anywhere - because I know the number of hands that have filtered it.
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clevernamehere
11/18/09

@Flackette Goes Retro: I think the science writing for these piece both the Jez version and the Eureka version sucks, but I have a hard time believing they included the population numbers in the actual article.
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Flackette Goes Retro
11/18/09

@clevernamehere: The Eureka versions are not often written by scientists. I write a lot of them for my institution, often working based on half-assed information, and looking for a media angle more than anything. Personally, I always read the abstract, conclusion and most of the research involved in the paper, but most science writers throwing this stuff online don't have time to really parse it. It goes through another filter when it hits the actual media, and before long it really means nothing.
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clevernamehere
11/18/09

@Flackette Goes Retro: As a public health person, I wouldn't actually expect those numbers to be higher. Obesity can be a concern without all obese people having significant health problems. Its clear that obese people aren't dropping dead on the street. I have problems with this study in a couple of ways, but the issue with obesity isn't "all the fatties are going to die and die soon."

I think the problem with articles like this in the press is partly that the articles are truncated by journalists/PR people who are looking to make it interesting when the prevaricating of most journal articles is going to bore the average reader.

The other issue is that there is a difference between individual health and group health. People do come in lots of different sizes and it should be between them and their doctor to decide if their weight and habits are healthy. At the same time, the population's weight has gone up dramatically in the last 30 years as have a host of problems that are correlated to excessive weight. Just because Mary Smith is a totally healthy 200 pound woman doesn't mean that the state of Mississippi's 30% obesity rate isn't troubling. When you're looking at fairly large sample a 35% high blood pressure rate among "obese" participants when compared to a 33% high blood pressure rate in a matched control of "normal" weight participants is going to be significant. The numbers don't have to be shocking. (Cross sectional studies like these are hard to draw conclusions from, but cross sectional research like this played a role in determining smoking caused lung cancer. It is about the body of research and not one single study. The literature on obesity is still developing).

This study might be utter crap, I haven't read it. But I've read lots and lots of articles about obesity and in general, they aren't fat shaming IMO. I find it is the media's versions of these articles and at times physicians' reliance on them to be the problem. On the individual level the issue should be habits and not weight.

And before anyone tells me to read it, I've read Kate Harding's site and several other fat acceptance blogs. Some of it I agree with, some of it I don't.
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jemandtheholograms
11/18/09

In reply to Study: Fat People Dare To Think They're "Normal"
Anna, I think you should know by now, that if it doesn't involve shame, the American public wants no part of it.
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yvanehtnioj
11/18/09

@jemandtheholograms: The American public is better than that! Why do you hate America? You should be ashamed of yourself.
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mariamariamaria
11/04/09

In reply to Mo'Nique Found It Easy To Play A Monster
Mo'nique is all that is awesome.

P.S. I need that dress.
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Edited by mariamariamaria at 11/04/09 4:59 AM mariamariamaria was starred mariamariamaria was unstarred

nyc-caribbean-ragazza
11/04/09

In reply to Mo'Nique Found It Easy To Play A Monster
She has one of the best laughs in the world. Very infectious. #moniqueonellen
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Michelle13
11/03/09

In reply to Mo'Nique Found It Easy To Play A Monster
I love how she talks about her weight, especially how she talks about feeling beautiful and sexy even at an unhealthy weight and decided to lose weight because it was detrimental to her health, not because she wasn't confident or comfortable with herself. My favorite part was when she said, "I will never be a small woman, Ellen, look at my (and here's where I started to groan and think, ok, here it is...) head." And I burst out laughing. Love this! #moniqueonellen
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BrookeD
11/03/09

In reply to Mo'Nique Found It Easy To Play A Monster
She does look fabulous!
Did anyone else notice how awkward Ellen seemed? #moniqueonellen
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yvanehtnioj
11/03/09

@BrookeD: Very awkward. Why is she so uncomfortable? (I do love her hair though.) #moniqueonellen
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toastandlove
11/03/09

@BrookeD: Ellen is a comedienne by training. I feel like she's almost a throwback in her comedic style, and when she has a guest she usually plays an almost vaudeville thing with them - if the guest is silly and loud and big like Mo'Nique, Ellen plays the awkward straight man. If her guest is more of a serious person, she gets wacky. #moniqueonellen
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BrookeD
11/03/09

@toastandlove: No, I know all that about her. She just seemed more awkward than usual. I couldn't put my finger on it. #moniqueonellen
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ccchild
11/03/09

In reply to Mo'Nique Found It Easy To Play A Monster
Mo'Nique, I love you, I think you're fabulous, buy why on God's green earth does your husband call you "Mama"? #moniqueonellen
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gerbilsoutofexile...is cheap and easy
11/03/09

@ccchild: It's sort of a southern thing. A lot of women call their husbands "Daddy" and kids call their brothers and sisters Sissy and Bubba. But it does kind of gross me out, ya know? #moniqueonellen
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Wendi Muse
11/03/09

@ccchild: it's not that weird....never heard of "mami"? #moniqueonellen
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Le Kangourou de Kataroo
11/03/09

@ccchild: My boyf calls me "Mama" like AC Slater did to Jessie. It's not as weird as I used to think it was once it started happening to me. I think it started referring me as Mama whilst talking to the dog and just kind of stuck... #moniqueonellen
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Jenloveshercurves
11/04/09

@ccchild: My Grandfather refers to his wife as "Mother" or "Mama." I think it's sort of a southern thing. It illustrates that she's the matriarch of the family. She calls him "Papa" too. #moniqueonellen
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lauraholtsteele
11/03/09

In reply to Mo'Nique Found It Easy To Play A Monster
I have to admit that I always found "The Parkers" funnier than it had a right to be. Mo'nique looks great! And she looked great in that gold dress at the LA premiere. #moniqueonellen
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AfroJezeBella
11/03/09

In reply to Mo'Nique Found It Easy To Play A Monster
Sexy big kitten head? Oddest compliment ever. I never thought kittens have big heads. What does that even mean? #moniqueonellen
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Sanfo
11/03/09

@AfroJezeBella: It's ridiculous, but in the context of the second video, it works very well! #moniqueonellen
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Uncommon Whore
11/03/09

@AfroJezeBella: It does make sense in context if you watch the video. Although yes, it sounds really odd out of context. #moniqueonellen
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AfroJezeBella
11/03/09

@Sanfo: @Uncommon Whore: I have no sound on my computer atm. So out of context is all I have. I imagine it has something to do with the screengrab in the first video where she's going "Rawr!" ? #moniqueonellen
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BetteD
11/03/09

@AfroJezeBella: I know what you're saying: I heard that at first and was like, "Wow, Californians get all the best bud..." Then I realized it was the best summary of Monique's appearance ever uttered. Ellen is crazy like a FOX! A big headed sexy fox! #moniqueonellen
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RiloKilo
11/03/09

@Sanfo: Haha, yeah it does make perfect sense in context. That being said, I now plan to tell all of my friends, without context, that they have "sexy big kitten heads." #moniqueonellen
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