Posts Tagged ‘OK’
Curvy HM bikini model Jennie Runk is “plus-size” and proud of it!
The 24-year-old, who has recently grabbed attention for starring in the Brit mega-brand’s latest swimwear campaign, was faced by a choice when she decided to be a model: Lose weight and be a runway model or gain weight and pursue a career as a plus-size model. In a new editorial for the BBC, she explains how she went from struggling with body image issues as a teen to making the career-changing decision to pack on the pounds and how her recent rise to fame has inspired girls around the world – and RadarOnline.com has the details.
Runk, who admits she is shocked by the publicity her sexy bikini campaign has accumulated, is thrilled that she has provided inspiration for curvy girls to “try on a bikini for the first time in years.”
PHOTOS: Plus-Size Models Show Us How It’s Done
“This is exactly the kind of thing I’ve always wanted to accomplish, showing women that it’s OK to be confident even if you’re not the popular notion of ‘perfect,’” she explained. “This message is especially important for teenage girls. Being a teenage girl is incredibly difficult. They need all the help and support they can get.”
A US size eight when she was 13-years-old, Runk felt pressure to be thin and envied girls with skinnier bodies.
“Gym class was a nightmare. While the thin girls were wearing shorts, I was wearing sweat pants because my thighs were the size of their waists, and those pants were embarrassingly short because I was taller than the average adult, but still shopped at (pre-teen clothing store) Limited Too,” she reminisced about her youth.
PHOTOS: Plus Size Model Robyn Lawley Strips Down Into A Sexy Bikini
“On top of all this I’ve always been rather clumsy, so to say that my adolescence was awkward is an understatement.”
Surviving the trauma, she hopes to be a role model for girls going through the same thing.
Discovered at Petsmart when she was a teen, Runk was faced with a dire decision.
PHOTOS: Diet Divas
“I was given the option to lose weight and try to maintain a size four, or to gain a little – maintain a size 10 – and start a career as a plus-size model. I knew my body was never meant to be a size four, so I went with plus,” she explained.
Now, proud of her curvy body, she is disappointed with the connotations that the term “plus-size” comes along with.
“People assume ‘plus’ equates to fat, which in turn equates to ugly. This is completely absurd because many women who are considered plus-sized are actually in line with the American national average, or a US size 12/14,” she states.
PHOTOS: Skin And Bones Model Causes Controversy In Milan
“There shouldn’t be anything negative about being the same size as the average American woman, or even being a little bigger. Some women are perfectly healthy at a size 16.”
Article source: http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2013/05/curvy-hm-model-jennie-runk-explains-why-she-gained-weight/
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We don’t use the f-word in our house. I don’t mean the sweary one – I use that as punctuation – but the other offensive one. Fat.
So I was shocked last week when my daughter Jesse whined: “I can’t eat all my dinner, Mummy, it’ll make me fat.”
I nearly choked on my sundowner (because sarcasm comes in a glass in this climate).
OK, the little minx was just trying to get out of finishing her perfectly healthy tea – she would have no trouble stuffing her face with a few trans fats if they came in the form of chocolate biscuits.
But it’s still worrying that a four year old could be body-conscious, especially one who’s so tall for her age – she can already open the front door. Sometimes I go to answer it only to find she’s invited the delivery driver in for a picnic.
It made me want to track down the idiot who dropped the f-bomb in front of Jesse and make her eat her words – because it must have been a woman. Blokes don’t whiffle on about how much weight they’ve put on before tucking into a second slice of cake.
Now Jesse is worried about what she looks like. I found her running around the garden, huffing and puffing, saying: “I need to get fit, Mummy”.
I’m annoyed that all my efforts to teach Jesse about a healthy lifestyle have been undermined by a casual remark such as: “If you eat all that, you’ll get fat.”
She’s four years old – she can only eat what she’s given. Fat is an adult word and children can’t be fat, they can only be grown. If they grow too big then they’re being fed cheap, crappola food by parents and schools.
So, on the one hand, we have a third of all children being classed as obese in the UK and, on the other, an increase of 16% last year in hospital admissions for eating disorders.
Depending on your style of parenting, you can give your child diabetes or bulimia.
But what everybody’s scared to face is that fat is now a class issue. You won’t see kids with boobs in the Home Counties like we did last week at a fun fair in South London.
Walking to the fairground, I wondered why the kids coming out were carrying big bags of washing, until I got closer and realised it was candyfloss.
It’s true that my theory on solving the child obesity crisis is in its very early stages but in the meantime perhaps we could avoid buying candyfloss in human-sized bags.
Just a thought…
Article source: http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/family/tackling-child-obesity-fats-not-1880946
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People in Greece and Italy have healthier hearts than us because of their Mediterranean diet.
Source: Supplied
THE Greek and Italian economies may not be as strong as ours but the people of Greece and Italy have healthier hearts than us. How is this so?
For the last 40 years or so we have been told that the best diet for reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease (heart attacks and stroke) is a low fat diet. This idea is so strongly ingrained in health thinking that even questioning it is met with derision and abuse.
Yet when it is questioned, the answer is surprising.
Despite what you hear, low fat diets have never actually been shown to have any effect on life expectancy or rates of heart attack. When clinical trials involving nearly 350,000 people over 23 years were reviewed, they showed “no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease Another review showed no causal link between dietary fat intake and heart disease. These public findings are on the American National Institute of Health website.
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Dying well in WA: 10 on board Nitschke’s nitrogen
THE man dubbed Australia’s ‘Dr Death’ will showcase his new euthanasia product in Perth tomorrow that he says is legal and undetectable.
Reese’s crazy drunken meltdown
WATCH:
THE video of Reese Witherspoon’s run-in with police last week has been leaked online – and she’s every bit as fiery as the report suggested.
Bookie makes fun of The Voice. Loses
A BETTING agency has promoted its betting markets on The Voice by making “nauseating” jokes about the TV show’s coaches.
Hakea legal but ‘no place for teens’
UPDATE:
HOUSING more than 140 teenage offenders in Hakea prison may not be illegal, but it’s still inappropriate, legal and human rights experts say.
Top 11 excuses for bad driving
EVER been pulled over by the police? If you’re a guy, there’s a 90 per cent chance you said ”I’m just helping out; I wasn’t even supposed to be driving!”
Rapper receives oral sex on stage
HIP-HOP artist has outraged fans by allegedly receiving oral sex from an audience member while performing his concert on stage.
Carrie brought to tears on cancer
TV presenter Carrie Bickmore was reduced to tears on The Project during a segment about brain cancer last night.
US official fights Thrones piracy
THE US ambassador who pleaded for Aussies to stop pirating a TV series has explained why he does not have “anything better to do”.
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Just this year, researchers decided to re-examine the results of a study that looked at replacing saturated fats in the diet with polyunsaturated margarines.
What they found was surprising. The people in the margarine group had lower cholesterol but they had higher death rates! The lower cholesterol was hailed as proof of the benefits of substituting margarine for butter. However, the higher rate of death was overlooked.
What’s the point of having low cholesterol if it doesn’t help you live a longer life, you might well ask? The British Medical Journal said: “These findings could have important implications for worldwide dietary advice to substitute… polyunsaturated fats in general for saturated fats.”
Those dishing out dietary advice do not want to know this “inconvenient” finding.
And now the plot thickens even further.
For the first time a trial comparing different diets has been done. Over 7400 people with risk factors for heart disease (such as smoking diabetes or obesity) were put on either a low fat diet or a Mediterranean diet. The Mediterranean diet is not low in fat. It includes olive oil, nuts fish fruits vegetables, some red meat and dairy and, wait for it, red wine.
The trial was stopped early. Why? Because there was a 30% reduction in deaths, heart attack and stroke among the people in the Mediterranean diet group compared to people the low fat diet group.
Although previous work has shown an association between eating a Mediterranean diet and lower rates of heart disease, this study is important for a number of reasons.
It measured heart attack and death rates rather than weight or cholesterol levels. This is critical because nobody dies of weight or cholesterol. What matters is if something actually reduces your chance of a heart attack or dying prematurely regardless of blood test results.
This significant reduction in heart attacks and deaths was in a group of people who were already known to be at increased risk of heart disease and who were already on treatments such as cholesterol lowering medication.
A low fat diet is hard to stick to but the Mediterranean diet is not.
So why are these findings not widely promoted? It is because they go against conventional thinking. There is a lot of money and vested interest tied up in promoting low fat diets. You can be sure if the results had been reversed that assorted health authorities would have been queuing up to tell the world.
And just to rub salt (another bad guy) into the authority wounds those in the Mediterranean diet group were asked to drink a glass of red wine each day. Not all of them may have done this but this will also fly in the face of the notion that any amount of alcohol is harmful.
So what does this mean to you? It means that you should ditch the packaged low fat foods, which are generally high in sugar. When it comes to dairy eat the full fat version but not much of it. Use olive oil or even butter in preference to most margarine. Enjoy nuts (unless you are allergic to them) fish, fruits, vegetables, olives and olive oil. A little red meat and dairy is OK. And you can if you wish have a glass (note, not a bottle) of red wine each day.
A lion in the jungle does not need to be told to eat a zebra. Likewise our ancestors managed for eons without hectoring from authorities on what to eat. They ate what they could gather or catch. They drank mainly water. They did not eat food from boxes with lots of numbers on the labels. They ate what their bodies needed rather than what their minds wanted. They may not have lived as long as us but it was not heart disease that killed them.
This latest study confirms what humans have intuitively known for centuries. Ignore the latest diet fads and follow these simple principles. Your health will be the better for it.
Read more of Dr Joe’s advice and columns at:
www.drjoe.net.au
www.drjoetoday.com
Article source: http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/chewing-the-fat-over-diet-fads/story-fnhocxo3-1226634595507?from=public_rss
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- By Matt Fitzgerald
- Published 2 days ago
Steer clear of one-size-fits-all formulas to balance carbs, fat and protein in your diet.
Some sports nutrition experts recommend a 60/20/20 diet. What’s that? It’s a diet where you get 60 percent of your daily calories from carbohydrate and 20 percent each from fat and protein. Advocates say endurance athletes need to consistently maintain this ratio of the three so-called “macronutrients” to perform optimally in training.
Other experts recommend a more evenly balanced 40/30/30 diet. And still others promote different ratios. While they might disagree on the specifics, all of these experts agree that there exists some perfect balance of macronutrients that optimizes endurance-training performance.
Guess what? They’re all wrong.
“Percentages are meaningless, because it is the absolute amount of carbohydrate and protein that matters,” says Asker Jeukendrup, Ph.D., an exercise physiologist at the University of Birmingham in England and one of the world’s leading experts on the effects of different amounts of carbohydrate and protein intake on endurance performance. “How much you need depends on your goals and the amount of training you do.”
In other words, what matters is not the relative proportions of carbs, fat and protein you eat but the basic quantity measured as total calories or grams. And since macronutrient needs vary depending on training volume, there is no single macronutrient ratio that could possibly meet the needs of every athlete.
So what are the right amounts? “Typically, carbohydrate needs will vary from 5 to 10 grams per kilogram of body weight per day with training ranging from one hour per day to five hours or more,” says Jeukendrup. (Note that 1 kilogram is equal to 2.2 pounds).
Unlike protein and fat, carbs are not used structurally in the body—they are used strictly for fuel. Therefore the more active you are, the more carbohydrate you need, with the hardest training athletes requiring twice as much carbohydrate as the lightest trainers. Studies have shown that athletes who fail to increase their carbohydrate intake sufficiently to match increases in their training volume do not perform as well.
Protein needs also vary with training volume, although somewhat less. Traditional recommendations are 1 gram of protein per body weight daily for recreational endurance athletes increasing to 1.5 grams per kilogram per day for serious competitors. But in a recent study, Jeukendrup found that going all the way up to 3 grams per kilogram per day helped a group of elite cyclists to better handle the stress of an especially hard block of training. This is an extreme case, but it demonstrates that the carbohydrate and protein recommendations for athletes should be considered minimums. It’s OK and sometimes beneficial to get more, as long as doing so doesn’t cause you to consume too many total calories.
And fat? Dietary fat needs are less sensitive to fluctuations in training volume. According to Jeukendrup, you can trust that your fat needs will be met if you get the right amount of carbs and protein and simply let fat account for the remainder of your daily energy needs.
Getting the right balance of macronutrients requires a little math, but it beats using a one-size-fits-all formula that doesn’t really fit all.
Daily Carbohydrate Needs
Training Volume (Hours/Day) – Carbohydrate Needs (grams per kilogram of body weight)
1 – 5 g/kg
2 – 6 g/kg
3 – 7 g/kg
4 – 8 g/kg
5 – 9 g/kg
5 – 10 g/kg
RELATED – Racing Weight: Beverage Consumption And Weight Management
FILED UNDER: Nutrition / Weight Loss TAGS: balancing your diet / Ironman nutrition / Nutrition / Racing Weight
Article source: http://triathlon.competitor.com/2013/04/nutrition/racing-weight-balancing-your-diet_24561
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There’s this page I designed early in my time here at the Advocate. It’s a standout in my portfolio, consistently one of the first pages commented on when anyone looks at my stuff.
It’s a great page but whenever I look at it, I can only see the one oversight that makes it imperfect – the piece that reminds me that I’m careless and not thoughtful enough.
We are all our own worst critics but luckily, I have the good sense to not take myself too seriously, and friends and co-workers let me know even if my pages aren’t perfect, they’re still pretty good. When you’re alone though and the voices in your head get so loud, self-criticism can take an ugly turn to self-destruction.
“Fat Kid Rules the World,” rated R, is the story of Troy and Marcus, two self-destructive teens on two very different paths leading to the same tragic end.
Troy is fat – very fat. He wasn’t always fat, but now he is, and he keeps on thinking of different ways he’s going to die, contemplating suicide even. Troy’s widowed father blames himself for his son’s obesity, and Troy’s younger brother Dayle spends all his time trying to be the anti-Troy.
Marcus is a high school dropout with punk-rock dreams and a streak for drugs. Freshly kicked out of his own band and with a mother who has pledged allegiance to a stepfather who could care less, Marcus is also newly homeless.
Fate, rock ‘n’ roll, something brings these two together when Troy steps in front of a bus and Marcus shoves him out of the way, saving his life.
An unlikely friendship is forged between the two when Marcus recruits Troy to create a new band, mostly a ruse so Marcus can use Troy for money and housing.
The two go back and forth, and what’s really created is a safety net for each other. Instead of being sedentary and focusing on his own disappointments, Troy loses himself in punk music, learning how to obliterate a drum kit and even impressing some girls along the way.
Marcus, meanwhile, is able to find support within Troy’s family that is willing to put in the effort to help him with his drug problem.
Based on the novel by K.L. Going, “Fat Kid Rules the World” is surprisingly sweet but hardly feel-good.
“I don’t get it; Marcus is so self-destructive,” says love-interest and fellow punk rocker Isabel. “Sometimes I feel self-destructive, too,” says Troy. “Me too,” she replies.
We’re all a little bit self-destructive sometimes. Our bodies will never be just the way we want them, our vices will get the best of us sometimes, and that page you designed will always have that one thing you missed. But that’s OK, as long as you’re around the next day to build yourself back up.
Article source: http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2013/apr/17/lr_go_netflix_fix_041813_206948/
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money, OK
(MoneyWatch) Dear Evil HR Lady,
Being a office worker all of my life, sitting in a desk setting has not been real good for the figure, but has never prevented me from working longer hours and giving 200 percent compared to some of my thin, lazy co workers. What do I weigh? I am hovering at 190 lbs and have been there since high school. My dress is very business like and professional and I leave no skin uncovered from my neck down!
So here we go again.
Upon receiving a call from a local oceanfront resort asking me for a interview I was elated.
After starting the interview I realized my waist line was the one in the hot seat.
Being overweight was not allowed in the position I was seeking. What position did I apply for? Front Desk Customer Service Associate, a position I have held at another resort for many years. The kicker? This resort caters to the granola all natural crowd and is a all organic and wellness inspired company. The new manager is striving to provide healthy eating choices in the restaurant, a completely edible garden on site, yoga classes and cooking classes to guests.
Now if I was a paying customer I would be welcome with open arms, ‘Come on in fatty lets get you in shape,’ but being the first impression of the resort was an absolute NO GO.
I showed excitement and eagerness at the interview. How exciting that I may actually land a job that actually would be a great place spiritually and physically to work. Sounded like a dream, but I was passed over for a 95 lb anorexic looking girl of 20 years of age.
Not quite sure, but I think I was double discriminated against. Oregon is poor for fat folks in that regard. Heavy and over 30 — forget it — it’s all legal here!
I have no doubt your weight played a role in the decision not to hire you — although perhaps not in the way you would expect. I doubt your age did — 30 is pretty young. But, I’d like you to go back and read what you wrote: “This resort caters to the granola all natural crowd and is a all organic and wellness inspired company. The new manager is striving to provide healthy eating choices in the restaurant, a completely edible garden on site, yoga classes and cooking classes to guests.”
I do not think companies should discriminate against people based on their weight, when their weight doesn’t matter. (Although, to be clear, I do not and would not support any legal protection for anyone based on weight.) But, a company that is trying to sell healthy lifestyles should absolutely consider what their salespeople look like. And the front desk job at a resort? This is the face of the company. What people think of the front desk person is more important for the company’s future success than what they think of the hotel manager, who they will most likely never meet.
Yes, they’d welcome you with open arms as a customer because they are trying to sell something — the idea that if you just take their yoga classes, eat their acai berries, and drink their green smoothies you’ll look young and thin and beautiful. Because let’s face it, when people talk about “getting healthy” what they really mean is “getting skinny.” And if the person trying to tell you how it will be to your advantage to take whole spa package doesn’t look like what the customer wants to look like in the future? Less chance of a sale, or at least that’s the perception of the hiring manager.
Until our idea of the ideal body shape changes, people are going to wish they looked thinner than they do. And it’s possible that our ideas of body shape will change — they have in the past.
But, there’s another thing I want you to think about: Your attitude. You are a better worker than your “lazy, thin coworkers.” They gave the job to a “95 lb anorexic looking girl.” Those are not nice attitudes and you are just as guilty for judging someone for their size as you think they are for judging you.
Some people can eat like a horse and never gain an ounce. Others of us gain 5 pounds just by looking at a plate of brownies. It is unfair. But, life is not now fair, and never will it be fair. And I’m fine with that, because in order for things to be fair, they have to be at the lowest common denominator and, well, I’m a fan of excellence. But, your coworkers aren’t lazy because they are thin any more than you are not lazy because you’re fat, and the woman who got the job is most likely not anorexic. And if she is, that’s a serious health problem and we should have compassion on her plight.
Because, while I think it’s possible that they didn’t hire you because of your body shape, I think it’s equally possible that they didn’t hire you because your own perception of yourself and others, due to your weight, is causing the problem. You felt like your waist line was the one being interviewed. Is that a realistic statement or are you self conscious about your weight?
If you are self conscious about your weight, do something about it. If you’re happy with your weight, project that. Be confident. Stop expecting that people will judge you for what you look like. Expect people to judge you on your competence and capabilities. People generally rise to the expectations we have of them, and how they react to our body sizes is not an exception to this. Either way, it’s your choice. Make the choice and own the consequences.
Have a workplace dilemma? Send your questions to EvilHRLady@gmail.com.
Article source: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-57579258/fat-no-job-for-you/
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(MoneyWatch) Dear Evil HR Lady,
Being a office worker all of my life, sitting in a desk setting has not been real good for the figure, but has never prevented me from working longer hours and giving 200 percent compared to some of my thin, lazy co workers. What do I weigh? I am hovering at 190 lbs and have been there since high school. My dress is very business like and professional and I leave no skin uncovered from my neck down!
So here we go again.
Upon receiving a call from a local oceanfront resort asking me for a interview I was elated.
After starting the interview I realized my waist line was the one in the hot seat.
Being overweight was not allowed in the position I was seeking. What position did I apply for? Front Desk Customer Service Associate, a position I have held at another resort for many years. The kicker? This resort caters to the granola all natural crowd and is a all organic and wellness inspired company. The new manager is striving to provide healthy eating choices in the restaurant, a completely edible garden on site, yoga classes and cooking classes to guests.
Now if I was a paying customer I would be welcome with open arms, ‘Come on in fatty lets get you in shape,’ but being the first impression of the resort was an absolute NO GO.
I showed excitement and eagerness at the interview. How exciting that I may actually land a job that actually would be a great place spiritually and physically to work. Sounded like a dream, but I was passed over for a 95 lb anorexic looking girl of 20 years of age.
Not quite sure, but I think I was double discriminated against. Oregon is poor for fat folks in that regard. Heavy and over 30 — forget it — it’s all legal here!
I have no doubt your weight played a role in the decision not to hire you — although perhaps not in the way you would expect. I doubt your age did — 30 is pretty young. But, I’d like you to go back and read what you wrote: “This resort caters to the granola all natural crowd and is a all organic and wellness inspired company. The new manager is striving to provide healthy eating choices in the restaurant, a completely edible garden on site, yoga classes and cooking classes to guests.”
I do not think companies should discriminate against people based on their weight, when their weight doesn’t matter. (Although, to be clear, I do not and would not support any legal protection for anyone based on weight.) But, a company that is trying to sell healthy lifestyles should absolutely consider what their salespeople look like. And the front desk job at a resort? This is the face of the company. What people think of the front desk person is more important for the company’s future success than what they think of the hotel manager, who they will most likely never meet.
Yes, they’d welcome you with open arms as a customer because they are trying to sell something — the idea that if you just take their yoga classes, eat their acai berries, and drink their green smoothies you’ll look young and thin and beautiful. Because let’s face it, when people talk about “getting healthy” what they really mean is “getting skinny.” And if the person trying to tell you how it will be to your advantage to take whole spa package doesn’t look like what the customer wants to look like in the future? Less chance of a sale, or at least that’s the perception of the hiring manager.
Until our idea of the ideal body shape changes, people are going to wish they looked thinner than they do. And it’s possible that our ideas of body shape will change — they have in the past.
But, there’s another thing I want you to think about: Your attitude. You are a better worker than your “lazy, thin coworkers.” They gave the job to a “95 lb anorexic looking girl.” Those are not nice attitudes and you are just as guilty for judging someone for their size as you think they are for judging you.
Some people can eat like a horse and never gain an ounce. Others of us gain 5 pounds just by looking at a plate of brownies. It is unfair. But, life is not now fair, and never will it be fair. And I’m fine with that, because in order for things to be fair, they have to be at the lowest common denominator and, well, I’m a fan of excellence. But, your coworkers aren’t lazy because they are thin any more than you are not lazy because you’re fat, and the woman who got the job is most likely not anorexic. And if she is, that’s a serious health problem and we should have compassion on her plight.
Because, while I think it’s possible that they didn’t hire you because of your body shape, I think it’s equally possible that they didn’t hire you because your own perception of yourself and others, due to your weight, is causing the problem. You felt like your waist line was the one being interviewed. Is that a realistic statement or are you self conscious about your weight?
If you are self conscious about your weight, do something about it. If you’re happy with your weight, project that. Be confident. Stop expecting that people will judge you for what you look like. Expect people to judge you on your competence and capabilities. People generally rise to the expectations we have of them, and how they react to our body sizes is not an exception to this. Either way, it’s your choice. Make the choice and own the consequences.
Have a workplace dilemma? Send your questions to EvilHRLady@gmail.com.
Article source: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-57579258/fat-no-job-for-you/
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I was flipping through one of my favorite magazines recently and came across an advice column that had me fuming. A young woman was bemoaning the fact that her guy had gotten fat. Worse, she tells the columnist, her once fit and fashionable man had grown “lazy and fat.”
Our sad gal goes on to clarify that her mate of six years now spends his weekends and nights on the sofa, “drinking beer and watching TV.” She adds that they both have demanding jobs, but she takes care of herself (working out daily), and he doesn’t. Despite what we might surmise is declining (sex) appeal, she nonetheless describes her man as “intelligent, accomplished, emotionally mature, kind, loving, and funny.”
And the columnist’s response?
“I’m sick, sick, sick of women beating up on tubby guys… Take him as he is! Love him for himself! Grant him the freedom to live as he wants.”
There’s more to the conversation of course, including a suggestion to incite jealousy and thus motivate Mr. Beer Belly to hightail it back to the gym. But you get the gist: stop complaining, and be grateful he’s a good guy.
Cue my consternation. What if the roles were reversed? What if a man were seeking advice, expressing distaste for his widening woman?
I understand the peculiarities of sexual attraction, but why is “my wife got fat” a “Get Out of Jail Free” card for men, but “my husband got fat” elicits the equivalent of “what’s your problem?”
Don’t think that’s the case? Here on the pages of HuffPost Divorce, readers have weighed in on the subject of divorce and, well… weight.
One gentleman equates a woman’s appearance to a man’s income, essentially positing that if a man must provide, a woman must stay thin. Perhaps he’s lacking a “fat” wallet and is resentful of a stocky spouse, as he offers this bit of mythology:
“People have a lot more control over their weight than they do over their jobs. Yet, men who don’t maximize their income are fair game for criticism as being lazy or lacking ambition, while women who gain weight are perceived as victims.”
Another reader indicates it’s a matter of degree:
“People “weigh in” who think 10 or 20 pounds are not grounds for divorce. They can’t even imagine what some people have to live with every day, like a 5’8″ spouse who has gone from 145lb to 235lb… Is that OK? What would YOU do?”
Well I know exactly what I would do in that instance, and it involves trying to get to the root of the problem — which may not yield a solution as simple as this reader thinks.
Responding in no uncertain terms, one gentleman states:
“Gaining significant weight is a betrayal of marriage. It is grounds for divorce.”
A betrayal of marriage — yikes! Do these readers adhere to a different type of marriage vow? “I promise to love, honor, cherish — as long as you don’t fluctuate more than 10 pounds — until death do us part?”
Apparently, when it comes to the fat wife, we admonish her for letting herself go and we secretly sympathize with the man in the picture. We excuse his nights out, his wandering eye, his slip-slide into infidelity — and even his claim that weight gain justifies divorce.
We know why women put on weight after marriage: childbirth, poor eating habits, lack of exercise. Weight gain may also result from health conditions, hormones, medications and aging. Add the challenges of the work-life juggle, stress at the office, stress in the relationship, stress over the kids and unspoken resentments that accumulate with the years. And on that last point, when there’s trouble in paradise — poor communication, lack of sex — some of us are vulnerable to emotional eating, though we’d be wiser to sup on a hearty plate of straight talk.
All of these explanations for extra heft — except pregnancy — are potentially applicable to both genders. Shouldn’t we ask why there’s been a change in weight, not to mention behavior?
What ticks me off is the double standard. Had a man written in for advice because his woman got fat, would the columnist have said “take her as she is” and “grant her the freedom to live as she wants?”
I’m not saying that any of us take weight gain lightly. On the contrary. Overweight and obesity are serious issues in this country. But a significant weight change signals problems that demand addressing — physical, emotional, logistical, financial.
Why must we dismiss the matter for one sex and point an accusatory finger at the other? And do we really think that “she got fat” is a free pass to cheat or justification for divorce?
Follow D. A. Wolf on Twitter:
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Article source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/d-a-wolf/the-fat-wife-free-pass-to_b_2846479.html
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Years ago, I took my dad to Cooperstown in upstate New York to tour the Baseball Hall of Fame and celebrate the induction of Red Sox great Carl Yastrzemski. My dad, though raised in New York, was a huge Red Sox fan.
(Man, I’m glad I don’t have to type in his name more often …)
After a long day of viewing the exhibits, taking in the exhibition game and witnessing the induction of … Yaz … and Johnny Bench, we returned to the bed-and-breakfast at which we were staying. We enjoyed the cool of the evening with cooler drinks on a large porch while talking with other guests. We waved to and spoke to folks who passed by the house shaded by the leafy canopies of trees.
The proprietors sat with us. Some folks passing by they knew and addressed by name. To others, mostly in town for the inductions, the owners called out, “How’re y’all doin’?”
Obviously, they didn’t say “y’all.” This was New York state.
If it sounds idyllic, it was. Small-town America, the way it used to be. Moving slowly. Neighbors knowing neighbors. Relaxing at day’s end, and not with an electronic device anywhere in sight.
This was, after all, way back in 1989.
Flash to Abilene, just a few week ago.
I stopped for lunch at the new McDonald’s on North First Street, mainly to taste the new Fish McBites.
I chose to sit on a stool at a counter, where three other diners were enjoying lunch and/or their smartphones.
A man across from me to my right started the conversation.
It was, of course, about my beard, that he has grown one once but his wife had interrupted its progress. I told him my wife was not so cool with mine, either.
That launched us into conversation.
Imagine, two strangers not in any particular hurry, just … talking. Here is what I found out about my lunch buddy. Although a journalist is trained to ask questions and get information, this was not a Q-and-A.
Just two guys talking.
He was in the Air Force for 22 years.
Couldn’t grow a beard then. But has grown out his hair an inch or two more than it is now.
He works at the French Robertson Unit.
He was having lunch at Mickey D’s because he had a break from a class being ahead across the street in the Chase building.
He was from Houston.
He has two kids still at home, one recently graduated from Sam Houston State. Son’s looking for job but finding that tough. Needs experience, they tell him. Give me that experience, he tells them.
Dyess was my new friend’s first Air Force posting. They returned after he retired because his wife has family in the area.
Schools aren’t bad here. Schools where he grew up weren’t good then, not good now (Another reason to live here). Wanted to live near a military base to use his benefits.
Likes how military gets a break in town — 10 percent off here, 10 percent off there. It all helps.
Plans to work a few more years at the prison. Probably until his youngest, a boy in fourth grade, is through public schools. That was my take, anyway.
Said working at the prison is OK. Have to stay neutral. Give the inmates some dignity but remember “they are there for a reason.”
I don’t think I told him half that much about me.
I needed to squeeze in a two more errands before returning to work, so I was the first to get up to leave.
“Since we’ve been talking,” I said, extending my hand across the counter, “my name is Greg.”
He told me his name, returning the handshake. “You be careful out there.”
I left thinking how much I had enjoyed lunch. Fish McBites were OK.
Just two guys talking, hitting on some common ground. We had a few laughs and agreed on some truths in life. Better than sitting isolated in our own booths, eating while messing with our phones.
Kinda throwback. Like sitting on a big porch and saying hey to the neighbors as evening falls.
Article source: http://www.reporternews.com/news/2013/mar/09/jaklewicz-chowing-down-and-chewing-the-fat-at-ds/
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Full-fat dairy products may not be the villain they’ve been made out to be in the battle of the bulge.
A recent study by University of Wollongong researchers has found that participants in a weight-loss trial did not always benefit from the advice to switch from full-fat to low-fat dairy.
Dr Deborah Nolan-Clark said the three-month study of 86 adults found that, while many health professionals advised patients to make the switch, it was not a “one-size-fits-all approach”.
What was most interesting, she said, was the way the different sexes took the same advice.
“When advised to switch to low-fat dairy products, men tended to cut down on full-fat dairy rather than make the switch to low-fat dairy,” she said.
“And, while women were more successful in incorporating low-fat dairy foods, they chose things like low-fat yoghurt, which has a higher carbohydrate content and so, they weren’t actually reducing their overall energy intake.”
Dr Nolan-Clark said that was an important find, considering most people made the switch in order to decrease their energy intake and so, lose weight.
She said the men’s choice to reduce full-fat dairy rather than switch to low-fat could also have important repercussions as, by doing that, they were reducing the calcium in their diet.
“We know many Australians are not getting enough calcium and dairy is a good source of calcium, and many other nutrients,” she said.
“If, when faced with the choice of low-fat dairy, some people choose to just cut or reduce dairy, then that’s not a good result.”
Instead, Dr Nolan-Clark said health professionals and dietitians should consider each individual’s food preferences and overall diet before advising them to make the switch.
“Research has failed to find a link between eating full-fat dairy products and an increased risk of diet-related diseases,” she said.
“So you can eat full-fat dairy products and still be healthy, if your diet contains a low level of saturated fat overall.
“That is why health professionals need to take a person’s gender, their personal food preferences and total energy intake into account when giving dietary advice relating to low-fat dairy.”
The findings of the study, completed at UOW’s Smart Foods Centre in collaboration with Professor Linda Tapsell, were published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Article source: http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/1333513/dairy-dilemma-full-fat-can-be-good-for-you/?src=rss
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