Fat friends already know they are fat

Fat friends. We all have them. I am one.

Do I need to be told that I’m fat? No, I think I know. Thanks though!

The Daily Mail recently wrote about the survey of 3,000 women for Tanita, in conjunction with National Obesity Week, that found that every woman has two friends she thinks are overweight. One problem with this survey is are the woman’s friends actually overweight or does she just think that they are? I don’t think that putting your body issues on others is really a good idea. You could just be creating body issues for them. Aren’t friends supposed to be supportive?

The survey said that they would never tell their friends that they think they are fat. Again, why would you need to talk about it? Unless the woman gained a large amount of weight in a short amount of time (and is not pregnant) and you think there is something wrong (i.e. she is sick or has had something traumatic happen) should you ever discuss her weight. A good rule — unless she brings it up, don’t mention it.

Instead of pointing it out and suggesting she do something to shed the excess pounds, they simply continue to compliment and flatter their plump friends.

When did women feel the need to be their friends trainer? If it’s really a big deal, why are you even friends? I don’t need to be complimented and flattered. If you don’t believe it, don’t say it. False flattery is worse than no flattery at all. Fatties don’t need handouts.

A fourth of the women choose to tell their friends, with horrible results…

12 per cent said their friend was “devastated” and a further 10 per cent said they “burst into tears” on hearing the advice.

What did they expect to happen?

Maybe something more like this: “Oh, thanks Shelley. I really didn’t know I was fat. Now that you brought it up, I’ll get right on losing that extra weight. I really haven’t been trying to do anything about it. I really don’t have to battle with my fat all the time. Thanks for understanding.”

A spokesman for the company, which provides precision weighing equipment, said: “This shows girlfriends talk to each other about their bodies, weight issues and dress size on a daily basis. However, whilst girls are comfortable talking about their own weight and criticising themselves, in truth, most girls would not be able to cope with a friend telling them they needed to slim down.”

Again, I don’t think it’s really my friends business. It’s my fat. My friends can bring up my weight whenever they want and I’m generally an open book but when they do bring it up, it’s not to tell me to lose weight. It might be to find out where I shop or something. And if they did tell me to lose weight, I would tell them that I like my fat and that would be the end of the discussion.

It’s my body. If I love my fat body, then that’s on me.

My friends respect me and my wishes. And if your friends don’t, you may need to ask yourself if they really are your friends.

‘Is God Fat, Too?’ and ‘Does It Really Matter?’

While browsing the internet, I ran across this headline, “Is God fat too?” Well, of course I clicked on it, wouldn’t you?

Jim Evans, the author of the article, goes on to talk about how Christians that are fat aren’t really being Christians because they are fat. You might want to read that sentence again … take a moment …

And that being fat is against several passages from the Bible, for instance:

1 Corinthians 6:19-20: “… do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

Maybe I’m just missing something, but I don’t see anything in that quotation about how God hates fat people … maybe it’s just me. My body is a temple, but maybe my temple has more square feet than yours. I don’t really see the issue with that. I would think that if there is a God, that God would be accepting of everyone — doesn’t Christianity preach acceptance? Wouldn’t glorifying God with your body include eating the fruits of the earth? May it be in plenty or not?

“God created man in his own image, in the image of God created him; male and female created he them,” (Genesis 1:27) what then is the image of man – of male and female – that truly represents God? Has that image changed or has it always been the same?

And what does this matter? What if God has always been fat? What if he doesn’t even have a body? I’m not sure I’m understanding why this is even an issue. Isn’t God the same, whatever form he/she may take? If you are only a Christian because you think God looks exactly like you, then I think you have a lot more issues to address.

“With all due respect to what we believe to be the glory of the afterlife, we have a prior obligation here on earth, and it starts with taking care of our physical bodies out of respect for God.”

“Behavior and environment are the two greatest areas for the prevention and treatment of obesity, and we can control both.”

You can take care of your body and still be fat. Period. There are these things called genetics that have been known to play a part in the fatness of a person. There are also tons of other reasons, like disease, medications, etc. What if God wants some people to be fat? What about all the fat preachers, monks, etc. Are they just disobeying God? The pope isn’t the rail thin — maybe someone should let him know that God hates him.

The article was so completely ridiculous that I just had to share it with you. Feel free to vent your rage.

Stores Shedding the Fat

The Washington Informer, as does many other places, reports that retailers are cutting women sizes (fat sizes) to save money.

It mention that many stores, among them Ann Taylor and Bloomies, will only be carrying sizes 0-10, 12 or 14 depending on clothing lines in store.

There they go with in store again. Why do most companies only want to offer their plus sizes online. Why am I not allowed to go and shop, too? Why is it becoming that only a regular/skinny/whatever they consider “normal”-enough sized person can actually physically go shopping for clothes?

Just because you make clothes that are formless and always put stretch in them doesn’t  it mean that it’s going to look good on all my curves. Buying online is a hassle if you have to send them back for either a different size or for a return (which some places don’t even do). I’m all about returning them in the store, but most places don’t offer that. Maybe if they offered shipping like Zappos.com — free both ways — then I might be a little more open to it.

BUT, it’s the Internet for shit’s sake — something may look gorgeous in that little thumbnail, but in person it could be ugly, or maybe I just don’t like the feel of it. I can’t feel the fabric online!

According to the article,

“The rationale is that plus-sized fashion lines are also more expensive to produce, given the extra material needed and the need to hire plus size models.”

That may be so, but the customer is footing the bill. Have they looked at how much they want to add a little extra fabric? Even between a 14 and a 16 — and you know there can’t be that much fabric between those two sizes — there is (usually) at least a $10 hike in price.

One BIG reason that plus size sections might not be doing so well in stores? The fact that they hide us! Even when you know that the fat people’s section exists, it can be a chore trying to find it. Sometimes by bedding, always in the back, and generally in the forgotten realm of the store that doesn’t ever get any foot traffic.

I know that the stores may be wanting to hide this section for many reasons: the clothes are all outdated, they don’t buy anything fashionable for the section, they hate fat people … whatever the case may be, it’s not right. I always know when I am getting close to the section though, you start seeing really ugly clothes. And they wonder why that section of the store is failing, among the reasons listed above …  sometimes we just don’t know that you have a plus-size section!

I think that was a main reason that Old Navy’s plus-size line got pulled from stores. Not that many stores had it available and they didn’t promote it properly. I just happened to run into it one day at an Old Navy that I didn’t normally shop at and was thrilled! Whenever I would mention it to people though, they would go, “They have plus sizes at Old Navy? Really?” How are we just supposed to know that you now carry our size?

I get sick and tired of going into stores that don’t even remotely carry anything near my size. It’s tiring and a waste of my time. You have to try to get me back into the store.

Take the Forever 21 news. They just launched that Faith 21 line. Do you think I EVER go into Forever 21? No, I don’t. It’s for the skinnies. Period. But when I hear they are actually going to start carrying my size, well then I might go back and check it out. I might actually go into the store — but if you don’t tell me, how would I know? I wouldn’t. I would keep right on walking by.

Most stores think it our fault that their plus lines are failing. Even the article mentions the like 2 percent drop in plus-line shopping. Well, if you haven’t noticed, we are in a recession. People are tightening belts and sacrifices have to be made. And if it’s spending 40 dollars on a shirt at a department store (that probably isn’t even remotely in style, or has ever been) or buying the same one somewhere where the extra sizes don’t cost an arm and a leg — well, guess where we are going. Not all fat people are rich. I think stores forget that sometimes.

So, the bottom line is that will continue to be hard to find fat people clothes — this is nothing new by any means — but it is forever frustrating!

New fat fashion lines!

My friend recently sent me a link to The New York Times article about fashion designers actually designing plus size fashion. You can read it here.

Love the article, and it brought to my attention a few new options that are opening for fat fashion…

A model in a Target Pure Energy dress.

Target is bringing a new line to their stores called Pure Energy. The dress above is from that collection.

The problem I have with Target is they used to have cute stuff and then took it all away — are they just going to do that again? I hope not. Just like when Old Navy took out all the plus size stuff from their stores. That was a sad day.

Most of the Targets around me didn’t have any of the Pure Energy clothes — they were just listed as “Not in stock.” So I’m not sure if the line just hasn’t come here yet, or what. Plus side on this, there were quite a few pieces online and you can return any online purchase to the store. I plan on ordering some of the cute dresses that I saw and trying it out.

Screen capture of Evans Web site

Beth Ditto, the lead singer of Gossip, who I just love, is going to be designing a collection for Evans — an awesome looking company. They carry sizes 12-32. While I am very excited and actually didn’t know about this company beforehand, there are no stores here in United States. They are mostly located in the UK.

There is a Web site, but between the currency conversion and shipping (their site does say it’s generally $15 to ship to the States, which actually isn’t that bad), I’m not sure I would be getting a very good deal. But if I ever find myself in England, I am so going.

Screen capture of some of the items in Forever 21’s Faith 21 Line

Something else I hadn’t heard before — Forever 21 — (you read that right) now has a plus-size line called Faith 21. They launched it in May.

Looking online, there seems to be quite a few cute things — at really good prices! While there seems to extensive collection, only a handful of stores carry the line so far. Luck is on my side on this one though, a mall near me carries the line. I will report back as soon as I go.

I love that more companies are realizing that all fat people don’t want to wear sacks all the time — we want as the article puts it: “to wear the same clothes as (our) slimmer counterparts.” I know that there are a few options out there, but very limited ones. I love Torrid to death, but I want some options. Especially cheaper ones!

I can’t wait to go shopping!

Fatties don’t want to be judged at the doctor

A study found that people who are obese are choosing not to go to the doctor for “life-saving treatments” because they don’t want to be judged by doctors, medical staff, etc. for their weight.

Well, duh. Doctors are especially bad about this. Doctors always judge people about their size — even when you are going in for something completely different — like a pap-smear.

The only time that I want to talk about my weight is when my weight is actually causing or affecting my health and causing whatever ailment I am in for — other than that, I don’t want to hear about how my weight is causing my ear infection, OK?

When doctors start laying aside their prejudices about fat people, then — and only then — will fat people will seek treatment. Because, seriously, I am sick and tired of having a doctor — who is fatter than I am — stand there and give me a lecture on how fat I am.

Fat people are causing global warming

A new study shows that “fat cuases a billion tonnes of greenhouse gases a year.”

And to see how people are reacting, check out the comments on the LA times article (they are actually very intelligent answers):  Obesity a cause of global warming?

So now they are blaming us for global warming to? SERIOUSLY??????

This has really gotten out of hand. They will really figure out a way to blame anything on us — no one likes fat people lets target them … for everything.

Airlines at it again: New fat tax

United Airlines announced a new policy on Wednesday, called “Passenger requiring extra space.”

This new policy’s title should change to “The fat ass tax.”

What it boils down to is that people that can’t buckle a seat belt using a one seat-belt extender or can’t put the seat’s armrests down when seated will have to pay for an additional seat. The other catch: If there isn’t an additional seat that they can sit you by, then you either have to upgrade to the bigger seats in business/first class/etc. or wait for another flight.

And when there is an extra seat, you’ll have to pay for that seat also.

Now, two things I would like to point out there. First, all fat people aren’t rich — if we were, we wouldn’t be flying coach to begin with. Second, with the way they are cramming flights these days and with less flights leaving, there are probably not going to be that many extra seats available. Having flown stand-by this year — I know what I’m talking about. It took me all day to catch two flights — and that was only waiting on one seat to become available.

What this basically boils down to is that if you MUST fly United Airlines and of are size, you might as well just drive.

Actually policy here.

I smell a boycott …

New video game centers around ‘Fat Princess’

Apparently, there is going to be a new video game for the PlayStation Network called “Fat Princess.”

It is played in teams, all battling for the ‘fat’ cartoon princess. The teams can also feed her sweets to make her heavier and thus harder to get for the other teams to capture her. Apparently it is quite a bloody game, with “gallons of blood being spilled all over the place…”

This idea has been quite controversial, so producer Chris Miller sat down to talk about the rumors. A little sample…

“It’s not a social commentary; some people just took it too far.”

Throughout the whole interview, Miller just keeps talking about how “deep” the game is — yeah, real deep guy. Keep dreaming.

For the whole interview, go here.

Being fat leads to restless leg

A new study by Harvard Medical School looked at the link between belly fat and restless leg syndrome. Their findings concluded that:

Study participants with the biggest bellies were slightly more than one and a half times more likely to have restless legs syndrome than those with the smallest.

Now, I don’t really know what the means, etc. or if I totally believe the RLS anyways, but I found it interesting because I have always been bigger — since like sixth grade — and I have always bounced my leg up and down … actual truth behind the study? Perhaps.

Cheaper healthy food = Thinner fatties?

I have always thought that one of the main reasons that people are so fat/getting fatter by the minute is because of food. This seems like a ridiculous statement — of course it’s because of the food — but, I’m not just talking about the food itself, I’m talking about the food prices.

A recent study suggests that:

Raising the prices of less healthy foods (e.g., fast foods and sugary products) and lowering the prices of healthier foods (e.g., fruits and vegetables) are associated with lower body weight and lesser likelihood of obesity.

I am, as most people are, on a budget. A shrinking budget at that and whenever I can I cut corners — be it on food or cleaning supplies, etc.

I love fruit and vegetables. I would eat them all the time if I could. But I can’t because of prices — especially fruit. And they wonder why I am eating big bag of chips that cost $1 and lasts a few meals instead of a thing of strawberries for like $4. It’s not economically wise to do that. To stretch my budget, I buy cheap lunch meat, pizzas, etc. Produce is usually limited to carrots, green peppers, celery, bananas, (sometimes apples) — i.e. the ones that are on sale or are generally cheap.

I recently bought a bag of apples (about 5) for like $3. This was the sale price — which was about half the normal price. If I would have spent $3 on “bad” things I could have gotten: a small frozen pizza, a big bag of chips and a 2-liter of soda. There are several other “bad” things I could have exchanged out — all for $1 apiece.

Let’s take a look at fast food. I can go to McDonald’s and get a salad for $5 or get a hamburger and fries for $2. It is the same at most fast food places, salads are one of the most expensive things on the menu. The dollar/value menu (which I usually order off of) is always full of fatty items. Wendy’s is like the only one that has a side salad on the value menu. But, if you wanted to get a full salad at Wendy’s with some protein on it, then that will be $5.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see why people would makes unhealthy choices. It’s more food for your money. It may not be the best choice, but if your choices are either going hungry for the last part of the week because you spent all your money on “healthy” food for the first part of the week or eating the entire week — that’s a no brainer.