Free Republic

I wasted $3.99 last night renting "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason." Well, I hated it. First of all, it is quite annoying to me that everyone treats this girl like she is so unbelievably fat, what with all the references and snide comments about her weight. What does she weigh, like 135-140? Hello, I haven't weighed that since... 9th grade. Give me a freakin' break. I have news for you fat-phobes out there, I am well over 200 pounds and I don't have as much of a problem with my weight as this gal, who is maybe 10 lbs....

Fat, But not an Actress Tomorrow is the big premier of Kirstie Alley's new show "Fat Actress." I'm excited because I too, am fat. But to clarify, I'm NOT an actress. However, I'm starting another "Big Diet" tomorrow, maybe even inspired by this show. It's one of many diets I've been on over the years. My last one was successful, having lost about 50 pounds in, oh, about 6 months. But alas, after a few years, back surgery, and a new boyfriend (who claims he loves "all" of me) I gained it all back. I consider him responsible for 99...

One of the world's most renowned scientists, Ancel Benjamin Keys, PhD., died last week at the age of 100. Dr. Keys did much more than invent K-rations -- those indestructible transportable foodstuffs of white crackers, greasy sausage, chocolate and candy -- that kept our soldiers alive during World War II. But the mainstream media has noted his passing by disregarding some of his greatest scientific contributions to our understanding of the human body and eating. Only information which maintains the accepted orthodoxy makes the news, so few Americans will learn that over half a century ago he conducted some of...

Diets may do more damage than good.Oct. 14 2004By, Carlo J. MorelliFor the vast majority of people in this country, traditional weight loss remedies have only added to the crisis of overweight. The utter failure of most dieting schemes has only exacerbated the problem and furthered the decline of the physical, and emotional well being of the suffering majority. After a lifetime as a Master Chef and nutritionist, I have concluded that most diets can assist in taking weight off. For the vast majority of overweight folks, however, the benefits are only temporary at best, and a cruel hoax at...

<p>Women and girls are bombarded with messages about thinness, ideals of beauty, and ways to lose weight. The average woman sees hundreds of commercials a week, and a Brigham and Women's Hospital study in 2000 found virtually all commercials aimed at girls and women focus on physical attractiveness. A series of studies of media in 1986 led by Brett Silverstein, Ph.D., found diet food advertisements targeting women outnumbered those to men by 63 to 1; and articles dealing with thin body images and diets appeared 96 times in women's magazines to every 8 times in men's.</p>

<p>Looking back 40 or more years, the movie stars and bathing beauties we admired were healthy full-figured gals with plenty of jiggle and cellulite. The nation didn't have a "weight problem." The difference between then and now is that "diet" wasn't in our vocabulary and being thin wasn't a cultural obsession.</p> <p>But as dieting has become increasingly more widespread in America, body weights have increased, the January/February 1999 issue of Healthy Weight Journal, after an extensive examination of the evidence surrounding dieting, reported.</p>