Tag Archives: miserable

Study Proves “Not all Fat People are Unhappy”–Follow up to indicate Papal Affiliation With Catholicism

So I got a notice in my inbox this week that a study has been announced that indicates “Not All Fat People are Unhappy.” And honestly, my first thought was, “Duh.” I mean it seems quite obvious to me that not all Fat people are miserable, much as it seems obvious that the Pope is Catholic. But apparently the notion that not all fat people are sick, miserable, about to die and ready to throw in the towel is something we need to prove again and again.

But you know, before I cast to many aspersions on the study, I think maybe we really just need to look at the headline drawn from the study results. Because there are actually quite a few interesting things indicated by this piece of research. Let’s look at a few:

1. Your happiness seems to have a lot more to do with homogeneity than body size. If you are a fat person who lives in a town with lots of other fat people, you tend to be more happy than if you live somewhere with no other fatties.

2. The study creators speculate that being fat does not in itself make people unhappy. In the accompanying press release, study co-author Philip M. Pendergast states:

“In that light, obesity in and of itself, does not appear to be the main reason obese individuals tend to be less satisfied with their lives than their non-obese peers. Instead, it appears to be society’s response to or stigmatization of those that are different from what is seen as ‘normal’ that drives this relationship.”

3. Women tend to pay a higher emotional price for being fat than men do. The study creators speculate that this is because women face more social stigma based on body size then men do. In the press release Pendergast also says,

“Think about the advertising we see on television or in magazines—we are bombarded by images of thin women, and we are told that is the ideal,”

So here is yet another study that seems to indicate that how we feel about our size may have a lot more to do with our actual health and wellness outcomes than what we weigh. It follows on the heels of many other studies we’ve talked about on this blog regarding stigma and health outcomes like this one or this one. And all of these studies lead me to ask one very important question.

Even if we knew how to make people permanently thin (which we do not) should we ask them to change their body size to fit in? If being different leads to social stigma, and social stigma leads to poor health outcomes, should we encourage everybody to be the same for the sake of their health?

Even if we knew how to make people all be the same size (which we categorically do not) it seems to me that the answer is to deal with stigma rather than to make a completely homogeneous society to reduce stress on everyone involved. What if we actively worked to fight stigma based on body size? What if we actively worked to help people accept their own differences? What if we could feel better about our bodies? Might we be singing a song like this magnificent lady right here?

I mean just check these fabulous lyrics:

I looked in the mirror
What did I see a brand new image
Of the same old me ohhhh
But now I wonder why should I be surprised
I like the things about me that I once despised

There was a time
When I wished my hair was fine
And I can remember when
I wished my lips were thin

Makes no difference now y’all
How you may feel
I’ve done reached the point
Where I wanna be real
I’m tired of living living in disguise
I like the things about me that I once despised

Let’s face it, Mavis Staples has got it going ON! But she leads me back to my original question. Why can’t we take some of this time, money and energy that we are currently spending on stigma-inducing ineffective advertising that convinces people that they not only must be thin, but may easily obtain this state of grace by eating yogurt, and spend it on something that might actually help people feel better? It will help them feel better emotionally, and it will help them feel better physically. Why can’t we take some of the time, energy and money we are spending driving wedges into our society, by creating classes of otherness which we can blame for all our problems from the high cost of airplane tickets to soaring healthcare prices and spend it on something that teaches us to celebrate our differences. It will bring us together. It will help us live and breathe as a community rather than a simple pile of competitors in a winner-take-all, Victoria’s Secret model competition. When will we reach the obvious conclusions? Bears poo in the woods, stigma doesn’t help people, and yes, the Pope is indeed Catholic.

Call me captain obvious if you like. I’ve stopped spending on diets and weight loss schemes and self hatred because I like the things about me that I once despised.

Love, Jeanette DePatie (AKA The Fat Chick)

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Biggest Loser: Part Two Corrective Guide Based on Exercise Science

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If you are doing as the advertising suggests and watching the latest season of The Biggest Loser with your family, you may have seen some stuff that is pretty disturbing. In the first episode, we’ve got folks falling off treadmills, needing emergency medical attention and the usual Biggest Loser Barf Fest. We’ve also got trainers yelling, screaming, insulting and bullying contestants in the hopes of helping them get in shape. But as I suggested yesterday, this is “reality” television. And a lot of the techniques you see on this show are the exact opposite of what we are taught as fitness professionals. A lot of that stuff is just plain wrong. And some of it is downright dangerous.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, there is just so much misinformation about health and fitness on this season of The Biggest Loser, I just can’t fit it all into one blog post. So here on Thursday Theater day, I bring you part two. (Click on the photo above to see a short YouTube clip for this week’s Thursday Theater). Let’s talk just a little bit more about what you and your kids might have “learned” on the show and why it’s a really bad idea to make it part of your fitness practice.

4. The best way to motivate somebody to get fit is to yell, scream, curse at them, and bully them.

There’s an awful lot of evidence out there that bullying, yelling, screaming, shaming, cursing at and frightening people is a terrible long term strategy for motivating them to get and stay in shape. People tend to be drawn to things that give them pleasure and shy away from things that cause them pain. Being publicly shamed is extremely painful for most people. In addition, there is ample evidence that people stick to exercise longer if they are intrinsically (internally) motivated rather than those who are extrinsically (outwardly) motivated. So a person who identifies herself as an exerciser and works out because of the benefits she sees for herself (and also happens to enjoy the workout) is far more likely stick to exercise than someone who is motivated by shame and fear, especially if that shame and fear is applied by someone outside of themselves. After all, what are you going to do when there isn’t a crazy mean lady who gets paid millions of dollars to scream at you every day. Eventually you have to do it by yourself. And you’ll have a much better chance of doing it yourself if you’ve built up the inner strength and self-esteem to be your own cheerleader.

And lest you be tempted to bully your kids into losing weight, let me tell you right now that this is likely to backfire. Recent evidence indicates that kids being bullied from any source, be it school playgrounds, teachers, coaches and parents is likely to make kids engage in healthy behaviors and may make them gain more weight in the long run. Not to mention the fact that kids who are bullied tend to have lower grades and poorer school attendance. Being bullied frankly messes kids up, sometimes permanently. If your kid is being bullied at school because he is fat, the last thing you should do is be another bully in his life.

5. It is normal, feasible and desirable for a person to lose 10, 15 or over 20 pounds in one week.

When I was studying to be a personal trainer, I learned that there are two ways to lose 20 pounds in one week–dehydration and decapitation. The weight loss levels on the Biggest Loser are not reasonable or sustainable by most people. Furthermore there have been some suggestions that the length of a “week” (as long as 15 days) as well as hydration levels (including dehydrating contestants to the point of urinating blood) are manipulated to make it look like contestants are losing more weight. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health, suggests losing no more than 1/2 to 2 pounds per week. They suggest you may lose a few more pounds in the first 3 weeks of a program, but should not try to sustain weight losses at that level for more than two or three weeks without serious medical supervision.

Rapid weight loss can lead to a variety of health problems including gallstones, dehydration, dizziness, depression, and loss of lean muscle including heart muscle. If you goal is health, the last thing in the world you want to do is lose lean muscle mass. And losing muscle mass in your heart can be seriously dangerous.

Long story short, it’s not really safe or sustainable to lose more than two pounds per week at home.

To sum up, The Biggest Loser is a commercial television show on a for-profit network. Press releases, promotional video and pompous rhetoric aside, their main goal is to make money. Television shows make money by having better ratings. Losing 1/2 pound per week in a rational sustainable way may be the healthiest option, but it makes for lousy TV. Please take these facts into consideration as you watch the show, and decide whether or not to use anything on that show as a guide for your own health practice. Because what makes for good TV may not make for a healthy body. Please let common sense be your guide.

Love,

The Fat Chick

P.S. If you are upset that The Biggest Loser has chosen to take on “childhood obesity” this season, consider signing our petition here.

If you’re looking for sensible and rational assistance for your exercise efforts, consider joining The Fat Chick’s Personal Training Programs. If you sign up before January 14, you can try any of my training programs for just $25. We’re also offering special training groups on the Fit Fatties Forum starting at just $10 per month!

There is a lot of very detailed and specific information about how to build a safe and pleasurable exercise regime found in my book The Fat Chick Works Out! (Fitness that is Fun and Feasible for Folks of all Ages, Shapes, Sizes and Abilities). You can pick up an autographed copy for just $16.95 (plus S+H) on my website.

Also remember that a little exercise adds up to a lot over time. And exercise is more fun when you do it together. So you might want to consider adding your exercise totals to our Fit Fatties Across America program. We’re pooling all of our exercise minutes and miles as we make our way across the country. We went 167 miles in the first few days of the program, and we’re hoping to reach St. Louis this week! Make sure to enter your exercise data by noon on Friday to count towards this week’s totals!

Biggest Loser: A Corrective Guide Based on Exercise Science Part 1

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If you were unfortunate enough to have watched the season opener for The Biggest Loser this year, you saw some very frightening and confusing things. You saw people vomiting. You saw people falling off treadmills. You saw kids on the show with accompanying tinkly happy music being told that they should stand up to people who bully them. You saw not one but three “fitness coaches” screaming at, hollering at, spitting at, disparaging and yes, bullying the adult contestants. You saw a contestant being home for losing a “measly 15 pounds” in one week. You saw paramedics coming to pick one of the contestants up. All in one episode.

When it comes to the modern Roman Coliseum, this season opener takes the cake! One was thrown to the lions. One was carried off on a stretcher. And several fell during battle. And while this makes absolutely delicious material for snark, I want to take a moment out and do a little damage control here. Because this year, the producers claim to be taking on the “challenge of childhood obesity”. This year, they want you and your kids to watch the show together to learn about a healthy lifestyle. And that, my dear friends, is a big, BIG problem. Because a lot of what they depict on that show, is the exact opposite of what we are taught as fitness professionals. A lot of the stuff on that show is just plain wrong. And some of it is seriously dangerous. So let’s talk a little bit about what you and your family may have “learned” on that show and why it’s not a good idea to apply those ideas to your own fitness practice.

1. It’s a good idea for folks who are completely sedentary to start with exercise sessions that are several hours long, provided there are fitness trainers there to scream at them.

Exercise science seems pretty clear on the fact that accelerating rapidly from no physical activity to a lot of physical activity is a bad idea. Starting out with sessions of several hours puts a person at greater risk for injury, burnout and sudden death. So where should sedentary adults begin? Here’s what the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has to say:

Therefore, for a person who has been sedentary for some time for whatever reason, the initial dose of activity should be at a relatively low intensity, of limited duration, with the sessions (also called bouts) spread throughout the week. An example of this approach would be a walking program with sessions of 5 minutes of slow walking, 5 to 6 days per week, with the bouts performed at various times throughout the day (e.g., 3 times per day). As the person adapts to this amount of activity, the bout duration could be slowly increased to 10 minutes, and as exercise capacity begins to increase, the walking speed could be increased…

The US Department of Health and Human Services also cites various studies that indicate “when individuals increase their usual amount of physical activity the risk of injury is related to the size of the increase. ” So starting out with several hours of exercise at a time, can increase chances for musculoskeletal injury. Furthermore moving exercisers from a completely sedentary life to long bouts of vigorous exercise can be very hard on the heart. Moderate, gradually increasing exercise programs are generally quite safe. Yet each year about 75,000 Americans suffer heart attacks during or immediately after exercise. Studies show that these victims are most often sedentary men over age 35 who were either at risk for heart disease or had heart disease and then exercised too hard and too fast for their fitness levels. (American College of Sports Medicine 2006). So if you are sedentary and haven’t exercised in a while, be safe. Start of slowly and don’t ramp your fitness levels more than 10% per week.

2. In order to get a really good workout, you should ignore pain, dizziness and other symptoms that are normally associated with distress in your body.

On the show, contestants are told to “push through” physical symptoms like pain, dizziness, and weakness. However, sports science indicates that these symptoms are important messages that can warn of a serious problem before it occurs. According to the Mayo Clinic, shortness of breath, coughing and wheezing are possible signs of an asthma attack, and light-headedness, irritability, dizziness and confusion are possible symptoms of heatstroke, a potentially fatal condition. Other causes for irritability, dizziness and confusion could be dehydration, a dangerous dip in blood sugar or even the onset of a coronary event. For those of us exercising alone or at home, exercise danger signs are an important early warning system that should not be ignored. Here are some of the generally accepted exercise warning signs:

1. Feelings of dizziness or light-headedness

2. Feeling tightness in chest, trunk, back or jaw

3. Extreme breathlessness

4. Unusual fatigue

5. Nausea

6. Loss of muscle control

7. Allergic reactions–hives or rash

8. Blurred vision or changes in consciousness

If you are exercising and experience any of these symptoms, it means you should stop exercising. If these symptoms persist, it is important to seek medical attention.

3. Vomiting is a normal part of any vigorous exercise routine.

Actually exercise induced nausea is a fairly common complaint, but there’s no reason to see it as a badge of honor. In the past when questioned about this issue, Biggest Loser trainers suggested that the extremely high percentage of episodes of vomiting on the show are because the exercisers have a lot of toxins in their bodies. I can find no research to back this assertion. It appears the most common cause of exercise induced nausea (and vomiting) is again related to doing too much exercise at too high an intensity level too soon in an exercise program. There are other potential causes for exercise-induced nausea. A 4% drop in body weight from dehydration is enough to cause nausea and vomiting (a possible cause of the Biggest Loser Barf Fests). While eating large fatty meals close to exercise sessions can trigger this nausea, the severely restricted diets of Biggest Loser contestants make this an unlikely cause. In any case, exercisers should not see nausea and vomiting during workouts as a sign they are working hard enough, but rather as an opportunity to “fix” something in their training program that isn’t quite right. Try an even more gradual increase in exercise intensity and levels from week to week. Be sure to maintain a proper level of hydration. Try not to eat large meals before workouts. And consider changing your exercise mode (runners tend to have this problem more often than walkers or cyclists).

Frankly there’s too much misinformation and bad ideas in the Biggest Loser to detail them all in one post. So, I’ll take up this topic again in another blog post. In the mean time, please remember to let common sense into your exercise regime. And also keep in mind that exercise does not have to make you miserable. You can reap physical, emotional and spiritual benefits while engaging in exercise that’s fun, pleasurable and reasonable.

Love,

The Fat Chick

P.S. If you are upset that The Biggest Loser has chosen to take on “childhood obesity” this season, consider signing our petition here.

Thursday Theater: Cats and Treadmills

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Okay, here’s the reality. I love exercise, but I don’t love every form of exercise. I love dance classes and I love walking outside and I love cross country skiing. But when it comes to the treadmill, I have a feeling very much like the cats pictured above. “Hit it! HIT IT!” I hate the treadmill with a deep, abiding passion. And for me, even five minutes on that thing can feel like torture.

That’s why it’s so important to explore different kinds of exercise before you get too deeply involved in an exercise program. If the only exercise I ever did was on a treadmill, I would say that I hated exercise. And if the only exercise I could ever do was on a treadmill, chances are, I would quit. Because I HATE the treadmill.

That’s why I often say, that exercise is kinda like sex. If you hate it, chances are, you aren’t doing it right. You need to try different things, sometimes a LOT of different things until you find the one that is right for you.

So my little Chicklettes, be bold and adventuresome! Try a new form of fitness in the next few weeks. Who knows, it may become your favorite. If not, you can always smack it like the kitties do.

Love,

The Fat Chick