The Power of Plus

Posted by conradb212 at 07:57 PM | Comments (0)

August 07, 2008

1,000 Fat Cranes Project

Marilyn Wann, author of Fat?So!, has launched the 1,000 Fat Cranes project in response to a new government policy in Japan that involves measuring people's waists and fining their employers if the tape reads more than about 34 inches. Read about the issue in the New York Times.

To learn how to make an origami fat crane, and to support the project, visit Marilyn's MySpace page.

Posted by sesmith at 12:19 AM | Comments (0)

April 27, 2008

Happy Belated Earth Day!

Earth Day was this past Tuesday, and although I was out of town, I had Mother Earth on my mind. If you haven't yet seen the new Discovery Channel commercial, it encapsulates all of the reasons why the Earth is "awesome." You can watch it here:

If you're a Discovery Channel fan, you might enjoy this version, filmed while the DC was promoting its shows to potential advertisers:

Posted by sesmith at 04:20 AM | Comments (0)

March 29, 2008

Go Dark for Earth Hour

It's often said that we can each make a difference in climate change. Today, we can join the efforts of the World Wildlife Fund and participate in Earth Hour. From 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. local time Saturday, March 29, turn out the lights and don't use electricity. According to organizers, "200 cities around the globe will turn out for Earth Hour." Lights on famous buildings will go out for an hour, businesses will go dark, and individuals will participate in this symbolic event to demonstrate commitment to combatting climate change. Even Google is going dark today.

Posted by sesmith at 08:02 PM | Comments (0)

March 20, 2008

Make History in Massachusetts

I wanted to pass along information I received from Marilyn Wann about a bill pending in Massachusetts. H. 1844 is proposed legislation to make it illegal to discrimination on the basis of weight and height.

If you live in Massachusetts, call your state representative at 617-722-2000. Ask to be directed to your representative based on your zip code. Urge your representative to support this historic legislation.

You can also attend the hearing in Boston on Tuesday, March 25 at 2:00 p.m. It will be at the State House in Room A-2.

If you don't live in Massachusetts, forward this info to anyone you know who does.

Currently, only Michigan, Washington DC, Madison (WI), Santa Cruz (CA), and San Francisco have laws on the books protecting people against size discrimination. You have the chance to make a difference!

Posted by sesmith at 06:20 PM | Comments (0)

July 13, 2007

Seeing Red at the Blood Drive

Today didn't begin all that auspiciously. Got up, worked a bit, mowed the front lawn, and ran out with my son to buy school supplies. I don't think of myself as a terribly superstitious person, but I always get a little hinky on Friday the 13th. No particular reason. Just because. When I got back from my errand, I received a rather unwelcome email from my major freelance client. The weekly guarantee of work I've been enjoying for the past couple months was gone. That was a blow, but not the end of the world. I looked on the bright side and thought it would give me a chance to catch up on listing new Making it Big clothes in my eBay store.

At one this afternoon, I dropped my son off at the park and rec center up the road for a Mad Science class. I saw that Blood Source, the local blood bank, was having a blood drive at the rec center. It's probably been 20 years or more since I've given blood. When I was young, I was a regular blood donor - but it's just one of those things that doesn't get done unless you make it a priority.

As four o'clock approached and it was time to go pick Morgan up, I thought about my options. Given my sudden drop in income, I thought could come back home and log in more inventory for eBay or else write a couple of articles for another client. Then I thought that, instead, what I should do is give blood. It wasn't an entirely altruistic decision, although I'm aware that the need for blood donations is great. I made the decision because, when I'm feeling down, doing some kind of "good deed" makes me feel better. Plus, I thought it would set a good example for my son and get him interested in becoming a blood donor when he got older.

I picked Morgan up from class and walked over to the rec center's ballroom, where the blood drive was taking place. The volunteers who greeted us were warm and friendly, and they expressed concern over the possibility of not having a blood drive T-shirt that would fit me. Although they were a bit flustered, I assured them that I wasn't there for the T-shirt. They had me fill out a card, then directed me to the ballroom, where there were several people waiting to have their information entered into the Blood Source database.

I waited for five or ten minutes, and then it was my turn to give the staff member my information and show him my driver's license. He entered all of my information into his notebook computer, printed out a long form with all of my information, and directed me to another waiting area, where I was to complete the questionnaire and wait to be called.

The questions on a blood donor questionnaire are extremely personal and very involved, but I certainly understood the need to keep the blood supply safe, and so happily answered questions ranging from prescription drugs to my sexual habits, from my travels out of the U.S. to my tattooing habits. I waited another 20 minutes or so until it was my turn to meet with another staff member. She went over my questionnaire, asked for clarification on a couple of questions, took my pulse and temperature, and drew a tiny blood sample to ensure I had enough iron in my blood. She then directed me to a reclining seat and told me that someone would take my blood donation.

By this time I'd been there close to 45 minutes, and had had interactions with three volunteers and two staff members. My son was patiently waiting at the kid's table - not too much of a burden since he got to sample the ice cream and cookies that Blood Source provides to blood donors after their donations.

Although the reclining seat was a bit elevated off the ground and I couldn't figure out how to get the armrests to adjust outward, I did manage to perch myself on the chair. The woman who was to draw my blood came up to me and told me that she thought my weight exceeded the weight limit of the chair, and that she'd have to talk to her supervisor. In the meantime, she told me to wait while she finished up another person's blood donation.

I sat there feeling a little bit stunned for another five minutes or so. When she returned and apologized for having to bring this topic up, I assured her that I knew I was a fat woman, and had had more than one experience with equipment weight limits. I said that the seat actually felt quite sturdy, and that I was confident that it wouldn't be a problem.

She then proceeded to take my blood pressure, but was clearly put off by having to get a larger blood pressure cuff and - god forbid - having to adjust the armrest so my arm was positioned conveniently for her. I suggested that, if the seat was problematic, I could go grab one of the banquet chairs that were set up for those waiting to have their information entered into the computer and those waiting to have their questionnaires reviewed. She said that it simply wouldn't work because she needed the armrest. I suggested that I pull the chair up to the armrest so she could use it. She just walked away.

Momentarily, the supervisor appeared at my other side and said that she couldn't allow me to sit there because I was over the recommended weight limit for the chair. Because I couldn't sit there, she couldn't allow me to donate blood. She did say, however, that she would be happy to give me a list of their "satellite offices," so that I could go there and donate blood - but not today, because they were closed.

To say I was angry would be an understatement. I was seeing red. First, I was enraged because their blood drive wasn't accessible to supersize people who wanted to donate. Second, I was mad because they were so inflexible when there was such an obvious workaround available. Third, it ticked me off that, throughout my encounters with five Blood Source volunteers and staff members over a 45-minute period of time, not one of them mentioned that drawing blood might be problematic. Fourth, I was angry because I felt, once again, like a second-class citizen because of my size. And, fifth, I was mad because I believed Blood Source when they said they needed donations. Now, I can only conclude that they only need donations that are convenient to collect.

It makes me mad that I wanted to help and that I was turned away because of my size. It makes me sad to think that, somewhere in Sacramento County (or wherever the blood ends up going), someone may soon be in desperate need of a lifesaving pint of blood that won't be there - simply because Blood Source only accepts donors who fit into their chairs.

Update 7/23/07: I spoke to a Blood Source representative, who said that they have had several meetings and discussions about having chairs manufactured with weight limits of 500 pounds, which they can use for mobile blood drives. She also indicated that they are developing procedures to ensure that my experience isn't repeated. I give them enormous credit for taking action and hope that they can quickly implement a workable solution.

Posted by conradb212 at 04:24 PM | Comments (0)

September 26, 2006

Giving Back: A Mother's Pride

Morgan, my ten-year-old son, has taken on a very ambitious project. It's something I want to share with you, both because I'm very proud of him and because you may want to help him reach his goal.

For the past several years, he has donated 25% of his allowance to Heifer International. This is an organization that helps lift people out of poverty by providing them with farm animals and teaching them animal husbandry skills. They help people here in the United States, but their projects also span the globe.

In Peru, for example, poor farmers are being forced to move to higher elevations to farm. The soil at these higher elevations is very fragile and not very fertile. Traditional grazing animals, such as cattle, damage the soil with their hooves and eat too much of the grass helps hold the soil together.

Heifer International will give a poor Peruvian farmer a llama. Llamas have soft hooves that do not damage the soil, and they nibble at the grass without destroying it. The farmer can use the llama as a pack animal, can use the llama's wool to weave cloth, and can use the llama's dung to fertilize the soil and produce better crops. A single animal can make a huge difference in a family's life.

Part of the Heifer International agreement is that, when that llama is bred and has offspring, the farmer must give the baby llama to another poor family, so that they, too, can begin to improve their lives. In this way, whole communities are lifted out of poverty.

I have personally supported Heifer International for many years, and I'm proud that Morgan is trying to raise $5,000 for the organization by the end of this year. He has enlisted family, friends, neighbors, and the students at his school to help him reach his goal. He's given presentations at student assemblies, and has a big chart hanging up in the multipurpose room at school to keep track of his progress.

I'm pasting in the letter that he sent to friends, family members, and neighbors. If you could find it within your heart to support this project, we would both be very appreciative.

Hi,

I don't know if you've ever heard of Heifer International, but it's an organization that donates animals to poor families around the world. Poor kids in some countries can't go to school because they have to help their parents get water, fetch firewood, and gather food. Something as simple as a farm animal can give a family milk, eggs, wool, or fertilizer to use and sell. This gives the kids the opportunity to go to school.

One of the best things about the families that receive animals is that they give the animals' babies to other families, to that those families can also have a better life. Heifer calls this "passing on the gift."

For three years, I've been using 25 percent of my allowance to buy animals for poor families from Heifer International. I've bought bunnies, bees, chicks, ducks, and geese.

Now, I want to give more, and I'm asking for your help. Could you make a donation to help me reach my goal of raising $5,000 for Heifer International by the end of 2006? It would mean a lot to me, but it would mean more to the kids who will be able to go to school because of your help.

You can make a donation in one of two ways. You can write a check to Heifer International and mail it to me at:

Morgan's Ark Project
P.O. Box 580698
Elk Grove, CA 95758

Or, you can make a credit card donation online. My Heifer International Registry is called morgans_ark. When you go online, you can choose the kind of animal you'd like to donate.

If you'd like to read more about the work that Heifer International does, you can go to their website.

Thanks so much for your help!

Love,
Morgan

Posted by conradb212 at 04:23 PM | Comments (0)

July 30, 2006

Geocaching - Definitely an Adventure!

I've wanted to go geocaching for several months now, and finally had the chance to do it for the first time today. If you've never heard of geocaching, it's a combination of a treasure hunt and a scavenger hunt. People all over the world hide all manner of containers in all sorts of places. Most containers hold a logbook and an assortment of trinkets. The idea is to find a hidden container, make a note in the logbook, and leave something in the container. If you leave a trinket, you can take a trinket.

But how do you find the containers? Well, you need a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver and you need to log on to one of the many geocaching sites. I used www.geocaching.com . The GPS receiver uses the satellites in space to pinpoint your exact location on the earth. For geocaching, you need a GPS receiver that has software that will allow you to either download waypoints or to enter longitude and latitude information.

So, you log onto a geocaching site, enter in your home coordinates, and search for caches in your area. The GPS receiver I was using didn't allow me to download, so I had to enter in the longitude and latitude coordinates of the caches I wanted to visit. Each cache on the site I visited had a virtual logbook, and had descriptions and clues about finding it, as well as the coordinates. For example, one of the caches had a toy car theme, and the idea was to bring a toy car and take a toy car. Another had a "green" theme, so you had to leave something green in the container.

Once we had our list of the caches we wanted to find, we were off on our great adventure. I live in a suburban area, and I was surprised to discover that there are dozens of caches within a couple of miles of my house. Geocaching is a great activity for almost any mobility level; the geocaching site I used rated each cache by the difficulty of finding the cache and the difficulty of the terrain. We took the car, and let the GPS receiver guide us to the various caches. A couple were in parks, one was near a power transmission tower, and another was in an oasis of empty land accessible only by an easily-missed passageway between the fences of two houses. Each of the caches was where it was supposed to be, but each was cleverly camouflaged, so it really took some searching.

There's so much more to geocaching than I've described here, and I look forward to learning more about it and going on many more "treasure hunts." It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon, and it got us thinking about creating our own cache!

Posted by conradb212 at 04:22 PM | Comments (0)

June 21, 2006

Swimsuit Season

Summer has officially arrived, which means that it's officially swimsuit season.

If I had a nickel for every time a plus-size woman chose to sit on a chaise rather than take a dip in the pool, chose to sit on the beach rather than splash in the ocean, or chose to stay indoors rather than snorkel, I'd be a wealthy woman. Sadly, the prospect of donning a swimsuit keeps far too many of us from enjoying all that summer has to offer.

It all boils down to our own self-judgment and the fear that others will judge us if we show up in a swimsuit and fully participate in summer.

The roots of our self-judgment lie in the tapes we play in our mind. Those tapes might come from comparing our bodies to those we see strutting on red carpets or in fashion magazine layouts. They may come from the insidious messages that Madison Avenue promotes - the ones that tell us that we simply don't measure up. They may come from put-downs made by family members or so-called friends. Whatever the genesis of the tapes, though, it's time to hit the rewind button. It's time to nurture self-acceptance and self-love through creating new messages. Take some time to think about all of the wonderful things about your body. Start small if you must.... Maybe you have a great smile, or your hair is full and shiny. But move beyond that, until you can appreciate your body's strength and it's curvaceous beauty. Once you do, you'll realize that wearing a swimsuit is something you and your body deserve.

As for the judgments of others, well, they very well may see us in swimsuits and think or say negative things. The truth is, though, that their judgments say a whole lot about whom they are as human beings, and say nothing at all about who we are. If we are strong in our belief that our bodies are strong and beautiful, the judgments of others won't affect us.

As for swimsuits, we've never had so many choices in styles and colors. Take the plunge and find one that makes you feel comfortable and attractive. Maybe you're not ready for a tankini - that's okay. A swimsuit with a flounce skirt or a tank suit with a pareo is absolutely fine. The only criteria you need to be concerned with is that you choose a swimsuit that you will wear.

After that, it's only a matter of taking action. I had a friend whose favorite saying was, "Be scared, and do it anyway." Going out in your swimsuit the first time may be very scary. But I'll bet a nickel you'll survive.... And that it'll be a little less scary your next time out. By the end of the summer, your inner mermaid will definitely be making a splash!

Posted by conradb212 at 04:22 PM | Comments (0)

April 08, 2006

The Scale

What's in a number? Well, when that number represents our weight, it can be tremendously significant. I often write about Starting Over, the daytime reality show about six women who, with the help of two life coaches and a consulting psychologist, work out the kinks in their life and start over.

One of the current housemates, Jodi, is a plus-size woman who is strong, independent, and who has a successful career. She's uncomfortable with her weight, and has memories of being put on a scale and on a diet when she spent time with her father during her childhood summers. On one hand, Jodi is scale-averse, and on the other she wants to lose weight. Jodi's life coach has sent her to a nutritionist, who has put her on a weight loss eating plan.

Jodi was very vocal about not wanting to step on the scale. She initially refused, and discussed the reasons why with Dr. Stan, the consulting psychologist. After all, she said, it's only a number. Dr. Stan probed further, and implied that she was being resistant. Ultimately, on her trip to the nutritionist, Jodi consented to being weighed, but refused to look at the number herself. The next day, back at the house, Jodi weighed herself and looked at the number.

The argument for Jodi being weighed was that she needed to know from where she was starting so that she could measure her progress. She brought up a good point, which was that there were a number of ways to assess progress - such as body measurements - that didn't involve a scale. Eventually, though, she capitulated, and admitted to being resistant to the number.

This ongoing saga has led me to think about the scale. If anyone is scale-averse, it's me - but for different reasons. I'm not afraid of the number, and in fact do weigh myself a couple times a year. I strenuously object, though, to being weighed when it's not necessary. I routinely refuse to be weighed at the doctor's office, for example. In my mind, unless it's medically necessary, it just gives medical professionals one more reason to use weight as a smokescreen instead of treating my presenting symptoms.

I consented to being weighed when I was pregnant with my son (almost eleven years ago), though I'm convinced that didn't give them any usable information. As I recall, I gained 17 or 18 pounds during my pregnancy. Although they knew how much I weighed, it didn't seem to help my doctors prescribe proper amounts of antibiotics for a wound infection after my son was born - but that's another story.

The next time I was weighed in a medical setting was about a year ago, when I needed a CT scan and the scanner had a weight limit. It seemed reasonable to me that the doctor weigh me in order to see if she had to refer me to another facility (she didn't).

Like many plus-size women, I have childhood horror stories of being dragged onto the scale by my mother, and of being weighed at the doctor's office by a sadistic pediatrician who delighted in making a fat little girl feel like pond scum. So, I understand all about being scale-averse.

But I also understand about self-acceptance. Part of accepting oneself as a beautiful, powerful, plus-size woman is acknowledging the number and accepting it. That doesn't mean you're defined by that number, or that you should define yourself by that number. It also doesn't give anyone else license to demand that you step on a scale, unless there's a medically compelling reason to do so.

The bottom line is that, whatever the scale reads, it's just a number.

Posted by conradb212 at 04:21 PM | Comments (0)

March 07, 2006

The Oscars

Last Sunday's Academy Awards were once again striking in their absence of plus-size women - with the notable exception of the glorious and gorgeous Queen Latifah. The relative lack of plus-size beauty isn't surprising, of course, since Hollywood values thinness above all. Still, I can't help but wish that one day we'll see the Kodak Theater filled with people of all sizes. Sigh.

I need to give a tip of the hat to Jon Stewart. I'm a rabid fan, and I was incredibly nervous for him. I thought the taped pieces he and his team put together were brilliant - I loved the fake "political" ads - and felt like he held his own. Nobody can surpass Billy Crystal as Oscar host, of course, but it'll be interesting to see if Jon Stewart will be invited back next year.

Posted by conradb212 at 04:21 PM | Comments (0)

February 27, 2006

Fashion Week and Affordable Plus-Size Clothing

Fashionistas from around the country and around the world have converged on New York for Fashion Week, the ritual that sets trends for Fall/Winter 2006 and creates much-anticipated buzz. Karl Lagerfeld is podcasting his show. Even CNN has an ongoing Old Navy has recognized the power of plus and provided us with casual wear that's affordable.

There's another source of affordable plus-size clothing that many in our community have never tapped into - eBay. When I checked this morning, there were over 51,000 plus-size auctions listed in auction format on eBay. There are probably tens of thousands more listed in eBay Stores. For the uninitiated, eBay has both auctions and what they call "fixed price" listings, where you can buy something immediately - without having to bid or wait for an auction to end.

In the spirit of both full disclosure and to plug my business, I'm an eBay seller who specializing in affordable plus-size clothing from Making it Big. My eBay store contains over a thousand pieces of Making it Big plus and supersize clothing - some first quality, some production seconds, but all of it new. My buyers are wonderful women who appreciate that they can get great quality plus and supersize clothing at affordable prices.

If you've never perused eBay for plus-size clothing, I urge you to give it a try. I'm the first to admit that, if you're new to eBay, it can be a little overwhelming and intimidating at first. There is a bit of a learning curve, and you need to make sure you're buying from reliable sellers, but eBay has some great tutorials to get you started.

Even more exciting is a new site that eBay will launch this spring, which will be called eBay Express. This new site will give buyers a more traditional online shopping experience, where all of the items have a fixed price and where buyers will have a shopping cart. Buyers can make purchases from multiple sellers and go through a single checkout process. I haven't yet seen even a beta version of eBay Express, but the idea holds a lot of promise.

Posted by conradb212 at 04:18 PM | Comments (0)

February 16, 2006

More Olympic Moments

I'm obviously fully into Olympic mode these days, so wanted to share a press release that a friend sent me:

DALLAS, Feb. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Recognizing the numerous emotional moments that undoubtedly occur during the journey to the Olympic Winter Games, Kleenex(R) facial tissue and NBCOlympics.com announced the launch of an online destination designed especially for moms that will be active from Feb. 10 - 26.

The interactive website will serve as the meeting place for consumers eager to get a "mom's-eye-view" of the emotional stories, or Kleenex Moments(TM), associated with the unique relationship between mothers and their U.S. Olympic athletes.

The online destination will showcase three mothers of U.S. Olympic athletes who will provide regular anecdotes, updates and insights from Torino. The three mother-daughter pairs sharing their Kleenex Moments during the 2006 Olympic Winter Games are:

U.S. Olympic bobsledder Vonetta Flowers and her mother, Bobbie Jeffery;

U.S. Olympic speed skater Elli Ochowicz and her mother, Sheila Young-Ochowicz;

U.S. Olympic Hockey Team forward Kelly Stephens and her mother, Kristine Stephens.

"There are so many emotional stories in our lives that the cameras missed outside of the competition, which viewers never got to see," said Flowers. "This online 'scrap book' gives us a chance to share the entire journey leading up to, and during the Games to really illustrate the ups and downs an athlete and their mom's experience along the road to becoming a U.S. Olympian."

Along with providing an entry in their daily diaries each day, the moms will be the subject of a series of articles about the emotional journey to the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino. These stories will focus on everything from the joy they share along the way to how they spend precious time together outside of training and competition.

Isn't that sweet???

Posted by conradb212 at 04:20 PM | Comments (0)

February 13, 2006

Olympic Update

I was just watching the first run of the women's luge, and there was a commentator who revealed that lugers (is that what you call them?) wear lead weights around their hips and bottom. He said that being heavier helps them go faster. A member of the U.S. Women's Luge Team said that she weighed 135 and wore an additional 25 pounds of lead. I'm telling you, there's a place for plus-size women in the Olympics!

Posted by conradb212 at 04:19 PM | Comments (0)

February 10, 2006

Olympic Dreams

I love the Olympics. No, I'm not generally a sports fan, but I absolutely love the Olympics. It's 5:03 PM Pacific Time, and I'm jealous that those of you on the East Coast are settling in to watch the opening ceremonies.

Why do I love the Olympics? Perhaps it's my patriotic streak, but more likely it's my idealism. Forget the rumors of performance-enhancing drugs, forget the figure skating controversies, and forget the intrasport squabbling. Instead, think about the Olympic ideal - countries setting aside their differences and coming together to compete honestly and celebrate the unity of humanity and sport.

Although I love the Olympics, I also dream of an Olympics that's inclusive - one where plus-size women and big men could use their size to their advantage and compete. After all, very tall people have more than one Olympic sport - basketball and volleyball come to mind - in which they can excel. Short, slight people have gymnastics and people with other body types can choose from a variety of sporting endeavors.

There have been large men and women in the Olympics - there was weightlifter Cheryl Haworth in the 2000 Sydney Games, and Rulon Gardner, who retired from wrestling in 2004. We even have a plus size Olympian featured on the BBW site - Helena Blach Lavrsen, who won a silver medal in curling in the 1998 Games.

Still, what about the sports that would draw on our inherent talents? Think to the Summer Games, and to water polo. Let's face it - big women are unsurpassed when it comes to floating. I always shake my head in wonder when I see those thin athletes churning the water with their legs, trying to stay afloat. Put plus size women in the water polo competition, and our energy could be used for defense and offense, rather than for treading water.

Of course, I'm not withdrawing my support of these Winter Games because they're not inclusive. But that doesn't mean I can't have my own Olympic dreams.

Posted by conradb212 at 04:19 PM | Comments (0)

January 27, 2006

Weight Loss Surgery Redux

I wanted to revisit a couple of topics I addressed in earlier entries. On December 23, I discussed Starting Over, a daytime reality TV show where six women live in a house and work towards life-altering goals with two life coaches. In that entry wrote about the life coaches' schizophrenic attitude toward weight.

Well, a new housemate has joined the Starting Over family. Christie has lost 100+ after gastric bypass surgery, and her goal is to learn to love herself. In yesterday's episode, Christie's life coach, Rhonda Britton was startlingly - and refreshingly - frank about weight loss surgery. First, she pointed out that weight loss surgery has a high mortality rate. That, in itself, made me sit up and take notice. Then she had Christie perform a very interesting exercise that I think it a good lesson to plus-size women everywhere.

Rhonda took cotton batting and Ace bandages, and wrapped Christie's arms, legs, neck, and torso. The effect of the padding was that Christie looked larger than she is today, and reminded Christie of her pre-surgery body. Then, Rhonda had Christie name all of the issues she thought that gastric bypass would solve. As Christie listed the various issues - anger toward her parents, addictions, feeling unloved - Rhonda wrote them on the bandages. Rhonda's point? That Christie thought that by changing her outward appearance through weight loss surgery, all of her inner problems would be solved. It turns out, of course, that Christie has all of the same problems she had when she was much larger.

I think the lesson for all of us is that we all too often fall into the trap of thinking that all of our problems would be solved if only we were thinner. That's the message we're bombarded with from the media and the diet industry, and it's an empty promise we all too often fall for. It was refreshing to see Starting Over address that issue in a way that made sense.

The other topic I want to revisit is my mention (in my January 15 entry) of Consumer Reports coverage of weight loss surgery. I've now had the opportunity to read the article, and it's left me more incredulous than ever. Consumer Reports calls weight loss surgery a "reliable solution" to making "fat people thin." It describes two procedures, gastric bypass and adjustable gastric banding. It then reports that after two years, "the average gastric bypass patient had a BMI [body mass index] of 30." Um, a BMI of 30 means that a person is still "clinically obese."

The article also says that, "Surgery dramatically improves, or cures, [diabetes, glucose intolerance, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, degenerative arthritis]. It is not uncommon for type 2 diabetics to go off insulin for good the day after bypass surgery...." Huh? If someone weighs 300 pounds the day of surgery, there's a good chance they weigh 300 pounds the day after surgery. Why do they need insulin the day of surgery but don't need it the day after, if their weight is the same?

But I'm getting sidetracked. The article reported that, "the risk of dying during or shortly after the operation is low and getting lower - about 1 percent for bypass and 1/2 percent for banding when done by an experienced bariatric surgeon." Let's set aside the fact that many of these surgeries are performed by surgeons inexperienced in bariatric surgery, and look at the 1 percent mortality rate. This is Consumer Reports. Would Consumer Reports give a glowing review to a car manufacturer that built 500,000 automobiles, out of which only 5,000 (1 percent) blew up? Or to an appliance maker that had only 5,000 (1 percent) out of 500,000 coffee makers cause kitchen fires? Highly doubtful. So, I remain perplexed as to why Consumer Reports would advocate on behalf of an elective surgery that has a 1 percent mortality rate.

Posted by conradb212 at 04:18 PM | Comments (0)

January 24, 2006

When will the FDA Protect Consumers?

CNN reported today that a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has voted to recommend that Xenical (orlistat) be sold over the counter. The prescription drug, touted as a weight loss drug, prohibits absorption of dietary fats, and instead sends them, unabsorbed, though the digestive system. You can draw your own conclusions about the side effects.

It's no doubt that the over the counter drug, to be called Alli, will be ultimately approved by the FDA, since they usually rubber stamp the recommendations of advisory committees when it comes to diet pills (remember Redux?).

According to the CNN article, the over the counter version would be about half as potent as it's prescription counterpart. Raise your hand if you think that people, desperate for a "magic pill," will take only the recommended dosage. I don't think so, either.

With a cost of $12 to $25 a week, GlaxoSmithKline stands to rake in $1.5 billion a year in retail sales of Alli. Yes, that's billion with a "b".

Let's see.... In clinical trials over a six-month timeframe, people who took the drug lost 5.3 to 6.2 pounds more than those who took a placebo (in conjunction with diet and exercise, of course). Let's give them the benefit of the doubt and say that the over the counter pill will cost $12 a week (the lowest price point) and that the average person will lose 6.2 pounds in six months (the most optimistic outcome attributable to the drug, based on clinical trials). Six months is 26 weeks, times $12. That's $312 dollars (or $625 if you go with the highest price point). Divide the number of pounds lost into $312, and that's $50.32 per pound (or $100.80 for the high price point).

So, the FDA thinks that it's wise for consumers to pay between $50 and $100 to lose one pound, even though all admit that, once someone stops taking the drug, they gain all the weight they lost.

But, again, this is the same FDA that thought Redux - which harmed or killed untold numbers of people who wanted to lose weight - was the best thing since sliced bread, despite research to the contrary.

At what point will this governmental agency, charged with protecting the American public, actually start doing its job?

Posted by conradb212 at 04:17 PM | Comments (0)

January 15, 2006

Media Running Amok

Over the past week, I've been alternately seeing red and shaking my head in disbelief over weight-related stories that have appeared in two very different kinds of publications.

Everyone in my son's fourth-grade class receives Time for Kids, a spin-off of the weekly newsmagazine for the younger crowd. For some reason, the issue he came home with on Monday was from November 2005. I subscribe to TIME Magazine and I really enjoy reading and discussing Time for Kids with my son. Each issue is accompanied by a worksheet with a number of questions pertaining to the stories in the issue. The cover story in the issue he brought home last week was
"Reading, Writing, Rock Climbing" and began by talking about a new type of P.E. class - one that emphasized individual fitness over team sports. That sounded really great to me, as I have long advocated that team sports tend to leave out big kids, and that kids of all sizes should be encouraged to engage in activities in which they can excel and that will lead to a lifelong enjoyment of movement.

But, of course, Time for Kids couldn't leave it at that. The next section of the article proceeded to sound the alarms, telling children that "obesity will likely shorten the average life span of today's younger generation by two to five years," "nearly one in three U.S. schoolchildren is overweight, and one in seven kids is obese, or seriously overweight," and "Obesity can lead to heart disease and diabetes."

This completely ticked me off. First, they oversimplified the entire issue of childhood obesity. It's true that there are more fat kids today than in previous generations, but that's due to a number of reasons. Let's start with the lack of funding in schools for P.E., the lack of funding for after school park and recreation programs, the increased incidence of latchkey kids, and the reality that it's not safe to send your kids outside to play. Then let's acknowledge that there's a genetic component to weight, and that it's to be expected that plus-size parents have plus-size kids. Finally, with all the hand wringing that goes on in school districts about childhood obesity and nutrition (at least in our school district), it's more than a little ironic that teachers routinely give kids candy as rewards.

Second, the statistics and scare tactics that Time for Kids used only served to further stigmatize big kids - who most likely are already taunted by their classmates. Let's face it - other forms of discrimination are not tolerated at schools, but size-related discrimination is almost always viewed as acceptable.

Third, Time for Kids didn't address the dangers of dieting and the ever-earlier age that kids develop eating disorders. It didn't surprise me that they didn't discuss yo-yo dieting, because they never do, but it always disappoints me. I've always advocated that both kids and adults can be healthy at any size, if health and fitness - rather than weight loss - is the goal. I can't help but wonder how many kids read that article and hated themselves just a little bit more or decided that they were going to starve themselves into thinness. Kids are exposed to enough weight-loss brainwashing as it is; they don't need to read it in material specifically written for fourth, fifth, and sixth graders.

My response? Well, the worksheet that accompanied the issue asked my son to "List three negative effects of obesity." I had a long discussion with him, and he listed: 1) discrimination in employment, education, and accommodations; 2) low self-esteem; and 3) social stigma.

No sooner had I finished fuming about Time for Kids than I learned that Consumer Reports had issued findings about weight loss surgery. Consumer Reports? Weight loss surgery? I understand that they do an excellent job of rating everything from cars to cameras to toys to washing machines. But where do they get off commenting about weight loss surgery? Although I haven't read the report, my understanding is that they come out in favor of it.

Two things immediately come to mind. First, Consumers Union is supposed to set the gold standard for impartial analysis. How can an impartial analysis lead to a finding in favor of weight loss surgery? Who exactly were the analysts? Were they obesity researchers? Were they bariatric surgeons? Inquiring minds want to know. Second, isn't it more than a little ironic that weight loss surgery is seen as a consumer issue? Have they rated appendectomies lately? Or different brain surgery techniques? There's no doubt that weight loss surgery is big - in every sense of the word - business, and that there's a lot of money behind advocating that more people have the surgery. Even though, in the long term, it doesn't work. Even though, in the long term, morbidity and mortality rates are high. What if - take the leap with me here - instead of suggesting weight loss surgery, doctors worked with large patients to improve their health status through non-surgical methods, and psychologists worked with large patients to improve their self-esteem and body image. Again, I believe that, if health and fitness - rather than weight loss - are the goals, we'd all be better off.

Just as weight loss surgery is big business, so is cosmetic surgery. Dissatisfaction with one's appearance leads women - and an increasing number of men - to turn to cosmetic surgery. A recent joint press release by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons tries to raise awareness about the dangers of unlicensed personnel performing medical cosmetic procedures in non-clinical settings. I'm sure they raise a valid point, but one can't help but wonder if there might be a financial motive as well.

With Time for Kids and other media outlets continuing to report from a place of bias, though, I'm sure that weight loss surgeons and cosmetic surgeons will have plenty of new patients in another decade or so.

Posted by conradb212 at 04:16 PM | Comments (0)

January 03, 2006

Health Care for Plus Size Women

A few years ago, I was a member of the advisory board for a scientific study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, on the barriers to gynecological care faced by plus-size women. If you were a subscriber to BBW Magazine back then, you may have participated in a survey for the study.

The results of the study were published in the International Journal of Obesity in October 2005. The article was titled, "Barriers to Routine Gynecological Cancer Screening for White and African American Obese Women." The abstract for the study can be found at the International Journal of Obesity website.

Pat Lyons , who was instrumental in shepherding the study to completion, is a health educator who has been committed to the size acceptance movement for years. She was co-author of the book, Great Shape: The First Fitness Guide for Large Women. I received an email from her about a week ago. She summarized the study and the next steps that WomanCare Plus will take as follows:

"Based on survey data from 498 large white and African American women, we found that as weight increased, women faced increased barriers - including negative attitudes of providers, gowns and equipment that do not fit their bodies, being weighed at every visit, and receiving unsolicited weight loss advice regardless of the reason for their visit. Over 90% of the women surveyed had medical insurance, and thus were paying for care they could not routinely and easily obtain. PAP smear rates were lowest for the largest women; but regardless of weight, the women who'd dieted more than five times were most likely to delay care.

"The study also included surveys from 129 GYN health care providers, finding them sorely lacking in both clinical education and basic equipment to meet the needs of their large patients. The majority was also highly dissatisfied with referral resources for their patients.

"We discussed these results with our 16-member Project Advisory Board, composed of researchers, women's health advocates and fat activists, representatives of the California Black Women's Health Project, the California Coalition for Reproductive Freedom, physicians, and two medical anthropologists. We will be moving forward with our collaborators in the new year to address ethics, public policy, and clinical and community education programs to support every woman's right to health care delivery with dignity and respect regardless of weight. The first of these projects include:

"1) Formation of an Ethics and Public Health Policy subcommittee to sponsor a variety of educational forums to reduce health disparities caused by weight bias;

"2) In collaboration with Planned Parenthood Federation of America, development of a DVD training resource for clinical gynecological health care providers that includes an "entitlement to care" booklet for large women seeking gynecological cancer screening;

"3) Conducting 'training of trainers' focused on improving health care providers' and advocates' ability to reduce weight bias as part of their health disparities work;

"4) In a joint project with the California Black Women's Health Project, addressing the increase in gastric surgery in African American women, the risks and deaths that have gone unreported in the community and the development of alternatives to this drastic approach to weight loss;

"5) A joint project with the California Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness project to address potential delay of care in youth and adolescents, especially addressing experiences of larger youth who may be receiving aggressive dieting and weight loss advice as a result of the focus on the "childhood obesity epidemic"; and

"6) Ongoing research and education on the negative effects of dieting and weight cycling and it's relationship to delay of care."

If your experience with the health care delivery system is anything like mine, you know that receiving appropriate health care is a hit-or-miss proposition when you're a plus-size woman. I could tell you horror stories, but for now I'll share the remainder of Pat Lyons' email:

"In a Great Shape focus group we held in 1989 a woman said, " After a friend bugged me for a long time I finally went to the doctor for a PAP smear. He said I was too fat for an exam and to come back when I'd lost weight. That was 10 years ago and I haven't been back."

"I have been hearing horror stories like this - and worse - for more than 15 years in my health and fitness work across the country with large women...stories of shame and embarrassment as women have tried to access basic cancer screening and health care. Based on the publication of our two-year research study on barriers to gynecological cancer screening, I am finally in a position to mobilize community health efforts to put weight bias squarely on the table of medical ethics discussions, physician education and health advocacy training. I am asking for your tax-deductible contribution in any amount - small, large or supersize! - to launch our new project efforts in 2006.

"Your financial support will provide a community based office as a solid foundation for the WomanCare Plus Project at the CHT-Resource Group (CHT-RG) a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in Oakland, California. CHT-RG is an affiliate of the Center for Health Training, which has for the past 26 years been a key federal family planning training contractor in several states and a major player in women's reproductive health policy, training and technical assistance. Their national reputation, networks of providers, and expertise, combined with their commitment to social justice and reducing health disparities makes them an ideal agency in which to base our efforts to ensure every large woman's cancer screening and reproductive health care rights. Ironically, beginning in 1972 I worked with the CHT founding staff and have been a consultant for them over the years. I know them well and we have already submitted two proposals to foundations to help us set up our activities. But as you know, grants take time. In the meantime, we are ready to roll!

"For those able to make a contribution, my great thanks in advance! Please make your check payable to CHT--Resource Group (put 'WomanCare Plus Project' in the 'For' line of the check). Mail it to: CHT-Resource Group, 614 Grand Ave., Suite 400, Oakland, CA 94610.

"With your help, we can make the future of health care better for all women who may be embarrassed about their weight and especially for the girls coming up behind us who have it even harder, given the current 'war on obesity.' We can share our strength and blaze the trail. I hope you'll join us!"

This project is definitely worthwhile, and I will be mailing in my contribution shortly. I will also continue to be a member of the WomanCare Plus Advisory Board.

I encourage you to support this project in whatever way you can, and to pass along this information to anyone whom you think may be interested.

Until next time,
Sally

Posted by conradb212 at 04:16 PM | Comments (0)

December 23, 2005

Starting Over

The New Year is just around the corner, which inevitably leads to thoughts of resolutions and fresh starts. I never used to make New Year's resolutions, but have started to over the past few years. I know that most New Year's resolutions fall by the wayside towards the end of January, so instead of setting an unrealistic goal, I think of a resolution as an opportunity to state my intention for what I want in my life.

Since I work from home, it's easy to indulge my tendency to be somewhat of a hermit. I know I need to make the effort to connect with other people, but I find that days and weeks go by without seeing or talking to friends and acquaintances. I've been thinking about the coming year, and decided to make a resolution to take a more proactive approach in connecting with other people. My intention is to get together with a friend at least once a month, and to reach out to a friend or acquaintance - either by phone or email - twice a month. I know that doesn't sound terribly ambitious, but I believe that doing so will bring more joy to my life.

Speaking of opportunities to start over, I've been hooked on the daytime reality series, "Starting Over," for a couple of seasons now. If you're not familiar with "Starting Over," it's a syndicated show (where I live, it's on NBC) where six women from all walks of life come together to live in a house and work with life coaches and a psychologist to heal past wounds, to deal with difficult circumstances, and to...start over in their lives. Each woman has her own goal, and works with her life coach to decide upon the steps she needs to take in order to achieve that goal. The life coaches, Rhonda Britten and Iyanla Vanzant, design individual exercises to illustrate obstacles or issues that a woman has to overcome in order to reach her goal and her potential.

For example, a current housemate, Lisa, has a goal of becoming an adult. She's 41 years old, but has depended upon her parents to meet all of her financial needs. In her quest for independence, Lisa needs a backbone so she can stand up for herself. She was recently assigned an exercise to make a backbone out of spools strung together, and to label each spool with a quality needed in order to have a backbone. She used spools of one color for qualities she already possessed, and spools of another color for qualities she still needs to acquire.

It takes some women a few weeks to reach their goals, while it takes others a couple of months or more. Once a woman reaches her goal, she "graduates" from the Starting Over house, and a new housemate arrives.

At any given time, there's a woman in the house that has a weight-related goal. In the first season, there was a woman named PJ who wanted to lose weight. Last season, there was Sommer, who was dealing with the aftermath of weight loss surgery. This season there's Jill, whose goal it is to lose weight and remove chaos from her life.

It's always struck me that Rhonda and Iyanla, the life coaches, have an interesting attitude toward weight. In the first season of the show, Rhonda never questioned a weight loss goal. When Iyanla joined the show in the second season, there was somewhat of a shift. Iyanla is a plus-size woman, and at first she seemed to understand that a woman's weight doesn't define who she is, and that losing weight isn't the magic bullet that will make a woman lead a fulfilled life.

As time progressed, however, Iyanla seemed to move toward a belief that weight loss was a worthy goal. She's adamant about referring to it as "releasing weight" rather than "losing weight," but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck.... She's Jill's life coach, and Iyanla dutifully sent Jill to Jenny Craig and 24-Hour Fitness. It turns out Jill has fibroid tumors, one of which may weigh 40 pounds. One doctor told Jill that she must schedule surgery within a month or it could be life threatening. Jill got a second opinion, and the doctor said that she should wait to have surgery until she lost 50 pounds and stopped smoking. So Jill still trots off to Jenny Craig every week, and since she can't perform the level of cardio training dictated by her 24-Hour Fitness program, a personal trainer from the franchise comes to the house to demonstrate exercises she can do to increase her flexibility.

My point? Starting Over is completely schizophrenic when it comes to weight. Jill has a potentially life-threatening tumor or tumors, yet she chooses to listen to the doctor who tells her to come back when she loses weight. And her life coach seems to think that's okay. I adore Iyanla, and I suspect that she believes women naturally come in all shapes and sizes, but can't come out and say it because it has the potential to alienate viewers. I believe that the intent of the show is to help women, and I find it both enlightening and entertaining. At the same time, I believe that they could help so many more women by taking a strong stand in favor of self-acceptance - regardless of body size.

Posted by conradb212 at 04:15 PM | Comments (0)

December 16, 2005

Supersize Vacations

I'm a supersize woman, so some vacations hold an element of unpredictability. For a big girl, my mobility is pretty darned good, but when my nine-year-old son and I headed to Disneyland a couple of weeks ago, I felt a bit of trepidation. It had been four years since we'd been to Disneyland, and I had two stark recollections from that trip. The first was our near-disastrous ride on Thunder Mountain. The cars used a pull down restraint, and when the restraint came down, it hit me right under my bust. Unfortunately, that meant that my son wasn't restrained at all. I spent the next two or three excruciating minutes hanging on to him for dear life while praying that neither of us would fly out of the car. I'm not a physicist, but some kind of G-forces were at work that were trying to pry me out of the ride on every sharp turn.

My second recollection was how much pain I was in after walking the park for two days. My feet throbbed so much that it was difficult to sleep at night. I felt bad because I tend to get cranky when my feet hurt that badly, and who wants to feel cranky when they're at the happiest place on earth?

So this time I gave serious thought to renting what Disney terms an "Electric Convenience Vehicle" (ECV). I had a lot of resistance to the idea, conjuring up all sorts of negative psychological implications and telling myself that, once I "gave in" there was no turning back. I discussed my feelings with a friend, who suggested that I look at an ECV as a golf cart. There's no stigma, he said, when golfers drive a golf cart around the course. There shouldn't be any stigma to drive a cart around Disneyland.

We had a three-day park pass, and I walked Disneyland the first day. After eight hours or so, I was ready to pack it in. My feet were throbbing and I was definitely getting cranky. Keeping in mind what my friend had said, I went ahead and rented an ECV on the second and third days of our visit. What a difference it made! I could thoroughly enjoy Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure, pain-free.

I'd also like to tip my hat to the staff members at Disneyland (or, as Disney refers to them, "cast members"). Their commitment to providing guests with an enjoyable experience - free of judgment - never ceases to amaze me. In Fantasyland, when we encountered a ride with a turnstile I couldn't negotiate, a cast member came over and told me to enter via a nearby gate. After the ride, he handed me a pamphlet on Disneyland accessibility and told me that, if I ever had a challenge with another ride, to simply ask for assistance.

Disney has a downloadable PDF of the Disneyland Resort Guidebook for Guests with Disabilities. The booklet doesn't specifically address size issues, but it does offer some guidance about mobility requirements for the various attractions.

Similarly, over at Disney's California Adventure, I found that the California Zephyr seat belt was too short for me to use. When I looked up to find the attendant, I found her standing next to the rocket with a seat belt extender in hand.

As a supersize woman, it's incredibly refreshing to find a place that can anticipate my needs and, more importantly, do so without judgment.

My experience with Disney is in stark contrast to my experience with Southwest Airlines, which we took to go to Anaheim. In keeping with their annoying and, I believe, discriminatory policy, I was forced to buy two seats for myself and one for my son, despite the fact that he and I can fit comfortably in two seats. As has happened before, I found the gate agent at the Sacramento airport, as well as one of the flight attendants, to be judgmental, suspicious, and full of distain - despite the fact that I had played by their (unfair) rules and purchased three seats for the two of us. The folks at Southwest really need to get over themselves.

Posted by conradb212 at 04:06 PM | Comments (0)

December 08, 2005

Welcome to the Power of Plus!

I'm very excited to, once again, be a part of BBW Magazine. I look forward to working on the site and to creating a community that resonates with the spirit of BBWs.

Take care,
Sally

Posted by conradb212 at 04:05 PM | Comments (0)