Fat Activism

While I don’t agree with all of Susie Orbach’s contentions (particularly that fat people eat huge quantities because of emotional problems), she does have interesting things to say about dieting. Read her BBC interactive essay to find out more.

And here is a quote from another interesting article that questions the fatness = lack of fitness / fitness = lack of fatness equation.

The problem, Ikeda suggests, is that the fat-can-be-fit thinkers are up against a barrage of doctors, nurses, dietitians and academicians using the strength of traditional thinking.

“They don’t want to get this message out,” Ikeda said, “because then people won’t want to try to lose weight. Of course, 95 percent of people who lose weight by dieting regain it in two to five years. We’d be much better off not focusing on dieting, but helping people improve their fitness level and let their weight fall where it may.”

Around the House

This-or-That

1. Window shades or blinds?
Blinds.

2. Wall or desk calendar?
Actually, I prefer my online calendar.

3. Paint or wallpaper?
Paint. Wallpaper dates so quickly, and I very rarely see patterns that I like.

4. Electric or gas stove?
We have an electric stove, but would much prefer gas.

5. Carpeting or bare floors?
I much prefer bare floors. Our home, being a loft, has old, wooden floorboards.

6. One TV, or more than one?
Only one. We don’t watch that much TV to start off with, nor do I like TVs in the bedroom, so what would we do with more than one TV?

7. Leather or fabric sofa?
Leather.

8. Eat meals in kitchen or dining room?
Unless we have guests, we eat our meals in the kitchen area, rather than on our huge dining table. It’s more intimate.

9. Fabric or vinyl shower curtain?
Our shower has a glass screen, so we don’t need curtains.

10. Your kitchen: well-equipped or bare bones?
Relatively well-equiped I would think, but without a lot of the kind of useless devices that some kitchens have (you know, the appliance that seems like a great idea at the time, but sits in the cupboard gathering dust for years between uses).