Fat Actress

[darklinensuit]

Originally Posted by amber

That's not what everyone else has heard....
Amber

That's because you spread your own rumors.

- Jake

[GardenStateGirlie]

Originally Posted by darklinensuit

Because I've taken SO many swipes at Stevie in the past. Guess when I'm not accused of being a 'shipper I'm accused of being a swiper.

- Jake

Jake, i'm going to have to go ahead and ask you to resign from the Stevie 2004 campaign because aside from being a huge Stevie hater, we all know you're a shipper (that's strike two) AND that you're secretly working on said campaign to gain super secret information for GW Bush because you're also a closet Republican . Everybody finds out...don't you know? Leave the board immediately. Thanks.

[amber]

Originally Posted by darklinensuit

That's because you spread your own rumors.

- Jake

No, that's you. Thanks for the kind words, BTW By the way, what's a shipper?
Amber

[darklinensuit]

Originally Posted by GardenStateGirlie

Jake, i'm going to have to go ahead and ask you to resign from the Stevie 2004 campaign because aside from being a huge Stevie hater, we all know you're a shipper (that's strike two) AND that you're secretly working on said campaign to gain super secret information for GW Bush because you're also a closet Republican . Everybody finds out...don't you know? Leave the board immediately. Thanks.

I knew there was a reason I don't care for that song.

- Jake

[GardenStateGirlie]

Originally Posted by darklinensuit

I knew there was a reason I don't care for that song.

- Jake

You don't know what's good And why aren't you gone yet?

[darklinensuit]

Originally Posted by GardenStateGirlie

You don't know what's good And why aren't you gone yet?

Maybe not what's good, but whatever it is, it's very powerful...in a sucky way.
I was gone.

- Jake

[GardenStateGirlie]

Just wanted to say that I went to Barnes and Noble today and she's on the cover of People Magazine looking absolutely gorgeous at 203 lbs, IMO

[amber]

Originally Posted by darklinensuit

Maybe not what's good, but whatever it is, it's very powerful...in a sucky way.
I was gone.

- Jake

Stop! LeMow, LeMow!!Help!
Amber

[darklinensuit]

Originally Posted by GardenStateGirlie

Just wanted to say that I went to Barnes and Noble today and she's on the cover of People Magazine looking absolutely gorgeous at 203 lbs, IMO

I saw the pic & she doesn't look bad, IMO.

- Jake

[gldstwmn]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/diet.....ap/index.html

Monday, August 2, 2004 Posted: 10:42 PM EDT (0242 GMT)

NEW YORK (AP) -- Unashamed of their size, fed up with fat jokes, and angry at the national obsession with dieting, overweight activists are mounting a feisty protest movement against what it calls the medical establishment's campaign against obesity.

"We're living in the middle of a witch hunt and fat people are the witches," said Marilyn Wann of San Francisco, a militant member of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. "It's gotten markedly worse in the last few years because of the propaganda that fatness, a natural human characteristic, is somehow a form of disease."

The association, known as NAAFA, holds its annual convention starting Wednesday in Newark, New Jersey, bringing together activists for social events and workshops on self-acceptance, political advocacy and the "fat liberation" movement.

"I hope we can be a viable force of sanity in the midst of hysteria," said NAAFA spokeswoman Mary Ray Worley of Madison, Wisconsin. "I've found allies in all kinds of unexpected places, but overall there's a lot of animosity. Some people act like obesity is the next worst thing after terrorism."

The convention comes as the movement is scrambling to counter federal government pronouncements that obesity is a "critical public health problem" costing more than $100 billion and 300,000 lives per year.

Jeannie Moloo, an American Dietetic Association spokeswoman who counsels overweight clients at her nutrition practice in Sacramento, California, empathizes with the activists' fight against bias, but says they should be wary of oversimplifying obesity-related health issues.

"Some people can be overweight all their lives and not end up with diabetes or heart disease or hypertension," Moloo said. "But the majority are probably going to develop one of these life-altering conditions."

Fat-acceptance groups were dismayed when federal officials announced last month that Medicare was discarding its declaration that obesity isn't a disease. The policy change will likely prompt overweight Americans covered by Medicare to file medical claims for treatments such as stomach surgery and diet programs.

"Obesity is not a disease," insisted Allen Steadham, director of the Austin, Texas-based International Size Acceptance Association. "All this does is open the door for the diet and bariatric surgery industries to make a potentially tremendous profit."

Most fat-acceptance activists endorse the concept of eating healthy food and exercising regularly, but they oppose any fixation on losing weight and contend that more than 95 percent of diets fail. They also decry the rapid growth of stomach-shrinking surgery; the number of such procedures has quadrupled to 100,000 annually since 1998.

Wann depicts bariatric surgery as "stomach amputation" that imposes anorexia on patients and exposes them to long-term risks. Kelly Bliss, a self-described "full-figured fitness instructor" from Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, predicts that future generations will disapprovingly look back on stomach surgery as "comparable to lobotomies."

Bliss, who coaches clients by phone and in fitness classes, subscribes to a philosophy called "health at every size" -- preaching that health, fitness and self-esteem can be achieved independent of weight.

"There's a war on obese people, and I'm treating the casualties - people whose hearts are being ripped out," Bliss said.

NAAFA and others have tried to combat what they see as rampant discrimination against fat people, but progress has been sporadic. Southwest Airlines, for example, resisted protests targeting its policy of requiring large passengers to purchase a second ticket if they can't fit in a single seat.

"People want to fight for their rights, but there's a lot of shame involved," Steadham said. "It takes a whole lot of determination to stick through it to the end."

A few cities, including San Francisco, explicitly outlaw weight discrimination. Michigan is the only state to do so, but its Civil Rights Department said only five of 1,696 job discrimination complaints filed in 2003 involved weight.

Walter Lindstrom, a San Diego attorney specializing in weight-discrimination cases, said overweight plaintiffs usually must prove that acts of bias against them are covered by federal laws prohibiting discrimination against disabled people.

"These cases are more difficult from a proof standpoint, and also because you're dealing with a very unpopular class of clients," Lindstrom said. "Juries are generally disgusted with your average size-related plaintiff. You have to get past that, and have them see the plaintiff as someone with a true medical problem."

Many fat-acceptance activists were heartened by this year's publication of "The Obesity Myth" by University of Colorado law professor Paul Campos, who contends that diet promoters, drug companies and weight-loss surgeons have whipped up an irrational panic over weight.

Campos shares many of the activists' views but says their effectiveness has been limited.

"The movement has found itself marginalized by drawing its membership and leadership from the far extreme of obesity," he said. "It will be more successful if it can attract the two-thirds of Americans who are being told by the government that they weigh too much -- the I-want-to-lose-20-pounds crowd who are starting to feel a certain amount of resentment from the constant haranguing they're getting."

[cliffdweller]

Originally Posted by GardenStateGirlie

Just wanted to say that I went to Barnes and Noble today and she's on the cover of People Magazine looking absolutely gorgeous at 203 lbs, IMO

I saw that too! I guess she lost those controverisal 100 pounds...

[dissention]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

Have you seen a recent photo of Kirstie Alley? I would guess her to be at about 300 lbs. BTW, Carnie is gaining weight again. I'm all for embracing people for who they are. However, condoning habits or behavior that are hazardous to one's health is another issue.

Kirstie lost weight. She's down to 208.

[darklinensuit]

Originally Posted by dissention

Kirstie lost weight. She's down to 208.

I haven't read the article to know whether she just lost any weight, but I did see her interviewed saying she was never anywhere near 300.

- Jake

[dissention]

Originally Posted by darklinensuit

I haven't read the article to know whether she just lost any weight, but I did see her interviewed saying she was never anywhere near 300.

- Jake

As much as I love Kirstie, I don't believe that for a second. She's a tall woman, so it's not as noticeable when she puts on weight. But she was in a TV movie a few months ago and was huge. Still a beautiful woman, but huge. But from what I've seen of her recently, she's lost a lot of weight and still looks great.

[GardenStateGirlie]

Originally Posted by dissention

As much as I love Kirstie, I don't believe that for a second. She's a tall woman, so it's not as noticeable when she puts on weight. But she was in a TV movie a few months ago and was huge. Still a beautiful woman, but huge. But from what I've seen of her recently, she's lost a lot of weight and still looks great.

She is incredibly tall. Even though being heavier can put you at serious risk for many health issues, she has little kids she's running around after and I'm sure she's stayed active. Clearly she cared enough about her health to lose the weight that she did. Good for her