Yesterday, I posted a link to a wonderful post written by a sales assistant at Lane Bryant about the clueless skinny’s who walked in wanting to know why the store didn’t carry fashionable clothes in their sizes. The response showed how the sales assistant cut the skinny down to size, so to speak. Do read the post, it’s great.
Why do I mention this again? Recently, the news has been filled with reports about how obesity is bad for your health. We’re seeing all sorts of legislation coming down the pike to stop this epidemic. The level of fear, uncertainty, and distrust is rising. But of course, the hysteria is ahead of the science. CNN is reporting today that it may not be obesity that is the problem. Rather, the problem is the growth of diabetes (and of course, the two are often connected). What is not being asked, however, is why diabetes is increasing. My theory: our processed foods, especially the prevalence of High-Fructose Corn Syrup (as well as the use of artificial sweetners) have destroyed the bodies ability to regulate itself with respect to sugar. We overload our systems, and booom, the systems fail. We see this with the growth of food sensitivites, as we are getting more and more processed chemicals into our diets earlier and earlier, creating more sensitivities.
Body image is also a factor. Watch our entertainment media: the focus is on the skinny. Models? Skinny. This is unhealthy; there are reports starting to come out about the effects of too few calories.
We need to change the emphasis. We need to remove the emphasis on a particular shape, and put the emphasis back on health. There have been a few reports on some non-weight-related benefits of exercise. But we also need to see healthy role models, whatever the size. The media might be catching on to this: as a result of Madrid, they are now pointing out the dangers of super-skinny models. Many of us have known this for a long time. But the fashion industry isn’t changing. Sure, they are using healthier models… and the tobacco companies aren’t marketing their product to minors. A few companies are fighting back–good for them.
Of course, I’m posting this while I eat my lunch 🙂 But I should point out that since we’ve rejoined the YMCA I’ve been up there regularly: last Monday, last Wednesday, last Saturday, yesterday, and I plan to go today, tomorrow, and Friday. I’ve been doing at least ½ hr. of cardio (usually the treadmill) plus a number of strength machines. So far, so good (other than having to avoid the shoulder machines, as I did too much the first day).
