body image

The name says it all - Club Bounce. And Long Beach, California folks looking to shake and rattle their rolls think that a dance club for the obese is just what doctor ordered -- for their social lives at least.

Long unable to get past the velvet ropes at traditional nightclubs because of their weight, Californians with a few (or even more than a few) extra pounds have no trouble getting in at Club Bounce. That's because the club was created to serve a specific clientele: the overweight and obese.

Did you know that its Fat Talk Free Week?

The Reflections Program is running a campaign this week to encourage women to remove the word "fat" from their vocabulary when talking about themselves and others.

Also, in London Kathryn Szrodecki is fighting back by demanding legal protection for overweight people who are discriminated against and abused.

For some reason, people are mean to Casey Wilson. As a fan of Saturday Night Live, I could never figure that out. SNL might not have been the best format for her, and she wasn't always given the best roles, but she's one funny lady.

Casey showed grace this week when Lorne Michaels fired her from his show, sparking rumors that she was fired because she'd been asked to lose 30 pounds over the summer and either failed to, or refused.

It was a tiny picture tucked away on page 194 in Glamour magazine (US edition). But, it was responsible for hundreds of grateful emails to the editor, newspaper articles across the world, and setting blogs and Twitter ablaze.

So, what was so shocking about this photo? It showed a normal, healthy looking woman.

Negative body image is an epidemic--plain and simple.

The psychology of weight and perception of "ideal" has always fascinated me and continues to evolve, for better or for worse.

Obviously, women have different perceptions of what constitutes "ideal," and there is an equally disparate range of what women are happy with.

In college, if my buddies ordered pizza, I ate pizza. If I got Chinese food, they got it too. Someone brought over a bottle of Jager, we all drank Jager.

I think it's human nature. Your friends and acquitances influence what you eat. How many of you have tried sushi because of peer pressure?

Naturally, we focus on the wonderful benefits of losing weight (fat) - the health boost, the self-confidence, the ability to move around with more ease and less discomfort. For many however, the self-image that accompanied being fat lingers long after the weight is gone.

While at first glance this sort of phenomenon may be surprising, when we uncover the layers of body image and self-esteem, the issue makes more and more sense. There are physical and emotional issues that linger when large amounts of weight are lost.

I know, I know, the movie has been out for a year now, but Food Inc. strangely haven't opened here yet, and I'm in the mood for a movie review!

I'll never forget being an anxious 12 year old watching the '88 Olympics - the marquee event - the 100 meter dash. I cheered loudly as Ben Johnson blazed to a new world record. I also remember the shear disappointment of what ensued.

If you live in one of the northern states, like me, then you've probably noticed two things: The sun -- which hasn't been around for about six months. And the swimsuits, which have been popping up at local stores since January. Believe me, trying on swimsuits under a bright fluorescent light after a long winter buried under heavy sweaters makes it impossible to deny that Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's didn't really happen.

But as painful as swimsuit shopping is, it's a necessary part of enjoying summer fun. Forget those fashion magazines with Photoshopped beauties on the cover ... bodies come in all shapes and sizes, and if we all waited until we looked like supermodels to hit the beach or pool, no one would ever go. Instead, try one of these tips to feel good in your swimsuit this summer, no matter how fit you are.

There is a common thread in many male transformation stories. A guy starts off overweight - he eats poorly and is sedentary. Then he discovers how to eat right, how to lift weights, and before you know it - new words like cardio, metabolism, and HIIT become part of the standard vernacular.

At some point along the journey - fat loss turned into bodybuilding. Is this the answer for every man?

But your negative body image is likely to be all in your head, bearing little relation to reality. Any tiny imperfections that you notice are probably invisible to the people around you.

I've sort of resigned myself to the fact that I will never even come close to figuring out that deeply complex bundle of circuitry known as the female brain. This was further emphasized to me after reading about this peculiar study, which showed that although images of thin models hawking products made women feel worse about themselves - they were more likely to purchase those products than those products pitched by women of regular girth.

And things get more interesting from there...

While browsing through the magazine section of a local bookstore, I picked up a copy of Adbusters Magazine. If you aren't familiar with Adbusters, it is a counter-culture periodical - a rebellious magazine that boldly speaks out against many of the things that are polluting our world - not the least of which is all of the other magazines that surround it. It's one of those magazines that I put down and proceed to hang my head in shame for wearing a shirt made by poor children in Honduras and drinking a coffee that originated from people in Uganda who work 16 hour days to sell the beans for pennies a pound, not to mention the fur coat I parade around in... but I digress...

A particular article in this issue really hit home about how we've gravitated towards one extreme or the other when it comes to weight and health. Here are some excerpts from the short piece (reprinted with permission from the author, Emily Wierenga.) - Full article here.

People have always picked on one another. But with the advent of blogs, social networks, video and picture-sharing - it got a whole lot worse.

Maybe the magazines started it. Unflattering photos of celebrities make great covers and - according to the Wall Street Journal "stories about celebrity weight-loss with before-and-after photos now fly off the shelves."

Scrutinizing and criticizing a woman's appearance has become a popular pastime - and no one is immune.

I was saddened to read how girls as young as five start thinking of fat as undesirable and skinny as good (in the Times newspaper as part of response to a question sent in by a mother who was anxious that her three year old was developing a poor body image.)

As it turns out, magazines show no sexual discrimination when it comes to damaging body image. Research suggests that younger men who read "Lad's Magazines" (Maxim, FHM, Stuff and Blender) may be psychologically harmed by images of perfect male physiques.