April's CR Diary

"How about if instead of whining about how media images of beautiful thin women make us hate ourselves, let's stop engaging in behavior that makes us fat, unhealthy, and in time, dead?"
That is sooo true. Good observation. Society is definitly obsessed with image. If you think about it though, featuring women in ads that are not the customary size zero was pretty bold. I am sure that are some people out there who are saying "finally!" when seeing them. We do need to work on our own self-confidence and take better care of our bodies before we can justify crying over images we are shown every day. There are all kinds of work outs for people with little time, for people who are traveling.. tons and tons. Here is one on how to workout without going broke:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/content.cfm?content_type=article&content_type_id=5518
Good post.

..."politically acceptable body types"...this gets more and more confusing.

Well, you've inspired a rant.

“How about if instead of whining about how media images of beautiful thin women make us hate ourselves, let's stop engaging in behavior that makes us fat, unhealthy, and in time, dead? What is so "real" about not being able to control our eating?” I must take serious issue with this, April. It’s somewhat unfair and certainly judgemental.

Some of us have listened to the advice of doctors & followed the Canada Food Guide/Food Pyramid for years, in the honest belief that we were eating nutritiously. We had no idea that we were engaging in dangerous behaviour! We have “controlled our eating” (i.e., eaten sparingly), read books on diet & nutrition, gone on many soul-destroying diets and sweated in gyms. We have watched in total puzzlement and despair, as some friends and family members ate like horses every day yet stayed incredibly slim, while a regular dinner in a good restaurant for us would result in an automatic 3 lb gain when we got on the scale. Despite all reasonable efforts, we have continued to gain weight, particularly after hitting 40. The medical establishment & women’s magazines have assured us that this weight gain, while not healthy, is age & hormone related.

Until very recently, there was no Internet available to ferret out the latest information and no Orange One to provide ongoing advice and encouragement. There were only so-called diet gurus and weight loss centers that took our money and made empty promises.

“She loses a lot of weight and becomes very thin, like, uh, a model. Will she then cease to be "real?" Will she no longer be "healthy," because it's not "healthy" to be in control of what you eat?” Many models are incredibly unhealthy. Many eat very poorly if at all, smoke incessantly and take dangerous drugs, all in order to remain rail thin. Yes indeed, these young women cease to be “real”. They are caricatures of reality.

Believe it or not, CRON and The Zone are NEW. They may not seem so to someone age 30 but they are. Most people have never heard of either one. These new ways of eating are the first healthy ways to actually lose weight that anyone has come up with since Weight Watchers. (I’m still not convinced WW is a healthy way to nourish oneself. I know someone who adheres to her “Points” but does so on a diet consisting mainly of bread products & pasta.)

“Let's start an ad campaign called the Campaign for Real Health.” AMEN! Halleluia! Praise the Lord! That would indeed be a campaign for real beauty. JD

I have to say that I agree with Judith. I really found the tone of this entry to be quite judgemental...which surprised me greatly as I know you aren't a judgemental person. It's nice to be excited about something that one believes is right, but I like to think that I accept people as beautiful because of who they are, not whether they follow any beliefs or lifestyle that I have embraced for myself.

I hope that doesn't sound harsh, but I've actually been thinking about this entry all weekend and how to express the chord it struck with me.

I think you might have put more people off with this entry than expected. I can’t help picking up a tone that almost smacks of being a martyr. A few nights ago I went shopping with a friend, and she stopped in Lane Bryant. I lamented that I really liked some of the outfits she was buying (but I wear a 6, so nothing in the store fits me), and she said (mostly jokingly), “Oh, you poor thing. Every other store in the world caters to your size. Consider it fair turn-around.”

She had a point. Every other ad out there has extremely skinny women, and you’re taking offense because one with large(r) women dares to use the description ‘real curves?’ While I do agree with the main thrust -- “Let's start an ad campaign called the Campaign for Real Health” -- I can’t agree with the way you’ve packaged it. I’ve been mulling over this entry for a few days now because I didn’t want to post too hastily, but even on rereading I’m finding it still seems to have crossed the line from critical to condescending, and I can’t think of a better way to turn people off to your actual message.

I agree that the women in this campaign look great, although in general I find it annoying when big corporations try to act like they're trying to subvert the dominant paradigm or whatever. Also I wouldn't want to wear white granny panties on a billboard.
I agree that many women struggle with their weight every day, but in the meantime they should feel good about their bodies and enjoy life.
That said, I've had the benefit of living in other countries, particularly in Asia, where obesity is rare. North America has an obesogenic environment, and there's nothing "real" or "natural" about it. Celebrating it as the norm masks the fact that huge problems exist with the nutritional environment in this country.
-Emma

Weight Watchers' Points-- Great discussion. I love it. Judith has a good insight on WW and the points. For most people, I don't think bread and pasta would work long term. Although all systems are different, good nutrition enhanced my weight loss. In the last four years, I've lost a lot of weight (60+) with the Ww program, but I've done it by using many of the insights from CR and other research, including Ww research (basically the same research as CR). For the first year or so, I hardly eat any bread and almost no pasta ever anymore. These are such bad trigger foods for me. Lately I've been craving candy and not eating meals. Probably few points, but only gaining weight. Now it's back to good foods....fresh veggies, fresh fruits, good protein, less and less bread. To me the value of Ww has been the support and encouragement from fellow seekers of health not just slimness. We all seek out our best paths and long to find some peace with our eating and our bodies. I need to find a new Ww group to help me out of my slump. It can be lonely out here.
Can't wait to meet you Judith! Our children are doing soooo well. I love MR like my own baby April. Love and peace to all,
Marti

You're absolutely right, "real" women shouldn't be unhealthy and overweight, it is possible to be healthy and not a stick thin model. Like it or not, the models in this campaign are overweight, which shows the sad state of Americans health in general. It's understandable because this is what people relate to, but it's not healthy.