Posts by Danielle
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Wait, wasn't it bourgeois legume croquettes?
In any case, Amy's proposal is seconded. With a follow-up vote for a priori conception of falafel.
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If someone could post their photos somewhere for me to have a look at (if that's allowed) I would be stoked. I wish I could come myself, but I have guests...
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There's considerable and mounting evidence, for example, that early childhood experiences (such as developing a loving bond with a mother) can have a positive impact on a lifetime's worth of health outcomes,
Yeah good, so mum stays at home and looks after baby. So does that mean she dont need to return to the work force after 3 months is it?
Yeah, I was going to say something about this. According to this argument, would it actually be cheaper for the health system, long term, to extend paid maternity leave? And really, what does 'loving bond' even mean, in this instance? You can have a loving bond on the DPB, but if you're living below the poverty line it probably wouldn't make a blind bit of difference, surely? (Also, what about loving bonds with fathers? Do they help? Or is this just back to guilt-tripping mothers for Not Doing It Right, again?)
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Sorry for my PAS-posting-crush interruption, but Lucy: how is it that you are, like, four years old or something, yet you know more useful things than I have ever known or am likely to know?
(Generation Y is clearly kicking Generation X's ass.)
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Peter, you managed Godwin *and* 'hysterical' in one post. Rad.
So you're saying that... people can totally lose a lot of weight if they just put their minds to it, as long as we don't infantilise them... except for the people who can't... but even if they don't, they could still be healthy even though they're fat... as long as they do some regular exercise and eat 'right'... uh, I don't even get what you're arguing with me about, at this point, because you appear to agree with me by the end of your post. :)
I don't agree with 'infantilising' people either. Unfortunately, I think medical professionals - and others - often infantilise fat people (I've been in the room when this happens) by assuming all sorts of things about their diets and behaviour. Tracy noted this in her post. PCOS affects one in ten women and their bodies will hold on to every single calorie like grim death. If you believe in giving people 'agency' you should try to avoid assuming that they're constantly lying to themselves and others.
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You know what's awesome? Having the unmitigated chutzpah to attempt to 'diagnose' people we've never met. Over the INTERNET.
However none of that makes it biologically impossible to lose significant amounts of weight once you are obese. People do it all the time without even a stomach stapling.
And are unable, generally, to keep it off for longer than two years. And will usually gain it all back *even if they keep eating the same low-calorie diet*. As I noted. In my original post. Which referenced a review article. Which summarised the results of pretty much every *long term* (not short term, anyone can drop significant weight in the short term) clinical trial of weight loss programmes over the last twenty years. Additionally, there are significant health risks to 'weight cycling' or yo-yo dieting, including cardiovascular issues. But there are lots of happy benefits associated with exercise and better eating. Which is why concentrating on weight loss as the main object of improving health is not actually all that helpful. Which is what I said in the first place.
Seriously, this conversation is *always* like a brick wall headbanging. It's just uncanny.
weight is often used as a diagnosis of convenience
'Oh, you have a bleeding gash to the head? Yeah, it must be because you're overweight. Ever thought about fixing that, fatty fatpants?' (I exaggerate only slightly.)
And we're all going to die no matter what we do (she says, cheerfully). Hey Evan, I think I *am* going to become a motivational speaker! :)
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I'm afraid I'm considered one of the main offenders on that count
I wasn't thinking of you at all, Dyan! Seriously.
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So yeah, I have a collection of vintage winter coats. I'm not planning on moving anywhere that's 25 degrees in *winter*. Jesus Christ, Simon! The horror. :)
(I suppose 'the world don't move to the beat of just one drum/ what might be right for you may not be right for some', as the Diff'rent Strokes theme song says...)
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Can we not turn this into a fat fight?
George, I'm afraid that once someone says 'it's not rocket science' I have been programmed to respond. ;)
But yes. This conversation is, nine times out of ten, totally judgeypants and dispiriting and I'd probably prefer not to have it again either.
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then they would eat less and so lose weight. It is not rocket science.
I know I am going to regret this, but that is currently, unless we create some magic bullet, false. Once you are a fat person it is HUGELY unlikely (perhaps 95% unlikely?) that you are going to lose large amounts of weight and keep it off permanently. (See the general review of long-term controlled-calorie dieting trials in American Psychologist 62, 3, April 2007, pp. 220-233.) Once someone is obese, it's close to pointless to concentrate on weight loss. We *should* be concentrating on diet, and on exercise, but those things will only improve the health of fat people, and perhaps prevent obesity in kids or non-obese adults. But those measures will probably not cause already-obese people to drop significant pounds.
(I remember the '70s when everyone was thin)
WTF? I remember the 70s too. I cannot express more emphatically that NOT everyone was thin.