The High Cost of Comfort in One's Skin

Caution: There is a naked woman on this page and I don't consider it porn. It is, however, somewhat annoying.

Don't get excited. The naked woman in question is a reasonably modestly posed 20 year old "plus size" model named Lizzi Miller, who posed for the photo which graces the pages of Glamour Magazine. The article attached to it is about body image and "feeling comfortable in your skin.

Online fans have been buzzing about it since it went up late last week.

"I am gasping with delight...I love the woman on p 194!"

That was offered by one commenter, and apparently almost every statement that followed.

Am I glad to see it? Yes and no. Yes, I'm glad for any woman, any person really, to feel comfortable in their skin.

Am I comfortable with this particular woman? No. And here's why.

That little pooch, as the magazine lovingly refers to it, isn't really healthy for a 20 year old woman. It just isn't. If that were a 40 year old woman, she'd have earned it righteously. Maybe a few kids and a few days (or years) of "too busy to take care of me" meat on her bones. But on a 20 year old? Oh, please no.

And while I'm glad not to see one more stick-thin anorexia-infected model, I wonder about articles such as this one and another one in the New York Times suggesting, no, saying outright that it's "hip to be round."

Uh, no it's not. It's actually unhealthy. In fact, it could be downright deadly in a few years.

We all know that Americans have a health problem and it's right around our middle. We're gaining weight at an alarming rate. And to suggest that it's now become stylish to be overweight is outright insanity.

I don't want to call anyone out for their weight issues. I'm not even suggesting Lizzi Miller has a weight issue, but the fact is that the average American puts on 10 pounds per decade after age 20 and that is unhealthy.

Certainly, I have my own weight issues. But to suggest to the younger set, the group coming up, that carrying extra weight around one's middle is stylish is simply cultural suicide.

We're suffering from an epidemic of obesity and overweight in this country. And it's bringing with it something even worse. Right next to our weight issues are the attached health issues. Diabetes will be THE health issue of this 21st century. It is already striking in shocking numbers.

And oh, by the way, if you think the current health care program proposed by President Barack Obama will cost a lot now, you give it ten years, at our current rate of weight gain, and then check back, my friends. We won't have the current administration to blame then. If we continue to gain weight at our current rates, death panels won't be necessary. We'll be dying in record numbers, as we sit in wheelchairs with diabetes-induced blindness and minus our fingers and feet.

Personally, I don't want to pass the later years of my life suffering from numb, or even worse, amputated fingers, toes or full limbs. I have no intention of going blind in my later years, if I can avoid it at any cost. And if that cost means I don't eat the current average of 22 teaspoons of sugar in my daily diet, so be it. That article just linked, by the way, contains your daily bit of news from this blog.

It's NOT hip to be round. It's sad. It's indicative of a culture that has surrendered to its desires and shows no impulse control. If a candy bar a day is going to make you blind in your 60's and possibly kill you, is there really no way to avoid it?

There is. Stop now. Rethink your diet and exercise. It's not just society that will suffer. It's you. Take it personally before it becomes personal. Yes, please feel good about your body, but work at making it something to be proud of.

I have to cut this short. (You know I could go on about this for a lot longer, right?) But it's time for the gym.

Besides, there's nothing ironic, funny or hip about being round.

You Weigh How Much?

I went to a Goodwill store today. It wasn't my first trip. I'm famously thrifty and, since I am currently in the process of outfitting temporary housing in Washington DC, I am in the market for a few things on the cheap. Things such as Goodwill has in spades.

I went wandering through the housewares, just in case anything caught my eye. Then I meandered through the furniture section. I've never been able to get excited about second-hand couches. Then I had a last thought to go look at lamps.

The lamps were really sketchy. I think Ikea's $10 lighting section is a much better idea. And I will say that lately, the word in stores is deflation, not inflation. Seriously, Goodwill is trying to sell cups and bowls that I could get elsewhere, new, for the same price. They need to rethink their approach to pricing.

But this is what caught my eye. You know what these are, right? Remember them from your childhood, perhaps?

They are bathroom scales. They are flat, floor-models designed for some American to step onto as they step out of the shower and see how much they have gained or lost in the preceding 24 hour period. I've never wanted one myself, and I certainly wasn't interested today, but look at that stack! There were eight used bathroom scales, all cast offs, waiting for some "lucky customer" who wanted a deal on scales.

They sorta spoke to me. They chime in agreement with something I've been thinking for a month or two, trying to decide how to say this gently. But there is no gentle way to say it.

American society doesn't resemble people anymore, so much as it brings to mind kernels of corn, popping in hot oil. Walking down a street lately, it seems like if I look away for a moment, another two or three of us will "pop" with extra weight.

Oh yes, it is a hot spot we're in. Government studies show that 67% of us are overweight; another third of that number are actually morbidly obese. Obesity and overweight will cost us billions of dollars in lost productivity and healthcare expenses that we might have averted, if we didn't abuse our bodies this way.

And apparently, some of us want to just settle in to it, too. There's a new reality dating show for people of size. During the commercials for "More to Love," I heard the male lead in the show (because lately, it seems that all shows are about women frantically chasing men) discussing how he likes being a Big Man. I wondered what part he likes most? Feeling cramped in traditional clothing sizes, getting checked regularly for diabetes and heart disease, not being able to get in and out of cars easily or merely using his body as a floatation device at swimming pools. The whole thing makes me sad.

It makes me sad because like most Americans, I do fight my weight a bit. I refuse to go quietly into that good night of cellulite. I workout regularly. I am trying to eat fewer processed foods and make healthier choices. (I know I could make a lot more headway if Frito-Lay would make whole-grain Cheetos. I guess I need to approach them about that.) I'm also trying to enjoy life more and have fewer stresses, but oh what the heck, I like a good bit of stress. Makes me feel alive.

Anyway, back to our Goodwill market's glut on bathroom scales. I've about decided to go back and buy the whole lot of 'em tomorrow. Maybe the manager'd give me a bulk deal? Might be fun to give them as gifts at Christmas. Just to see them show up at Goodwill again by the Monday morning after.