Reality Fiction
R-E-S-P-E-C-T: soul queen Aretha Franklin sang it best. Losing weight has a lot to do with respect. Do you respect people because they are thinner, while showing less respect for those with extra poundage? Are you shown less respect when heavier and more respect as you lose weight? There is something to be said for hard work, and losing weight and keeping it off is hard work. Continue reading “Get Me Some Respect”
Ever notice that happy, giving, positive people are, well, happy, giving, and positive (yes, I know, sometimes you want to slap them, but that’s not my point)? They focus on the present or on helping others. The glass is always half full. Continue reading “The Art of Weightlessness”
Why does it take a tragedy or sudden shock to wake us up from complacency and make us realize what is really important? Some of us go through life thinking everything’s okay and fate will work out all the kinks. Others live in denial or are just trying to survive or allow themselves to be controlled by anger or resentment or mistakes. Continue reading “When the bell tolls”
Lots of people have had near-death experiences. Some claim their lives flashed before their eyes. Others became focused on the things which truly mattered to them. I had a near-death experience in the hospital and yes, I thought about my children and the man I care for at The End. But it was what I thought about on the other side of the fatal moment which changed my life. Continue reading “Dying to Live”
Don’t you wish you had a rewind button? How many times have we said, done or assumed something which was in error and it made a situation worse? Imagine, having learned a lesson the hard way, you could instantly rewind the scenario and repeat it but achieve a more positive outcome? Continue reading “Rewinding Life”
Fat comes with unwelcome side effects such as diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease, back and knee pain, and gall stones. But the weight of regret is an even greater burden to bear, and results in guilty feelings, annoyance, shame, sadness, and wishing—wishing you had made better choices in the past. Continue reading “Granny Panties and Regret”
Old habits die hard—something you’ll discover when it comes to dieting. That’s why it’s called “die”ting. You must kill those old thought patterns which got you into size XXXXL in the first place.  Continue reading “Old Habits Die Hard”
Is there any feeling quite as thrilling as shopping for clothes and finding you have to go down a size? It’s like winning a trophy in a competition, proof that your dieting is paying off. It encourages us to work harder. We aren’t at the beginning of the diet journey any longer. We’re already down the road. Continue reading “The Road From Here”
When is fat acceptable? At what points to you cross over from being “normal” to a few pounds overweight, to overweight, to fat? Sure, you can calculate your body mass index (BMI) according to your height, weight and age to find out technically where you stand on the fat scale, but even if you fall in the “Normal” category, you can still be overweight and unhappy with yourself.   Continue reading “When is FAT acceptable?”
Which is the best way to lose weight? Ask ten different people and you will get ten different answers.  I say the best way to lose weight is to not find it in the first place. Continue reading “Which is the best way to lose weight?”
Dieting is frustrating. You eventually hit the “plateau,” when your body refuses to let go of the pounds no matter how much you exercise and starve yourself. And of course, even the most cursory of research will give you conflicting views on how to get past the plateau. Continue reading “Weight-Loss Surgery “To do or not to do that is the question””
Why do we eat? Dumb question, right? Of course, we eat so we don’t die of starvation. We eat to live. But if we’re honest with ourselves, we eat for other reasons, reasons which contribute to our wide girths. Continue reading “Why Do We Eat”
There’s an advertisement put out by the anti-smoking campaigners which reads, “Smoking keeps on giving.” It shows a man smoking and the smoke drifting past four other persons. The idea is to show how second-hand smoke affects those around us. Continue reading “The Fat Effect”
Being fat isn’t just a source of shame. It’s also a source of health issues. While historically a woman with a bit of meat on her bones was viewed as healthy and therefore fertile, nowadays, excess meat on those bones can mean poor health and infertility. Yup, as good as that pizza looks, it’s the Grim Reaper that’s the delivery boy. Continue reading “Fat – Oh The Shame!”
When you are overweight, it is an unspoken rule that you must be larger than life—no pun intended. What I mean is the driving need to try harder, to be “more” than you are in order to be accepted. You have got to be big and boisterous and jolly to make up for the fact that you are big. You must give others a reason to like you besides your uniqueness. You must bribe them into friendship. Continue reading “Fat People’s Rule – Be Larger Than Life”
You can always expect the unexpected. So why are we surprised when it happens? Whether it is comedy or tragedy, the unexpected brings out the real us, the person we try to keep under a polished veneer of gentility and complicity. Continue reading “Expect The Unexpected”
Is there room enough in the world for fat people? If calculations are correct, physically, there is. Not counting Antarctica, the population density of the planet is 115 persons per square kilometer. Some say the earth’s population can fit into one city; others claim we can all fit into the state of Texas (but Texans are known for their absurd claims on size, so I’ll have to get back with you on that one). Continue reading “Is there room enough in the world for fat people?”
I’m planning to write a book entitled How to Extract Yourself from Embarrassing Moments with Your Pride Intact. Actually, the book is already half written. It’s based on a lifetime of embarrassing moments. Problem is, I haven’t figured out how to extract myself from these moments with my pride intact, so don’t look for it on bookshelves any time soon. Continue reading “How to Extract Yourself from Embarrassing Moments…Pride Intact”
First impressions are everything, and when you’re overweight and on a first date, you have to work harder to look more appealing than if you are a slender or pleasingly curvaceous beauty who’s never had to try to get a date. Continue reading “First Impressions”
When life gives you lemons, add vodka and throw a party. Why? Because if you don’t, the lemons are going to go bad anyway, so you might as well use them to your advantage. Continue reading “When Life Gives You Lemons”