I have a love/hate relationship with Halloween, and Halloween costumes. OK, it’s mostly a hate-based relationship. I haven’t dressed up since I was ten and the few occasions where I have “worn a costume,” it’s been my making a half-assed attempt to be something where I could wear clothes I already owned (see: Bridget Jones [...]

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Artificial sweetener is everywhere. Calorie conscious individuals, such as myself, long gave up sugar — it’s how many calories for how many tablespoons? No thanks! — not wanting to “waste points” on sweet tea, sugar in coffee, etc.  And why drink sugar when the alternative was even sweeter, and advertised as zero calories? ZERO! But [...]

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The first weight loss memoir I ever read & reviewed was I’m Not The New Me by Wendy McClure. The original post appeared on my blog Mavenity, with the book review folded into a ramble about my personal life. In honor of the new launch of Curvy Nerd Books, I am reposting my review with [...]

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I’ve been avidly following the saga of American Apparel’s “plus-size” model competition, and the entry of a fantastic woman named Nancy Upton, but previously chose not to add to the many, many blogs about it. Until now. Quick refresher: American Apparel, which makes skimpy clothing for very small people who like to pose naked, decided [...]

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Total honesty: I really like myself. Like, really! Just as I am. (cue Mr. Darcy moment, only by myself) I have some more weight to lose, but it’s becoming less and less important as I gain a better perspective on weight, health, fitness and my body, and just plain learn to love myself physically. I [...]

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You know where fat shaming and food guilt are absent? On my dishware! Luckily, Fishs Eddy is there for me — now I can have demotivational messages that remind me I shouldn’t have eaten that, fatty, right on my dishware! No, really. Called “Intervention-Ware,” these meet-cute plates don messages such as: “It’s hard to be [...]

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Last night, I rewatched one of my absolute favorite documentaries — Consuming Kids. It’s fabulous from start to finish, and despite being a few years old is still completely relevant. It is, in short, about how deregulation of the advertising & marketing industry when it comes to kids has lead to a generation of super [...]

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An additional, key takeaway from the recent article I posted about, which examines the morality assigned to certain body types & disorders, was that the media, and society at large, don’t believe that overweight/obese people can have eating disorders. This is due, in large part, to it being ingrained in our culture, via the “pulling [...]

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As I’ve mentioned before, The Biggest Loser is my ultimate guilty pleasure reality TV show. Ethically, it goes against pretty much everything I stand for — it’s foundation is (sugar-coated) fat hate, body shaming, fat shaming and reinforcing the SHEER WILLPOWER diet. But I love a good makeover story – always have – and seeing [...]

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I am NERDING OUT. I stumbled upon an academic article published in 2010, which examined media portrayals of the eating disorders anorexia & bulimia, vs. obesity & the eating disorder of food addiction, over approximately a ten year period. The article is by a professor and grad student at UCLA. For those of you who [...]

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