All this talk about the health risks of obesity is apparently upsetting.
In a new study released this week by the Endocrine Society, obese people reported that, not only do they feel disheartened by the publicity about their condition, they also think that regarding them as "sick" is counterproductive.
They've tried to lose weight, as recommended endlessly by the media and by their doctors, but most to apparently little avail. The "culture of blame," the study says, doesn't help their efforts.
I'm guessing posts like this, from skinny girls who think they are fat, don't help much: "These blogs say that fat people should have a right to be fat. Have at it, but I have a right to think that you're lazy as a result and have a right to want to deny you health coverage because you are STATISTICALLY more of a risk to me than a healthy-sized person."
For moral support, and a healthy dose of righteous indignation, perhaps the frustrated and heavy should check out those aforementioned blogs, from the so-called fatosphere, written by folks who think those extra pounds are just fine.
From Shapely Prose, in the first of 10 principles explaining the author's take on fat and health: "Weight itself is not a health problem, except in the most extreme cases (i.e., being underweight or so fat you're immobilized."
And from Big Fat Blog, in commenting on coverage of NBC newscaster Tim Russert's recent death: "You know, when Tim Russert passed away this past week there was just a little tiny, tiny bit of me that hoped, 'Crap, I hope they don't pin it on his weight.' "
Similar takes can be found at fat fu, big fat deal and other sites in the fatosphere.
Of course, simply saying "lose weight" doesn't help people do so. But pretending that the weight isn't taking a toll seems deliberately naive. Guess we'll all just have to wait for the drug research to pay off.
Does your breakfast consist of a turkey sandwich? Maybe it should. Eating a substantial breakfast high in carbohydrates and protein may help people curb their appetites and cravings later in the day, allowing them to drop pounds and keep them off.
That's the conclusion of a recent study that compared small-breakfast eaters with big-breakfast eaters. Researchers assigned two different diets to 94 obese, inactive women. Both diets were low in fat and total calories, but differed in how carbs and calories were allocated.
In the low-carbohydrate, small-breakfast diet, 46 women consumed 17 grams of carbs, 51 grams of protein, 78 grams of fat and 1,085 calories a day. Breakfast was the smallest meal at 290 calories and only 7 grams of carbs and 12 grams of protein.
In the modified low-carb, big-breakfast diet, the other study subjects ate 97 grams of carbs, 93 grams of protein, 46 grams of fat and 1,240 calories a day. Breakfast was a whopping 610 calories, with 58 grams of carbs and 47 grams of protein.
Weight loss was the focus of the first half of the eight-month study, and the second half concentrated on weight maintenance. After four months, both groups had lost about the same amount of weight on average — 28 pounds for the small-breakfast group, and 23 pounds for the big-breakfast group.
But after eight months, there was a stunning difference between the two: the small-breakfast eaters had regained 18 pounds, and the big-breakfast eaters went down an additional 16.5 pounds. Women in the big-breakfast group also reported feeling less hungry and subject to fewer cravings than their small-breakfast-eating counterparts.
"Most diets are just restrictive and don't take into consideration carb cravings," says endocrinologist Dr. Daniela Jakubowicz, a clinical professor of medicine at the Medical College of Virginia at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. She was the lead author of the study, presented recently at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society, being held this week in San Francisco. "If you restrict them, you end up craving them more, and then you suddenly abandon the diet."
Those cravings can be especially bad in the afternoon and evenings, when snacking on candy, cookies and other unhealthful, carb-rich foods can do a diet in. Jakubowicz says that time of day also coincides with lower serotonin levels (serotonin is a neurotransmitter concerned with mood and pain perception that's stimulated when carbs are eaten).
But eating higher levels of carbs and protein in the morning can help stave off hunger and carb cravings later, she adds. "Most obese people aren't happy eating breakfast in the morning. But when you eat a very small quantity in the morning, the brain activates the emergency system, and it perceives it will never eat again and prepares for starvation." That can trigger overindulging in fattening foods. Jakubowicz points out that the big-breakfast plan also allows for a few indulgences, such as candy and cookies -- as long as they're in the morning.
Last week, we explained in the catchily headlined Why It's Hard to Maintain Weight Loss exactly why a newly svelte figure almost never stays that way. The picture wasn't pretty. As Shari Roan reported, the body has several systems designed to preserve weight at its highest level -- it likes those extra pounds.
But it wasn't our intention that readers abandon their weight struggles -- and hope -- and stock up on barrel-sized bags of chips, hot dogs and assorted "stuffed" foods. So we felt morally compelled to offer a "don't give up" message.
Thus, for this week's "How 6 people lost weight and kept it off," Jeannine Stein tracked down some of the relatively few people who have managed to keep the weight off long-term.
What she found is that they changed their lives completely. They didn't diet. They didn't go for an after-dinner walk for a couple of weeks. Nope. They consistently eat far less than they did before, they've made exercise part of their routines, and they're constantly working to maintain their weight loss. Weight-control is now second nature to them.
It's daunting, I know. And tiring just thinking about it.
But the folks profiled seemed ... happy. And healthy. And generally positive about themselves. ... Even without stuffed food.
So because we want to fulfill our journalistic mission of improving people's lives -- and because we've got a whole passel of research saying readers want useful information -- we offer up these stories on how to fight your body's best efforts to regain the fat.
(Besides, there's a limit to the number of stories any of us can stand bemoaning the "obesity crisis" -- not to mention the use of the word "overweight" as a noun. Enough already.)
Amid the vast landscape of weight loss books (and by vast, we mean headache-inducingly massive), a few stand out. One is Janice Taylor's "All Is Forgiven, Move On," a follow-up to her 2006 book, "Our Lady of Weight Loss." The second, like the first, is a funny, informative, enlightening and uplifting look at losing weight -- and it even includes crafts!
In "All Is Forgiven" (Viking Studio, 2008), Taylor doles out even more sage advice for dropping pounds and keeping them off (or as she puts it, "permanent fat removal"). What we appreciate most is the matter-of-fact, girlfriend-ish way she talks to her readers. While she admonishes them to eat more vegetables, exercise and for God's sake get rid of the junk food, Taylor never does it in a finger wagging way. Nor is she horribly dry and tedious, even when quoting research studies. Like "Our Lady," she also includes easy, tasty, healthy recipes. All of that helps take the stress out of dieting and exercising, which, as we know, can be angst-producing and lead to the dreaded downward spiral of self-loathing.
"If people have lost weight," says Taylor by phone from her New York home, "there's fear and anxiety if they've fallen off the wagon that this monster has returned, and that sets off the downward spiral."
That's why she decided to focus on forgiveness and moving on in the new book, hence the title. "At the heart it's about loving yourself," she adds. "I can't think of anything more important than loving yourself, in a non-narcissistic way. Then you can be there for other people."
Taylor has kept off more than 50 pounds for several years, and works as a weight loss coach, motivational speaker and hypnotherapist, in addition to blogging for Beliefnet.
She shares her philosophy about the realities of losing weight: "It's as hard as you want to make it. People have this agreed-upon reality that it's this horrible thing. So you start out depressed, deprived and defeated, and that's good. It gives you enough energy to get going. But if you think it's going to be hard and you're never going to make it, what makes this time different from all the others?"
That made us dive back into the book for one more bit of inspiration.
"We have a tendency to negate our wins by focusing on the minor slips of the day," Taylor writes. "If you said, 'No, thank you,' four times, rejoice. What else did you do today that was stupendous?"
In a few weeks, The Times Health section will publish a special section on weight loss -- how metabolism works, the different dietary needs of individuals, the true importance of exercise, the most promising avenues of research and more. Nutritionists, doctors, physical trainers, authors (by the score) are more than happy to offer recommendations and guidelines, but sometimes, the best advice comes from people who have been there.
So if you've lost a lot of weight -- and kept it off -- share your story with us. We want to know how you managed it. What, specifically, did you do to drop those pounds? And, perhaps more important, how do you stay on track?
A "lot of weight" varies by person -- 20 pounds, 100 pounds, more -- you tell us what it means. But by "kept it off," we mean, say, three years or longer. Many people can shed dramatic amounts of weight and maintain that loss for six months or even a year. But it almost always creeps back on. We want to hear from those rare few who have broken that cycle. So do many others.
You can post to this blog or you can e-mail the Health section directly at health@latimes.com. We look forward to hearing from you.
We don't know about you, but when that alarm clock buzzes at 5 a.m., we bounce out of bed, throw on our workout clothes, grab a protein bar and head straight to the gym. OK, maybe that's not the scenario every day. Perhaps some mornings we need a little extra boost.
So did Heidi Roizen, but she did more than cut out pictures of Jessica Biel and tape them to her refrigerator. She wrote upbeat pop songs about slimming down, such as "I'm a Hottie Now," "The Incredible Shrinking Woman," "Think I'll Go to Saks" and "Skinny Jeans," then put them on a CD titled "SkinnySongs." Here are sample lyrics from "Skinny Jeans":
Skinny jeans, skinny jeans, you're still hanging 'round
In the back of my closet and that's bringin' me down
this morning, I woke up, and made me a vow
skinny jeans, gotta get back, into you somehow
"I sat down and said, what would motivate me to lose weight?" she says, explaining the genesis of the album. "It was the image of me fitting into those jeans again, feeling great about myself, all these kinds of positive things. For a lot of women -- yes, we know the health benefits, but they're not as visually exciting as fitting into skinny jeans."
Roizen, a former Silicon Valley venture capitalist, hooked up with producers, musicians and singers (five are featured on the CD) and created "SkinnySongs" to help others stay inspired on their path to weight loss and health -- think of it as something to listen to on the way to the gym to get pumped up for your workout. "I know how to diet and exercise," she says. "It's getting the motivation to do it day in and day out, and not turn to chocolate chip cookies when you're having a bad moment." Roizen says it took her a little less than a year to lose 36 pounds via this byzantine regimen: "Eat less and exercise more."
She concedes that the music isn't for everyone. We thought some of the songs were a little jingle-y -- something you might hear in a commercial featuring an attractive woman drinking a slimming shake while twirling around. But whatever works -- and it might be a nice alternative to getting yelled at by your boot camp instructor.
Ask any woman who's ever dieted along with her husband, and she'll tell you: Men lose weight easier than women do.
"It's their metabolism. It's their testosterone," said personal trainer Jillian Michaels. The co-star of NBC's reality show "The Biggest Loser" added that men simply don't carry their fat and hold on to it like women do.
Five seasons in to "The Biggest Loser," and a woman has yet to walk away with the prize, leading some critics to say that the scales are tilted -- literally -- in favor of men. But that could change Tuesday night during "The Biggest Loser" season finale that begins at 8 on NBC.
For the uninitiated, the show sequesters a group of obese men and women with two tough-as-nails trainers -- and watches as the drama unfolds to see who can lose the largest percentage of their body weight.
This season, fans of the show were given the power to vote online to decide which of the remaining male contestants will get the third and final spot in the weight-loss competition that comes with a $250,000 cash prize. Ironically, the outcome of that vote could determine whether a woman finally walks away with the prize.
If the audience votes for Roger, the affable former football player who has lost 144 lbs. will likely go on to win the game. A vote for the fiercely competitive Mark, however, could boost the chances that Ali, a former championship synchronized swimmer who lost 99 lbs., could become the first-ever female to win the U.S. title. The fourth contestant for the prize is Kelly. She's a long shot, even as she endeared herself to viewers with her Little Engine that Could attitude.
Executive producer Mark Koops said there are no plans to change the structure of the show. (Some have suggested creating two prizes -- one for the women, and one for the men.) He says, however, that it's just a matter of time before a woman wins.
Tami Dennis, who takes the word "skeptic" to previously uncharted territory, is editor of The Times' Health section. She's adamant that pitches promoting awareness days, weeks or months are, by their nature, non-stories. And, because she's an adult, she refuses to use words like "veggies," "tummy" and "yummy."
Rosie Mestel, Health section deputy editor, studied genetics before abandoning flies, fungi and DNA for health/medical writing. Her hero is the biologist Ernst Haeckel, whose jellyfish paintings inspired snazzy chandeliers. Her favorite toast-spread is Marmite, a British delicacy made of yeast extract. Her least-favorite word is "millenniums."
Susan Brink has made health and medicine her beat for 26 of her 28 years in the business. She’s covered a wide range of disease and health policy stories, and is always on the lookout for fresh angles. Few things make her happier than busting through preconceived notions to give readers an accurate view of people behaving as…well, real people.
Melissa Healy is a staff writer for the Health section reporting from Washington D.C. Healy's a veteran of The Times' National staff, having covered the Pentagon, Congress, poverty and social welfare, the environment, and the White House before shifting to Health in 2003. She writes frequently about mental health and human behavior, about federal health policy, prescription medication and ethics in medicine. More wonk than wellness freak, Healy chooses to believe in the health benefits of coffee and wine, and considers water a better work-out medium than beverage.
After a brief stint as a sports writer, Shari Roan turned to health journalism and has covered the topic for The Times for 18 years. She is the author of three books and the mother of two daughters, both teenagers who refer to her as a "health freak." She likes to jog, watch baseball and is very happy that dark chocolate contains some health benefit.
Jeannine Stein writes about fitness, sports medicine and obesity for the Health section. She’s a gym rat from way back and never met an elliptical trainer she didn’t like. Well, maybe one or two. She tempers exercise with a steady diet of reality television because she believes it’s all about balance.
That's the conclusion of a recent study that compared small-breakfast eaters with big-breakfast eaters. Researchers assigned two different diets to 94 obese, inactive women. Both diets were low in fat and total calories, but differed in how carbs and calories were allocated. 
Amid the vast landscape of weight loss books (and by vast, we mean headache-inducingly massive), a few stand out. One is 
She shares her philosophy about the realities of losing weight: "It's as hard as you want to make it. People have this agreed-upon reality that it's this horrible thing. So you start out depressed, deprived and defeated, and that's good. It gives you enough energy to get going. But if you think it's going to be hard and you're never going to make it, what makes this time different from all the others?"
So did Heidi Roizen, but she did more than cut out pictures of Jessica Biel and tape them to her refrigerator. She wrote upbeat pop songs about slimming down, such as "I'm a Hottie Now," "The Incredible Shrinking Woman," "Think I'll Go to Saks" and "Skinny Jeans," then put them on a CD titled 
Roizen, a former Silicon Valley venture capitalist, hooked up with producers, musicians and singers (five are featured on the CD) and created "SkinnySongs" to help others stay inspired on their path to weight loss and health -- think of it as something to listen to on the way to the gym to get pumped up for your workout. "I know how to diet and exercise," she says. "It's getting the motivation to do it day in and day out, and not turn to chocolate chip cookies when you're having a bad moment." Roizen says it took her a little less than a year to lose 36 pounds via this byzantine regimen: "Eat less and exercise more." 
