Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

Long ago, there was a clothing line called Chubbettes. As if the name wasn’t insulting enough, they ran ads like this:

It reads:

Your chubby lass can be the belle of her class

When I was a kid, Sears had a line of clothing called “Husky.” To this day, I HATE the word. I was so embarrassed that grandma made me try on husky sized clothes that I am still damaged by it even now. The same could be said for Chubbettes, Plus sizes, or Women’s sizes. It doesn’t matter WHAT you call larger sized clothing. The fact that they are isolated from the “normal” clothes is enough to make us feel ashamed.

Some people use the shame to motivate themselves. They say things like:

• I will never shop in the plus sizes again.
• I won’t ever have to buy clothes from Layne Bryant again.
• I’ll be able to wear “normal” clothes again.

None of these mantras have worked for me. Inside, I know that clothing companies are losing out on a lot of business because they insist on drawing lines between thin people and fat people. It’s discrimination and THEY are the ones losing out.

The truth of the matter is, your chubby lass CAN be the belle of her class. It doesn’t take a svelte body to win over hearts. It doesn’t even take a cute dress that fits well. All it takes is being friendly and outgoing. You can be thin and beautiful, but you’re never fully dressed without a smile.

The next time you have to try on clothes in the “chubbettes” section, remember the look on that girl’s face in the ad. THAT is what makes her the belle of her class. That flirty look behind the book, not the clothes and not the body. You can finally get to goal weight, but if you never learn how to look at people like that, you’ll stay a wallflower forever, no matter what size you are.

Advert via: Found in Mom’s Basement: Vintage ad for Chubbettes — clothing for your “chubby lass”

I love this LOLCat from I Can Has Cheezburger.

It reads:

Your Mama Loves U
even if the other kids calls u fat, she knows uz jes fluffy.

There is something incredibly powerful about knowing that someone loves you just the way you are. So many times, people tell you that you need to love yourself in order to heal. That’s a good way to get to a healthy weight, but it’s not the only way.

You can draw from the love of the people around you, whether it’s your mother, your spouse, a sibling or a cherished friend. Become the person they believe you are. Whenever you are thinking of slacking off on your exercise, eating food that you know will harm you or restricting your food too much, think about them. Don’t let them down because they love you just how you are now and they will also love you when you finally reach your goals.

This postcard from PostSecret showed up today and it made me think.

It reads:

I think one of the reasons I like you is because you’re not insanely thin, like the rest of my friends.

Honestly, thoughts like these make me scared to lose weight. What if I lose weight and no one likes me anymore? I’d have to change my lifestyle quite a bit in order to be thin. What if it changes me so much that I lose all my old friends?

I’m sure many of us have fears like this and they don’t all have to do with weight. Going to college, getting a promotion, getting married (or divorced) or even having children can bring up all these same fears. There is only ONE thought that makes me feel better when I start thinking like this:

Things are going to change anyway.

There is NOTHING I can do to stop things from changing. I can’t predict HOW they are going to change, but the one thing I can count on is that my life will be different in five years whether I lose the weight or not.

I might as well have a different life AND a healthy body.

PostSecret‘s beneficiary is the National Hopeline Network. It is a 24-hour hotline (1 (800) SUICIDE) for anyone who is thinking about suicide or knows someone who is considering it.

I heard the rumor on a comment from Christine on my entry about Figure Magazine:

• Starling Fitness » Figure Magazine – The New Shape of Fashion

I realize this post is ancient but I am crying. I just got notice today that Figure is being replaced by Ladies Home Journal of all magazines! NOOOOOOoooooo. If I wanted a saccharin magazine I’d buy one. I am SOOOOO bummed!!!! I overlooked the annoying fluff and was so inspired by the women and clothing. I have been anxiously awaiting my next issue and then instead I get this.

Was it true? Was Figure Magazine dead and gone? I checked the Figure Magazine website and this letter to the readers was there:

Dear Figure magazine readers,

Thank you for your extraordinary passion and support throughtout our years of publishing Figure magazine. We are saddened to announce that as of our March/April 2009 issue, we will be ceasing publication of the magazine and shutting down the website.

This was a painful decision to make. We have shared your vision to create an empowering, inclusive place for women of all shapes to come and celebrate fashion and themselves. However, we are facing unprecedented economic times and unfortunately are unable to continue publishing.

If you are a magazine subscriber, we will be contacting you regarding your remaining issues.

You all have made Figure an exciting and dynamic community. It has truly been a joy to serve the needs of today’s fashion-conscious woman through the magazine and website, and we look forward to continuing to serve you in our stores and online at www.lanebryant.com, www.fashionbug.com, and www.catherines.com. We hope to see you there.

Sincerely,
The Publishers of Figure Magazine

Christine is right. Ladies Home Journal is no replacement for Figure Magazine and the best we can do in this situation is to find a replacement online. One good one is a blog I’ve found recently:

• Too Fat For Fashion

Posting there has slowed recently, but you can read their archives for some fun things and motivation to be fabulous no matter what size you are.

If you have a fashion fix, here is a GREAT list of online shops that cater to all sizes:

• MaryMc’s Fat Acceptance Stuff–Clothing and Accessories

It seems like the magazine industry is blaming their demise on the economy instead of themselves for not adapting to the web world. Don’t let the death of Figure magazine be a blow to accepting yourself the way you are. It’s the first step toward a healthier life.

Ray Zahab broke the speed record of the trek to the North Pole. He walked while dragging a sled in forty below weather. The most inspirational part of this story is that he started running when he was thirty-four years old after being a long-time smoker living a VERY sedentary lifestyle.

This video of his talk at TED is so inspirational that it’s worth the download time:

Not only did they trek for ten or fifteen hours at a time, they blogged the entire time. You can read them here:

• South Pole Quest 2008

He says:

“I remember thinking, ‘What do I take from this journey? That I’m this uber-endurance guy?’ As I stand here today talking to you guys, I’ve been running for the grand sum of five years and a year before that, I was a pack a day smoker living a very sedentary lifestyle. What I take from this journey is that in fact, within every fiber of my belief standing here, I know that we can make the impossible possible. I’m learning this at forty. Can you imagine being thirteen years old, hearing those words and believing it?”

No matter how old you are, BELIEVE it. If you have ever thought that being fit and healthy was impossible, it is POSSIBLE. You CAN do it. The only thing standing in your way is your head telling you that you can’t. If Ray Zahab can become an uber-endurance athlete at an age when most people think that their careers are over, then we can get to a healthy weight. We just have to keep on trudging through the snow, pulling our sleds of history behind us.

This postcard from PostSecret showed up yesterday. I feel that it’s the key to eating healthy and taking the time to exercise.

It reads:

To all the people I’ve tried pleasing during my lifetime:

I am finally going to please myself.

If this makes you unhappy…

GET OVER IT!

The truth is, you can’t make other people happy. Sure, there are things that you can do to please them, but their happiness depends on THEM. The ONLY person you can control on this planet is YOU. Concentrate on making yourself happy and the rest of the people around you will follow suit or struggle as they always have.

You have to take care of yourself FIRST before you can take care of anyone else.

PostSecret‘s beneficiary is the National Hopeline Network. It is a 24-hour hotline (1 (800) SUICIDE) for anyone who is thinking about suicide or knows someone who is considering it.

My friend, Jere, had a strange incident the other day. It was wonderful reading it:

• Blind Prophecy » Hey, good looking!

You know how sometimes you’re walking down the street casually glancing in the windows of the various shops on a sunny day.

And then you pass a shop where you see a cute guy inside the store, so you slow your pace just a bit.

And in the space of time it takes to walk one more step, you think, “He’s cute…

“But he’s probably in a relationship or out of my league…

Read the rest here: Blind Prophecy » Hey, good looking!

I don’t want to ruin the end of the story, because it’s a great one. I want to be that kind of person, too, Jere!

I was browsing through Flicker the other day and I found these runner photos. I thought you’d like to see them.

I read teen lit all the time, mostly because the science fiction is better than the sci-fi written for adults (less sex and more cool ideas: see Scott Westerfeld for more). While perusing the teen section at my local bookstore, I saw The Fat Girl by Marilyn Sachs. The blurb on the back of the book was compelling to me.

Jeff Lyons can’t stand Ellen de Luca, the fat girl in his ceramics class. She’s huge and clumsy, can’t throw a pot to save her life, and stares at Jeff all the time. But he’s a “nice guy” and feels bad when Ellen overhears his hurtful remarks about her. The “crumbs of kindness” he tosses her way soon turn into advice on weight loss, college, clothes, hair… To everyone’s surprise, good-looking Jeff soon dumps his pretty girlfriend to be with the fat girl! But as her pounds melt away, Jeff resents the happy, independent young woman he has unleashed. Where is the gratitude for all he’s done for her?

Through most of this book, I had a uneasy sense of distress for Ellen. Here was this good-looking guy who seemed to enjoy being with her only because she was easy to control. He dressed her, he chose their activities, he was in complete control and when he wasn’t in control, he was pissed off at her. It just didn’t seem like a healthy relationship. Fortunately, Marilyn Sachs is a brilliant writer who can make even the controlling Jeff Lyons a likable character and the story works out well for everyone in the end.

Overweight teen girls LOVE stories about fat girls who lose the weight and end up with the cutest guy in school. I know this because I was an overweight (or so I had been told my whole life) teenage girl. My beloved fat girl book that I read over and over in ninth grade was Dreams Can Come True by Jane Claypool Miner. It was about a girl name Ellie who lost a lot of weight right at the time that her mother moved her to California, so none of the kids knew how fat she used to be at her old school and none of them were surprised when she tried out for cheerleader. It all risks crashing down around her when her old friend from the Midwest comes back to visit, exposing her dark secret of her past self. I LOVED that book and read it countless times. Even now, I’ve come to realize that my desire to move to California was first spawned by that very book.

Unlike Dreams Can Come True, The Fat Girl is a book about losing the weight and coming into your own life and an additional story about not allowing anyone to control you or your dreams. It’s a better role model story about health and fitness for young girls than Dreams Can Come True and I wish I could go back in time and give it to my fourteen year old self instead.

This video was made by BenjaminLotan. His description of it:

Compilation of Rachel Ray mmmmm’ing after tasting food on her show 40 dollars a Day… slowed down to 40% original speed…

All of the shows on the Food Network seem strangely obsessed with food. I know it’s the Food Network, but come ON! It can’t taste THAT good! Of course then there are some of the shows on the Food Network, where the insanely skinny hostess tastes all the food, but you never see her swallow on camera. I just imagine that she spits it out as soon as the camera stops rolling.

This obsession with food CAN’T be healthy.

Via: Littlest, Yellowest, Differentest – RACHEL RAY EATS HER FEELINGS