Comments on: The Fatter, the Better

By: elayne

elayne — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 20:02:08 +0000

Okay, here I go, devil’s advocate-ing… while I agree with the overall tone of all y’all’s comments, and (as a “big girl”) very much appreciate the positive tone of this blog, here was my thought upon reading the excerpt of the article:

The researchers suspect that the link is between (o)estrogen and serotonin, and say that very potent oestrogens are primarily found in fatty tissues, suggesting that women with higher body weight may have higher levels, correct?

So in true “which came first” fashion, I have to wonder if the skinny girls were miserable for whatever reason, ate their way to temporary comfort (a bowl of ice cream is better than therapy, IMO, and works quicker than Prozac), became overweight, and THEN the (o)estrogens did whatever they do with the serotonin and helped maintain the happiness.

In other words, I don’t think the concept of “emotional eating” and the results of this study are necessarily mutually exclusive. They could even be complementary, the one supporting the other.

By: JK

JK — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 17:25:40 +0000

Haha, my mom is convinced that all Hollywood marriages end because everyone is starving, and it’s really hard to be pleasant and thoughtful to someone you are no longer trying to impress because all you had for lunch was a plate of broccoli.

By: Tk

Tk — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 21:41:58 +0000

Another point – eating disorders and unhappiness go hand-in-hand. Not that you can’t be a larger woman with an eating disorder, but in general, women and men who suffer from EDs tend to be slender. So that’s a whole other population that are affecting the research.

And again, a US10/UK14 is hardly “heavy”, but it is where UK manufactures start to force you into “plus size” there, and the selection is… not good. I’ve lived in the UK as a UK6 and a UK12/14 and I felt like a frigging blimp walking around TopShop looking at the tags at my later weight.

By: Zaftig

Zaftig — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 19:29:26 +0000

Oh, I’m with you on the significance, Francesca, I just wanted to point that out. I’m a US 14, and blessed with a (relatively!) flat stomach and small waist, and not too bad lumpy squishies so I pretty much wear what the hell I want and feel great doing it! The guys seem to like it, and I can eat baklava often enough to keep me in a good mood. The point of all this rambling is to agree with everyone else – deprivation makes you cranky as hell…I work too hard not to treat myself whenever i feel like it. And sometimes that treat is a Caesar salad, sometimes its a shopping trip and sometimes its a fudgsicle!

By: TRUE

TRUE — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 18:30:12 +0000

“I get very cranky every time I try to cut my caloric consumption in the interests of getting trim.”

Me too–once I was on Optifast for six months and nearly lost my job because I was so distracted. And I shudder to think of what a see-you-next-Tuesday I was to my boyfriend. I can cut calories, but it has to be really, really gradual, and I still wind up being obsessed with what I can and can’t eat.

By: Tachina

Tachina — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 17:56:41 +0000

I’m with c-f on this one. I think the message is that we’re literally shaped by the things we love to do. Someone who’s skinny because she gets great pleasure from sports is going to be happy. Someone (me) who gets great pleasure from a spicy cream sauce and an extra martini is going to be happy with some extra padding. The problem comes when we deny ourselves these things, and expect to be happy with the results. It shouldn’t suprise anyone that people who refuse to do the things that make them happy, aren’t happy.

By: class-factotum

class-factotum — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 15:24:00 +0000

Perhaps the reason many unnaturally thin women (as opposed to those who were just born with those genes) are depressed is because they are hungry.

I get very cranky every time I try to cut my caloric consumption in the interests of getting trim. When you’re hungry, that’s all you can think about. That, and the greater philosophical issue of why I am fighting nature and doing something that makes me feel so crummy?

By: Cat

Cat — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 14:17:38 +0000

“I know of men who refuse to go on blind dates with any woman who wears more than a size 4.”

You’ve got to be kidding me. Holy crap! I would invite any such “men” to kiss my size 2 butt.

By: Francesca

Francesca — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 11:00:56 +0000

Zaftig-

It’s still significant.

The next size after American 10 is 12, and many Americans consider that to be “ginormous” because they only have a vague idea that their favorite actresses wear a size 4. They don’t realize that a woman who wears a 12 or a 14 might be perfectly proportional in every way, no lumpy-squishies AT ALL. (And a woman who wears a 16 or 18 or 28 or 36 might have some lumpy-squishies, or a lot of lumpy-squishies, but it doesn’t indicate anything about her work ethic, her happiness, her feelings of sexuality, etc etc)

I know of men who refuse to go on blind dates with any woman who wears more than a size 4. I’m 100 percent positive that they only have a theoretical idea of what size 6 really LOOKS LIKE.

The BMI project is so important!

By: Zaftig

Zaftig — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 00:35:37 +0000

Hello…. not to rain on the parade or anyhing, but you do realise a British 14 is the same as a US 10, which isn’t overweight (I’d be pleased to consistently fit into a 10!). So, this size used for the research isn’t REALLY overweight.. pleasantly zaftig perhaps, but not overweight…