gah

Two people I know were laid off today.

This economy and job market blows chunks.

you've got to be fucking kidding me

Obesity 'a threat' to U.S. security Surgeon general urges cultural shift

Kim Severson, Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, January 7, 2003

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An overweight America is killing itself with excess, and all that can save it is a major cultural transformation led by individuals and families, the U.S. surgeon general said Monday.

Speaking to more than 1,000 educators, doctors and public health officials in San Diego at the largest-ever conference on childhood obesity, Dr. Richard Carmona called obesity the fastest growing cause of illness and death in the United States and said it deserved more attention than any other epidemic.

...

"Our preparedness as a nation depends on our health as individuals," he said, noting that he had spent some of his first months in office working with military leaders concerned about obesity and lack of fitness among America's youth. "The military needs healthy recruits," he said.

Oh, puhleeease...So, now if we are fat we are unpatriotic. When will these fuckheads learn that physical fitness and being fat are not mututally exclusive. I am just as fit and healthy as a person half my size. Not to mention that the stats are inflated regarding the number of people whom are "obese" as "obesity" is measure by weight and height, so pro athletes carrying a lot of muscle mass are classified as obese. Not to mention that when I wear a size 8 (on a 5'4 large-sized frame), my weight puts me at "obese". Ridiculous. I was a competitive swimmer at that size and weight.

I am all for getting people more active. But crap like this does not make people exercise more. Shaming people into exercise doesn't work. Telling people to exercise to lose weight won't keep them exercising. Also, promising weight loss for everyone with exercise and healthy diet is a big, fat LIE. Many of us exercise several hours a week, eat well, yet remain at a high weight. We are fit, have low blood pressure, low cholesterol, great endurance, and strength---we just happen to store more fat on our bodies. So many people give up on exercise because they cannot achieve their "ideal weight".

Funny, they don't mention that the normalization of eating disorders in this country over the past 50 years might just have something to do with so many people being "overweight". Maybe if docs hadn't handed out speed to patients in the 50s, 60s, and 70s to lose weight those people would not have weight problems now. Maybe if we didn't glamorize the anorexic body fewer people would try to attain it and wind up failing miserably, all the while teaching their bodies to store every piece of consumed food.

Encouraging people of all sizes to be more active is good. We should be active. I'm one of the most active people I know, but I am also fat. Inactivity makes people unheathy, not fat. Of course, we are such a fat-phobic nation that we cannot seem to focus on the one without immediatelt trying to make everyone skinny.

And please, in a war I'm going to last longer because I'm physically strong, have great endurance, and I have fat stores so I could probably last longer without food, and would stay warmer with less clothing.

The surgeon general can KISS MY FAT ASS.

wheeee....

Being back at dance classes tonight felt good. Good enough, even, that I was able to not get frustrated by my jazz teacher's comment of "C'mon, Jess, you've got some catching up to do". It's true, though. My feet hurt during warm-up and center work during jazz and I was having trouble balancing (though my sinus issues definitely contributed to that). Hip hop was lots of fun. I really do enjoy that class. I love that particular teacher's style and I hope to absorb enough from him to incorporate it into my own choreography.

I still need to ice my knees and eat some more food. Then bed. Then work tomorrow. Dance classes again on Thursday, then I teach on Friday, then five hours of rehersal on Saturday.