Remember this...

[Veronica]

The Special K pinch an inch ads?

When did Americans decide that love handles were okay and so what if you could pinch 3, 4 or 5 inches?


Where's my Big Gulp and my pound of French Fries?


Veronica

[Veronica]

I think obsessing is not a good idea, but I firmly believe that many Americans are at an unhealthy weight and should put a little more thought into what they eat.

Veronica

[marni]

for true enlightenment go to peopleofwalmart.com

truly scary.

marni

[jessmarimba]

There are days when I think all of those photos came from the wal-mart up the street from me!

I rarely go there, but on a sunday when you need antifreeze, weedwacker wire, and feta, and only want to make one stop...

[emily_in_nc]

The sad thing is, I weigh < 105 lbs and can still pinch an inch (or more!) in several areas.

[zoom-zoom]

The sad thing is, I weigh < 105 lbs and can still pinch an inch (or more!) in several areas.

I can pinch more now at 150#s than I could pre-kid at 185. I have horribly inelastic skin and a lot of saggy, pouchy bits left from motherhood and weight loss.

[limewave]

I can pinch more now at 150#s than I could pre-kid at 185. I have horribly inelastic skin and a lot of saggy, pouchy bits left from motherhood and weight loss.

Ditto.

[Miranda]

The sad thing is, I weigh < 105 lbs and can still pinch an inch (or more!) in several areas.

I can pinch more now at 150#s than I could pre-kid at 185. I have horribly inelastic skin and a lot of saggy, pouchy bits left from motherhood and weight loss.

Ditto.

I personally refer to mine as a "fruit roll up" lol.

I was a little over 200lbs when I had DD. At a good training weight I'm about 120lbs. Since my crash, I've stayed at 130lbs. At 5'5" and 42yo, that's still a healthy acceptable weight.

It's just irritating when you gain a pound, it sorta "hangs" in the fruit roll up skin, vs spreading out. Ugh, instant muffin top.

Ya... I agree with you V, on the Special K ad... and I remember it.

Not for this to sound bad, but seriously when I'm out in public, and see people very heavy, it reminds me to stay on track. I never want to be that way again.

Frankly, it makes me sad for the people. I sometimes just want to hug them and say you know you don't have to be this way. But, I do what I can to those that come to me willingly at the gym teaching.

[emily_in_nc]

I've never given birth, but I too have the looser skin/body fat than I did at a younger age. I weigh the same as I did on my wedding day in 1985 and am much more fit as I didn't work out then at all, but I'm more jiggly and carry more fat around the middle. The old 50-year old bod just ain't what it used to be!

[KnottedYet]

Where's my Big Gulp and my pound of French Fries?

I ate 'em.

(though I have lost 10 lbs and am now 194. Less than 200! Yay! 40 lbs to go and I'll be back to what I weighed 4 years ago.)

ETA: Funny thing is, as soon as I moved out of my mold-ridden apartment I lost 5 lbs in one week. Does living in a festering cesspit of mold and mildew cause one to gain weight? If I keep on going at this rate, I'll be back to normal in a couple months...

[sfa]

I remember being a bit obsessed with whether or not I could "pinch an inch" back when those ads were on. Mind you, I was about 100 pounds at the time and so thin my mother encouraged me to put ON weight, but I could still pinch an inch. Fortunately I was grounded enough to decide the ads were stupid instead of deciding I needed to lose weight.

But I get your point. I'm constantly amazed at the number of overweight college students I see on campus (and wearing skin tight clothes, too--neither attractive nor comfortable, I imagine) but I guess most of them have grown up with overweight being so normal that they don't even necessarily notice it.

I struggle with my daughter--she's got the family tendency to put on weight, and now that she's in middle school and I can't control her intake as well as I was once able to I feel like I'm walking this narrow path between encouraging good choices and messing up her body image. She's NOT fat, but so many kids her age who are don't seem to do anything about it, and so many who aren't go around talking about how fat they are. I told her last night (after making her count out 55 goldfish crackers so she could see what a portion size was supposed to be when her inclination was to take a bowl full of them) that I'm just going to keep talking to her about these things every day, no matter how sick she gets of hearing it, so that she can never use the excuse that she didn't know how to eat.

[limewave]

I struggle with my daughter--she's got the family tendency to put on weight, and now that she's in middle school and I can't control her intake as well as I was once able to I feel like I'm walking this narrow path between encouraging good choices and messing up her body image. She's NOT fat, but so many kids her age who are don't seem to do anything about it, and so many who aren't go around talking about how fat they are. I told her last night (after making her count out 55 goldfish crackers so she could see what a portion size was supposed to be when her inclination was to take a bowl full of them) that I'm just going to keep talking to her about these things every day, no matter how sick she gets of hearing it, so that she can never use the excuse that she didn't know how to eat.

I'm so worried about this with my dd! I just keep hoping and praying that if I show an example of a healthy lifestyle, she'll follow in those footsteps. I was really overweight as a kid and it was horrible! I've actually talked to DH about having 30 minutes of exercise a day as part of her chore list (when she gets older of course!). Anything she wants to do: bike, walk, rollerblade. Although if she's in sports, I wouldn't worry about it.

[Veronica]

Fat kids make me sad. Too much time in front of the tv and video games, not enough outside playing.

I try so hard to encourage my students to eat healthy. Blows my mind what they will bring for their morning snack sometimes - hot cheetos - really?! That's your morning snack? I try to get the parents on board at Back to School Night. A good snack with some "good" carbs (not sugar!) and protein will help them stay focused in class.

We don't have lunch until 12:30 so that mid morning snack is REALLY important. School starts at 8:15.

I'm going to try to get my students to play hacky sack this year at recess. Burns a lot of calories and they can work on getting good at home in their backyards or bedrooms. I hope they don't break any lamps!

Veronica

[Veronica]

Now? Who is teaching these kids it's okay to gorge all day, everyday? It's not just the poor quality food, though that is bad enough, it's the staggering quantity. And frankly it's uncontrolled greed. Children used to be taught not to be greedy. Certainly, a teacher cannot tell them to eat less, that interferes with a parent's rights.

Health component of science. We talk a lot in my class about what they should be eating, how much and why. Basically it boils down to fueling the machine so it can do its best. I try to teach them how to read food labels so they can make better choices. We talk about balancing out what they eat. A sugary cookie is great to have as a lunch time dessert... but 4 of them should not be your lunch and why.


I think the and why is what makes some of them try to eat better. And it's never about sugar making them hyper.

They hear about how I eat differently depending on my training. Thursday is a big cardio day - I eat more carbs... that sort of thing.

They are always shocked by how little soda I drink.

Veronica

[Espresso]

I'm not sure that ad is healthy, but the people you mention aren't either. (Although I will admit that french fries are my weakness. I can totally do without the Coke, though.)

I'm still not sure what a healthy weight is for my body type. Not sure BMI really gets it right. Just another reminder that I should go to the nutritionist/dietician once school starts back (only $5 at my university!) Still not sure how I should be prepared or what questions I need to ask before I go in there, though. I kept putting it off in Spring because I'm not sure what I want to get out of it.

I'm happy at my weight, but I'm still technically overweight (by BMI), and I hate cutting down to the number of calories I need to to lose weight (at a noticeable rate) at this point.