« November 2004 | Main | January 2005 »
December 13, 2004
I don't hate fat people. But they are stupid!
Dr. Joan Griffith was expecting teenage patients when she started a clinic for obese children in January.
Soon, though, young children were coming. Then the toddlers. A visit from a 2-year-old who weighed 82 pounds stretched the already-wide boundaries of how bad things could get.
Griffith and her team -- nurse Jessica Richard and nutritionist Starr Gantz -- have seen more than 50 children since the clinic's inception. Now they're looking at expanding their Monday-night clinic to a second day to accommodate more.
It used to be that physicians wouldn't talk to families about weight. If a parent didn't have a problem with her children's size, the doctor-wasn't going to say anything.
But Griffith now feels compelled to say something. The doctor, who spent 23 years in the Air Force, has made this her mission.
To help the children, her team walks a careful line. She has to keep the entire family interested in becoming healthy -- and scolding won't help.
When one patient, a young girl, was sucking down a mega-size blue slushy drink in the waiting room, Dr. G stayed silent. She didn't speak a word even when the girl said "Ahhhhh" with a bright blue tongue as her mother said the family was drinking only low-fat milk and water.
With every new patient, Dr. G goes through an extensive list of questions about what and how the family eats.
And parents -- it's usually mothers who bring their children to the clinic -- know what they're supposed to say. Nearly every person says the family eats skinless chicken breasts that are baked or broiled. They drink low-fat milk. They don't keep snack food in the house.
Dr. G never challenges those statements. The parents' just knowing what to do is at least a start. But changing bad habits means transforming nearly every aspect of the way the families live.
The reaction, Dr. G says, "is like you are asking me to change a lifestyle that I have lived for a long time. It is the lifestyle of many generations of my family."
After all, food is more than mere nourishment. It's a source of comfort, nurturing and love.
Most families celebrate and console with food. It's part of nearly every life event. People bring casseroles when children are born and when somebody dies.
Families fall into a fairly simple pattern of behavior. Kids want something. Parents want to be able to give it them. On top of that, because life is so packed with work, after-school activities or just getting by, families typically eat on the run.
Dr. G, tall and thin, says that if her grandmother were alive, she'd still be intent on feeding her.
"She'd be saying, 'Come here. You're too skinny. You've got to get some meat on your bones.'"
Dr. G's goal is to get her kids to lose enough weight, or simply to stop gaining, so the worst health consequences are kept at bay. That might mean losing as little as 5 percent to 10 percent of a child's weight.
But she continues to be surprised by the condition of some of her patients.
"I saw a patient yesterday who is 394 pounds who is 14 years old."
"She weighs 394 pounds. She's 14. If we are not able to help her, the future is not very bright
I'm not surprised by what is going on with the steady incline on the weight of young people. I totally agree with this article. It is very rare that I do, so when a docter wants to tell me her stories I will listen.
The future is very bright for this person. She is so young and can be rehabilitated from being fat. I am so appaulled that no one has even thought about helping her. An immediate strength training plan and fat loss workout would take care of her self esteem problems. I would be happy to help her with any motivation problems. Call me at 212-729-6531 0r rocco@askrocco.com.
I always feel like I'm shamelessly promoting myself. You want to know something I am because I'm sick of fat people asking me to help them to live a better life. Screw you! A better life is gotten through seeking a better life through fitness and health.
Rocco Castellano
Boss, Rocco's H.I.T Fitness System
www.askrocco.com
Posted by Rocco at 03:21 AM | Comments (15)
December 07, 2004
Happy fat people unite, show your solidarity and go screw yourself
I have not seen any plausible argument yet from anyone at the NAAFA that can sway me and anyone that actually lives a fit lifestyle to want to gain 50 lbs and join the fat crowd. Everyone that I know that is fit seems to be much happier than any fat person that I can recollect meeting. I know someone out there will quote some crazy fat person on the Jerry Springer show or Maury Povich that says they're happy being fat or they're sexy at 360 lbs but let me clue you in on to something. Most of those shows are made for the entertainment value of the viewer. I would like to hear from the happy fat people because if you are really happy why the hell would you be spending billions of dollars on stupid diet scams. Save your money and just be happy.
Posted by Rocco at 01:27 AM | Comments (1)
December 06, 2004
Are you kidding me? The CDC's misquote?
Someone told me that it wasn't nice to pick on fat people because they have problems. Guess what, I know they have problems, they're fat and that's a big problem. Reporters can try all they want to discredit the CDC's misquote of nearly 300,000 deaths that are related to fat or obesity. The fact still remains that I don't give a shit if it is 300,000 or 3 deaths, people are still dying from being fat and that my friends is not a good thing. If you think fat is fabulous or fat is fun not only are you stupid you most probably need profssional help. Fat is not fun, it is not healthy and it sure as hell will get you dead much quicker than you expect. So do me a favor and realize death is death no matter what the actual number is.
Posted by Rocco at 01:14 AM | Comments (2)
December 03, 2004
Please tell me I didn't see that!
Holy shit, I think I'm going to hit myself in the head with a hammer just to devert the pain I have in in my stomach. I was just on a website called www.fatso.com and knew that I was going to vomit at any minute. First there are 10 or twelve fat asses (literally)on the landing page. Then there is a fat manifesto that of course I had to read. Here it is in it's entirety (I'll probably get sued for this since fat people are looking for anyone to sue now)
"Practice saying the word fat until it feels the same as short, tall, thin, young, or old. Chat with your fat. Give it pet names. Doodle fat on your notepad during meetings: fat, fat, fat, fat, fat. Use it with your parents, with your partner. Let friends in on your secret. Say, "By the way, I'm fat." Not not plump, not bloated. FAT! Combine the word fat with other words in new and unusual ways: beautifully fat, fat and fabulous, fat pride. Use fat in a sentence: "You're looking good, are you getting fat?" "I met a handsome, fat man the other day." "Gee, I wish I could be fat like her." Try out these radical phrases on people you meet and watch their stunned reactions. "
Give your fat a pet name? Get the hell out of here. What's next are you going to put googly eyes and put a hat on your fat. A pet name... please! How about: gross, ugly, f@#kin' disgutin', fuzzy fat-buggy bumbers.
I have never met a fat person that was actually happy and healthy, and I've never in my life heard the phrase come out of any fat person's mouth "Gee, I can't wait to gain fifty pounds. I will feel really great." So listen fat people the world over I'm not going to let you kill yourselves bite by bite, burger by burger, excuse after excuse. Let's stop dieting and let's start moving. And by moving I mean physical exercise. Also just to let you know you'd be lying to that person you told about "meeting a good looking fat guy the other day" and they would know it.
Posted by Rocco at 12:20 AM | Comments (0)
December 02, 2004
I don't care what fat people want.
The victimization of fat people has taken on new meaning with this list I came across. It stunned me to believe that fat people want us fit or less fat people to begin to accomodate them because they can't keep their mouths shut for longer than two minutes and refuse to do the work needed to be fit individuals. Here is the list I'll let you comment on this one.
What Do Fat People Want?
WE WANT fat children to grow up safe from ridicule and physical violence. Such hate crimes rob fat children of their self-esteem and their hope for the future. To this end, we want schools, social service agencies, and courts to recognize, and help alleviate, the socially condoned mistreatment of fat children.
WE WANT to be healthy. We also want people to understand that being healthy does not necessarily mean being thin.
WE WANT doctors who focus on our health and well-being, not on weight loss.
WE WANT doctors to stop pushing dangerous treatments: diets, diet pills, liposuction, and weight-loss surgery. As the New England Journal of Medicine said recently, "The cure for obesity [sic] may be worse than the condition."
WE WANT diagnostic equipment that will accommodate us: MRIs, CAT scans, ultrasound machines, some X-ray machines, etc.
WE WANT health insurance companies to stop denying coverage based on weight.
WE WANT surgeons to stop refusing to operate on us unless we lose weight, just because they do not have the skill, the tools, or the technique to work with large bodies. (Ironically, sometimes the only surgery a fat person can obtain is mutilating weight-loss surgery.)
WE WANT the media to stop quoting inaccurate and spurious statistics about fat mortality rates. This practice only reinforces the prejudice we face.
For example, the oft-quoted figure of 300,000 fat-related deaths in America is based on a study (McGinnis and Foege, JAMA, Nov. 10, 1993) that linked these deaths to sedentary lifestyle and poor diet, not to weight!
WE WANT the FDA to test weight-loss drugs thoroughly for safety before approving them for use by millions of consumers who are all-too-eager for a miracle pill, even when it is life-threatening. Beyond that, we question the value or wisdom of seeking medical cures for social problems in the first place.
WE WANT doctors and health professionals to heed the New England Journal of Medicine's January 1, 1998 editorial, "Losing Weight-An Ill-Fated New Year's Resolution," when it says:
"Doctors should do their part to help end discrimination against overweight [sic] people in schools and workplaces. We should also speak out against the public's excessive infatuation with being thin and the extreme, expensive, and potentially dangerous measures taken to attain that goal. Many Americans are sacrificing their appreciation of one of the great pleasure of life--eating--in an attempt to look like our semi-starved celebrities. Countless numbers of our daughters and increasingly many of our sons are suffering immeasurable torment in fruitless weight-loss schemes and scams, and some are losing their lives."
We couldn't have said it better ourselves.
We invite people of good conscience to join with us in decrying the last acceptable prejudice in our culture--the prejudice against fat people. Help us create a world that celebrates diversity of size!
Created by:
FAT!SO?--the zine for people who don't apologize for their size: (800) OH-FATSO
Do you know what I want? I want fat people to shut the F@#k up and start realizing that fat is a problem. I have never in my life seen a drug addict manifesto saying " please Mr. airline man make me a seat to better accomodate my shooting this needle in my arm" or the alcoholic saying "Do me a favor please let my stinking drunk ass lay across three of these seats, I need a nap." If you take up more real estate pay for more real estate. If you want us to accomodate you start paying for it. You can help being fat. Blacks can't help being black, women can't help being women, most handicapped people couldn't help being handicapped. You can do something about your fatness and your health and I don't want to pay for it. And I don't think that you should ask someone else to pay for it either.
Posted by Rocco at 12:46 AM | Comments (4)
