Yep, MeMe Roth's Wedding Gown Still Fits..!

I pulled it out and put it on, and yep, it fit..! Of course it fit. I was a healthy weight in 1997... Why wouldn't I still be..?? Two kids, slowing metabolism, "fat genes"..?

Oh hell no!! No excuses.

Should junk food companies get tax perks for targeting your kids? Widener Law's Shelby Grabowski Hostetter et al say "no."

Smart read in FDLI from Widener Law's Shelby Grabowski Hostetter et al.

Stop corporate tax cuts tied to kiddie junk food marketing!!

Thanks for the great report, Roseann B. Termini, Thomas A. Roberto, Shelby Grabowski Hostetter.

My Poor Kid...

Gymnastics class was halted last night so the girls could eat cookies.

Some child's birthday is coming up, but she won't be at the gym that night... What?? WHAT?? Nobody asked the parents. Nobody thought singing "Happy Birthday" was good enough. Nobody refunded me my blasted cash for the cookie party hiatus.

And unbeknownst to me, my little 10 yr old daughter said, "no thank you" to the chocolate chip cookies she loves more than anyone else in the gym. So she just watched the other girls eat cookies. Why? Why is a kid put in this position? Sure, I'm proud of her. And also I feel awful for my good little girl...

And yeah, I get it. The coaches are nice. The parent who brought in the cookies is nice. Everybody's nice. But pushing other people's kids to eat junk food during gym class on a Tuesday night isn't nice.

You said skinny, right? Whew! as long as you don't say FAT..! Candice Swanepoel of Victoria Secret

Victoria Secret's Candice Swanepoel looks thin. But if she were "startling fat," would we be allowed to say it?

Expel Sugary Flavored Milks from School..! Los Angeles to be first? Thx Jimmy Kimmel, Jamie Oliver & John Deasy!

Like Jamie Oliver, I've spoken out for years against flavored milks in school... That "Raise your hand for Chocolate Milk" campaign a couple years ago was just atrocious. I see the benefit to the Dairy Council of adding sugar to milk. But what's the benefit to children's health? The American Heart Association says kids shouldn't have more than 3 teaspoons of sugar a day. And yet the flavored milk at my children's school are equivalent to 7-8 teaspoons of sugar..! Plus, we all know milk already is a sweet drink, with its naturally occurring sugar (or lactose).

It's that lactose that gives tummy trouble to a majority of folks around the planet. Pushing milk onto children of color may well be a bit culturally insensitive...

Sugar is delicious but dangerous. It's a pro-inflammatory agent that does damage. Throwing sugar onto something otherwise healthy renders it un-. And sure we all could use Vitamin D. If we're not getting enough from the sun, then we can take supplements or spray it onto other foods/drinks just like it's sprayed into milk.

So let's hope L.A. rids itself of those extra-sugary flavored milks. (Thanks Superintendent John Deasy and Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Kimmel..!) And even better, let's hope healthy children over the age of 2 are mostly drinking water...

MeMe Roth is fat.

I'm fat. Not medically fat. Fat for me. Dbl-bouncing, jiggling, pulling-on-me-with-every-step-during-my-daily-run fat.

I'm older, have major fat genes, have had two pregnancies, crave sweets, been a little blue, and most days have to talk myself into my workout. So what?? So what if all of the above is true. Desire doesn't cause pregnancy. Anger doesn't leave a bruise. And NONE of the above is why I'm fat.

I'm fat b/c of the way I've been eating lately. That's an action for which I'm solely responsible. Being a healthy weight--an optimal weight--is 100% up to me. The rest is nonsense victim-speak.

Have you seen the one lately? How obesity might be related to your inner-ear..? Riiiiight. It's an orifice alright, but not your ear..!

So yeah, I'm pushing maximum density right now and have no one and nothing to blame but myself.

I'm outta here. Gonna go catch a run...

"What's Eating You?" Is a Damning Indictment of Junk Food--and Hard to Watch

Have you seen "What's Eating You?" on the E! network? Tonight's the season finale, with repeats into the weekend...

Incredibly tragic, alarming and in-your-face... E's "What's Eating You?" is hard to watch (I mean REALLY hard to watch. You've never been next to the toilet of a bulimic, and you wish you weren't.), but insightful.

You'll find 9 times outta 10, if there's an eating disorder--whether one resulting in obesity, purging or starved anorexia--the object of fixation, obsession, compulsion is almost always junk food, not real nourishment.

And see how the dangerously underfed Adrienne is handled by her concerned coworkers? If she were obese, there'd be cries of "discrimination..." in today's twisted pro-fat-acceptance world.

Watch "What's Eating You?", and more than any gross-out factor, your heart breaks for these people.

And again and again I say it, but we must define FOOD as that which nourishes. All these other substances are nothing more than "ingestible entertainment..." and frequently take people down a very dark path.

"Good Job! Here's your obesity prize," says George J. Mitchell Elementary School of Waterville, Maine

Ever worry that all your efforts to keep your child safe and healthy are being undermined by your public school..? In 2010, with every child obesity and diabetes alarm being sounded from the Surgeon General to the First Lady, public schools are still basically obesogenic cultures--just like all of America. Why? Because that's the norm.

Take George J. Mitchell Elementary School of Waterville, ME. Recently during P.E. (which don't we all agree no schoolchild is getting enough P.E..?), third-graders were awarded seven M&M cookies each for "doing a good job..." according to one of the students. Again, during Physical Education class.

Everything is wrong with this scenario: First, Psychologists and Dietitians have said for decades that food should NEVER be used as prize or punishment. Second, the food was brought into the school outside any health and safety regulations or standards. Third, and most importantly, nobody bothered to ask the parents' permission.

WRITE THIS DOWN, George J. Mitchell Elementary School. It's never okay to feed someone else's children in the absence of their parents--or their parents' advance approval. It's one thing to send in a "serving for one," for your own child, but "servings for 25" involves everybody's kids. And seven, 7, cookies??

With the dual health crises of obesity and diabetes, does it make sense for kids to be confronted with junk food solicitations during the school day..? And what about during P.E. of all times..?

Maybe you're thinking Maine has no obesity or type 2 diabetes health crisis. You'd be wrong: Maine's obesity rate has doubled in the past ten years.

We don't want to leave George J. Mitchell Elementary School with only criticism for its junk food gaffe, but instead, here are some wonderful tools to help your school create a School Wellness Policy. (Full Disclosure: NAAO proudly serves on the CSPI NANA committee that created these Wellness Policy Tools.)

And here's an "Extra Credit" challenge for you, Principal Allan Martin, Assistant Principal Barbara Jordan, and Waterville Superintendent Eric Haley: Use these tools as just the foundation, while you actually raise the bar much higher at George J. Mitchell. Don't your students deserve an environment that's safe and healthy for ALL students..?

We sincerely look forward to hearing great things coming from George J. Mitchell Elementary School. And when you have a rocking-great Wellness Policy enacted and enforced, I'll be the first to brag about you..! I promise.

Ben & Jerry's "fake" All-Natural says CSPI...and I agree!

Here I am on FOX Business today with Charles Payne talking about synthetics in food... And are they "natural?"

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream--the Vermont, frozen treat, cowmobile, institution founded by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield in 1977--has been a Unilever company for a decade now. And as part of the soap and food conglomerate, can Ben & Jerry's legitimately claim "all-natural" on their packaging when in fact, 90% of the ice cream flavors include fake food?

Chemically engineered synthetic ingredients including corn syrup, hydrogenated oils and alkalized cocoa appearing in 48 out of 53 Ben & Jerry's offerings are NOT natural says the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and CSPI is pushing for Ben & Jerry's to change their packaging, removing the misleading and arguably false "all-natural" claim...

If it's fake, it's not really food. Period. Obviously this is not just a problem with Ben & Jerry's... And all of the above calls into question the fact that the USDA/FDA has no legal definition for "all-natural." That has to change. One hint: How 'bout the definition of "natural" for starters..? "existing in or formed by nature..."

Want your food from the farmer or the chemical engineer?? Either way, industry must be 100% transparent about what's in our food and the associated risks.

Wedding Gown Challenge 2010- Does Your Gown Still Fit?? Of Course It Does!!

Look, you go into adulthood at a healthy weight and then you maintain that healthy weight. Period.

This little Wedding Gown Challenge isn't about the gown or marriage even. Feel free to find your own symbol or item that fits throughout adulthood. For me, it's been my Wedding Gown year after year.

I'd never use my marriage or my children or this obesogenic American junk food culture as an excuse to forfeit my health. I eat within my means, exercise daily, and exercise enough that I even have room for plenty of tasty indulgences..! Each of us has to figure out our own rhythm, nourishment needs of our body and exact food choices, but we also must take responsibility for our weight and our health.

And please don't email me about exceptions. If you have Prader-Willi or Pica or are on Prednisone, I'm not talking about you... And certainly not if you're suffering from Cushing's Syndrome either. And for those struggling below the poverty line, there are special circumstances at play and special programs necessary.

I'm talking to the 85+% of us who have what it takes to eat right and exercise daily.

Happy Wedding Gown Challenge..! I took fun professional photos in my gown, but my favorite is this snapshot just afterward in the elevator with my precious daughter...

Notes:
Great article from Abby Ellin of the New York Times re: post-nuptial weight gain...
Great study reinforcing the fact that maintaining healthy weight (no more than 9lb weight gain for women after age 18) gives you much better odds of healthy aging...

Valerie Bertinelli Gaining Weight Back on "Hot in Cleveland"

Have you seen "Hot in Cleveland"? Cute show. Great cast. Deserves a better script. Wendie Malick is "Just Shoot Me" era hi-larious. Jane Leeves has great legs. Betty White rocks those track suits. And Valerie Bertinelli reclaims her post as America's Sweetheart.

But the not so sweet elephant in the room is that Bertinelli's putting weight back on. Of course it could possibly be an optical illusion on-camera with such slim women as Malick and Leeves... And sure, who expected Bertinelli to stay bikini-slim as she was on countless magazine covers promoting her bestsellers and exercise DVDs, as well as Jenny Craig, of course.

But the inches are creeping back on while the wardrobe guru works double-time...layering here, masking there...

Everyone loves Valerie Bertinelli. (Just ask poor n'er do well Mackenzie Phillips.) Bertinelli's transgressions never seemed to tarnish her reputation, and perhaps were lesser than her headline-generating 80s, "One Day at a Time" co-star.

But we've seen this Valerie Bertinelli weight-loss weight-gain yo-yo for decades. It's depressing. Anyone old enough to recall the flurry of interviews for one of her countless tv mini-series "I Was a Mail Order Bride"? Bertinelli recounted all her weight-loss tips and strategies to maintain a healthy weight. There she was in a revealing swimsuit and slimmer than ever. But those were the days well before her self-proclaimed obsession with jalepeno poppers.

And maybe that was too thin for her anyway. Just like maybe the latest bikini body was too hard to maintain. And that's really okay. Clearly, she's a healthy 50-yr-old. She just knocked out a marathon..! And we all would agree she looks "hot," and not just in Cleveland. But, Valerie, we're begging you to stop now. Plateau where you are, and you're good. We can't take another round of paparazzi body bashing photos of you on the beach, just to have you sell us more diet plans later a la Kirstie Alley.

And one thing that is unforgivable and no one dares mention: Bertinelli herself admits to using her son, Wolfgang, as an accessory to her junk food binges, particularly at the notorious In-N-Out Burger. Indoctrinating the teen bass guitarist of rock band Van Halen to America's junk food lifestyle, has done him no favors and likely has set him up for a lifetime of weight struggles, just like his famous mother.

SF Mayor Gavin Newsom Says "no" to Govt Supplying Soda

SF Mayor Gavin Newsom doesn't want government buildings stocked with candy drinks. Great idea! And great idea to have a "Soda Free Summer." But Megyn Kelly on FOX News doesn't agree with me... Watch now...

"Huge" show about Anorexia airs tonight on ABCFamily

Congratulations to ABCFamily for promoting positive body image. Tonight's world premiere, "Huge," stars dangerously gaunt Nikki Blonsky of "Hairspray" fame. The show takes place in a teen camp for habitual under-eaters and self-starvers, including a moderately underweight character played by David Hasselhoff's daugther, Hayley. But it's the 21 year-old Blonsky who plays our heroine and defies the camp's will for her to become a healthy weight. The alarmingly emaciated character says it best, "Why should I change..?"

Penn Jillette Would Rather Make-out w/ a Burger than Me... Shoot, I Kinda Like Him...

Tune in to the latest episode of Penn & Teller's "Bullshit" Showtime series... Episode 2 is "Fast Food" and features "Mindless Eating" author and Cornell professor Brian Wansink, NYU Associate Professor of Public Policy Rogan Kersh, and me.

We had a total blast shooting this episode... but you won't see those parts. Oh well... their "Cheerleaders" episode last week was really good.

And apparently I'm not Penn Jillette's type. He'd prefer to make-out with a burger... My loss??

Happy "Eat Your Vegetables" Day- Hooters and Limp Men

Yeah, it's Eat Your Vegetables Day... We get it, right? We're supposed to be eating a mostly-Vegetarian diet... So if you happen to eat meat (your best source of B12), think of it more as a garnish...

Stuart Varney & Co., let's talk about Hooters... Obesity discrimination in Michigan... and Hey Men! Happy Father's Day. Now check your "health dipstick" this weekend and make sure you're hitting that 135-degree angle. Good artery health means great bedroom performance..!

Felt this fatigue? I know I have. America's Obesogenic culture is counting on all of us to give in to it...

I love Dan and Chip Heath's book "Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard..." Any book that uses Van Halen's notorious brown M&M clause as higher metaphor for better business strategy is alright with me... (David Lee Roth, I'll luv ya till the day I die...)

One of the many insights in Switch, and there are many gems, is the concept of willpower that fatigues. Ever committed to healthful eating then spent the day on the Jersey Shore with a boardwalk overflowing in Kohr Bros. frozen custard, funnel cakes, cotton candy, taffy, fried OREOS and gi-normous pizza slices..? Sure that stuff is crap, so you don't indulge. But for those of us raised in the Pop-Tart generation, that crap looks mighty tempting... And saying "no thanks" aloud or just in your mind over and over again all day long can get exhausting.

Smarter folks than I have studied this exhaustible self-control... Check it out from Dan Heath in June 2nd's Fast Company. And BTW, it's still no damn excuse... It's just motivation to plan our days more strategically.

Hollywood Keeps Me Fat..? Brooke Elliott aka Jane Bingham of Drop Dead Diva

"Drop Dead Diva" Brooke Elliott under contract to stay fat..? Weird Hollywood twist... But dangerous waist circumference for Jane Bingham, er, Brooke Elliott...

Is this you? You want it so bad. And maybe it takes loads and loads to satisfy you?

I find it hard to even look at this photo of the chocolate cake... I want to eat the whole damn thing, and I don't mean one slice. No, I want to grab the rest of the cake box and empty it out, and maybe hunt down the baker for another...

How 'bout you? No effect? One nibble will go a long way? Or maybe you wanna scarf it down?

Scientific American and Eric Stice at the Oregon Research Institute are calling it the "Goldilocks Principle of Obesity."

For me, eating sweets just triggers the urge to eat more sweets. Why is that true for most of us? There are 2 things going on: 1- a cascade of pleasure chemicals is released when I eat sweets, so now craving-inducing dopamine reminds me of that constantly. Eat it! Eat it! Eat it! It was sooo delicious last time..! And 2- a charge of sugar leads to a rush of insulin, then a plummet in sugar. So my now out-of-whack-blood-sugar-body tries to convince me I'm hungry even when I'm really not. Smarter, more disciplined people than I are giving up sugar altogether. (Way to go, Ellen DeGeneres..!) So far, I'm just trying not to go overboard. I make sure to eat right and exercise daily, and basically eat within my means. But if I had to be 100% honest, I'd be better off just ditching the treats.

Connie Bennett's SugarShock! book is a great resource for giving up sugar...

Food Makers know all about our behavioral and neuro-chemical dependencies upon junk food. They installed them after all... We're onto you about the "Bliss Point," Kellogg's, Coke and Kraft..! And who owned Kraft up to just a few years ago..?

Hooters Girls Are Too Fat? Obesity Discrimination? What Does Michigan's Special Protection for the Obese Mean for American Business?

Bad news, America, the obese are starting to win special protections. Nevermind most obesity is the result of habitual improper eating...

Hooters girls say they were fired (in an at-will state) for being too fat! Michigan, with its special protections for the obese, says it's against the law, but will that actually hold up in court??

And what does this mean for American businesses? Do you have the right to market your business as you see fit, especially if your employees are your company's greatest marketing, eh hem, asset? Nobody's going to Hooters for the wings...

Pro-Fat Acceptance is Over. Healthy at Every Size (HAES) is Over.

R.I.P. Obesity... You're torturing Americans, especially our most precious newborns. Pro-Fat Acceptance is Over. Healthy at Every Size (HAES) is Over. I say so. Darwin says so.

Obese Pregnancy = $200,000.00
Normal Pregnancy = $13,000.00

And how do you calculate the human suffering..?

Paul Campos and Linda Bacon, pay up..!