Comments (28)

By Samantha Thomas, December 29, 2010

With just three sleeps to go until we ring in 2011, numerous New Year’s Resolution articles are popping up all over the place.

Unsurprisingly, a huge number of these focus on weight loss. For the past few years, weight loss has eclipsed quitting smoking as the thing that tops most peoples NYR’s wish list. This isn’t really unsurprising given that fatness is almost unpatriotic in todays anti-obesity environment. Over on Twitter it’s pretty interesting how many people are either bemoaning the fact that they have put on a few kilos over Christmas, or celebrating that they remarkably haven’t gained any at all!

Let’s face it. We are a bit overly fixated with fatness, getting fat, and losing weight. And you know where this has got us? Nowhere. It hasn’t made us healthier. It hasn’t made us happier. And it hasn’t made us skinnier. For some some people, it has done exactly the opposite.

A recent pop-study out today, showed that over half of those who make a NYR in the UK will have weight loss as their primary goal.  The interesting thing for me, is that only 15% of people wanted to spend more time with their families. And while most American’s will not make a Resolution this year, 16% of those who will say that weight loss is their primary goal for 2011. In Australia, our pop-NYR-study shows that 60% of us want to lose weight.

Not surprisingly, very few people actually keep their New Year’s Resolutions. One study conducted some 20 years or so ago, tracked 200 people who made resolutions over a two year period, to see how many actually kept their NYR’s. At 2 years, only 19% still had kept their promises. Some suggest that one of the reasons resolutions fail is because many resolutions are desires rather than intentions – i.e. they are things we want, rather than things we act upon.

However, in the case of weight loss, here is why I think our NYR’s fail. Because most people will look for that quick fix ‘fad diet’ that doesn’t work for the majority of people. And that is because….. DIETS DON’T WORK! It is really that simple.

And yet so many of us each year are completely suckered into the seductive claims of the weight loss and fitness industry, which play on your desire to be a ‘better’ ‘happier’ ‘healthier’ person each year. The mass advertising campaigns of the weight loss industry will ramp up over the next few weeks. Already Women’s Magazines are starting their ‘New Year – New You’ campaigns. This weeks edition of New Idea is a classic example:

“New Year, New You: Stars tell how to stay in shape at any age! Some of Australia’s most recognisable – and brave! – women come together to bare their beach bodies and celebrate beautiful female figures at every age. Wearing a selection of stylish swimwear, Seven’s Rachael Finch, 22, TV presenter and model Chloe Maxwell, 34, The Morning Show host Kylie Gillies, 43, entertainer Rhonda Burchmore, 50, and Dancing with the Stars judge Helen Richey, 64, strip down to their beach essentials in an exclusive photo shoot for New Idea. The stars speak candidly about their attitudes to health, fitness and how they maintain their fabulous figures while juggling their careers, relationships and families.”

And a similar theme in Woman’s Day, which get’s stars to share their tips for getting your body ‘beach ready’ at any age.

Not quite sure how these mags are promoting positive body image and body diversity, but I digress! But maybe it is images like these that keep us going down the wrong path for the ideal ‘thin’ body?

So what is your experience with New Year’s Resolutions? Do you have one? Have you kept one? Are you planning one for 2011? Any advice for people who might be contemplating a weight loss diet?

Oh and BTW – Weight Loss Diets are not always sold as diets. ‘Low fat’, ‘low carb’, ‘lifestyle change’, ‘healthy eating plan’ ‘Weight loss plan’ ‘No diet, diet’ ‘Weight loss secret’…. All Diets!

Here’s to a happy, healthy, diet-free New Year!

Comments (14)

By Samantha Thomas, October 10, 2010

So finally the drug Reductil has been banned here in Australia by the Therapeutic Goods Administration. Some of you may know Reductil as Sibutrimine or Meridia. This drug has also just been banned by the Federal Drug Administraion in the USA, and has also just been banned in a number of other countries, including Taiwan. This drug, manufactured by Abbot Parmaceuticals has been on the ‘watch this drug with concern’ list for a long period of time. However the drug was kept on the market because it was assumed that the weight loss associated with the drug would outweigh the risks posed by any adverse outcomes.

Finally, some scientists who were conducting the Sibutramine Cardiovascular Outcome Trial, (SCOUT) looked in great detail at the drug and decided that it caused an increased risk of non-fatal heart attack and non-fatal stroke in some patients. However, the actual weight loss impact of the drug was very small. And so, it was decided by the FDA and I am assuming the TGA that the risks of this medicine (cardiovascular disease) outweighed the benefits (probably not helping you to lose much weight). Interestingly, the Wall Street Journal stated that whilst the FDA requested Abbott withdrew the drug, Abbott only agreed reluctantly, because they said that there were many studies that had been conducted that did not show an increase risk between this drug and Cardiovascular disease.

All I can say is HOOOORAY!!!

What has interested me though, is the media reporting of the withdrawal of this drug. Let me share a few quotes with you:

“Abbott Australia spokeswoman Jennifer Stevenson said yesterday those using the prescription medicine should make an appointment with their doctor for advice on an alternative.” (Sydney Morning Herald)

I seriously hope that alternative is to stop dieting and to start looking after your health and wellbeing.

However, given the two follow up quotes from Medical Doctors in the article, I’m doubting that will be the advice that most recieve:

“James Ritchie, who performs obesity surgery in Sydney, said he had often prescribed Reductil to patients considering gastric banding, to make sure they had tried all options. ”It was fairly widely used for people with obesity. About half the patients for bariatric surgery have used it,” he said.

And from the vice-President of the Australian Medical Association:

Steven Hambleton said the SCOUT study showed the weight loss benefits of Reductil were only 2.5 per cent more than a placebo, a ”disappointing” result. ”Drugs, in the main, have a disappointing outcome. In the end, it’s about ELF – Eat Less Food.”

Ahh, that old chestnut ELF. Which sits so nicely alongside WTF and LOL.

The New York Times stated in an article that “The withdrawal of Meridia, also known as sibutramine, is the latest setback in efforts to provide a safe medicine to treat obesity one of the nation’s largest health problems.”

But don’t worry everyone because:

“The withdrawal of Meridia is not expected to seriously hurt Abbott, though it could conceivably expose the company to lawsuits from patients.”

Phew! What a relief. Because at the end of the day, it’s all about the bottom line in these things. That being profit, not health.

So, another diet pill has come and gone, leaving only Xenical. But don’t worry, it seems like Lorcaserin and Qnexa are on their way!

Comments (24)

By Samantha Thomas, July 27, 2010

As many of you know, I have spoken a lot about my concerns regarding the long term risks with gastric band surgery (check out my News section for some of the things I have said).

I have also received my fair share of heat from those involved in promoting this type of ‘solution’ for obesity.

I was very interested then to see this American article over at MSNBC about what has happened to those who have blown the whistle on some of the problems with this type of surgery (shared by Bri King at Fat Lot of Good).

It is a long article, but well worth a read if you have the time.

Reading it reminded me of this advertisement featured recently in Australian Family Physician. The graph, promoting gastric band surgery, was part of an advertisement targeted at DOCTORS about the benefits of  this surgery. But can you spot the glaring problem with the statistics they show?

Given these results, one would wonder why Doctors would think that it was necessary to recommend this as an appropriate ‘last resort’ solution?

Any thoughts? And how long did it take you to spot the problem?

Comments (28)

By Samantha Thomas, July 24, 2010

This week I watched the Australian show The Circle for the first time. The Circle is a bit like The View – except everyone’s opinions are more or less the same. They are a happy bunch at The Circle – besties. They love each other. And we love them too. This week Magda Szubanski was on to talk about her weight loss journey. Magda and The Circle’s Chrissie Swan are the public faces of a weight loss company here in Australia. They are a weight loss marketers dream, because:

a) They are really fat; and

b) We absolutely love them.

They are obviously earning some good $$’s for promoting this particular diet, and to be honest, good on ‘em.

Many people, at some time or another, will want to lose weight. I am not saying that that is a good or bad thing. For me it is a very individualistic set of choices that a person makes about his or her own body. There are dozens of reasons why an individual might choose to embark on a weight loss journey. However, most simply, individuals perceive that being thin (or thinner) will somehow improve:

1) Their self esteem, self worth, beauty and acceptance in society;

2) Their physical and mental health and wellbeing.

OR BOTH.

The marketing of the diet industry directly seeks to exploit these two factors, not only to make you hate yourself, but to then blame yourself when the diet fails. But the marketing of these diets has also become more subtle. Because of the evidence about the long term ineffectiveness of commercial diets, companies have repackaged their product so that they are now promoting ‘lifestyle changes’.  Clever, because you are no longer failing at their product. Rather you are failing at a more generic set of ‘lifestyle’ issues which can only be your own fault.

I wanted to share a few snippets of the weight loss conversation that happened on The Circle.

The intro was about how Magda had lost 25 kilos in a “bid to get fit” that she was “determined to keep it off” that she had a “new lease on life” and had “strutted her stuff on the catwalk”. So here we see messages which constantly reinforce how bad it is to be fat. That you can’t be fit and fat. That really you have no right to be a happy and vibrant person if you are fat. And that fat people certainly don’t belong on magazine covers and catwalks – which of course are supposed to show off ‘real’ beauty.

Chrissie: “Please welcome my (weight loss company name) buddy Magda Szubanski! HIGH FIVE (audience cheering and applause) Happy Birthday!!! A year you have kept it off!”

OMG! We can have a weight loss birthday!!!! Do we get presents? And do we finally get to EAT SOME CAKE! To be honest I would be celebrating too, given that most people will drop out of these diets after a few days or weeks – let alone a year.

Magda: “Amazing. Because that’s the thing. We all know you can lose the weight, but then you have that tragic despairing thing of the weight creeping back on. I’ve never been able to do this my whole life….”

Commercial diets are repeatedly shown to be ineffective for 95% of the population. Most people will gain back the weight. With interest. This is because food restriction diets do not work in the long run. Short term of course. But when you are on a calorie restricted diet, at some point, like holding your breath for as long as you can, you have to breathe out.

Magda: “The unhealthy and the healthy parts of me were neck and neck. I had my good days and bad days. But eventually the healthy part of me got stronger. It’s training. And you’ve just got to persist. Forty years of bad eating, you are not going to turn that around in a short space of time.”

So again here we see those very subtle messages. That fat people are somehow weak, lazy, individuals, with gluttonous eating habits. And if they just tried hard enough and had some inner strength, they would be able to overcome their moral weaknesses and lose weight. But also there is that message of the ‘healthy potential’. That somewhere deep inside, is the good, healthy, skinny you. You will also notice a shift away from ‘quick fix’, towards long term stickability – obviously the key to success with lifestyle changes!

Magda: “(being the face of a weight loss company) in a way gives you no way out….we are in a contract, we have kinda gotta stay there…but you get through it and it’s fine. So everyone else has to learn to do that without the contract. Or make a contract with your friends. Announce it to your friends. Paint yourself into a corner. Blab so you have got no way out.”

Denise: “Oh that’s a good thing, because the more people you tell, the more you have to do it.”

I think at this point I actually started to cry. Because what sort of message is this giving to people about improving their health and wellbeing? Or about why they should or shouldn’t be okay with themselves for who they are? Or what the role of friends are, and the shame you should feel in front of them. About the pressures individuals should put themselves under to lose weight. Mothers and daughters have been making diet pacts with each other for decades. So have teenagers.

It is one of the most destructive, disturbing recommendations that I think you could be making to a generation of women (and men) who should be loving their bodies and doing things to improve their health and wellbeing for pleasure rather than punishment.

And what sort of terrible impact does it have on an individual when this ‘lifestyle change’ doesn’t work? What then? Let’s just amplify the potential for shame and embarrassment shall we by putting ourselves out there to our friends and families?

Yumi: “I feel like there is a fat person in me waiting to come out. Did you feel like there was a skinny person waiting to come out?”

Magda: “There is a fat lady in my head that wants fat old habits. And there is another part of me that wants vitality. To live life more. I’m going to be 50 next year and I feel younger than I ever have before.”

What … younger than when you were 5? 10? 20? Shame on you fatties for ever thinking that you were allowed to live life to the fullest. To be full of energy and enthusiasm. Because you must all be sitting on the couch, stuffing your face with cream cakes, and feeling like you need to go into an aged care facility. And for those skinny’s out there – beware. Because if you don’t behave yourself, a big fatty will jump out of you! But also it reinforces that if you are a fatty, that evil fatty will always be in there ready to pounce. So you NEED to make a long term committment to the ‘lifestyle change’ company. Which of course means more money for them.

Magda then gave a whole bunch of tips for weight loss, which ended with…

“It’s like training a dog, you have just got to keep doing it”

Followed a couple of minutes later with this gem from Yumi:

“Of course there is nothing wrong with being fat. We are totally up for that… ”

Really? Why have you just spent the last 6 minutes saying how horrible it is?

Magda: “Oh I’m fat! I’m not not fat. It’s about setting a real goal where you can be your best self. And fit and healthy”

OHHHH NOOOOO. Because you can’t be overweight and healthy. And you definitely can’t be your best self, and REALLY FAT. Rather you are an animal that needs to be trained.

ARGHHHH.

You know I could go on and on with the analysis of this segment (and the horrid fact that there were two other segments in the show which meant that the Panel tucked into Kit Kat’s and Chef Toby’s frittata thingo while Chrissie just sat there eating nothing – even though she had a portion in front of her).

But I guess the point of this post is that when you break down what might seem to be a really helpful or innocent chit chat session about weight/weight loss/health, you can uncover an absolute minefield of rhetoric that serves only to make us feel terrible about ourselves. The tragedy is compounded by the fact that many people who are fat would actually agree with Magda. Buy into what she is saying. And hate themselves and their lives.

That has to stop. And I for one am not prepared to accept that this is a reasonable way to talk about ourselves or other peoples bodies anymore.

What do you think?