Strollerderby : weight loss

Melissa Joan Hart Drops the Ball on Being a Role Model

JeanneSager — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:26:00 GMT

So Melissa Joan Hart packed on the pounds during her pregnancy. That makes her different from any other pregnant woman in America, how?

The former Sabrina the Teenage Witch star showed off her bikini-worthy bod in People last week, but it was her words that cut deep into the psyches of moms everywhere.

A picture of her post-partum at one hundred fifty-five pounds, snapped on the beach, was "horrifying," Hart told People. That's why she lost weight. Not because she felt physically bad at her weight. Because she cared what everyone else thought of her.

Wow, how, SHALLOW of her. Yeah, yeah, I know, she lives in Hollywood - she's supposed to care what the public thinks about her. She points out that living in Hollywood puts huge pressure on you, and I'd bet it would. But if you're going to use that as your excuse, you can just as easily use it as your soapbox. Because Hart is one of those women who can make a statement to the world that sets the world afire and lets other women know it is OK to walk outside of their houses with their heads held high in the days after they give birth.

But where she had the chance to be a wonderful anti-dote to the thousands of celebrity women who practically prance out of the hospital with their twiggy forms back and make the rest of us feel even worse about ourselves, Hart chose the wrong route. Showing off her hard fourteen months of work was a great example to women that you can do it, maybe. But the words "horrifying" about her post-partum body undid much of that positive message.

What happened to being honest about what happens to a woman's body during pregnancy? To facing up to the fact that the weeks after having a baby are hardly the time to focus on weight loss/gain because you're focused on a new life?

Image: People

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Post Partum Hilarity in Book Form

You Can't Scare Your Kids Out of an Eating Disorder

JeanneSager — Fri, 15 May 2009 14:00:00 GMT

They seem like the perfect mix of over-the-top drama and real-life cautionary tales to scare your kids straight. But all those books out there warning about the dangerous world of eating disorders?

Could be helping your kids advance their disordered eating.

A look at some books written for teens that fall in the "children's lit" category over on the New York Times' Well Blog hit home for me especially because I WAS one of those teen girls who, pardon the pun, but ate up the stories of teenage bulimics. I wanted to read about someone I could identify with.

But even as I read the horrors of girls whose bodies had begun to grow excess hair to make up for the lack of fat to keep them warm, of girls who landed in hospitals weighing what they did as elementary schoolers, I wasn't consciously thinking "ooh, can't wait until I land in a clinic for the eating disordered, wonder if my parents' insurance will cover the costs." What I was thinking was "interesting, she eats a brightly colored food first so when she throws up, she'll know by the color in the toilet that she's gotten to the bottom of her stomach contents."

It's why today I'm loathe to tell my daughter horror stories to scare her straight on anything. Because before you reach the awful ending, there are always the details that fascinate, that often overwhelm kids with their one-track minds, that are entirely more enticing than the sobering after-thought of a consequence.

Although I'm wary of blaming a book for a child's struggle with an eating disorder (ninety nine times out of one hundred, the seeds for that have already been sewn), just as I scoff at the idea that a video game is solely to blame for a child's violent tendencies, any book, movie, game, what have you, that shares intimate details of how someone navigates a dangerous path is a potential how-to manual in the hands of our kids.

It's why I read this warning about eating disorder books as just another reason parents can't pass the buck off onto a book, a movie, a CD. If you're going to keep your kid from disordered eating, get wise to what it means to have an eating disorder, find out the warning signs and then TALK to your kids. Let them read books, sure, but read them yourselves so you know what's in them. Then talk about them.

Because if all you're doing is trying to scare your kids into being good, it isn't going to work.

Image: UniversityofWisconsin

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When Your Kid's Report Card Says They're Fat

JeanneSager — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:01:00 GMT

The "B" on your kid's report card could soon stand for Body Mass Index.

The Massachusetts Public Health Council has OK'd a proposal that will have schools measuring students' weight and height and sending report cards home to parents that warn them when their kids are overweight.

It's actually just the latest in a string of states that measure kids' BMI (eighteen in total do so), and a growing number that are sending the results home to the parents. Dubbed Mass in Motion, the Massachusetts program is aimed at lowering rates of childhood obesity - and parents will have the chance to opt out if they want to.

I am already prepared for the response of some parents - BMI isn't not an accurate representation of whether or not someone is overweight. And they're right. But the breakdown can be helpful, especially for parents who see the pediatrician only once a year with their kids, when it's time for the well visit. Sudden spikes or drops in weight can be signs of illness in kids, signs of depression or drug abuse too. Catch the warning signs early, and you might prevent your kids from future harm.

Parents would also do well to know a little more about their child's health. Studies have shown that parents often fail to recognize that their kids are overweight - be it because they have problems with weight themselves, are in denial or simply don't notice a change because they see their kids every day (where a grandparent who sees them monthly might notice a big difference in that time span).

How would you feel if you got this kind of report? Would it bother you to have the school stepping in?

Image: Go Healthy Go Fit

They Say: Obesity During Pregnancy Raises Risk of Birth Defects

Kate Tuttle — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:01:00 GMT

A new study looking at data from dozens of earlier research efforts has concluded that women who are obese cduring pregnancy are more likely to give birth to children with birth defects, in particular spina bifida and other neural tube defects. Other problems, such as hydrocephaly, cleft palate, and some heart and limb anomalies, are also found at higher rates when children are born to mothers who were obese during pregnancy.

The rate of spina bifida was strikingly higher in these cases, with obese mothers 2.2 times more likely to have a child with that condition; spina bifida ranges in severity but can cause paralysis, incontinence, and other serious medical challenges.

The paper, which appeared this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, looked at the results of 39 previous studies and was authored by Judith Rankin, a researcher at the Institute of Health and Society at Newcastle University in the UK. Rankin told the New York Times that she and her co-authors had also found increased risk to the children of mothers who were classified as overweight, rather than obese, but that further research was needed.

Pregnant women and women planning to become pregnant are routinely advised to take folic acid to lower the risk of neural tube defects, but some doctors now suggest a link between those defects and insulin resistance and undiagnosed diabetes.

Whatever the precise mechanism, the message is pretty clear -- losing weight before conceiving is in the best interest of your future child. How that advice is played out in doctor's offices and homes is another story entirely -- we live in a time and place of mixed messages about weight and health, in which we are bombarded with advertisements for unhealthy food and at the same time urged to lose weight at all costs (and often merely to look good, rather than to improve health). I hope that studies like this can help shine a clear light onto what really matters -- women's health and healthy babies.

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Do You Think Your Spouse Is Too Fat?

Amy S.F. Lutz — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:04:00 GMT

My husband calls it the old bait-and-switch: a man and a woman in the dating stage of their relationship diet and exercise like crazy to keep themselves in prime physical condition - then, once the honeymoon is over, one or both gain 20 pounds. It's not by any means an intentional misrepresentation - as we all know, once kids come along, and household chores multiply, everyone has less time to go to the gym.

Still, that doesn't mean you should just ignore it if you feel your spouse has put on too much weight, or tell yourself all that matters is how beautiful he or she is on the inside. Not only can those extra pounds affect your beloved's health, but your relationship will suffer if you find him or her less attractive. So, how should you broach what is obviously a loaded topic?

First, according to a great MSNBC article on the subject, don't be critical. Nagging your spouse or snatching the cookie right out of his or her hand is, obviously, not likely to inspire him or her to slim down. Instead, a loving, supportive attitude is much more likely to succeed. Help keep your spouse motivated by watching the kids for an hour so he or she can work out, praising both the effort and the results, and stocking the refrigerator with healthy snacks.

And, needless to say, you lose your cred if you yourself aren't working to keep yourself just as hot as you were the day you met. So, think about finding a sport you can do together, like biking, running or tennis - there are plenty of ways to have fun and burn calories at the same time.

The Craziest Reason I've Ever Heard For Losing 113 Pounds

Amy S.F. Lutz — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:27:00 GMT

So many of us would like to lose a few pounds (or more), and for different reasons: to be healthier, to look better in jeans, to look sexy in a bikini, to have more energy - and all those reasons make sense to me.

Ashley Barrett-Carter, of Texas, lost 113 pounds over the course of a year, for a reason I cannot at all relate to: so she could join the army.

Barrett-Carter tried to enlist last year, but when she weighed in at 263 pounds, she was told she was too heavy. The sergeant at the recruiting station told her to come back when she weighed 160 pounds. So she started eating less and exercising more, and now she's off to basic training.

I bet she'll look really sexy in those fatigues.

Sleep Burns Off Baby Weight

Cole Gamble — Mon, 19 May 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Let me just start by saying my wife is Wonder Woman, or perhaps she just has tapeworm, for when Nicole got pregnant for the first time she lost all her baby weight in six months. And this was no cute couple of pounds. Nicole had put on 100 pounds (or about 75 kittens). Seriously, here is a picture at Christmas time when she was bigger than the tree:

(Picture deleted by blogger's wife. It is not clear why she has access to the blogging network.)

I'd pass along her weight-loss technique, but it's a safely guarded secret that involves cases of Diet Pepsi , nicotine and a fey, wish-granting miniature space alien named Frazoo. Now it turns out the aspartame-poisoning, smoker's hack and putting up with Frazoo's inability to wear even the most basic of clothing and conceal his space bits was all for not. Turns out Nicole could have lost all that weight by getting more sleep.

This study shows that women who get five hours of sleep or less a night retained an average of 11 pounds more than new mothers who got seven hours or more. Part of the reason is sleep deprivation causes your brain to send appetite-inducing chemicals making one feel constantly hungry.

Now, we all know why mom is not getting sleep; there is a little someone who wants to eat at all hours. As result, you want to eat at all hours. So maybe now you have the husband do the late-night feedings. Let him get fat. It's not like he has plans to wear a two-piece.

J. Lo doesn't care about losing weight, until she does

Brett Singer — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 22:00:00 GMT

At first, new mom Jennifer Lopez said that she was in "no hurry" to lose her baby weight. That didn't last long: the Daily Mail reports that she has lost 40 pounds in four weeks, which would be a lot even if she hadn't just had twins.

I say more power to her; she can do whatever she wants (well, except for doing a sequel to 'Gigli'.) I was a little disappointed though, since if she had stuck to her guns, it might have made women who were having trouble losing weight after pregnancy feel better about themselves. To lose the pounds, she's been spending 3 hours a day working out, which begs the question of who is watching the kids. I guess Marc Anthony doesn't have a lot going on, and he's skinny enough already.

Smoking DOES NOT Help Girls Lose Weight

Amy S.F. Lutz — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:34:00 GMT

We all know smoking causes cancer, emphysema, and heart disease. It's an expensive, dirty habit that's no longer tolerated in most public spaces. So why our our daughters still so tempted by what could easily evolve into a dangerous, life-long addiction? Well, they think smoking will make them skinny. But they're wrong. And the news is even worse for boys.

A new study sponsored by the Canadian Cancer Society followed over 1200 Montreal teenagers for five years. Although the girls in the study often started smoking because they thought it would help them lose weight, researchers found that the girls who smoked weren't any more successful at keeping their weight down than the non-smoking subjects.

The study did show an impact on boys' size, however - smoking stunted their growth. Boys who smoked ten cigarettes a day from age 12 to 17 were an average of 2.5 cm shorter than their non-smoking peers, and had a lower body mass index.

So, tell your kids!!! Given that my first-grader has already rejected empire waist dresses because she thinks they make her look fat, I've come to believe that girls will do anything if they think it will make them skinny. Maybe, given the conclusions reached by this study, some of them will now pursue less harmful ways of controlling their weight, like laxatives or speed.

Stand In Kitchen, Lose Weight

Madeline Holler — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 18:02:00 GMT

Wanna lose the baby weight? (Even if the baby is now a toddler or, Christ, in junior high.)

One "expert" recommends heading straight to the kitchen. But not for a snack or even to throw out the high-calorie, high-carb salt & vinegar kettle chips.

He wants you to throw out your toaster, your George Foreman grill, that chipped platter that just sits there and sits there. Feel the pounds melt from your thighs!

We've already heard this clutter guy's claims of weight loss when you declutter your life and clean your house. Now, he's especially focused on your kitchen.

His analogies, though, read counter to logic.

From the NY Times:

“If you walked into a new restaurant and saw a messy, disorganized kitchen and dining area, you’d turn around and walk out the door,'’ he writes. “You wouldn’t eat dinner in a place like that. So why would you do it at home?'’

In that case, should we be increasing the clutter all over our countertops. Wouldn't that make us turn around and walk out the kitchen door?

Apparently not. He recommends getting rid of appliances that take up counterspace where you could be preparing healthful meals. And tossing anything that isn't used for food storage, prep, serving or cleanup.

So I can keep the stash of kettle chips?

Weekly Check-Up: Eating Disorders On the Rise In Young Kids

Kelly Mills — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:31:00 GMT

With all the news about the rise in childhood obesity and how we have to do something about it, it's interesting to see coverage of another topic: Increasing numbers of elementary school-aged children may be developing eating disorders. An eating disorder treatment center reported a 300 percent increase in calls for pre-teen patients. Oh, and get this: 80 percent of preteen girls are dieting. WTF? Dieting is linked with an increased liklihood of developing an eating disorder, which makes sense, cuz it's often just a matter of crossing a line a few too many times.

Treatment centers aren't the only ones who are worried: 63 percent of elementary school teachers say they are worried about eating disorders in their classrooms. Oy. And in case you thought maybe kids didn't get the message about how important it is to be thin, 81 percent of ten-year-olds are afraid of getting fat. The adverse health effects of anorexia and bulemia are much clearer than the health effects of being overweight, by the way. Perhaps as we loudly wage a war on an obesity "epidemic," we might want to spend some time looking at what other messages we are sending our kids.

Maybe Bazooka Is Better

Amy S.F. Lutz — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 13:37:00 GMT

I always thought giving my kids sugarless gum was better for them than, you know, the tooth-rotting variety. Now an article in The British Medical Journal reports that too much sorbitol, the sweeter used in sugarless gum and other sugar-free foods, can cause severe diarrhea and weight loss.

Apparently, two patients lost a combined 73 pounds and suffered debilitating stomach problems for months before doctors figured out that their chewing gum habits - over 20 pieces a day - were to blame.

Now what I'm wondering is, exactly how debilitating are we talking about here? Because I like sugarless gum, and chewing gum is pretty easy in the grand scheme of weight loss strategies. In fact, I bet if I combine my gum with bags and bags of Olestra chips, the weight will just fall right off.

You think I jest. But just watch. The future of celebrity dieting, and you heard it here first. Now, every time a paparazzo shoots a picture of Brittney or Cameron or Beyonce, they'll all be snapping away.

Unpopular and Fat: A Scientific Fact

Madeline Holler — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 18:43:00 GMT

Which came first, the social isolation or the excess pounds?

A new study looking to, I don't know, dredge up the deeply buried insecurities of grown women and/or convince parents to homeschool their kids has found that the less popular a girl perceives herself to be the more weight she'll gain during the teenage years. Conjuring images, no doubt, of the lonely sophomore eating a pint of ice-cream in a darkened kitchen while her cellphone never rings. Ugh!

The study: researchers recorded a pack of 15-year-olds' BMIs and had them determine which rung on the picture of 10-rung ladder they might be standing. A few years later, they calculated the grown girl-now-woman's BMI. Those who rated themselves along the bottom half of the ladder were 69 percent more likely to gain an excess of 11 pounds (there were allowances made for expected weight gain for the still-growing group of girls).

But here's what I find pretty interesting:

The researchers put the girls into two groups: the 4,264 who said they were on rung 5 or above, and the 182 who said they were on rung 4 or below. The weight gain link was based on those two groups.

That's a pretty small group who ranked themselves so low, isn't it? What I'd like to know is whether the lower your rank yourself the more you gained or more likely you were to gain, that kind of thing. And does the 182 number represent the expected percentage to be clinically depressed or whatever? I mean, is popularity the key here?

Of course, there is more work to be done.

Clea McNeely of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health called the study strong. She said she wanted to know more about the 4 percent of girls who rated themselves below average in popularity, particularly whether they already were gaining weight faster before they rated themselves as unpopular.

Now, what I'd really like to know is whether anyone who ranked herself at the top of the ladder wound up super obese. Because I'm bitter like that.

Don't Get All Guilty About Eating Crap

Kelly Mills — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 13:11:00 GMT

You'd think I'd be totally into an article on why you shouldn't feel bad about "diet flubs," but apparently I'm so crabby I can find fault with anything right now. Basically the gist is that nobody eats perfectly all the time, and that you may not be as bad as you think. So if you lament that you eat empty carbs, you can chillax because only half your grain servings need to be whole grain; if you love red meat, just keep it to lean cuts three times a week; if you only like carrots as a veggie, don't stress because you'll probably get sick of them; and if you don't read nutrition labels, great cuz you aren't being suckered by healthy, sugar-free claims, just keep an eye out for hydrogenated oils. Fine.

So why am I still somewhat hissy? Well, first I hate that these stories get accompanied by a photo of some skinny bitch who mimes eating a burger while being ever-so-careful to make sure no bun-carbs accidentally leap into her mouth. Is she a big diet flubber? And I hate the idea of diet, though in fairness the article doesn't say whether they mean diet like "what you eat daily" or "your big plan to eat differently temporarily so you lose weight." Not such a fan of the latter, frankly. And they don't mention what I believe to be a big ol' problem: If your eating plan is too restrictive, it's hard to maintain over the long-term and it's likely to suck much joy out of your life. I think that's more where "flubs" come in--the above stuff is only the half of it. Anyhow, it's not a horrible piece, but I'm determined to pick at everything until the holidays are over, in honor of my family.

Weekly Check-Up: Losing Weight Online

Kelly Mills — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:43:00 GMT

I started writing about exercise and weight loss in part because I just detested the usual tone of many fitness magazines: chipper, irritating advice handed down from someone yapping about what you should do in five simple steps to "burn fat and get a better butt--fast". Since then I have to say that salvation from the rah-rah you oughta blah blah can be found in the same place we've gotten an antidote to the preachy parenting books: online. There's some excellent fitness and health blogs out there, most written by people who have lost weight themselves or began an exercise program after being mostly sedentary, and they speak with the humor and realism of people who are doing this stuff themselves and have lived to tell the tale. Because we parents are often kinda concerned about fitness (wanting to losing pregnancy weight, needing the energy to chase our kids down the grocery store aisles, and so on) I thought I'd give you some good online resources for motivation, information, and laugh-ification in moving forward with a good program.

Women's Health did this highlight of fitness blogs, and I do like many of the peeps on the list. One of my favorite bloggers, Crabby McSlacker is on there, and I have to highly pump her Cranky Fitness blog. She's the opposite of that wretched aerobics instructor you wanna slap, and she always has the hilarious goods on the latest research.

Two of my other favorites are Elastic Waist, which is a group blog kinda like this one, and the writers there tackle all things weighty with a sweet dose of funny-ass-good. I also love Half Fast, because he's a runner like me (i.e. not a real quick one) and he makes me spit-laugh on a regular basis with his self-deprecating takedowns of all things joggy. I hope you will love these people as I do.

And by the way, if you have any fitness and weight crap you'd like to see here (of a general, not person-specific nature) please do lemme know. Training people is my day job, after all.

Sleep Away the Baby Weight!

Karen Murphy — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 12:28:00 GMT

I think I'm in love. Combine sleep and weight loss in one package? This is totally something I can get behind. And you can too, that is, if you've been lamenting the difficulty in losing the baby weight. It turns out that new mothers who sleep less tend to hang onto more of their baby weight, while mothers who slept more were able to just let it go.

But this sounds like an evil trick, doesn't it? What new mother actually gets sleep?

Trick or no, mothers who slept less than five hours a night averaged 11 pounds heavier than did the women who got more than seven hours of sleep. (The women who slept 5-7 hours apparently slept with the researchers and screwed up the data)

So...losing baby weight has nothing to do with breastfeeding and everything to do with sleep. So those of us up four times a night breastfeeding are doomed to a little extra gushyness? Sounds like mother nature's little way of ensuring that babies get enough to eat, if you ask me. Too much skinniness may signal something about a famine and affect the milk supply accordingly. Or something like that.

Mamas who aren't bf-ing, by the way, totally have my permission to sleep more. You can tell whoever might complain about it that I said it's okay.

So how long after the baby is born is it still considered "baby weight"? My youngest just turned four and I need to know if I can use this excuse to get more sleep.

Lose All the Baby Weight Breastfeeding! (The Big, Fat Lie)

Karen Murphy — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 19:06:00 GMT

Can I rant here for a sec?

I breastfed my third and fourth babies, and to a lesser extent the first two as well, and every time, without fail, I succumbed to the notion put forth in all the books that breastfeeding will help you lose the baby weight! It will just drop off like magic!

To which I say: bullshit.

Okay, I admit, maybe it works that way for some women. But I seemed to hold on to an extra ten pounds while nursing. Was it being pinned to the couch several times a day, for hours on end, feeding my child? Or was it simply something that nature provides, the insurance that given normal conditions of food-supply, that the nursing mother, providing for the next generation, have enough in reserve to do so?

Either way, I'm tired of seeing the media cooing about perky celebrities who are magically returned to their pre-pregnancy, non-child-bearing condition after three months! Or even six weeks!

What's not mentioned are the nannies, the maids, the personal checfs, and especially the personal trainers who make that possible. But normal women are fueled by that expectation, and no matter how you think on an intellectual basis that celebrities don't operate in reality and therefore those expectations shouldn't apply to you, somehow you (if you're me) still think you should be able to erase the effects of pregnancy easily too.

Wouldn't it be nice to see not only more celebration of the pregnant body but also celebration of the postpartum body? In all its stages?

P.S. Here's something indicative of this mindset: when searching for an appropriate image for this post, I ran across hundreds of pregnant belly shots, but only found ONE postpartum image (which Kelly had already used here on Strollerderby). Until we release our shame over this, nothing will change.

Weekly Check-Up: Exercise Won't Make You Lose Weight

Kelly Mills — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 12:31:00 GMT

There's an article in New York magazine about how exercise, rather than promoting weight loss, actually makes you hungrier. While there are, of course, numerous other benefits to exercise, the author claims weight loss and maintenance ain't one of them. He argues that studies of exercise and weight loss have been inconclusive, at best, and that those of us who store fat easily are just likely to keep doing that, making up for calories burned by eating more. And a thousand personal trainers simultaneously clutch their hearts and shriek in horror.

Okay, I myself am a personal trainer and fitness instructor, so obviously I'm kinda pro-exercise. But I thought this guy had a couple okay points, to tell you the truth. We do tend to see hunger as a question of willpower, rather than a biological drive. And exercise does make you hungrier, no doubt. Now, I think the research is more varied than he presents: for example, a couple of studies have looked at the habits of people who maintained significant weight loss, and found the majority exercised regularly as well as making dietary changes. But I can also say that if you have the kind of bod that really wants to hold weight, and you run six miles and then hit the fridge buffet with equal gusto, you probably won't get the big weight loss you want. You might be healthier, happier, stronger, more able to walk stairs with ease and carry your screaming toddler three blocks and all that good stuff, but not skinny.

But here's one thing: I think it's easier to make changes in your diet (and by that I mean stuff like eating less sugar, not ignoring hunger) when you have a regular exercise program. You might be hungrier, but you are also investing work and sweat and time towards your physical self. There's something about making steps towards living a certain way that makes other changes easier. You can create a new homeostasis, a new norm for your body. That was absolutely true in my case, for example, though I'm hardly a scientific sample. That said, I'd love to see some of the moral judgments around weight removed. I mean, there's skinny folks who have daily candy bars and milkshakes, and overweight people who eat much more modestly. But think twice before canceling the gym membership.

Celebrity Lessons: Where's Fat Brit?

Kelly Mills — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 20:07:00 GMT

Yeah, her dancing and lip-synching was as obviously fake as the creepy colored contacts she wore, and no one is putting Brit forward for a mom-of-the-year award, what with the lax carseat policies and the coke-filled baby bottles. And the whole "mistake" thing. But when I follow the Music Award performance debacle, there's one thing that stands out for me. This is fat? I mean, she has gotten crap for being "unfit." Unfit, for those at home, for once doesn't refer to her parenting, it just means fat. It means she needs to lose weight. It means she's pathetic for tarting around after not losing all that baby weight.

Now, I'll admit, perhaps my perspective has been distorted by spending too much time with real women with real bodies. Women who had the nerve to want to actually deliver the placenta before they hopped back on the stairmaster. Women who do not have the benefit of airbrushing and plastic surgery and full-time nannies so they can work out for hours with a trainer, then go home and "eat" a specially-prepared raw veggie smoothie. Britney has access to all that stuff. So how come she didn't whip herself into top form before going on TV?

I don't know, and I don't care. But I know lots of moms who think they are lazy for waiting three months post-partum before starting the weight-loss regime, and it makes me sad. "Fat" Britney looks relatively normal to me. She looks like she had two kids. And yes, she is scantily-clad and selling sex, so maybe she is opening the door for a critique. I guess celebrities aren't supposed to look like that.

But honestly, I'm kind of glad to see a celebrity body that doesn't look like it was starved for nine months. That belly is (do I go to hell for this?) kinda sexy. I suppose my big post-partum advice is this (listen up, Britster): Work on your health. Enjoy your baby or kids. And while I can't believe I'm saying it, if you wanna emulate Brit's body, go right ahead. Copy her on this one thing. She looks fine to me. Just don't, um, phone your performance in.

Weekly Check-Up: More Weighty Weight Loss With Your Kids Helping, Quack Quack

Kelly Mills — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 13:40:00 GMT

Sigh. So far this Weekly Check-Up feature has been almost wholly devoted to weight loss and exercise--yours and your kids (she says wearily.) And trust me, I'm totally down with a healthy, active life, and I completely get the hundred thousand reasons we wanna lose weight (including vanity, and that's pretty natural) and why we don't want our kids to struggle with obesity. So this bit from Mom Squawk that's really more about how you can be a good role model for your kids is in keeping with the theme, and it was motivated by health reasons, so fine. I like "Meeting goals for physical activity (and writing down activities)" and "Modeling healthy eating habits and most especially, "Praising each other".

But then there's one I don't like. "Doing daily weigh-ins and graphing weight". What's wrong with that? Look, I see people every day who are obsessed with the numbers and the scale and all of the sudden the health piece flies out the window in favor of losing a certain number of pounds. And this got me to thinking of little girls dieting and the supreme importance placed on being skinny and pretty and how lately I'm real tired of all of that. So I'm going to add a few more ways you can be a role model for your kids--not in weight loss--but in being all healthy and shit.

Don't critique your body, as in "I hate my legs" or "Gawd, my belly is huge." Silent critiques in front of the mirror send a message too.

Explain how physical activity is good for your body, i.e. your heart, your lungs, your emotional health...

Don't make anything too forbidden. Show your kids how there's room for all kinds of yummy stuff. Even occasionally in excess. That's called being human.

Let your kids see you having fun doing exercise. If you hate what you do, find something else to add to it that you do like, even if it doesn't result in some max calorie burn.

Feel free to point out the beauty in diverse shapes. Don't just love on stick figures.

If you wanna model healthy eating, remember that a few celery sticks, half a chicken breast, and a diet Coke for dinner aren't gonna sustain your life activities well and your kids are watching you do that, too. Explain how the body works best with lots of different kinds of foods. At my house we say, "What on this plate is protein? What's a vegetable?" and so on, cuz we're kinda funny like that.

Be sure to celebrate all kinds of successes, like trying a new physical activity or adding ten minutes to a regular walk, and maybe you could just leave out the weight loss part, because trust me, your children will get the importance of being a particular weight every time they crack a magazine or turn on the TV or overhear people complaining about the belly, but they'll probably hear very little meaningful talk about what it means to be healthy, active, and confident at a range of weights.

I certainly don't do all these things perfectly, but to me, it seems like the good fight, and I want my gorgeous little girl to see me try. So there.

Docs Revise Pregnancy Weight Guidelines. Oh Great.

Kelly Mills — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 19:33:00 GMT

The Institute of Medicine is going to review current weight gain guidelines for pregnant women, because many doctors are concerned women are gaining too much weight. Some say the current recommendations, of 300 extra calories a day and no more than 35 pounds take into account factors such as the obesity epidemic. Gaining too much weight can increase the risk of complications including labor and delivery problems and large babies. Plus it can be hard to get the weight off later. And I say, once again, the medical community is going about this the wrong way. Ooooh, wait, I feel an annoyed sound coming on: aaaaaaarrrrghh!

This kind of stuff just gets me all friggin' worked up. I mean, how much crap do pregnant women need to really worry about? Or maybe more to the point, is telling pregnant women they should cap their weight gain at 25 instead of 35 pounds really gonna help solve this problem? But for whatever reason, many doctors like a set of "no's" and some guideline numbers. Screw the numbers. What about this? Instead of big weigh-ins and "tsk tsk"ing at women, tell expectant moms they are practicing for how they will feed their children. Make sure they know what they SHOULD eat, instead of always harping on what they shouldn't. Make sure they get adequate fruits and veggies and protein and whole grains. Talk about the importance of calcium and nutrients. Explain healthy eating practices, like practicing eating without distractions like TV, paying attention to the feeling of satiety, ensuring water is a companion to every meal. And okay, yeah, avoid highly processed food, excessive alcohol, raw beef and eggs, and crack. Because I think most pregnant women wanna do right by their kids, and if you help them understand what is essential for fueling a healthy life, they'll have an easier time adding in good stuff rather than always focusing on avoiding "bad" stuff. Oh, and then they have skills to pass on to their kids. Two-fer.

And honestly, pregnancy is nine months of planning for a big future event. As long as you and your baby are reasonably healthy, do you really need to concern yourself with post-partum weight loss right now? If pregnancy is your big chance to go crazy with food, then I'd say perhaps your "normal life" diet is too restrictive. And P.S.: Ladies, I gained 65+ pounds in pregnancy. And we're all okay. That's right, beating the odds whenever we can...

Liposuction and Gastric Lap Band for 13-Year-Old: Child Abuse?

Kelly Mills — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 16:56:00 GMT

Brooke Bates had liposuction at age 12. She has now gained 35 or the 40 pounds back, so her mom took her to Mexico so she could get gastric band surgery. Why Mexico? Because doctors here won't do that kind of surgery on anyone under 18. They also have to have a BMI of at least 40 or be twice their ideal weight. Brooke's mom believes the surgery is the only way to keep her daughter from overeating, and obviously that's real important here. And of course, some folks are calling this child abuse. Brooke's mom and sis commented on Back in Skinny Jeans about the whole thing, and her mom said, "Just because majority of Doctors say that this procedure (liposuction) is dangerous, how the heck would they really know because they have never taken that much weight from the patients that they see. THEY SHOULD GIVE IT A TRY."

You know, I'm actually sympathetic (well, towards Brooke) only because I remember how hard it can be to be anything other than thin and cheerleader-y at that age. But sympathetic doesn't translate to thinking this is a good idea. Obviously surgery is a drastic measure and a temporary fix without lifestyle changes, and as a mom I can't imagine putting my kid under the knife for anything less than the real crucial stuff. Being skinny doesn't qualify for that. And what message does it send to your kid? Anyhow, I'm not really interested in giving this a child abuse label, but I think it's sad and twisted. If you wanna call it like you see it, fine.

Weekly Check-Up: Post-Natal Exercise Is Good

Kelly Mills — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 13:31:00 GMT

Okay new moms, are you ready to sweat? That was me doing my best aerobics instructor voice. But it's true, post-natal exercise can be helpful for all the reasons this nice personal trainer Tracey Mallett hits us with:

Helps to reduce post-natal depression known as the “baby blues”
Quicker recovery back to your pre-pregnancy body
Increased much-needed energy
Stress release (time to focus on yourself)

She also shares a good exercise for diastasis recti, a.k.a. "what the hell happened to my abs?" Sorry, but when baby needs room to expand, sometimes there's a little eminent domain involved. Overall the tips here are fabulous, though I'll add one to the ways to find time to exercise: if you have a partner or neighbor or relative who will watch the baby, go forth and exercise. I never had the discipline to get up early and go running until I was a new mom, and jogging was my alone time. All of the sudden panting, lumbering, and perspiring looked so much more appealing.

While Tracey urges patience with your post-natal body, I'm going to be the bearer of some possibly bad news: be more patient than that even. When she says it may take a few months or possibly longer to get your pre-pregnancy body back, she's being optimistic. I like nine months on, nine months off, minimum. Oh, I know there's some of you who were back in pre-preg jeans at like two weeks post-partum, but you probably had good genes too and some of us resent you a little for even sharing that tidbit. And to go one step further: "Be patient and your body will be back to normal in no time." Normal is a funny thing. If you ignore the fanny pack of extra skin around your middle and the fact that your boobs crave some time with your shoes, then sure, I'll buy it. But my pre-pregnancy body is like my twenty-year-old skin: not coming back. It's okay though, cuz there's plenty of moms who will commiserate with you.

Dayna Devon Chases the Dream: The Pre-Pregnancy Body

Kelly Mills — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 15:05:00 GMT

Extra co-host Dayna Devon has decided to get a tummy tuck. This is news because: 1) most of the time celebrities pretend they just did a ton of yoga, and 2) fine, it's not really news news, but whatever. Sue me.

Devon has a 19-month-old daughter, and she gave birth to a son in January. She needs the tummy tuck because, "I gained 24 pounds [while pregnant]. I still have loose skin."

Whoa. She gained 24 pounds? Funny, so did I. By my fourth month. When I went into labor I had gained... Well, take Dayna's number, triple it, and you'll be within spitting distance. When I told my fellow Strollerderby-ers that if 24 pounds gets you a tummy tuck, I ought to get three, Sarah said, "I also require three tummy tucks. Maybe I could get two of those and one boob job."

Devon's husband, Dr. Brent Moelleken, is a renowned plastic surgeon and apparently he wants to do the surgery. Devon says, "He would never let anyone else do it. When you're a surgeon, you're like the quarterback of the football team and can't stand to sit on the bench." I personally don't think I'd let my husband stick a knife in me, surgeon or no. Too much room for potential "accidents". He could warm the bench in gatorade-soaked pants all day long before I'd let that happen.

On second thought, it's a really good thing I'm not married to a plastic surgeon, because if I did get over my fear of him cutting me, I'd turn into the laziest slob in the world. See, my husband is a computer guy, so when I'm confronted with a technology issue I yell, "Honey!" instead of figuring out how to fix it myself. If I was married to a doctor, I'd have cake twelve times a day and use Hershey's syrup as a chaser. "Honey! I need new thighs again!"

Kids Everywhere Are Perplexed Too: Post-Preggers Tori Spelling Dilemma

Jessica Ashley (Sassafrass) — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 22:04:00 GMT

Gather 'round, kids. Put down your Duplo building blocks and your Dora backpacks and your sippy cups. Stop reading ni-ni books and please, keep your curious little chubbers fingers out of your nostrils for one very important moment. No, this isn't a time-out or a boy-parts/girl-parts talk. This is a much more critical issue that we need to discuss.

Children, this is about Tori Spelling.

Now, you probably don't remember Tori from back in the 90210 Donna days of cavernous cleavage and interminable virginity, but Mommy does. Mommy will remember for you that it was clearly a case of obligation and access to the beachfront condo that coerced Kelly to stay BFFs with Donna until the show came to a long and drawn-out end.

Mommy will remember with a cringe the commercials for Tori's self-mocking show on VH1 and the excrutiating boredom while sitting on a delayed plane on a tarmac in Portland that led to reading each and every one of the five page spread on how Tori and her now-hubby met, wooed and wed each other. And the sidebar on their cast-out spouses. Oh yeah, and the pictorial on their beach bonfire ritual after the nuptials. Cringe if you will but mommy will remember.

Now that Tori's made her way back to media darlingdom as a new wife, new mom, newly reconciled with her own mother, new owner of a B & B and new star of a reality show, her life has some dramatic questions looming that you, my babes, are aware of. Prepare yourself, the most pressing question needs your full attention: How will Tori Spelling lose her baby weight?

I know, I know. It's a big one.

But not to worry. She's been jogging with her husband and the kind folks at NutriSystem are going to take very good care of Tori's (surely) massive post-partum jelly belly after gaining (oh God) 40 pounds while pregnant. It'll all be OK.

Try not to worry your little heads, kids. I am sure it all be just fine.

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