Sometimes a swift kick...

Definition of a bad day:

Via Getty Images

It's been a frustrating week or so, even if this is the farthest the NY Rangers have come in 20 years. Still, not the way you want to spend a weekend, seeing this happen.

But if anything, it's sort of become my new "clickable moment" or perhaps a re-ignition of my old one. It's time to take stock of what I'm doing and smack myself in the tuchas to get back on it. In a way, the past few months have been filled with a quite a few "on hold" plans and events, all unresolved, which admittedly took away from my laser-like focus of the Streamlined Ska Librarian lifestyle. And now they've all ended in a somewhat disappointing way. So, the Rangers loss is sort of the symbolic culmination of all that stuff.

You can see my blog entries dropped off, too. And while I can say that my food choices weren't always great, it was definitely the drop in intense exercise that really dragged me down. And a lot of that was due to the very cheap gym to which I belong. The final straw was going three days with some missing dumbbells, thereby preventing a decent workout. (It's hard to do chest presses with only one weight .. and the bench presses were not there). Oh, and the fact that there was no airflow in this basement gym, which led to mold and mildew growth. And the boxing bag broke. Hat trick of gym hell. 

It was time to go.

So I've bitten the bullet and rejoined the expensive gym. It is a financial sacrifice? Yes. Do I think it's worth it? Most definitely.

As I've said many times before, I know what I need to stay in Streamlined mode. And that, sadly, does cost something. Or at least  it requires more of a real gym. Some other life amenities will have to go, but that's ok, I'm willing to make that decision.

As I said in previous posts, exercise makes me happy...the inability to do said exercise does not. I have become a picky gym bunny. Who knew?

Well, I did, actually.

And already, I just feel better. Because I know I will be the intense happy guy I can be, the guy who didn't get a chance to really appear for the past 6 months. And I also know, I'm doing it for me. Not because I'm back in Retro Ska Librarian body, cuz I'm not there yet, but rather because I can see Retro mindset creeping up if I don't.And that ain't good

It brings to mind a recent post from RD Aaron Flores. (Always a dietitian work into the posts!) I'm not going to say I agree with everything he says, but the mindset is there. You have to comfortable knowing what works for you and be happy in your journey to get where you want to go health-wise.

And my taking stock meant that swift kick is upon me.

No scholarly references this time, just a shout out the Rangers. You still inspire me.

"Stop Saying Wheee!"

I do not know why but for someone who is very good at group activities and following rules, I've always felt really uncomfortable at enforced "enjoyment events." Summer camp sing-a-longs, any solstice drum circle and especially group exercise classes where they shout at you to enjoy yourself. They creep me all out. 

Look, I know spin classes and laughing yoga work for many people, but I just don't like them. I don't need to be told when to say "Wheee!"

(This blog entry's title actually comes from a scene from here. It's very apt to this topic).

"But, Mr. Streamlined Ska Librarian," you say, "If I enjoy it, won't I do it more?" Why, yes, small handful of blog readers, you probably will. I think it's sort of obvious that one tends to do any activity more often if one enjoys it. 

via

Maybe I'd have this same expression during my cardio if I had those fabulous heels to work out in. Wheee, indeed.

However, there might be another reason why enjoyable exercise works towards weight loss or weight maintenance. A recent study showed that subjects who were told they were doing a physical activity "for fun" as opposed to "for exercise", ate less afterwards. There was less of a reward aspect to their physical activity. ("I ran 60 minutes on the treadmill, so I can have 2 donuts!")

And I do find that fascinating. Especially when another recent study shows that we consistently misunderstand what is meant by "moderate exercise." And we're only misunderstanding it in one direction.

So at least if we're not getting enough vigorous exercise, we're probably eating less to compensate if we enjoy that exercise.

I do enjoy running, even if it means having to get through those initial 10 minutes of my brain saying, "You can stop now!" Once I get going, I'm very happy. I also enjoy boxing very much and yes, even heavy weight lifting.

But it doesn't mean I don't get bored with the routines and I rarely consider weight lifting to be "just for fun." However, I still like it more than many group exercise instruction. I feel less uncomfortable, which makes it more enjoyable. But I also know that it's work. I'm doing this for a reason. And being Streamlined does make me happier and more comfortable with myself. 

And sometimes you just need to be comfortable and satisfied to get towards happiness. Yet another study shows the relationship between obesity and subjective well-being. Not surprisingly, there seems to be a inverse relationship, and women suffer from low satisfaction due to obesity far more than men. But they also mention one interesting hypothesis from their results:

"Our findings demonstrate that where obesity is more prevalent, the difference in life satisfaction between the obese and nonobese is smaller for women and almost nonexistent for men. The same relationship is likely to exist over time: the emotional cost and advantage of obesity and nonobesity, respectively, may be decreasing as the prevalence of obesity increases. If future research finds evidence for this trend over time, it would offer additional insight into the causes of the exponential growth in obesity over the past 30 years: a cyclical process in which the emotional cost of obesity declines, resulting in greater prevalence, resulting in fewer emotional costs."

In other words, if we all get fat, we'll have less options to which to compare! Yay, now we can make fun of you for being bald!

But, even if we're all moving towards an inevitable obese society, it still doesn't mean you can't have fun being active in some way. And if that makes life better, then it's probably something we should all do in some way. 

Just don't say Wheee. Nobody says wheee. Nobody.



References:

Canning, Karissa L., Ruth E. Brown, Veronica K. Jamnik, Art Salmon, Chris I. Ardern, and Jennifer L. Kuk. “Individuals Underestimate Moderate and Vigorous Intensity Physical Activity.” PLoS ONE 9, no. 5 (May 16, 2014): e97927. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0097927.

Wadsworth, Tim, and Philip M. Pendergast. “Obesity (Sometimes) Matters The Importance of Context in the Relationship between Obesity and Life Satisfaction.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 55, no. 2 (June 1, 2014): 196–214. doi:10.1177/0022146514533347.

Werle, Carolina O. C., Brian Wansink, and Collin R. Payne. “Is It Fun or Exercise? The Framing of Physical Activity Biases Subsequent Snacking.” Marketing Letters, May 15, 2014, 1–12. doi:10.1007/s11002-014-9301-6.

That diet is bananas!

First, if I may:




LET'S GO RANGERS!!!!! WHOOOP!! WE WANT THE CUP! 

OK, now where were we...

A browse through some of my recent cookbooks acquisitions brought this little ditty to light:

via The Buffet Cookbook

 
This is not something met with my usual lip smacking culinary fantasy. However, it seems this was a fairly common recipe in mid-century cookbooks. And I was intrigued. Instead of getting immediately creative, I followed the recipe pretty much to the letter (except I halved it). The result?

Ummmm...no. Granted, my dinner guest thought it was delicious. I thought it tasted like, well, bananas mashed into beef. Blerk.

This might have been good with some sort of curry or jerk spice. Something tangy-spicy to interact with the bananas.

To me, it was a failure. Even if the blog reviews of this recipe were saying it was amazing.You can't believe everything you read.

Which is why this particular article in the NY Times made me a little nervous, at least by it's headline. Men losing 11 pounds in only 4 days? If you look at the full study, overweight men were given severe caloric restriction (360 cal/day!) combined with intense exercise, then continuing increase exercise for another week. And surprise, these men lost a lot weight. And they seemed to have kept it off after a year. But even the scientists confirmed that this needs more observation and it may not be ideal for those without the initiative.
But also, there was a only a handful of men in the study, so this cannot be considered a universal solution, just yet.

Also, looking at it in perspective, when I started my Streamlined lifestyle change, I worked out with my first trainer that if I cut my intake to 2700 cal/day, but increased my exercise, I could maintain my goal of a one lb. of weight loss per week.

Now that was already a huge calorie drop for me. Doing a quick and dirty calorie count on Retro Ska Librarian meals, I was probably taking in 4000-6000 cal/day. Way more than any recommended daily allowance. So coming down to 2700 was already a shift, never mind that it also meant I should be engaging in "intensive exercise" at least 5 days a week (otherwise weight loss would have been only do to even less calories).  I cannot imagine handling 360 cal/day. That's not even a bagel or a beer.

So while this is an eyebrow raising study, do we see it fitting into a healthy lifestyle change? I'm sure someone will try to bank on that! 

"The Danish Starvation Diet! Eat like a Little Mermaid!"

But what makes it more difficult could be our overall diet. A brief written for JAMA has two doctors saying it is the way we store fuel in fat cells that can actually prevent us form properly losing weight. Coming back to the theory that it's not how much you eat, but what you eat. 

I'm not sure how I feel about this theory, and it is just that at the moment, a theory. Taken at it's basics, yes, it is healthier when you count calories to try to eat healthier foods (I suppose 2700 cal/day of frosting tubs would have not have been very smart of me to do).

But will this idea throw more people into the arms of "quick fix" diets and pills, as they feel they are "doomed" by their fat cells? Frank Bruni, fellow former pudgy guy, does see it as a problem that we all fall into:

"And the vogue for painstakingly tailored eating regimens and dieting techniques is to some extent a distraction from that, a dangerous one, because it promotes the idea that basic nature and fundamental biology can somehow be gamed, cheated, transcended."

There is no cheat. There is no extreme way of doing this. And I can no longer buy into any special diet.

It is highly possible that my fat cells have been so overworked that weight loss for me might be harder. But I did do it, without denying myself anything out of the ordinary. However, maybe those "trigger" foods are what these doctors are talking about.  I don't know, I just know what worked and it wasn't advertised on TV.

In any case, there is no easy answer. Never was. Never will be. You want a miracle, look at those beautiful NY Rangers! It took 20 years, but they finally hit their goal! (OK, ouch...)

 
References:


4 Days, 11 Pounds. (n.d.). Well. Retrieved May 23, 2014, from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/22/4-days-11-pounds/


Bruni, Frank. “Diet Lures and Diet Lies.” The New York Times, May 26, 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/27/opinion/bruni-diet-lures-and-diet-lies.html.

Calbet, J. a. L., Ponce-González, J. G., Pérez-Suárez, I., de la Calle Herrero, J., & Holmberg, H.-C. (2014). A time-efficient reduction of fat mass in 4 days with exercise and caloric restriction. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, n/a–n/a. doi:10.1111/sms.12194

Ludwig DS, & Friedman MI. (2014). Increasing adiposity: Consequence or cause of overeating? JAMA. doi:10.1001/jama.2014.4133

Librarians vs. Dietitians: Does This Profession Make Me Look Fat?

Oh, Superboy, don't you know Lana doesn't care what YOU look like? It's only Lana that needs to stay away from the Midwest casseroles.You can have super seconds!

I'd like to say this was the only "fat shaming" comic from that era, but they did use it quite a bit. Then again, they were the prototype of the typical sitcom situation of chubby hubby - hot wife. In fact, they went one better: chubby-hubby - multiple hot wives!

Which is why the most recent episode of FX's Louie, "So Did the Fat Lady" showed some amazing moments of true statements on how fat women are treated even when on date with a non-buff guy. You just need to read that monologue and see the clip here.

I've seen some backlash, but most of the comments on the internet are (surprise!) mostly positive.

We never get over the body image issue. Which brings us back to another chapter of:

Let's Compare Stereotyped Professions!

This month's Today's Dietitian has an article on body image among Registered Dietitians, or, more importantly, how RDs are perceived when they are not "thin." Because when people hear that someone is involved in nutrition, the assumption is that you cannot trust them to be "good" if they're "fat".

I can see how this can be a problem for RDs.  Never mind that thin doesn't mean healthy. But it can become way too time consuming to worry about your public perception when you should be worried if you're doing a good job.

Librarians don't fret about their weight. They do, however, fret about EVERY OTHER ISSUE OF THEIR IMAGE. And what's sad is that it's been going on for decades.

I'm not sure if the constant fear of appearing "cool" is better or easier than the fear of being "fat." In fact, it's pretty easy to slide into "creepily odd" from "attempted cool.".

But even though my Librarian peeps fret more, I think it's probably more of a burden to the Dietitians. 

I can speak from the both sides of being "uncool" and being "fat." Cool is really subjective; you'll always find someone who probably fits or relates on some level and will embrace the uncoolness. And for all their vintage clothes and snarky attitudes, Librarians have found more often that library users actually want to more older, nerdy types because they are perceived as knowing more. And I say this as a heavily tattooed librarian that can easily quote kitschy 60's comics. Most patrons treat me a lot different now that I've aged into suits and button down shirts.

But being fat...even your fellow fatties have issues with that. Body image is harder to escape. Especially as you relate it to perceptions of health. Studies show that our perception of health and weight are pretty skewed and it starts at a fairly young age.

So, I'm not sure who "wins" this round. It's bad enough we both have to deal with a lot of other stereotypes. But self-image is a very rancid icing on this unhealthy cake.

And yet we continue to see this in all media, even comics. 

Maybe this tiny segment on Louie might make a difference. But we can just keep on keepin' on in our two much-maligned, but truly awesome professions.
 


References:

“Dietitians and Their Weight Struggles.” Accessed May 15, 2014. http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/050114p32.shtml?utm_content=buffer42dff&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer.

Fonseca, Helena, and Margarida Gaspar de Matos. “Perception of Overweight and Obesity among Portuguese Adolescents: An Overview of Associated Factors.” The European Journal of Public Health 15, no. 3 (June 1, 2005): 323–28. doi:10.1093/eurpub/cki071.

Knowing and "No"ing

This was making the rounds recently, from Jimmy Kimmel:

Not too surprising. I'm a little more surprised by the comments on some sites that linked to this, somehow blaming the restaurants for not really handling gluten free food properly for those who have celiac disease and THAT'S why these answers are ignorant.

Wait...what?

This video shows that people are denying themselves gluten WITHOUT EVEN KNOWING WHY! Why are you blaming restaurants for something you don't even know why you're avoiding?

I'm sure this was staged in some way, but I certainly hear this enough from folks when they approach me to ask my opinion of trying a diet, as the Streamlined Ska Librarian lifestyle is so successful ... for Streamlined Ska Librarians.

Yes, as I've said many times, what worked for me was portion control and an increase in exercise. For me. And having tried "specialized" diets in the past, I know that any sort of real restriction, especially for those of us with binge issues, does not work in the long run. But many people, like those in the video, want to hear that eating "special" is THE answer.

But I also notice in these all new gluten-free/paleo/artisinal-crafted diets that they forget one main thing: our portions have gotten a LOT bigger in the past several decades.

I'm not even going to reference one scholarly article. There have been so many written lately. Soooo many.

And basically they all show that increased portions increase our energy intake AND that portions have gotten bigger in general.

So it's not that you're eating no gluten. You're still increasing the amount of other food you are eating. And a lot of these "faux foods" actually have more sugar, so...

Let's take a look back at some vintage cookery. We often get unneeded/unwanted donations in the Library or we are looking to de-accession older, damaged copies. So when old cookbooks come in, they often are sent to me to covet, pick through and invoke Head Librarian privilege.

"Mine! Stay away! Hissss!"

And while there are some truly questionable recipes in some of them, I do love perusing them. Look at this lovely setting from the Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook section on salads:

I'm not sure what kind of salad they're making, but it certainly got Grandpa and Grandma all excited! Get a room, you two!

Now some of these salads, many of which include canned fruit, gelatin and/or mayonnaise, would not normally make it to my table, nor might they induce  friskiness as I approach AARP levels. But I can't help but notice that most of these salads say they "serve 6" even though they include a much smaller amount of ingredients than similar salads found on culinary websites today. So you can dress up your salad with Princess Mayonnaise (1/2 cup mayo, 1 tbsp maraschino syrup, 4 chopped maraschino cherries and 1/4 cup cream, which equals about 2.5 TEASPOONS per person) and not deny yourself a serving of Baked Prune Whip for dessert (I'll only share that recipe if asked).

One of the other books I took home was the Larousse Gastronomique, which is more than just recipes. It's an encyclopedia of historic food in France. It's filled with descriptions of ancient herbs, spices and cooking methods, as well as citations of various foods in French literature. (The Balzac marzipan story is fascinating.)

It also references foods, like otter, which "have a horrible taste." I like that sense of completion.

By including all sorts of foods, even those not considered edible, the book shows that you can extend your food choices to everything. It's the exact opposite of what we see today. The readers of this cookbook avoided foods in  that were considered poisonous or bad tasting. Otherwise, it was fair game to experiment. 

Nowadays should we look at the dozens of pages of garnish recipes and avoid them because they might contain gluten? Also, very few of the recipes give the amount of people they were meant to serve as it's assumed you wouldn't eat an entire plate of Double D'Agneau on your own. 

So if you really want to have a Streamlined Ska Librarian body ... tough, it's mine. But don't deny yourself soemthing unless you KNOW why you're doing it.

OK, I'm going to go try some Otter a la Princess.



References:

Crocker, Betty. Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book. New York; London, 1950.

Montagné, Prosper, Charlotte Turgeon, and Nina Froud. Larousse Gastronomique: The Encyclopedia of Food, Wine & Cookery. New York: Crown Publishers, 1961.

Certified with issues

So, this happened ...

It's always nice to have a sense of completion. 

I admit that I tend to be a combination of the "needs to know everything" and "ooh, bright shiny object" sort of researcher. (I think those are prevalent in most good librarians, streamlined ska-loving or no). I tend to delve into new subjects and often find myself running off to the next one soon after. Because I like to know WHY and HOW.

But even though I've been hunkering down into nutrition and weight loss research for a few years, I have not tired of it yet. I think that's because of a few reasons. One is that there's always new material and research being published, both scholarly and "media-oriented." The other is that I'm living it. 

This weight loss/maintenance/lifestyle/whathaveyou cannot leave my head. Especially now that maintenance needs a tweak or two. Part of that is being vigilant, resourceful, positive, etc.

The other, more difficult part, is just accepting yourself in the mirror. 

I will admit, I think I look hot. I think (and people agree) that I look much better now at age (as of this coming Sunday) 49, than I did at 39 or even 29. But that doesn't stop me from having moments of body image issues. That moment of "oh crap, what the hell do I look like here?" even though in the next moment, I can think "nice guns!" or "check out the dude!"  But now that there's been some tight pants issues, the "oh crap" stuff gets magnified. It's ridiculous, I KNOW it's ridiculous, but that's how mindsets about weight and body image work. 

There have been quite a few studies on body image, but very, very few of them include men. Although there was a recent one with college men showing that they react to "fat talk" the same way women do...it can make you have body issues. Is it all the same for us? Probably not.

So, it's interesting to see this recent post and video about one man's struggle with body issues. It hit a few chords for me. And it does drive home that it's really only recently that men have begun to talk about this at any level near where women do. 

But the big thing he mentions is that you can lose weight, but unless you're in the right mindset, it's not going to remain off. It's merely a diet that has a start and end and invariably it's not the band-aid you think it is. But men tend not to talk about those issues that make us reach for the extra cupcake.

And I can see this in me. This recent weight loss (now over 2 years on) is beginning to crack and that is what I'm addressing now. It's interesting to run through the regimen in my head and see where it needs .. sharpening, as it were. To see what issues need to be addressed now.

I know I will not let myself get back to total Retro Ska Librarian weight and body issue laden self. But I can see I need a little more "jumper cable" work on myself and to check myself when I think I see what I do when I run past a large window or when I get dressed for work in the morning. 

Sadly, there's no certificate for that. 


References:

Engeln, Renee, Michael R. Sladek, and Heather Waldron. “Body Talk among College Men: Content, Correlates, and Effects.” Body Image 10, no. 3 (June 2013): 300–308. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2013.02.001.

Pagoto, Sherry L., Kristin L. Schneider, Jessica L. Oleski, Juliana M. Luciani, Jamie S. Bodenlos, and Matt C. Whited. “Male Inclusion in Randomized Controlled Trials of Lifestyle Weight Loss Interventions.” Obesity 20, no. 6 (June 1, 2012): 1234–39. doi:10.1038/oby.2011.140.

“Yes, Men Struggle With Body Image Issues, Too: Here’s My Story.” Huffington Post, April 29, 2014. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bustle/positive-body-image-_b_5193674.html.

Trudging back in...lip up!

I'm back! Did you miss me?

Almost a month without a post! I'm making for a bad blogging statistic. Then again, I'm not doing this professionally or receiving kickbacks/free schwag, so there have been other pressing matters. To be fair, I've even missed a lot of the Rangers games on their way to the playoffs, so you KNOW I've been busy!

I believe all the other pressing issues that made the blog so very post-secondary are now squared away...at least on my part. If and when there is news to reveal, I will do so when it happens.

Then again, as you know, I am not one for very much personal detail on my site, except in relation to my Streamlined activities. So, there may not be much change here, except that I'll now (hopefully) be back to regular posting and perhaps a return to the Foodie Pen Pals pool. I didn't give up my regular perusals of scholarly journals and the accursed Well section of the NY Times, so I've amassed quite a few "for a future blog post" citations. But as I'm going through these citations, I'm noticing one thing.

Nothing new is really being said.

We've kind of hit this data/news plateau in that yes, our portions and sugar intake have increased and we all work longer hours than we used to and we exercise less and now we're all facing this great obesity dilemma. And while this is going on, we're still bombarded with health and nutrition "experts" (and we probably ignore the poor underpaid RDs and Librarians who have FACTS) in order that we may find the quick fix.

And I could, I suppose, post the basic same post for the next several decades and I certainly would have enough resources to do it. But others are doing it better and on a more regular basis.

So right now it's back to the increasing scale.

Here's a recent photo of me at work:

And here's one from two years ago at a similar event:

In the older one, I'm drowning in an old suit. It's way too big for me. In many ways, that was cool. I basically now had dressy clown clothes because I lost so much weight. 

In the newer one, I'm bursting out of my outfit and not all in a good way. Extensive weight training had begun and my body shape was something I never imagined having. Yes, my back, chest and shoulders are all much bigger. That jacket can barely fit around me on the top. I no longer fit in a medium t-shirt and that's not from fat gain, but rather from larger lats and shoulders. I don't mind THAT sort of size increase.

But you can also make out that the "donut" is making a comeback. Not that it went away completely, but it definitely got a few extra fillings injected. And that's an issue.

I am doing less exercise, and more binging. Maybe from stress, maybe from timing. Most likely just not being present while I'm eating. It does take will power and mindfulness. (And somewhere, my teenage punk self is derisively sneering at my using such a word about life. But, hey, we all grow up, kid!) 

But is it really stress doing this? A rather extensive literature review from a few years back shows that the answer is a definite "maybe". But they still think it does play a role:

"Despite the limitations discussed, we can make some broad conclusions that support the idea that stress can influence food intake. The studies examined revealed that stress can lead to decreased and increased eating, which may be related to stressor severity, such that in animals a severe stress results in a lower intake and in humans the response is variable. There is some evidence to suggest that elevated stress levels are associated with a greater desire for hedonic, highly palatable foods that are energy dense. This may contribute to excess energy intakes and weight gain, which is supported by longitudinal studies that suggest there is an association between chronic life stress and future weight gain."

"Chronic life stress." I wouldn't say my life is chronically stressful situation. In fact, I think the stress makes me control more things around me, such as exercise. 

One of the studies mentioned in the previous one was this paper regarding twins in Finland and weight gain. They also took into account personality traits, as well as stress factors. One of the conclusions (although again, they say this was a fairly modest study) was that "low levels of extroversion in young men [was a] stable personality character related to subsequent weight gain."

One thing I have never measured low on was extroversion. (As one of my old friends once said, "Dan, you're not subtle as a brick, you're subtle WITH a brick!" That was about my dating habits, but you get the idea...) So this would mean I should always have been a skinny fella...at least if I grew up in Finland with a twin. 

The answer once again falls to ourselves. I found what works for me, and, unfortunately, I need to find a way to maintain that while still having a life and the stress contained therein.

But there is one difference now. And I find it fascinating. I now feel deprived if I DON'T exercise and I find that I lose little ground muscle-wise if I miss the gym for a week. In the past, I would find myself not being able to lift the amount I had been if I hadn't been doing it for a while. Or getting winded easily. But now I notice I can still lift, pull, span, fly, squat, etc. at continued higher weights. Even my abs are stronger under the donut (the six pack under the pony keg). And again, looking at myself in the mirror...yes, there's a donut, but I also can't help but see a more solid, muscly body, as well. 

So while there are moments that I am terrified I will fall back to complete Retro Ska Librarian, I see that I made a big effort to get to Streamlined and it doesn't fall away immediately.

But I have to keep at it, and that includes blogging about it. 

You're stuck with me and my muscly fingers.   

I will add one more thought to this long post. Another recent NY Times op-ed piece was by someone who was a fat child in the midst of a non-fat family and his journey (via fat camp AND self-awareness) to his own acceptance. It struck a lot of familiar bells. But one thing he focuses is on is what he would say to his son if his son was fat. And it was getting him interested in sports and moving and activity, but with support. 

Now as I've posted so many times before, being that "bad at sports" fat kid myself, it wasn't just me at an age to be aware enough that I was fat to want to do something. It's having the upbringing to know enough about moving and sports and activity to enable that innate feeling in your kids. If I had children back in the day, I imagine they'd be sedentary pop culture bookworms like me. If I had them now, I think I'd make more of a conscious effort to explore movement with them, whether or not they felt fat, thin or didn't care. ("Hey kids, let's play Legion of Super Heroes Freeze Tag!" And it has to be alphabetical or you run a lap!")

Or, I'd probably just make them sing and dance along to this:

I'm back, kids!!


References:

Korkeila, M, J Kaprio, A Rissanen, M Koskenvuo, and T I A Sörensen. “Predictors of Major Weight Gain in Adult Finns: Stress, Life Satisfaction and Personality Traits.” International Journal of Obesity & Related Metabolic Disorders 22, no. 10 (October 1998): 949.

Max, Joshua. “What I’d Say to My Fat Son.” The New York Times, March 22, 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/opinion/sunday/what-id-say-to-my-fat-son.html.

Torres, Susan J., and Caryl A. Nowson. “Relationship between Stress, Eating Behavior, and Obesity.” Nutrition 23, no. 11–12 (November 2007): 887–94. doi:10.1016/j.nut.2007.08.008.