Revenge of the Curves

Zulekha Haywood's journey from size 26 to size 6, happy all the way

Zulekha Haywood, the daughter of former NBA star Spencer Haywood and the legendary model Iman, has written an article for Glamour where she talks about her journey from a size 26 to a size 6, and how she was happy all along.

Even though she was satisfied with herself as a person, she was getting disturbing signals from her body that made her unhappy with her health. She writes in Glamour:

At 330 pounds, I had developed heel spurs and swollen knees that made it excruciatingly painful to stand up after lying down for eight hours, so getting out of bed was always an orchestrated event. I’d send any man who slept over off to shower, and once the coast was clear, I’d swing my legs out and put my feet on the ground gingerly, allowing the blood to return to my feet and legs. After a minute, I could stand. After another minute, I was comfortable enough to start walking. 

On the Today show, she mentioned that she "wasn't feeling vital anymore" and, along with having a hard time getting out of bed, she had started to develop osteoarthritis, which is the most common type of arthritis.  Zulekha said that she was worried. "If this is at 26, then what’s going to happen down the line? I tried everything, and gastric bypass was the last resort.”

I am glad that Zulekha is emphasizing her contentment and the full life that she lead before she lost the weight. I am also happy that she is not glossing over the very real, and preventable, health issues that she faced as such a young age. I am against "fat shaming" - especially for the sake of having everybody conform to one "acceptable" look.  However, I am also against de-emphasizing some of the health issues related to obesity.  Somewhere along the line, we have to find balance, that happy medium of what looks and feels good to us.  It's nice to see that Zulekha Haywood seems to have found it.

Ernestine Shepard is 72 and Runs 80 Miles a Day

Ernestine Sheperd is 72 years old. She runs 80 miles a week, lifts weights every day, and is a certified trainer. Among her many accolades is a first place showing in a body building competition. Talk about inspiration.

via www.fitsugar.com

This video has made the rounds, but I wanted to put it up to inspire those who may have missed it.

Michelle Obama's Fight Against Childhood Obesity

Michelle Obama recently wrote a cover story for Newsweek, "Why I'm Fighting Childhood Obesity," where she explained her intentions with her new Let's Move campaign:

And let's be honest with ourselves: our kids didn't do this to themselves. Our kids don't decide what's served in the school cafeteria or whether there's time for gym class or recess. Our kids don't choose to make food products with tons of sugar and sodium in supersize portions, and then have those products marketed to them everywhere they turn. And no matter how much they beg for fast food and candy, our kids shouldn't be the ones calling the shots at dinnertime. We're in charge. We make these decisions.

That's actually the good news—that we can decide to solve this problem. That's why we started Let's Move, a nationwide campaign with a single goal: to solve the problem of childhood obesity in a generation, so that children born today can reach adulthood at a healthy weight.

This sounds pretty reasonable to me, but I'm not surprised by the pushback she has received in some circles. In What Michelle Obama's childhood obesity project gets wrong, Kate Harding argues in Salon that the first lady's campaign is "90 percent terrific" but fears that the other 10 percent will end up "whipping up fear and disgust of the very fat children you're supposedly trying to help." I happen to think 90/10 is a pretty good ratio. No initiative will satisfy every person and every group with different agenda, but this campaign is a step in the right direction.

Meanwhile, what are food companies doing about childhood obesity? Noted nutritionist and author Marion Nestle finds that "companies are falling all over themselves – and with much fanfare – to tweak their products."