When most people start a diet, they focus on the numbers that appear on the scale, but Colleen Fields had a different sort of goal in mind, her dress size. In January 2010, Colleen weighed 304 pounds and wore a size 26 W. Her goal was to shed enough weight so that she could wear a size 12 by her 40th birthday. She knew she had just under two years to make it happen.
As a child, Colleen remembers being, “chubby” but says her real struggle with weight didn’t occur until after she had her second child. She gained 75 pounds with her son and never shed the extra weight. Then, a divorce and the demands of being a single parent caused her to gain even more.
Colleen explains, “I had a terrible marriage that left me with significant self-esteem issues. I left him shortly after my son was born and I poured myself into my kids (I also have a daughter, same father, who is three years older). I went back to school, I worked full-time, and I shuttled them to all of the normal kid activities – Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, gymnastics, baseball, soccer, dance, swimming, etc. I wanted to give them as much of a normal childhood as possible despite the fact that their father was not involved in their lives, and in the process I ignored myself. I would leave work, pick them up from day care, take them to their activities, grab fast food, get home and do homework, then put them to bed and I would do my own homework. There was no time for me and I didn’t make me a priority.”
You’ve asked. We’ve listened. Starting today, our biggest fans can pick up a DIR T-shirt anytime they like. And because we always like to exceed your expectations, you’ll get a copy of our Baker’s Dozen cookbook, too!
The DIR Bundle is just $10, and you’ll receive:
An American Apparel T-shirt available in a few sizes and colors. They’re super soft, have little shrinkage, and are adorned with the blue flower that says you’re awesome…and care about your health.
Orders process securely with Paypal.com. At this time we are only shipping to US addresses and are not able to ship international orders.
Women’s-cut shirts are available in hot pink for small, sunshine yellow for medium, and bright green for large. These are much more fitted through the shoulders and waist. American Apparel calls this fine jersey short-sleeve shirt “The softest, smoothest, best-looking T-shirt available anywhere.” We tend to agree.
Men’s/Unisex shirts are available in hot pink for small, sunshine yellow and baby blue for medium, bright green and baby blue for large, and ash grey for xl and xxl. For men and women, these shirts offer a more comfortable fit while still being American Apparel’s softest, smoothest T-shirt.
Every order includes a copy of Baker’s Dozen!
We really love food that’s fresh, homemade, wholesome, and pretty. So we mixed all of that and whipped up our first e-cookbook, a collection of our 13 best breakfast and brunch recipes. You’ll be tempted in a guilt-free way to enjoy Blood Orange Basil Mimosas, Sweet Potato Parmesan Hashbrowns, Fig and Honey Breakfast Quinoa, and you can even preview the Chocolate Covered Strawberry Pancakes and Baked Apple Streusel Doughnuts. You’ll get the beautifully printed and spiral-bound version. When your friends really need a copy, they can download Baker’s Dozen here for 99 cents!
Childhood obesity is an epidemic. It is being seen in kids and adolescents three times as often as it was in the 1970s. Primary care physicians are reporting seeing more children who are obese than ever before. According to Dr. Garry Sigman, director of Loyola University Health System’s Pediatric Weight Management Program, the cause of this increase in childhood obesity comes down to the many changes in culture and environment.
To combat the problem “try to simulate the way the world was. Not too much restaurant food, eat home meals as much as possible,” Dr. Sigman said. In addition, he recommends eating natural food products and minimizing the amount of processed food kids eat. Beyond food intake, Dr. Sigman feels that children should be cared for in a way that not every cry is interpreted as a need for food. He also stresses that children need to have the ability to move, attributing some of the obesity problem to the lack of time spent being active outside. “The streets are less safe, [the kids] go out and play less and spend far too much time watching screens like video games, computers and TV.”
Dr. Sigman’s focus, however, is not on preventing childhood obesity, but rather on helping those already suffering from it. He saw that children and their families were not receiving the treatment that would be of the most benefit. “The problem is that the health care system is designed to reimburse for procedures but not for the long time it would take…to make the healthy changes, the behavioral modifications,” he said. It was this problem that led to the creation of the Pediatric Weight Management System. Read Full Post >
Don’t look now but people are making something out of nothing, again. We condemn celebrities for being too heavy, for being too thin, and it seems now those who are just at what is a healthy, normal weight for themselves. When will it stop?
Zoe Saldana‘s donning the cover of Allure magazine this month and while people should be talking about her talent showcased in the upcoming Star Trek sequel, or even her activism with organizations like the Wounded Warrior Project, we all have to stop and waste blog space, morning show air time, and breath discussing the importance or relevance of telling the world this woman weighs 115 pounds. Quite frankly, who cares?
The five-foot-seven-inch actress told Today’s Savannah Guthrie that she has just always had a thin frame. And so that is the way the world, and nature, works. Some people are born with very thin frames, some people are born with large frames, and some people are born with your regular ‘ole run-of-the-mill frame. But, alas, it’s not all that simple. We were told “An image like this can activate a schema for a person to think they’re fat compared to this person,” by Jennifer Thomas, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School and assistant director of the Eating Disorders Clinic and Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital.
According to Thomas, most adult women aren’t going to be as thin as Saldana. In fact, she reminded that most adult women couldn’t reach a body shape like that without severely limiting her intake.
Saldana defended Allure’s decision to publish her weight on the cover, suggesting that they were trying to draw a comparison between such a small person having such a strong personality and drive. “115 pounds of grit…” reads the line that is apparently fodder for controversy. The way I see it, if she doesn’t mind the world knowing how much she weighs, why should the rest of us? Actresses aren’t shy to speak up when their images have been Photoshopped to a fault, and if Saldana has all the grit Allure suggests she has, I imagine she would have taken a stand about this.
Rachael Leone wrote at Yahoo! that the publication of her weight was “unnecessary,” saying that just when it seems we’re making progress in the portrayal of women in magazines we take a step back again. Cheryl Phillips at Examiner asked if a similar headline would have appeared had Saldana been heavier. Thomas pondered over the value, too, suggesting that publishing the weight didn’t give us any additional data. “We can look at her and see that she’s tall and thin.”
If you want to talk medically, Saldana’s BMI is an 18.0, which, according to the CDC, puts her in the underweight category; something Thomas confirmed. Her medical care, nor that of any other individual, isn’t really any of our business (heard of HIPPA?), but if we wanted to make a case of this for the sake of Zoe’s health, we could raise that argument. But frankly, there doesn’t seem to be anything unhealthy about the way she lives.
The actress is a regular at Pilates and works with a personal trainer. As well, she partakes in active vacations like snow skiing. She appears to have a balanced approach to her diet, which is eating what she likes but staying active enough to counteract the pasta she admits to over-indulging in sometimes. She abides by the mantra that we only live once.
So, as I said, who cares if Zoe Saldana is 115 pounds? I weigh 140 pounds. There, it is. I don’t expect anyone is going to stop the presses for that information. I take care of myself, I’m comfortable in my own skin, and I’ve worn the same size jeans since college, something that didn’t change before/during/after my pregnancy. I think Allure would find I’m as gritty and strong as Zoe is and I don’t know that the fact that I do it in a slightly weightier package than the star makes a difference.
