the quest for "size 0"

[seldear]

See with amilyn, this is an article about a 28 y.o. woman who went on a diet for the UK Super Slim Me challenge. Her goal was to go from size 10 UK to size 4 UK (size 0 US)

Apparently, while she felt good at first, by the sixth or seventh week of the challenge, she was utterly miserable. At one stage, she was eating 8 blueberries and a spoonful of yogurt for breakfast.

"My Quest For Size Zero" by Dawn Porter. Excerpt:

My mindset started to change. Food was all I could think about. At night, I'd lie awake, starving hungry, fantasising about the first meal I'd have when I came off this diet.(Throughout the experiment, the hunger never went away - that's another myth.)

But for all my joy at losing weight by week seven the depression kicked in. I'd never suffered depression in my life, yet here I was, so miserable I would cry for no reason.

As well as the insomnia, I started to have violent mood swings, yelling at my friends over nothing.

I had terrible headaches, and extreme constipation. It was awful.

She had to survive on 500 calories a day. Apparently the nutritional suggestion is that a grown woman have at least 2000 calories a day.

*shudders*

I've occasionally posted about 'feeling fat' in here - particularly when I don't fit into old clothes. (Ironically, the clothes I don't fit into are at least 5 years old and were purchased when I was in my early 20s, so it's not entirely surprising I don't fit into them at age 30.) For me, the 'feeling fat' comes from being, well, slobbish - which or me, means not going to the gym on a regular basis.

When I'm regularly at gym, my flab reduces, my metabolism improves, and I feel generally better about myself, even if my body aches a little afterwards. I may not lose weight (I don't need to right now) but the body feels good. Which is what's important, I think.

I need an icon of Jamie Bamber in the fatsuit for posts like these.

Actually, I need to do some writing today.... *posts and nicks off*

Comments

[arrietty.livejournal.com]

Size 4:O:O:O - that is scary - very scary. I mean my 13 year old daughter is a bean pole and she's at least size 6 going on 8 and she is by no means fat. In fact she is very skinny. I'm not sure if NZ is different to UK in sizes - I must ask my UK friends. If so, they would only be one size difference.

Although it depends on how tall this lady is.

[seldearslj.livejournal.com]

I think the article said she's 5'9" - so not really 'small'!

I'm a size 10, tending to a size 12 when I 'let myself go'. The sizes are hard to calculate though, because everything's differently sized. So I might be a 10 in some shops, but a 12 in others.

I'm rarely an 8 though. Mostly because of the boobs. They might only be C-cup, but that's big enough for me, thank you!

Incidentally, which episode is that icon from? *stares*

[cyberchezza.livejournal.com]

"The sizes are hard to calculate though, because everything's differently sized."

You've hit the nail on the head there. Case in point; last time I bought some new jeans I ended up with 3 pairs in 3 supposedly different sizes. One in my size, one in the size below and one in the size above. Yet they were all exactly the same size!

That was an interesting - and rather worrying - article.

And it's from Sacrifices, isn't it?

[seldearslj.livejournal.com]

Ah. I haven't seen that ep.

S8?

[cyberchezza.livejournal.com]

Yep. :)

[arrietty.livejournal.com]

Yup! *g*

[arrietty.livejournal.com]

That is the same height as me. Even when I was at my thinnest, (when I got married) I had a size 8 waist, size 12 over all, but then I have wide hips AKA big bum.

She must have been literally skin stretched over bone to be that height and size. Even with small bones - which I have I never got below a size 12 when I was an adult. Which of course maybe a size 10 in UK not sure.

And we will not get into discussion about my size now *humph!* ;)

Yup Sacrifices. It was just how it was capped - caught them like that. *g* A good ep overall. Worthwhile watching it.

[kyronae.livejournal.com]

Yikes! She must be out of her mind...

At 5'9", I'm a size 4 (US) and that's enough to make people accuse me of being anorexic. Why on earth would someone want to starve themselves in order to look like a skeleton?

::sad sigh:: While it is so important to be healthy about what we do and eat, our bodies have very definite needs. It's no wonder she was feeling depressed. She must have been ignoring some very important signs of her body saying it was starving... probably literally.

[seldearslj.livejournal.com]

well, by the end of it, she was back to eating normally and felt so much better!

(as you would!)

[majorsamfan.livejournal.com]

I'm not aware of Jamie Bamber in a fatsuit, but I can testify that the man is skinny as a rail! (having hugged his little bones at ShoreLeave last July) He and Connor Trinneer both.

[seldearslj.livejournal.com]

You're not aware of Jamie in the fatsuit?

Early S3 BSG, Apollo was a lardass. Sitting pretty in his Battlestar, eating like crazy, the boy was putting on the pudge. But they couldn't have Jamie put on that much weight - health reasons, so they got him a fatsuit so he only looked corpulent.

But, yeah, I can imagine them being rail thin. Actors, et al.

[majorsamfan.livejournal.com]

Aaron Douglas commented at ShoreLeave this year that he was lucky not to be the big star so he didn't have to go to the gym like Jamie Bamber. So maybe he does have to work at it.

And yeah, I know DeNiro gained a lot for Raging Bull and Hanks did for the early scenes of CastAway, but in general, I would think it would be bad for their insurance costs. And all main actors get insured by the studios so if something happens to them, causing filming delays or whatever, they get their money back.

Not that that explains RDA putting on so much weight in S8 and beyond...

Nor why actors like Jim Belushi or the guy on King of Queens - or the husband on Roseanne for that matter - can be so big and still get insured.

[seldearslj.livejournal.com]

I believe genetics has a lot to do with body shape, but body-sculpting - as in defining and developing muscles - must be worked at by anyone and everyone.

Main actors are insured by their studios? I didn't know that. (And am slightly boggled by the news.)

There's probably a balance between the size of the premium commanded by a large person and how much the insurers are willing to pay.

[majorsamfan.livejournal.com]

I am pretty sure they are insured; it has long been a fact for movie actors, but I'm pretty sure the principal actors on a series would be also - a lot at stake if one becomes unavailable mid-season.

Aaron said (while telling about his big injury) they aren't supposed to play hockey (but they do). I know many are not supposed to ride motorcycles (too expensive to insure also).

And recently, an article about Lindsay Lohan's troubles mentioned that she might be insurable for the foreseeable future, which could mean not getting hired for movies.

[seldearslj.livejournal.com]

recently, an article about Lindsay Lohan's troubles mentioned that she might [not] be insurable for the foreseeable future, which could mean not getting hired for movies.

Can't exactly say I'm distraught about that!

[majorsamfan.livejournal.com]

Well, no, me neither. However, it just illustrated the point about insurability.