The Pretty Pear

Hey, you. YOU.

I give and I give and I give to you people. With your questions (that I totally ask for) and your comments (that I love). Well, it's your turn to help me out. Well, not me, but kind of.

I was contacted recently by a reporter from a Big Deal Newspaper. He's researching the plus size market and products for fat people, etc., you know the deal. He's looking for personal stories from actual fat people to complement the rest of the piece. More details and info after the link.

Update
I've decided to close the comments on this post because I'm not getting the type of responses I was looking for, though I do appreciate your stories. If you'd like to talk with the reporter about the types of things he asked about, please use the contact form and I'll provide his information.

Happy Valentine's Day, puppies!

I know, I know. All the cool kids hate Valentine's Day and I kind of do, too but... not really. How can I hate pink hearts and chocolate and random proclamations of adoration? I do happen to have a boyfriend but if I didn't, I still wouldn't hate Valentine's Day all that much.

Maybe it'd be different if I worked in an office and had to watch all of the other cubicle monkeys relish in their roses and candies? I probably wouldn't even mind that so much as long as they shared their candy with me. I would be annoyed with the ubiquitous perky lady who would pretend to feel sorry for me because I'm single and SO ALONE. But the joke's on you, perky lady because I can buy my own damn candy!

Ahem.

Well, whatever. I'm making a conscious effort to be a more positive person, which is hard when you're as cynical and sarcastic as I am. But sitting around and brooding and cursing because of one Hallmark holiday is not healthy!

So instead, today is a day of thanks and thankfulness. I am thankful for all of you, who comment on each post and ask questions and are as enthusiastic about a clearance sale as I am. Have a happy Valentine's Day, or at least find the strength to white knuckle your way through it without clobbering someone with a heart shaped box of chocolates.

Goin' to California

I'll be out of town for the rest of this week. I was hoping to have some stuff pre-written to post while I'm gone but it didn't turn out that way. I do have some stuff to write about when I get back, though. In the mean time, you probably already know about this great New York Times article about the Fatosphere but I'm so dang proud of everyone mentioned in the piece that I had to link to it.

Something to chew on

Without getting too much into whether dieting is good or bad, because that's a can of worms I'm not in the mood to open today, I have been thinking about something somewhat diet related. This is completely unrelated to fashion so feel free to keep scrolling if you're uninterested.

If one is anti-diet, is it wrong (for the lack of a better word, because wrongness is pretty subjective) for that person to eat foods that are diet foods? I would say "diet foods" but I mean actual diet foods, like the cereals and the microwavable meals which shall not be named because Google will be all over it.

Here's the thing - I don't diet but there are some diet foods that I buy because they're convenient and I actually enjoy them. There are a few of those microwavable meals that are pretty damn tasty and the special (ahem!) cereal has the space age dried fruit that I happen to like. But by purchasing these foods, am I just giving money to, and in turn supporting, the companies that are trying to get money from people who diet, which I disagree with?

That seems pretty cut and dry, of course I am! But how far does that go? What if something is labeled "low fat" but isn't specifically a diet food? If they took the time to label it as low fat, are they trying to imply that it will help you lose weight? Am I doing a disservice to the Fat Acceptance movement by eating foods labeled as low fat?

And this is where my brain starts spinning its wheels and I decide to just eat whatever I want because it's not like my $2.58 is a huge deal anyway.

Or is it? *eyebrow*

Figures...

I have a wicked cold and I'm sure I won't be over it until Christmas day or something. I probably won't be posting here much over the next week so I want to wish everyone Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, joy to the world, etc.

Cheer me up, damn you!

This time of year is always tough and it seems to get worse after the New Year. There's always that dreadful gap between the holidays and my birthday in March, when spring is right around the corner and I start to feel more like a human being again. Winter is just so dark and dreary and honestly, a little depressing.

If you look back through the years of writing I've done here, you'll see that there's always a drop off in the winter. I think I have that Seasonal Affect Disorder thing going on but honestly, who doesn't feel a little less peppy when it's 12 degrees and cloudy outside? Having said that, I'm determined to keep myself out of that hole as much as possible this time around and I need your help.

I want you to leave comments on this post with a silly story, a fashion question, a silly fashion question, whatever you can think of. Is there something you want me to write about that isn't exactly a question? Is there something you're in love with right now that you want to share? How do you get through the winter blues? What color are you favorite pajamas? Just leave a comment and perk me up.

I do have some ideas for posts coming up so don't worry, I'm not going anywhere :P

Check these out

If you don't believe that fat people are discriminated against and need proof, check out First. Do No Harm. It's a website for fat people to share real stories of prejudice in health care. Each story is a testament to why there needs to be a radical change in the way fat people are treated by the medical community.

I was lucky enough to attend the first ever Big Fat Blog Think Tank this past weekend. You can read more about that event here and here. If you'd like to get involved with fat rights and you're not sure where to start, please check out this post from Big Fat Blog. Paul's listed some great volunteer opportunities that need to be addressed right away. And if you have an idea or special area of interest that isn't listed there, please let him know.

Lastly, the National Eating Disorders Association is holding their 3rd annual Every BODY is Beautiful Online Auction until December 2nd. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the NEDA, which works to prevent eating disorders and provide treatment referrals to those suffering from anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder and those concerned with body image and weight issues.

Annnnnd....

I think I'll stick to fashion posts for right now. I have a lot to say about Fat Acceptance and fat issues but I need some time to think things out. These are important issues and I want to make sure my thoughts are organized. My last post was written at about 3 am and I maybe didn't say things exactly the way I wanted to. I do stand behind my views, though. Just keep this in mind - we're all in this together. I don't think less of people who diet or have weight loss surgery. I just think the focus needs to be shifted to fat people and not just fat. Dieting and WLS shouldn't be allowed to divide us when we're all ultimately fighting for the same things.

Anyway. Back to fashion.

In case anyone's wondering...

Diets - I don't think they're a good idea. In fact, my own personal experiences and reading a lot of solid evidence has proven to me that dieting is a really bad idea. I'm just as fat, if not fatter, than I would've been had I never dieted at all and the only thing dieting ever gave me was a neurotic obsession with food and the calories therein. Actively trying to lose weight never made my life any happier or my body any healthier. In fact, dieting never made me anything but miserable after the initial optimism wore off.

Weight loss surgery - Another bad idea that could potentially lead to disaster. It sickens me that so many people elect to have their stomachs essentially amputated in an act of desperation. At the very least, I think it should be considered only in the most extreme situations, if at all. For clarification, being 40 pounds "over weight" is not an extreme situation. The fact that so many doctors are willing to perform the surgery on those who are not even medically "obese" is just a testament to how desperate people are to be thin. And it's true, we live in a society that values a dead fat person over a live fat person. At least the dead fat person tried to conform.

I know what it's like to live in a body that the world is telling me will ultimately break down and that my existence is worthless because of something as trivial as my weight. Someone left a comment and asked what size I wear - I'm a 22/24 in tops and a 26 in most jeans. My BMI (urgh) is 51%. Supposedly, HALF of my body is fat.

Declutterizing

I donated a ton of clothes and shoes to a local charity shop today and I feel GREAT. This stuff has been sitting in a big box on my bedroom floor for months and I was so happy to finally see it go. I considered trying to sell some of it but in the end, I knew it'd just sit there until I gave it away anyway.

Plus, the clothes went to a good cause. They'll sell the stuff and use the money to fund a community health care organization. Everyone wins!

I'm one step closer to my goal of having a more workable wardrobe. Most of what I gave away was stuff I liked when I bought it but then it got old within a few months. Trendy is awesome but you can't build an entire wardrobe with trends. It just doesn't work out well in the long run.

Got a minute?

You may have read on Big Fat Blog that Figure magazine is looking for a blogger. A few readers were nice enough to nominate me already (thank you, I love you) but I decided to take a chance and nominate myself, too. If you think I'd be a good blogger for Figure, please lend your voice in this thread. You have to register to post on their message board so I appreciate you taking the time to do so.

Eh, clothes smlothes.

I don't feel like talking about clothes today. What's your favorite snack? What puts you in a great mood? What's your favorite color?

I like those cheddar cheese Kashi crackers or that great FAGE yogurt with the syrupy fruit. Both are available at your local Whole Foods. Tonight, peace and quiet are putting me in a good mood. These horrible, awful men have been doing repair work on my building's brick facade and it's been nonstop noise during the day for, like, two weeks! Drill drill, hammer, hacksaw, drill, hammer... All day.

I like pink, teal and pear green.

I do kind of rock, huh?

Susan at Plum Texan was nice enough to pass the Rockin' Girl Blogger award on to me. I've seen this on other blogs but never thought it'd get passed to me, so this certainly made my day. Thank you, Susan!

The Rockin' Girl Blogger award was started by Roberta Ferguson and it's now my duty to pass it along to five other rockin' girl bloggers. Just five? There are so many! :)

First, Good with Cheese. This post pretty much sums up why I love reading this blog.

Elastic Waist for always maintaining a reasonable approach to health and fitness. There's pretty much no getting away from diet talk so it might as well be balanced and sane.

My friend Carla at Product Girl. You should see her makeup collection, it's insane. Plus, she's really sweet and smart and all that jazz.

The three rockin' chicks at Big Fat Deal. That's three rockin' girls all in one go! Start with their collection of greatest hits and then just read everything else.

And finally, Kate Harding, who we all know rocks and I don't need to explain why.

High fives all around!

How people get here

One of the really fun parts about maintaining this blog is seeing how people end up here. Most traffic comes from Google searches. Some of it is super basic, like "plus size clothes" but much of it is... well, let's look at some recent search hits.

"Instead of buying a second seat for larger people, just buy a first or business class seat."
First of all, this is a long ass search. Have you ever heard of a keyword? Second of all, NO. If I could afford to fly first class, do you really think I'd be shoved into Economy with your dumb ass? Anyway, this post at Big Fat Blog is the first result for that search so maybe this person learned something.

On a happier note...

I realize that my last few posts haven't been fun to read. They weren't super fun to write, either. But I've resolved to end my slump and post about some fun things. Coming up - a post about Hips & Curves, a review of QVC's Breezies brand of bras, and I'm working on an all new shopping directory.

And because people were curious, my flights to and from San Francisco were just fine. I was between two thin people on the way out and they didn't seem to care much. And to be fair to me, I don't ooze out of my own seat more than oh, like half an inch. So if anyone wants to try and make me feel guilty about taking up an entire row on an airplane with my huge ass, please consider that even thin people hate how narrow the seats are. The flight back was fine, I had the window seat and the middle seat was empty, so both I and my row mate could stretch out and take up lots of room.

On that note, I had a (very thin) women's studies teacher who always encouraged us to really stretch out and be comfy in class because "women should take up space." I think she meant that literally and metaphorically, so there you go.