Dieting for Two - Think Twice About the Latest Advice on Dieting While You're Pregnant

Last week pregnant women were told to stop eating for two, put down their forks and go on a diet instead. Limiting calorie intake, the reports say, will not harm unborn babies. Added to this advice was the extra push pregnant women need to feel guilty enough to feel forced into dieting: "Following a controlled diet has the potential to reduce the risk of a number of pregnancy complications." Together with the reassurance: "Dieting is safe and that the baby's weight isn't affected."

Released at the same time, however, were results of another study that suggested babies of mothers who diet in early pregnancy may have an increased risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes throughout their lives.

The second study wasn't widely reported but the first study encouraging pregnant women to diet was all over the news, despite advice from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), published in 2010, saying: "Dieting during pregnancy is not recommended as it may harm the health of the unborn child." Also despite it beingunderstood that dieting increases levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which causes weight gain, and which also can have an effect on an unborn baby.

If you're thinking about dieting (whether you're pregnant or not), consider this: overeating is a compulsion and it is driven primarily by dieting. Any attempts at trying to eat less will result in you eating more. This is a built-in survival reaction and it's caused by many chemical, psychological and biological processes, including changes in the hormones related to hunger and satiety. Dieting makes you feel hungry all the time. 

Dieting takes away your choices about what you eat or don't eat. You are driven to eat on automatic. Many dieters are very familiar with this feeling - you decide to cut down, someone offers you a cake, you try not to eat it and then you go into a 'trance' and then find you've eaten it and you regret it, thinking: "Why did I eat that?"

Learning how to stop dieting switches off this reaction and leaves you free to choose whether to eat the cake or not.

This is the same for pregnant women, of course. Dieting while pregnant will mean you're ultimately up against survival and biological drives that can override conscious decision making. Trying to 'hold off' eating in the long term is a bit like trying to hold your breath. Hold your breath and you can do it for a while but eventually you'll have to take in a massive gulp of air to compensate for the deficit. Breathing, which is essential for your survival, is a reflex and you can't control it for more than a few moments. Like with all survival essentials, it's controlled automatically by your brain. Eating is also a survival essential and while it's not as urgent a need as breathing and so not a reflex, it's still largely controlled by your brain. If you cut down on food, this will mean eventually you'll have to eat more to compensate for the defecit.

There is a complex motivational balance that can override this process (involved in eating disorders such as anorexia), but for most people, trying to diet will result in eating more.

So why are pregnant women being advised to diet?

What I'd like to know is who funded this study? It was the National Institute For Health Research (NIHR), but who funds them? The NIHR website says it's "collaborative and multi-centred research in the public interest in partnership with and for industry." The NIHR has close links with the pharmaceuticals weight-loss industry. Given what we know about conflict between industry profits and public interest, can studies linked to big corporations dependent on profit ever be primarily in the interest of the public? History shows that in this situation the public usually loses out and profits come before public health. Look at the tobacco industry:

Confronted by compelling peer-reviewed scientific evidence of the harms of smoking, the tobacco industry, beginning in the 1950s, used sophisticated public relations approaches to undermine and distort the emerging science.

A number of industries have subsequently followed this approach to disrupting normative science. Claims of scientific uncertainty and lack of proof also lead to the assertion of individual responsibility for industrially produced health risks.

From a study by Allan M. Brandt PhD, Department of the History of Science and the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard University

The pharmaceutical side of the weight loss industry is known to be spreading anxiety about weight, as it knows the more weight anxiety there is, the more weight problems there will be and in increasing the problem they increase their consumer base ready for when they produce the 'miracle' weight loss drug they're currently working on. 

With the knowledge we now have about the real effects of dieting, we really need our media to start asking questions like: Why did this study hit the headlines but the study advising against pregnant women dieting did not? Will someone profit from advising pregnant woment to diet even though it's well known that dieting will increase a woman's biological drive towards compulsive eating as well as her cortisol levels (meaning she is likely to gain weight and not lose it, affecting the baby and increasing the chance of complications) and when other studies show dieting when pregnant has a chance of producing babies at risk of obesity and diabetes?

Ideally, we need to ask these questions before reporting studies that advise dieting, especially to pregnant women.

Image © Erik Langner www.creativecommons.com

First ever Body Confidence Awards Shortlist announced

All Walks Beyond the Catwalk promote broader body and beauty ideals in their campaignsIn a looks-obsessed society where 47% of girls think the pressure to look attractive is the most negative part of being female and 38% of men would sacrifice at least a year of their life in exchange for a perfect body it is time to recognize the power of media, individuals and corporations to promote better body confidence for all.

The APPG on Body Image is delighted to announce the UK’s first Body Confidence Awards presented in association with bareMinerals. Mounted by the APPG and with the support of the Campaign for Body Confidence founded in 2009, the ceremony will be held on 19 April 2012 at 7:30 PM at the House of Commons. The Awards will recognise and celebrate the achievements and best practice of those who promote body confidence within various industries.

A judging panel made up of representatives from B-eat, the Centre for Appearance Research, All Walks Beyond the Catwalk, AnyBody, Stephanie Heart Enterprises, Mumsnet, and the Central YMCA along with Jo Swinson MP sifted through countless nominations to come up with the shortlists.

The nominees were chosen for a number of reasons including aspirational diversity in size, age and skin tone; responsible use of body imagery and the consideration of diverse body sizes, shapes and beauty; promotion of active and healthy lifestyles and less sexualised imagery.

The nominees are:

Advertising 

‘The Woman’ by Breast Cancer Care ‘Growing up’ by Dove; ‘100 Days of Summer’ by New Look; ‘Fotoshop by Adobé’ by Jesse Rosten

Beauty 

Boots No7 ‘Ta Dah’ range; Illamasqua; Look Good, Feel Better; MAC 

Broadcast/Print/Publishing 

Beautiful Magazine (Woo hoo!); Caitlin Moran for How to be a Woman; Gok’s Teens: The Naked Truth; Guardian Weekend Magazine: Fashion for all ages 

Campaigner 

Body Gossip; Changing Faces; Katie Piper; Miss Representation. 

Central YMCA Health, Sport and Fitness Award 

Curves; Dance UK’s Healthier Dancer Programme; Virgin Active’s Ooomph campaign 

Education 

Body Gossip’s ‘Gossip School’ education programme; Body Image in the Primary School by Nicky Hutchinson and Chris Calland; Girlguiding UK’s Peer education initiative 

Fashion 

Giles Deacon; Mark Fast; Vivienne Westwood 

Mumsnet Award for promoting body confidence in children 

Cerrie Burnell from CBeebies; Ellie Simmonds; Pink Stinks; Gok Wan 

Retail 

ASOS Curve; Debenhams; La Redoute; Vivienne of Holloway 

Celebrity Ambassador of the Year Award 

To be announced 

Commenting on his nomination fashion designer Mark Fast said:

“Over the years I have been privileged to work with some of the most beautiful and shapely women in the world and it is true to say that even the most beautiful (by any standards) have moments of doubt and insecurities. I want to celebrate women and make them feel good in my clothes”.

Commenting Susie Orbach from AnyBody said: 

“It influences us all and affects the well-being of young women and men so it is important to acknowledge examples which promote body confidence and counteract the damage. Advertisers and marketers can be so imaginative. These are examples of the direction to aim in.”

Commenting Jo Swinson MP for East Dunbartonshire said:

“With these awards we want to publicly recognise positive steps taken by industry groups, businesses and campaigners. In highlight their leading work and body confidence initiatives hopefully they will inspire others to follow in their footsteps.”

Commenting Caryn Franklin Fashion Commentator and Co-Founder of All Walks Beyond the Catwalk said:

"Fashion design can be a force for good when individuality and diversity are celebrated. We love fashion for all shapes, ages and sizes."

 

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. The Campaign for Body Confidence co-founded by Lynne Featherstone MP, now Government Minister for Equalities, and Jo Swinson MP brings together a range of organisations including: B-Eat, All Walks Beyond the Catwalk, Mumsnet, Central YMCA , Anybody, Stephanie Heart Enterprise and the Centre for Appearance Research.

2. Award-winning fashion initiative All Walks Beyond the Catwalk promotes a broader range of body and beauty ideals in collaboration with designers, professional models and education professionals. The All Walks nationwide lectures and Centre of Diversity in Edinburgh explore emotionally considerate design for all.

3. AnyBody is a non-profit organisation encouraging a change in cultural attitudes towards bodies, food and eating so that women and children of the next generation can learn to be happy in and look after their bodies.

4. B-eat is a leading UK charity for people with eating disorders and their families.

5. The Centre for Appearance Research is an academic research centre at the University of West England which focuses on appearance-related concerns.

6. Central YMCA is a health charity using advocacy and education to change attitudes toward health, including body image.

7. Mumsnet is now the UK’s busiest social network for parents, generating over 38 million page views per month and nearly 5 million visits per month.

8. Stephanie Heart of SH Enterprises inspires and challenges young women through interactive seminars

9. All Party Parliamentary Group on Body Image

This cross-party forum brings together MPs who are interested in what can be done to promote more positive body image, particularly for children and young people. The group is currently conducting a Parliamentary Inquiry into the causes and consequences of body image anxiety in UK society. The office bearers are Jo Swinson MP (Lib Dem), Mary Glindon MP (Labour), Caroline Nokes MP (Conservative) and Stephen Williams MP (Lib Dem).The Central YMCA provides the secretariat to this group. The APPG will be publishing a report of its findings in June www.ymca.co.uk/bodyconfidence/parliament

10. In their most recent campaign “Force of Beauty”, bareMinerals decided to eschew models that represented the elusive notion of beauty, and instead held a blind casting call for women ages 20 to 60. They did not see the women who applied until they were selected for the campaign. Instead, they asked more than 270 women to complete a questionnaire about who they were and what they were like. The company was looking for women who embodied qualities like inspiration, humility and humour. The goal was to capture women who had compelling and interesting stories to tell. With the exception of basic colour correction, the company took pains not to retouch or airbrush photographs of the women, leaving in everything that they came with on their face. They are firm believers that they have a responsibility as a beauty company to start changing the images that women see.

 Photo: Kirsten McLennan wears Alice Temperley for All Walks Beyond the Catwalk shot by Rankin 

Beautiful is dedicated to true body diversity

Many readers have noticed that we have changed our policy to only show images of women size 12 and over as we now describe Beautful as the first and only truly body diverse women's glossy magazine in the UK. I still feel we were right to start off trying to redress the balance and focusing on size 12 and over because thin is overrepresented in women's media and you can open up any other magazine to find fashion pages showing what clothes look like on models who are sizes 4, 6 and 8.

After much debate last Summer we decided to include models of all sizes in Beautiful, as long as those who are ultra thin are that way naturally and not because they've been instructed by model agencies to starve themselves into an 'acceptable' shape.

So while we're only just announcing this change, we have in fact been using models under size 12 since our Summer 2011 issue. In the pages of Beautiful you will find models of all sizes, shapes, abilties, ethnicities and heights. We will, however, strive to ensure that we are still redressing the balance and that our models reflect reality and that fashion and beauty is still aspirational, but that it's also achievable right now, as you are.

I'm tired of looking at thin people with straight white teeth

After seeing a whole tabloid article devoted to Katie Holmes having three strands of grey hair I felt a kind of familiar flat feeling.

I've found myself avoiding adverts, TV series and Hollywood films because I'm tired of the female star always looking the same. Even the new BritishCagney and Lacey (Scott and Bailey) stars appear to have been slimmed down and cloned for the show, so I don't watch it.

There are a few movie stars left who aren't total clones and to me, they're all the more attractive. I like wonky teeth, for exmple. Patricia Arquette has got slightly wonky, very English teeth and they are lovely. Kirsten Dunst used to have them but I'm not sure if she has any more and Isabella Rosellini has them.

I also love a big nose (Christopher Ecclestone), ginger man with ginger eyelashes (Eric Stolz). I like fat blokes and think Ray Winstone is sexy. And bigger women are every bit as beautiful as thin ones, such as the stupendously gorgeous Jane Goldman and Queen Latifah. Miranda Hart is truly beautiful, more so because she isn't 'ideal'. And what about older men and women? I mean, look at Judi Dench. No one can say she's not totally beautiful.

It's not the media ideal look itself that's the issue. I'm not saying thin/white/blonde is wrong or unattractive. I don't go to catwalk shows and throw chips at the models. The problem is having an ideal at all.

Appearance is important to us but when we think of beauty - especially our own beauty - it's always focused on physical flaws we're convinced other people can not only see but that they will accept or reject us for. But beauty is not really about teeth or body fat ratio or hair or skin colour, it's about something intangible.

A soft voice, the way someone turns their head, the way a person smiles or the light in their eyes. If you look at someone you know and like, whether they're 'beautiful' or not, it's not their definable looks that you like it's their quirks, their essence, something about them makes you warm to them, want a part of them, want to be with them.

So it's the same for you. People aren't looking at whether you've gained a pound or two or have got a spot on your chin or had a hair dye disaster, they're looking for the intangible air that is you, that which makes you different from other people. They're looking for your quirks, internal energy, the light inside you, your confidence, your focus, your attention, your 'you-ness'.

That's why, when you look at someone who isn't physically ideal and you find them as sexy as hell, you find them as sexy as hell!

And you'll invariably find the people you do think of as sexy and attractive are the ones who don't care what other people think of how they look. The most unattractive people, on the other hand, are those who are obsessed with appearance - even the ones who think they look good have an air of tension and instability. When we feel self-conscious about looks, we seem stilted and devoid of charisma.

We're told right from birth, though, that the definition of beauty is in the detail - the hair must be straight and shiny, the teeth must be straight and white, slimness is essential, skin has to be clear and features have to be regular. So we strive for it and in doing this we lose the light and the uniqueness that really makes us attractive. We start looking for signals that we're doing the appearance thing right and so are never relaxed enough to give anyone else a glimpse of our inner light and confidence. We don't even bother looking outward at who we're with at all and so the world is filling up with empty and shallow and 'perfect' plastic dolls.

Have some courage and make yourself happier by severing the thought control and coming to your senses. There's an episode of Red Dwarf where the crew of the ship get hooked on a virtual reality game called 'Life'. They wear a headset and experience the game as if it's real. Everything in the virtual reality world is exactly how they want it - they have all the money and luxury and admiration they've ever wanted. Meanwhile, their real bodies are wasting away because they stop eating or sleeping or talking to each other.

If you're heavily influenced by media pressure to look a certain way, you live in the same kind of game. Except the world is far from perfect and you are continually promised the money, the luxury and the admiration you crave. The game is fixed so you're forever chasing something you can never really reach. Meanwhile, real life is passing you by and your real self is withering away and so are your genuine connections with other people.

www.foodphilosophy.co.uk

Photo by danabooo www.creativecommons.com

Body image and how we talk to each other - you can help

The Centre For Appearance research are doing some new research into how women’s conversations with each other can influence their body image, health and well-being. In collaboration with Dr Carolyn Becker from Trinity University in the USA, we are reaching out to women aged 18 years and over from the UK, USA and Australia to take part in this important piece of research. So far, more than 600 women aged 18-85 years complete the study and they're getting some interesting feedback which suggests that some women have found it cathartic to simply share their views about this topic via our brief, online survey.

See how filling out the survey yourself makes you feel. Go to http://bit.ly/wjdSKt 

Your help would be hugely appreciated.

Calling all curvy girls: Star in a Bra Now Open!

Award-winning, fuller bust lingerie brand Curvy Kate are scouring the UK for their next curve queen in the fourth annual Star in a Bra model competition, launching 23rd February 2012.

A key event on any curvy girl’s calendar, the Star in a Bra search is run through the brand’s Facebook page and encourages D plus, charismatic and naturally curvy girls to submit their favourite lingerie shots to win an international modelling contract and become the face and bust of the brand for two seasons.

The competition strives to celebrate a positive body image and diversity. Curvy Kate Marketing Manager, Hannah Houston, stated, “We truly believe that our customers should model our lingerie as these are the girls who will be buying it. Our model search isn’t just a one off – it’s here to stay to prove how gorgeous the shapely figure looks in lingerie – boobs, bums and all. If you can wear Curvy Kate lingerie – you’re in.”

 “We have found a great mix of models since the launch in 2009. From E to J cups and from size 10 girls to 18 – each and every one brings their own personality to our brand and I think our customers really relate to these women.”

 With the public demanding the use of more realistic images in the media, the Star in a Bra competition champions the use of curvaceous role models and promotes a positive approach to body image, which every woman can relate to. Showing how Curvy Kate’s lingerie ranges look on a fuller bust and shapely frame gives a true representation of how the product fit and support larger boobs.

 Last year’s winner, Lizzie Haines, 31 from Uppingham, said “I entered the 'Star in a Bra' to prove I could...and then against all my expectations I won! The 'Star in a Bra' competition is a fun, enthused and eclectic event celebrating life, diversity and passion. It's so much more than underwear, it has changed my life.”

With over 2000 entrants in previous years, this year’s Star in a Bra search looks set to see an even bigger response with the brand now being sold with over 300 retailers and stores nationwide, including Debenhams, Very, Asos, Next, Figleaves and Simply Yours.

Curvy Kate D - K cup lingerie is designed for fun, flirty girls with bigger boobs. Utilising gorgeous, fashion-conscious designs and clever engineering, the brand offers variety and cute, flattering, colourful styles normally only seen in smaller cup sizes. 

For a snapshot of last year’s top 10, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuOlovhiOQ8

The competition launches on 23rd February 2012.
The Winner is announced 3rd May 2011 after the public vote

As well as a modelling contract, the winner will also win a year's supply of gorgeous Curvy Kate lingerie.

The most offensive 'slimming tip' we've ever seen...

This is so very offensive that we're lost for words.

We recommend you write to the owners of this site and tell them what you think.

Having fat friends can be bad for your health

A THINKING SLIMMER WEIGHT LOSS TIP

Research at Arizona State University suggests that obesity is contagious – and that people who have a higher number of fat friends or relatives are at greater risk of becoming obese themselves. 

Researchers have found several ways that fat people could influence others. It can be subliminal – where people see their overweight friends’ weight as normal and overeat until they’re the same size.

It can also be more direct, with obese people putting pressure on their slimmer friends to eat more and exercise less until they ‘achieve the same body size’.

Even being around larger people can put you at risk of gaining weight, because socialising with them is likely to revolve more around eating than exercising.

Arizona State University researchers interviewed 101 women and 812 friends and relatives.The researchers said their findings gave ‘important clues’ into tackling obesity.

Co-author Alexandra Brewis said: ‘We need to focus on what people do together, rather than what people think.’

http://www.thinkingslimmer.com/fat-friends

Do Magazines Create Body Image Anxiety? UK Parliamentary Inquiry Finds Out

On Monday, I gave evidence at the Parliamentary Inquiry into the Causes and Consequences of Body Image Anxiety in the UK. Two weeks ago, the diet industry was on the stand and it was a focused debate where the Weight Watchers representative got so tangled up trying to answer the questions without incriminating herself, she admitted out loud that Weight Watchers customers are being unrealistic if they expect to lose much weight. It was fantastic!

This was ignored by the media, and the week following gave a glimpse of the invasive weight-loss industry fingers coldly gripping our TV stations and the press. The media was filled with almost desperate pro-dieting propaganda. The most insidious on Channel 5's The Wright Stuff (Newsnight for the brainless), in which satanic-faced Matthew Wright asked if dieting is making us all look too thin. You could almost see the diet industry money in pound signs rolling up in his eyeballs like a fruit machine. Kerching!

On Monday the media were on the stand. Hardly anyone from the media would give evidence - 

Read the full text at my Huffington Post blog

Now you really can look like a magazine cover model

Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

We got this video from Jo Harrison of the Endangered Bodies team 

Is this the death of the diet industry?

In January I'll be giving evidence at the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Body Image inquiry into body image anxiety in UK society. At the two-month inquiry, MPs will be quizzing the diet, cosmetic surgery, fitness and fashion industries as well as representatives from the media and advertising industries. The inquiry is an attempt "to debate the causes and consequences of body image anxiety."

The two words I'm most interested in are 'causes' and 'consequences'. Because if it's true that these will be seriously debated, we're going to be digging into areas that will make the government and the media severely uncomfortable (not to mention Weight Watchers, who will also be giving evidence). It's well known among scientists and researchers, for instance, that dieting is a direct cause of weight gain and the vast majority of people starting a diet on Monday will be certain to end up heavier than they are now.

And it's thanks to high-profile campaigners, such as Susie Orbach and her #DitchingDieting campaign and the untamed nature of the internet (which has allowed a few irrepressible independent studies to break out), that the weight-loss industry's iron grip on the media gateway has been prized open a little (hopefully breaking some fingers along the way). But the truth gets watered down when it reaches the public: the overall messages are still: "Here's what you should look like," and "Here's what you should do to achieve it." And the pressure to be thin is still universally served up to the public with a side-dish of dieting.

So while I can now openly state my favourite quote: "The diet industry is the most successful failed business in the world," in certain circles and people will readily agree, half a decade ago this was thought of as weird, especially when said to my yo-yo dieting friends who would smile blankly and tell me how many calories were in the Jaffa Cake I was eating. But it's still only an 'underground' truth, perhaps because of the seeming lack of alternatives to dieting. I think everyone's afraid if the public are told to stop dieting, everyone will go into one long binge and get so fat that we'll have to spend tax payers' money on widening the doors. The fact that dieting is causing everyone to go on one long binge anyway is being ignored.

I am hopeful this inquiry really will be an attempt to look seriously at all of the causes and consequences. If it can be said out loud in an official inquiry that manufactured ideal images and the use of underweight models in the media equals pressure to be thin, which leads to body image anxiety and that, together with diet advertising and prolific dieting advice in the media, this causes mass attempts to restrain eating which ends in mass weight gain.

And when the floodgates have opened and all this is officially admitted by the government, won't this mean urgent and immediate changes in how we deal with obesity across the board? As well as promoting positive body image and ending the media saturation of idealised images, won't we have to ban diet advertising and diet advice in the media? Won't doctors be told not to prescribe dieting to obese patients? Won't we, at the very least have to force Weight Watchers to reveal their long-term maintenance success statistics?

What an achievement this would be - finally a way out of the downward spiral caused by attempting to use a solution that is a cause. It would mean serious research could begin into a real solution.

It would be the dawning of a new era.

Excuse me while I just remove my rose-tinted specs and pack them away. I know none of this is going to happen and Weight Watchers will use their part in giving evidence at the inquiry as an opportunity for publicity, as everyone will agree that Weight Watchers is "not a diet, it's a sensible approach." They (and the rest of the diet industry) will walk out of the inquiry looking whiter than white and even more ironed and pristine than when they went in, despite their multi-billion pound profit from repeat custom as failed dieters are lured back by temporary weight losses, their refusal to release long-term maintenance statistics and making only partial disclosures of short-term success. The government will continue to advising food restriction, weighing five-year-olds in school, taking fat kids into care and doctors will continue to prescribe the diets that are causing weight gain. Consumers will still be harassed and blamed for being fat and then told to join Weight Watchers.

Oh, well. I'm still looking forward to putting forward my point of view!

 

Follow Sue Thomason on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BeautifulMagUK

You can also read this post at the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/sue-thomason/diet-industry_b_1139160.html