Sexy can I. This is an argument for gaining weight if I’ve seen one. How else will you pull off this costume for Halloween?

Thanks to Urlesque for finding this gem

We recently ran a series that everyone here at the CollegeCandy offices thought would be an awesome way to give our usually pro-body-acceptance readers a self-esteem boost. But instead Celebrating Celebrity “Flaws” turned into a body-bashing he-man-woman-hater’s club. We didn’t see that coming. We were just trying to celebrate our differences that everyone, from the media to our friends, is telling us are wrong and ugly. Instead the very people we wanted to celebrate (you!), cut each other down.

How are we ever going to learn to love our bodies, if we can’t even talk positively about differences?

The conversation about flat celebrities wasn’t about the pressure to have big boobs (and of course a skinny frame), but rather about how all skinny, flat woman “obviously” have eating disorders. The conversation about big noses and bushy eyebrows wasn’t about the pressure to have petite/adorable facial features, but instead about how these women didn’t have big enough noses, or weird enough noses, or bushy enough eyebrows.  It’s as if you’re saying that it has to be one or the other. A small nose or a huge nose; groomed eyebrows or a unibrow. There’s no middle ground.

While we were pretty disappointed by all the body-bashing in the first 3 posts, we seemed to touch on some real issues in the curvy girls post and we were really interested by what we read. There was tons of backlash about who we chose — and a lot of people were upset that we included people like Monique, Nikki Blonsky, and Gabourey Sidibe. Apparently there’s a line between curvy and fat; and we crossed it. Not were we unaware of that line, but we were also pretty surprised that so many people defined “curvy” so differently.

So we wanted to open up these questions to everyone and find out what our readers really think. Read More »

With all the fuss lately surrounding healthy body images and the perfect abs, it seems a bit surprising that Donna Simpson, a 42 year old New Jersey woman has actually made it her goal t be the world’s fattest woman. She’s even said it would be “a fantasy” to reach 1,000 pounds!

No. A fantasy is stealing Brad Pitt away from Angelina for a night of steamy hot sex. A fantasy is moving to a deserted island with half-naked men fanning you with palm leaves. A fantasy should NOT be holding the world record for World’s Largest Woman, because that translates to poor health and a dramatically shorter life.

There are so many things wrong with this situation. Here are 4:

1. She’s got a daughter
While Simpson actually tries to wolf down enough food to gain another 350 lbs. onto her already obese frame, her three-year-old daughter is still in the picture. Shouldn’t she be less concerned with her goal weight and more concerned with living long enough to see her daughter graduate high school? And the $750 a week eating habit is money that would be better spent on toys, clothes, and outings with her daughter. She might be in the running for a Guinness World Record, but it certainly won’t be for World’s Best Mom. Read More »

Students at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania aren’t very happy. And you probably wouldn’t be either if your school told you that you were too fat to graduate.

Sound rude? Yeah.
Are they right? Maybe.

But the real question is: does a university have the right to tell students that they have to lose weight?

As of now, Lincoln University is requiring all students with a BMI of 30 or more (which is considered obese) to enroll in a physical education course that meets three hours a week. Receiving a diploma will be contingent on them completing this course.

In other words, you may ace every course you take, but if you can’t walk up a flight of stairs to get to the classroom, you won’t be receiving a diploma come graduation time.

Some students find it unfair that they are being targeted because of their weight, claiming they came to college to get an education, which has absolutely nothing to do with their body mass index. On the flip side, the University claims that they are committed to aiding students in “achieving and maximizing students life goals” and that obesity is a factor that hinders this process. Read More »

…At least that’s what happened to Angela Stokes. Once nearly 300 pounds, the girl stopped eating anything that was cooked and lost almost half of her body fat. CNN reports:

She stopped eating meat, animal products and processed foods and instead switched to a diet that consisted of uncooked and unprocessed vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds.

“To me, the thing with raw food is that it just makes sense. It’s simple and natural, eating food straight from the earth. There’s no rocket science, no mystery,” said Stokes. “Once you understand the simple principal that no other animal in the wild eats cooked or processed foods. That’s it.”

She makes a very good point – especially considering all the hormones and crap that goes into everything we eat. We should all hop on this raw food bandwagon! We can all be healthy! We can all lose weight.

It can’t be that hard, right? I mean, we would never have to cook again!

Wait, what? Cheddar and Sour Cream chips aren’t raw? Ramen isn’t raw? BEER ISN’T RAW?!

Jesus H. Christ; that Allison chick is crazy. What the hell did she eat? HOW DID SHE SURVIVE?  I really don’t know anyone who can do this – most definitely not anyone in college.

Last December, The Journal of the American Medical Association reported that over the last twelve years, death rates among 2,600 adults 60 and older were slightly lower in overweight individuals than in normal weight adults.

Wait, what? Isn’t obesity a major health concern?

Actually, the New York Times reports that “despite concerns about an obesity epidemic, there is growing evidence that our obsession about weight as a primary measure of health may be misguided.”

It seems that medical research is taking a different path down the road of health, obesity, and weight loss studies. In fact, the Archives of Internal Medicine, as referenced in the Times suggests that half of overweight people and one third of obese people are actually “metabolically healthy.”

America’s obsession with beauty and looks has long stereotyped overweight people in a negative light. However, studies such as those mentioned above are proving that in many cases, thin or underweight people are in poorer health than those with a few excess pounds. The Journal of the American Medical Association conducted fitness tests and observed mortality rates of their subjects, and discovered that “fitness level, regardless of body mass index, was the strongest predictor of mortality risk.” Therefore, skinny people blessed with a fast metabolism will still find working out to be advantageous to their health, and “big boned” individuals should not be written off as being “lazy” or “sluggish,” as stereotypes suggest. Read More »