I received the following letter from one of our valued readers and felt compelled to share her thoughts with you.
Dear Stephanie,
Kudos to you and your staff for spotlighting the women of this Country who choose not to live on Black Coffee, Lettuce and the more than occasional “snort of Coke” to maintain a size 0-2. I have struggled all my life (In my early 60′s now-still stately and attractive-did Coat Showroom modeling in my teens because a size 12 Coat was the size of choice! I was privileged to have a one-on-one interview with “The” Eileen Ford, of Ford Modeling agency, (long before Plus Size even existed) and she was lovely and very encouraging. She told me that in order to photograph, I would have to be quite a bit thinner, but that if I could get down to a size “10″ I would be considered as a Showroom Model. Realistic? Yes!, Encouraging? Absolutely! Disparaging and condescending? Not for a minute! Marilyn Monroe was, after all, a size 10-12!
I was appalled at the way the New York Times allowed what appeared to start off as a review of the Plus Size Show, into one reporter’s view on Obesity and Disparity. Shame on them. Our country in not now or was it ever a nation of small statured woman or men. I do not consider myself “Obese”, although I have struggled all my life to maintain a size that enabled me to buy beautiful clothing-sometimes failing for a time-and falling into depression because I could not button the waist on a size 12 or sometimes even a 14 skirt! American woman are a wonderful mix of White, Black, Brown Yellow. Red. A true overflow of diversity, Not just in race and creed, but in BODY TYPES!.
My shoulders do not fit well into a size 12 blouse! They never will. ( I am tall, stately and with broad All-American (from Eastern European Descent) shoulders!) Especially since our US Garment Industry has relinquished its place to China and other countries. I can go on but to what end? Please keep the message alive-especially to our children and grandchildren. Please continue to do what you do.
With high regard,
Gail Blackman
Editor-In-Chief, Stephanie Penn-Danforth -- Daily Venus Diva.
Oh Stephanie, we need to talk!
I wasn’t aware of your site until my patient, Gail Blackman, wrote regarding the scary article in the NY Times. Now, I can see that you and I were meant to “meet” and help the many women who struggle with weight, health, and overall well-being.
I’m Diane Kress, RD CDE, the author of the NY Times Bestselling book: The Metabolism Miracle. The book is the result of over 25 years experience specializing in weight reduction, diabetes prevention and treatment, metabolic syndrome. I am a traditionally trained registered dietitian, certified diabetes educator and I’m hear to say the millions of people have been misled and duped!
I, too, was an overweight woman who was gaining weight, expecially around my middle, disproportinate to the calories I ate. I exercised, followed a calorie- controlled diet down to the exact calorie, watched my fat and cholesterol…and worked my tail off exercising. I should also mention that at this time, I was heading the Diabetes and Obesity Centers at a teaching hospital teaching and living “by the book”. Even though I did “everything by the book,” I got heavier and sicker…eventually I had gained 30#, developed hypertension, high cholesterol, and the “icing on the cake”..a diagnosis of diabetes! All of this happened on a 1200 calorie, low fat, low cholesterol diet with lots of exercise! Obviously, something about traditional dieting was not working for me, and over 1/2 of my dedicated patients.
As a result of my experience and the experiences of over 50% of overweight people, I began to research and develop a program targeted exclusively to the millions of people who have metabolic syndrome….It turns out that all these people, the ones who cannot succeed on traditional diets, have one common denominator: they all have a hormonal imbalance of the fat gain hormone: insulin. It’s not that we were failing at dieting, it is that dieting was failing us. We didn’t have a problem with calories in/calories out….we were over producing a fat gain hormone and a low calorie, low fat diet was making the situation worse!
Stephanie, this is a very well kept secret in the medical community. As long as millions of overweight people do not realize that they have a different metabolism, they will never be able to lose weight, keep it off, or prevent progression to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar. They are set up to gain weight, continue to gain weight, become ill, and require medications for life.
Hence, the birth of The Metabolism Miracle. I have used this very easy to follow program with over 6000 patients at my private practice nutrition center in Morristown, NJ. This is where I met Gail Blackman who is doing an excellent job losing weight and improving her health profile.
Please, please, please…take a look at http://www.themetabolismmiracle.com. This site is purely informational. When you give it a read, please contact me to set up a time for us to talk. I want to bring the Metabolism Miracle to the people who need it most….the wonderful women (and men) who are needlessly struggling to look and feel their best…when a different perspective on lifestyle is the answer!
Thanks for your time!
Diane Kress
973-359-0005
dietquestions@aol.com
assistant to diane kress: http://www.dianakay@themetabolismmiracle.com