Born2lbfat

My life with Lipedema & Lymphedema...destined to be fat.

Dating website drops some weight

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By: J.A. Laraque

In this online age we all know we can find a website for just about everything. This also applies to the dating world. You have general sites like Match.com and eHarmony that cater to just about everyone, but you also have specific sites based on race, religion and yes, even size.
CNN first reported that a dating site that markets itself as an elite community for beautiful people with a “strict ban on ugly people” has axed about 5,000 members for packing on the pounds during the holiday season.
How the site works is you create a profile and it is voted on and “judged” by approved members for 48 hours. If you get enough votes you are in, but you must keep your profile updated. After the holiday season many members uploaded new photos showing “extra pudge” and in turn several members were angry feeling they no longer deserved to be on the site.
“As a business, we mourn the loss of any member, but the fact remains that our members demand the high standard of beauty be upheld,” said Robert Hintze, founder of BeautifulPeople.com. “Letting fatties roam the site is a direct threat to our business model and the very concept for which BeautifulPeople.com was founded.”
The members who gained weight were flagged and sent e-mails telling them they could re-register once the added weight was gone.
“We responded to complaints by moving the newly chubby members back to the rating stage. This is the same as having them re-apply,” Greg Hodge, managing director of BeautifulPeople.com, said in a statement.
Some of the people expelled tried to re-register right away hoping others may vote them back in, but in the in only a few hundred were allowed back out of over 5,000.
“Is it elitist? Yes, it is, because our members want it to be,” Hodge said when the company started out in 2005. “Is it lookist? Yes, it is, because our members want it to be. Is it PC? No, it’s not, but it’s honest.”
It seems Mr. Hodge also has strong opinions about the Western cultures habit of over indulging during the holidays.
“Every year we see that some of our members from Western cultures eat and drink to excess over the holidays, and clearly their looks suffer,” he said in a statement. “The U.S.A. has been grossly over-indulging since Thanksgiving. It’s no wonder that so many members have been expelled from the network. We hope they will be back after shedding the festive pounds.”
The company said it “expelled” 1,520 users from the U.S., 832 from the U.K., 533 from Canada, 510 from Poland, 425 from Germany, 402 from Italy, 323 from France, 220 from Denmark, 176 from Turkey and 88 people from Russia. In the e-mail, it gave users suggestions for boot camps and workout facilities to get themselves back in shape.

When the Aliens come, they will eat the fatties first – U.K. Gym warns

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By: J.A. Laraque

If you have seen the movie Zombieland you will notice the main character talks about rules for surviving. One of his rules is cardio. He states that you have to be able to run from the zombies, jumping and ducking to escape and you can’t do that if you’re out of shape.
It seems a U.K. gym has a similar idea with their new campaign. First reported on the Telegraph, one of the largest independent health clubs in the U.K. launched an advertisement which featured a green alien that read: “Advance health warning! When the aliens come, they will eat the fatties first.”
Unfortunately, the advert, meant to encourage people to make a new year’s resolution to lose weight sparked anger and outrage. Many residents said the sign was offensive to those struggling to lose weight.
Vicky Palmer contacted the health club to complain after seeing an advert similar to the sign in a local newspaper. Mrs. Palmer, who had an eating disorder as a teen, said the sign and adverts should be removed.
“I am not overweight yet I still find this extremely offensive and patronizing, but how much more so to someone genuinely overweight?” she said.
She and many others are calling for the ads to be pulled. However so far it looks as if the signs will remain. The manager at the health club, Jason Eaton said: “The alien campaign has been developed as a tongue in cheek look at the fact that people, generally, over the Christmas period do put on a little weight.
“We do not intend to cause any offence to anyone.”

Five ways to request a seatbelt extender

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By: J.A. Laraque

Let’s face it; if you are overweight you have to have a sense of humor. Everyday can present a challenge in one way or another and if you cannot smile or laugh it away you will go crazy. One real challenge for overweight individuals is flying. We have all seen reports from airlines about restrictions for overweight passengers. Some airlines are charging people for two seats and even denying them from flying.

For me personally I feared to fly once I got over the 350lb mark. I was scared I would not fit in the seat. I was scared I would be kicked off the plane, but most of all I feared being embarrassed in front of everyone.
When I began losing weight I believed all that fear was behind me, but when I flew to California I discovered I still had more weight to lose before it would be a good fit (pun intended) for me. While I did fit fine in the seat I still needed a seatbelt extended. The flight attendant was very nice and discrete about it which made the experience painless.
Since then I have flown a number of times and I still use an extender mainly because it is much more comfortable. With that I have come up with a few ways to ask for a seatbelt extender.
The Call-ahead reservation
You ever wonder how people get a kosher meal on an airplane, they call ahead. If you call the customer service for your airline you can request ahead of time for them to leave the extender in your seat. Now lately I have been told some airlines no longer do this, but many still do so you will need to call in and ask. This makes it the easiest because you do not have to say anything or draw attention to yourself.
The Walk by Wink and Point
This doesn’t always work, but if you have ever had someone give you the eye or stare a bit too long at you just because you are overweight you will understand. I used this to my advantage on airlines. When boarding the plane I would give the greeting flight attendant a wink and point to my stomach. Most of the time they knew exactly what I meant and they would bring an extender to my seat shortly afterwards.
WARNING: For the men out there this can be kind of dangerous because if the flight attendant is female and you wink a little too hard and point a little too low you could find yourself thrown off the plane charged with sexual harassment charges.
The Whisper Request
This works when heading toward your seat or if you have already sat down. You can whisper to the flight attendant, extender please, and that should be enough to get you one. However, this can also go wrong and the attendant can either not hear you correctly or repeat loudly what you just said. There is also a slight chance he or she might be mad you whispered in his or her ear so be careful people.
The Charade or Wrestling Belt motion
So you sat down and thought the belt would fit, but it didn’t or it’s so tight you feel your lunch contents being pushed back out. In this case you can use the whisper request, just ask normally or try this trick.
Ever watch the WWE or any other wrestling programs? When they want the title belt they will make a hand gesture of a belt near their waste. I have found this works well to signal to the flight attendant that you need an extender. Again, this doesn’t always work, but it is less likely to be mistaken for something else, unless there are wrestlers on the plane.
The captured animal
This is the least used technique I would suggest because it relies way to heavily on the flight attendants sense of compassion. I am not saying they are not smart, helpful, attentive and friendly, but we are all human beings and we all know that everyone can have a bad day at work and miss something.
Pretty much this works the same way as seeing a deer caught in a bear trap would work. You force the belt closed and squirm in pain until the flight attended sees you struggling and brings you an extender.
I personally would not recommend this, but I mention it because it happened to me once. The flight attendant saw how uncomfortable I was and brought me an extender without me asking for it. Obviously this will not always happen. Many times they are busy and will not notice or they don’t want to assume you need one out of fear of embarrassing you. So just keep this one in mind, but don’t really try it unless you are going for a laugh.
Just keep smiling
I wrote this because all these things I have done, but really if you ask for an extender 99% of the time the flight attendant will quietly bring one to you. I have even had some hide it in a pillow or blanket so nobody will see. Most people understand it is not easy to fly even when smaller in size and the flight attendants are sensitive to this. So keep a smile on your face, be polite and keep saying to yourself, it will all soon be over.