Body Mass Ineptitude

A number of states have already implemented body mass index, or BMI, testing in schools. When Michelle Obama launched her “Let’s Move!” campaign, she proudly noted that they were partnering with the American Academy of Pediatrics to work on BMI testing. Use of the BMI has become so commonplace that I don’t think most people [...]

Score!!

Happy 20th Anniversary! Twenty Years.  TWENTY Years.  Two Decades.  A Score.  An infamous date in the life of Sgt. Pepper and his band. The amount of time I lived before College Graduation.  (Your math is fine, I graduated early).  The amount of time my son has been alive. For those of us who are parents, [...]

The Cure

The Cure or Dr. Deah Dr. Seuss meets Size Acceptance by Dr. Deah As a girl I was protected from the Measles and the Mumps but not from the dis-ease caused by chubby thighs and lumps. I felt dejected when rejected and not labeled as a beauty. “Conforming,” I was told, is your moral civic [...]

Cruel Days Cruel Days…

…Dear old golden rule days.  How many of you remember that song? If some of you are experiencing a Dr. Deah ja Vu, you are correct.  You have read this before.  Every once in a while I re-post a blog that I believe, even a year later, still has great significance.  In addition, because my [...]

Great Start Seventeen! Next I’d like to see someone who looks like me on the cover!

Some wonderful steps have been taken over the past few weeks to address the impact of airbrushed images of women’s bodies in teen magazine. Although I am sure many WATRD readers are already in the know about this victory I will just do a Cliffs Notes summary. 14-year-old Julia Bluhm presented Seventeen Magazine with a [...]

Media Literacy, African American Women and HAES

Greetings and Salutations, My name is Dr. Angela Prater-Mensah and my PhD is in Communication Studies with a focus on Media. I was invited to join We Are the Real Deal Blog after speaking at BEDA’s National Binge eating conference. My educational background, life path and struggle with body image and disordered eating will inform [...]

Weighing In: The Yay! Scale

Weighing ourselves.  It’s an activity fraught with anxiety for many (most?) women.  That’s understandable as we’ve been raised to measure our worth by what we weigh.  So when we get on the scale,  if it doesn’t tell us what we want, whatever mood we were in is destined to head downhill. Knowing our weight can [...]

Fits and Starts

  Fit Now there’s a helluva word. Think about it…how could one itty bitty word elicit such a broad spectrum of feelings, images, and associations? Throwing a fit If the shoe fits Misfit The perfect fit Fit for life Fit to stand trial  When I worked in an inpatient psychiatric hospital for adolescents, one of [...]

Weight of the Notion

On May 7th, while still basking in the afterglow of International No Diet Day, The New York Times published a series of opinion pieces called Women, Weight, and Wellness that stirred up a great deal of discussion, debate, and commentary on the topic of…well…women, weight, and wellness!  (Imagine that?!)  Seeing size acceptance and HAES points [...]

Time is a waisting…

I just returned from Michigan due to a sudden death in my family. Honestly, there is nothing like an event like this to put things in perspective. Our bodies are so much more than circumference and pounds. They are literally vessels for our spirit and allow us to hold hug, support and love each other in [...]

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