16 Simple Ways to Decrease Quality of Life - Overweight/Obesity Edu-tainment PSA

'Breast is Best'. But for what and how long?

They say ‘breast is best’ and America seems to agree, only, for the wrong reasons.

Examples?

Christina Hendricks being considered an asset for bringing viewership to Mad Men for her, well, assets.

Katy Perry being dropped from Sesame Street as complaints and comments sparked controversy, such as: "You can practically see her t---.. That's some wonderful children's programming."


Despite what most Americans’ think, though, the purpose of breasts is to nourish babies, not stimulate audiences or sell something [or oneself].


According the government the benefits of breastfeeding are to optimally nourish and protect babies from illness, as well as provide benefits to mothers by lowering certain health problems such as breast cancer and diabetes.


But even despite how highly acclaimed breasts are in American society—breast augmentation ranked among the top five surgical procedures for women last year—when it comes to actually breastfeeding, people are disgusted and many women opt for the less optimal choice, formula.

So it doesn’t help when extreme breastfeeding circulates in the media. A video on YouTube, titled ‘Breastfeeding… at 8’, for example, has accumulated over 28 million views to date.



The issue then becomes not whether a mother should breastfeed, but how long.

From a developmental viewpoint, psychologist Will Braun says,

"I think a child really needs to learn to develop the capacity to soothe oneself, the capacity to tolerate frustration. When a child is constantly given a breast, it might thwart that from happening."

Since all babies and mothers are different, no definitive time frame of how long one should breastfeed can rationally be set. So, like diet and most other things— go for moderation, avoid extreme. Zero breastmilk is extreme, as is 6, 7, 8 years.


Happy Healthy Juicy Breastfeeding, Yes! ..Like everything else, In Moderation.

Should Doctors Be Responsible for Nutrition Education?

New York Times 'Views' Article:
Teaching Doctors About Nutrition and Diet

HealthyButJuicy comments on the New York Times' Well Blog.

Is Snooki Fighting Too Hard for Fame?

I don't know what The Situation is or what everyone thinks is so Woww, as I have yet to witness respectable-enough media coverage of the Jersey Shore cast for me to actually check out their MTV reality hit.

Case and point: Snooki on the cover of OK! mag, plastered with the words: 'My Battle with Anorexia'.

I commend the editors over there for doing their job, as the cover lured me into picking up a copy to check out the story with such a powerful title. That's not to say, though, I condone them for turning a serious issue into what seems to be fodder.

So what does the beehived tanning queen have to share about her experiences?

'In high school, my weight was a very big deal, but when I went to college, it wasn't as big of a deal to me, and I got over it pretty quick, which is pretty surprising to me...

You know, how in college you're eating all kinds of crappy food? That's when I started eating bagels again. I was like, '"Eh, screw it, I'll just eat." I wasn't, like, downing cheeseburgers. I just started eating like a regular person again. And I started to gain the weight back. I really didn't have any problems in college because I was too busy worrying about my studies.'

Worrying about her studies, I'm sure..


We throw around the term 'depressed' when we're bummed out about something. But depression, in the actual clinical sense, is more than being just bummed out— it's long[er] term, affects daily life, and is seriously debilitating. The same goes for anorexia. Usage of the word is sometimes [or often] thrown around as if it's nothing and without understanding of what it actually means or is.

According to the DSM-IV— the standard classification of mental disorders used by mental health professionals in the US— anorexia nervosa is classified using the following criteria:

1. Refusal to maintain body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height (e.g., weight loss leading to maintenance of body weight less than 85% of that expected; or failure to make expected weight gain during period of growth, leading to body weight less than 85% of that expected).
   
   
2. Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though underweight.
   
   
3. Disturbance in the way in which one's body weight or shape is experienced, undue influence of body shape on self-evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of the current low body weight.
   
   
4. In postmenarcheal females, amenorrhea, i.e., the absence of at least three consecutive menstrual cycles.

Snooki claims to have gotten down to 80 pounds in high school, which does sound low, but, note, today, she's only 4' 9''. Moreover, eating disorders, whether it be anorexia, bulimia, or EDNOS [eating disorder not otherwise specified], typically [typically] is NOT something you just get over by saying 'screw it' and then eating bagels. If it were only that simple..

If reality is what you're after, chew on this:

• Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.
  
  
• The mortality rate associated with anorexia nervosa is 12 times higher than the death rate associated with all causes of death for females 15-24 years old.
  
  
• 20% of people suffering from anorexia will prematurely die from complications related to their eating disorder, including suicide and heart problems.
  
  
• Five to ten percent of anorexics die within ten years of onset, 18-20 percent die within twenty years of onset, and only 50 percent report ever being cured.

Stats taken from The Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness

Ergo, the point isn't did she/didn't she [have an eating disorder] or was she/wasn't she [anorexic], though it is two-fold:

1. Whether she was sick or not, if she's going to take the responsibility of addressing the issue—which she did by agreeing to give a highly publicized exclusive interview and don the cover of a popular magazine— then she better own up to it and do it with extra care— it comes with the territory of fame, where one is no longer responsible just for oneself.
   
2. Ditto for the magazine/publisher. Though what they're publishing is 'trash', still, it's national, and social responsibility is in order. It's not like they're talking about a trivial thing such as her hair. For some, this really is a reality and really is a matter of life or death [..to be as dramatic as the bold yellow cap-sized font..]

Happy Healthy Juicy Being Responsible, and Knowing What's Appropriate & What's Snot!

Affordable [ahem, Cheap] Fall Fashion 2010

HealthyButJuicy Consultant & Personal Shopper Available!

Best of Convenience Food in the Grocery Aisles

[Click for PDF].

Brutality In Every Step

Warning!, Dear Reader. The image you are about to see below is disturbing, slightly graphic but, to your benefit, slightly blurry as well, due to a terrified, shaky hand [and perhaps moving train]. But what you are about to see is real. No actors or models were used. This is the true story of not just one but millions of women, who sacrifice intact skin in the name of 'pedi-' [pronounced 'petty'] fashion. Arguably, this might even be considered an epidemic form of self-mutilation.



















These snake-skin pumps required not just one or two bandages but TEN. TEN! Five PER foot. Who knows how long even those would last, as walking typically causes chafing and sweat production— neither good for secure, long-lasting adhesion of bandages.

One possible explanation for all of this relies on conspiracy theory: Could it be designers are scheming with Johnson & Johnson et al. to mutually boost sales? It makes sense how Band-Aid is profiting, but vice versa? Yup, vice versa also true, as described in this NY Times article, It’s No Boo-Boo: Bandages as Fashion Accessories.

And check out this 'Best of' review taken from some fashion blog:

Title: A Chic Way to Blister-Proof Your Sandal Feet: Band-Aid Friction Block   [..hurl..]

Strappy sandal season has arrived...which typically means newly-exposed tender winter feet, covered in blisters and plastered over with unsightly bandages. Instead of ruining the look of your fab new footwear, try Band-Aid's clever Friction Block Stick; it contains a lubricating formula that glides on smoothly and reduces rubbing on skin, helping to prevent blisters from ever developing.

Compact enough to fit in your pocket, it is also affordable enough at $5 to stock up and stash in the medicine chest, the glove box of your car, your purse, and anywhere else a blister emergency might arise.

Moreover, is this proof of continued oppression against women? After all, it's been reported that Band-Aids were invented by a man whose wife 'often cut herself while doing housework and cooking' [ref]. And now, even despite three waves of Women's Lib, female feet are still not liberated from harsh conditions. When will this end? I mean, look at this!


From left to right: 1) What women are expected to cram their feet into. 2) What women could wear instead. 3) What women's feet are actually shaped like.


Fourth Wave Proposal? Wide-width, orthotically-correct kickers become all the rage for evermore!


Happy Healthy Juicy Save Our Soles!

Urban Outfitters Should Be 'Rated R' for Violence Against Health - Girls' & Women's Especially

The 'Cigarette' Jeans. That's why.

In fact, there's a whole line dedicated to 'Cigarette' Jeans. So how do they compare to other styles/fits, say, for example, 'Skinny' Jeans [which, yes, they do in fact carry as a separate line]?

The descriptions for each are as follows:
Skinny - Regular Rise, Slim Fit, Skinny
Cigarette - Regular Rise, Super Slim Fit, Super Narrow Leg

Skinny, apparently, wasn't skinny enough.

According to their website, Urban Outfitters' brand profile reads:

'Urban Outfitters operates more than 130 stores in the United States, Canada and Europe, all offering an eclectic mix of merchandise. We stock our stores with what we love, calling on our — and our customer's — interest in contemporary art, music and fashion. From men's & women's apparel and accessories to items for the apartment, we offer a lifestyle-specific shopping experience for the educated, urban-minded individual in the 18 to 30 year-old range — both online and in our stores as well as through our catalog.'

Legal jargon, that last part [in bold] appears to be, because adults [age 18 and over] are certainly not their only consumers [of their clothes or messages]. T(w)eens make up a huge portion of their consumer base, if not the majority. Likewise, 'educated' is a far cry from true.

How educated, for example, would you assess this 'Smoking Smarties' middle schooler?

Lloyd Johnston, a researcher at the University of Michigan for Monitoring the Future, an NIH-funded study, reported the end of last year:

'While great strides have been made in reducing youth smoking in this country, there is still plenty of room for improvement.

Among high school seniors in the Class of 2009, 20 percent have smoked in the most recent month and one in nine (11 percent) is a current daily smoker. Further, our follow-up studies have shown that a number of the lighter smokers in high school will convert to heavy smoking after leaving high school.

Given what we know about the consequences of smoking, this is still an unacceptable level of involvement.'

Urban Outfitters' Company Profile reads:

'Our established ability to understand our customers and connect with them on an emotional level is the reason for our success.. The emphasis is on creativity. Our goal is to offer a product assortment and an environment so compelling and distinctive that the customer feels an empathetic connection to the brand and is persuaded to buy.'

..And they forgot, perhaps, use.

This is not the first time, however, the retailer sparked controversy. On Wikipedia, there's an entire list, referencing at least eight separate incidences. The last reads:

'In May 2010, Urban Outfitters released a shirt that read "Eat less." The shirt was widely criticized for promoting anorexia, especially since the model that adorned the shirt on the website was considered to be extremely thin. The company soon pulled the shirt from the website altogether.'

Extremely thin.. yet over 18?..




So the shirt was 'pulled from the website altogether'. Hurrah! Right?


But check this out:
Type in the Search Box of the Urban Outfitters' retail site: 'EAT LESS'.

You'll find it does NOT return 'NO ITEMS FOUND', as typically would be the case for gibberish, but instead directs you to the 'Tops -> Basics' category, displaying nearly 48 images of ultra-skinny women [perhaps girls, too].

Shutter.

Education, including health, occurs everywhere - *Everywhere* - Not just the classroom.

Is this the kind of education you want to buy, wear, endorse, breathe, consume, become? Food for thought.

Happy Healthy Juicy Fashion Shouldn't Hurt or Harm!

Kourtney Kardashian TaKes her Kid on a Karb Krap Spree!

Kourtney Kardashian is just so excited to be a mom. She recently shared the above pic of her kid and this on her blog:

'Every first is so exciting and so much fun to take pictures of and experience!

This is Mason’s first trip to the grocery store. Yes, I know it has been 8 and a half months and I have not been to the market. It has always seemed like such a hard place to take a baby – the germs, the people, and before he was big enough to sit, pushing the stroller and cart at once… all just a big task.

We had so much fun and Mason loved it!! Things that would never seem like they would be meaningful or exciting have a whole new meaning when I experience them all over again for the first time with Mason.'

The germs, huh? What about the...

Whole Corn, Vegetable Oil (Contains One or More of the Following: Corn, Soybean, and/or Sunflower Oil), Salt, Cheddar Cheese (Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Maltodextrin, Wheat Flour, Whey, Monosodium Glutamate, Buttermilk Solids, Romano Cheese from Cow's Milk (Part-Skim Cow's Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Whey Protein Concentrate, Onion Powder, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed Oil, Corn Flour, Disodium Phosphate, Lactose, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Dextrose, Tomato Powder, Spices, Lactic Acid, Artificial Color (Including Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Red 40), Citric Acid, Sugar, Garlic Powder, Red and Green Bell Pepper Powder, Sodium Caseinate, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, Nonfat Milk Solids, Whey Protein Isolate, and Corn Syrup Solids.

..in just the Doritos alone??

Phew. [pause]. Catching my breath..

And wondering who's the one who really had 'so much fun' and 'loved' the shopping experience? I mean, at least white bread would have been more cushiony..

It's not really surprising to see this celebrity mom binging on crap, though. Earlier this summer, the reality star blacked out, saying:

'I was just running down the beach like I always have been lately. And then I just woke up. I didn't eat anything this morning.. I'm so embarrassed that I punished my body for a photo shoot.'

She admits: 'I've been obsessing about this weight thing a little too much.'

Just a little..

In the ongoing celebrity race to lose the baby weight ASAP, Kourtney reportedly lost about 33lbs in just three months after delivery. She then flaunted her superficial 'victory' on the cover of Life&Style trash, with flowing hair, a big pearly smile, and all.



The Kardashian sisters are said to have become [gulp] role models for many girls/women. Let's just hope this 'weight thing'/'experience' is not one they will follow.


Happy Healthy Juicy Nourish You & Your Baby Better Than Krap!

A Look Into the (D)evolution of Dating.. & What To Do.