fat

obesity is the current obsession (obesiession?), everywhere you look there are reports about people being fatter than fat, there are tales of new wonder diets, research into why people are getting fatter.

the media are fascinated by the shape and size of female celebrities and it soon becomes obvious that it isn’t what you do that counts it is the way you look and any deviation from the artificial norm is pounced upon as a sign of failure. 

i consider myself fat. i have pretty much always been fat. i can grab more than an inch (oo’er missus) compared with some of the more rotund in society i am really no more than cuddly, chunky, big-boned, heavy set or whatever other euphemism you might want to use. 

one of the curiosities of the weight debate is that some athletes would be considered to be obese by using the body mass index – a lot of top level rugby players fall foul of this.

last week an unnamed person at the british olympic association must have been having a quiet day and with little to do decided to mention that jessica ennis was carrying a little too much weight. the timing was a bit odd as ms ennis was about to compete in her only heptathlon before the olympics (she won and set a new british record). 

lots of people rushed to her defence. 

one of the things it has highlighted is that she is not the only female athlete to have been told that perhaps she is a little heavy, louise hazel has also told of the less than helpful, or subtle, comments she has received from her coaches. it has also brought to light the fact that there are a number of senior athletes who are struggling with food and weight issues. given that top athletes are funded by the state it seems a sad indictment that we are encouraging athletes to put themselves at risk in order to win a medal or two, especially when you consider all the medical and sport science help and advice these people can call on. somehow it seems wrong that it can become something that can lead to damage rather than proper health and fitness.

though on second thoughts in a sport that is prepared to allow known drug cheats to compete on the largest stage of all then what concern are they going to have about a few women puking their guts up in order to keep their weight down? 

anyway the real reason for this was to be able to put up some photos.  

 here is 'fat' jess - except she isn't, but she is quite foxy. (please note that ms ennis is displaying her rather fine forn in the old team gb kit, the one featuring red which according to stella would make it hard to recognise with all the red in the usa and french flags. yeah made sense to me.

 here is the 'heavy' louise hazel in action - looking trim and, frankly, very hot. i'd be happy to rub her down after her race.

and here is someone who might actually be called fat - it you were going to be cruel. 

what's worse is he is a tory to boot.