Spotlight: Lizzi Miller

I'm sure, by now, many of you have seen this picture in the September issue of Glamour. It's not on the cover, it's not in the spread, and it's not even in the front of the magazine--but it's causing one hell of a stir. Meet Lizzi:

This picture of 20 year old model Lizzi Miller can be found on p. 194 in the article "What Everyone But You Sees About Your Body." Says Editor in Chief Cindi Leive, "we'd commissioned a story on feeling comfortable in your skin, and I wanted a model who looked like she was."

The article focuses on the sexiness we exude but don't notice, the beauty we overlook in our own bodies because we're too busy bashing ourselves. It offers advice on how to appreciate ourselves from experts who look at women's bodies all day (Read the full article here):

When you focus on the body parts you love, your ‘flaws’ fade away.”

—Madame Athena Chang, portrait photographer

“Self-consciousness is getting in the way of your pleasure.”

—Jennifer Phillips, certified massage therapist

“We have curves for a reason.”

—Sue Baelen, licensed midwife

But it wasn't the article that caused a commotion, prompting responses and interviews like the one below. It was the picture: just a woman sitting in her underwear, smiling. Back in April Lizzi appeared in Glamour in her skivvies as well, but that picture did not nearly cause as much of a stir.

If you'll notice, this picture from April seemed to "hide" the little tummy roll that remains exposed in the newest picture, and I believe that's what makes all the difference. Though April's picture showed a confident plus-size beauty, this month's picture reveals something that everyone has but dares not speak of: a flaw. Yes, that teeny tiny flap of skin has made all the difference, empowering thousands of women and compelling them to speak out in support of this honest and un-airbrushed depiction. 

Finally, women are calling for healthy and realistic counterparts in magazines and fashion shows, refusing to accept that only thin=beautiful. And Lizzi is very candid about her views on this subject: "I just think there needs to be more representation for women who don't fit into the 'norm' of the size 2." Lizzi's only 20, but having been a model for over 6 years, she knows all about body image and pressure to conform. "I'm not saying that a size 2 isn't 'normal,' but this is my normal. I'm healthy, I work out, I lead a healthy lifestyle, and this is how I look. And I embrace it." 

At 180lbs and an admitted size 12-14, Lizzi is a softball player and belly dancer who likes to exercise "when it's fun." She says about growing up chubby: "When I was young I really struggled with my body and how it looked because I didn't understand why my friends were so effortlessly skinny. As I got older I realized that everyone's body is different and not everyone is skinny naturally--me included! I learned to love my body for how it is, every curve of it. I used to be so self-conscious in a bikini because my stomach wasn't perfectly defined. But everyone has different body shapes! And it's not all about the physical! If you walk on the beach in your bikini with confidence and you feel sexy, people will see you that way too."

Watch Lizzi and Cindi's interview on The Today Show and get involved in the debate!

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Get Skinny or Else!

"We have to be very sensitive and understanding when we tackle America's obesity problem," says Dr. Robert Kushner, Clinical director of Northwestern University's Comprehensive Center on Obesity. "We don't want to stigmatize people and we don't want to make people feel it's their fault."

But in pointing fingers and proclaiming that YOU are different, YOU are unacceptable, isn't that ultimately stigmatizing and scapegoating? 

Kushner declares that fighting obesity will be a key component of health care reform in an attempt to "get a handle on the health care costs of this country." He, and many others like him, claim that 'overweight' men and women are a drain on the health care system and a burden to society at large. 

Does being fat, however, necessarily equate with being unhealthy? The answer: NO, except in the most extreme circumstances. Weight is an aesthetic, a means of physically identifying and measuring a person's level of attractiveness, but it is certainly not a health barometer. If you're too fat to roll yourself out of bed in the morning, or if your legs are too heavy to be lifted into a consistent stride, you're probably unhealthy. But if you're a size 22 and you can move your body and work it(!), there is nothing unhealthy about you.

Certain health officials would have you believe that being fat is a serious risk for certain factors such as diabetes or heart disease, but where is the proof? There is no scientific evidence directly linking weight with any of these illnesses. In fact, research done by the American Heart Association found that fatter cardiac patients were more likely to survive hospital visits or invasive treatments than their thinner counterparts, even when considering age and other contributing factors. 

Dr. Paul Ernsberger, of Case Western Reserve School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, led a review of nearly 400 studies that was published in the Journal of Obesity and Weight Regulation in 1987 which corroborated these results. “The idea that fat strains the heart has no scientific basis,” he said. “As far as I can tell, the idea comes from diet books, not scientific books. Unfortunately, some doctors read diet books.” In April 2006, researchers at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles reported their clinical study of 14,739 patients with coronary artery disease, that had been confirmed on tomography, who were followed for over three years. They found that “obese” and “overweight” patients were at significantly lower risks for cardiac death than “normal” weight patients.

Though it has not been proven that being overweight can produce negative health effects, is hasbeen proven that fat can protect against infections, heart disease, lung disease, cancer, osteoporosis, anemia, rheumatoid arthritis, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. As fat blogger Kate Harding points out, poor nutrition and a sedentary lifestyle do cause health problems for individuals, both thin and fat, being overweight is not synonymous with an debilitating lifestyle. Nurse Sandy Szwarc, who authors the Junkfood Science blog, explains it best when she discusses the media's ceaseless efforts to link our weight, favorite foods, and lifestyles to one horrible disease or other. Says Szwarc: 

Epidemiological (observational) studies - which use computer models to dredge through information on a group of people to find correlations - are most rife with misinterpreted statistics, errors, and biases, and are most easily manipulated to arrive at whatever conclusions researchers set out to find... No matter how popular, impressive or intuitively correct it might seem, a correlation to a disease is not evidence that it's the cause. 

I'll say it again: A CORRELATION TO A DISEASE IS NOT EVIDENCE THAT IT'S THE CAUSE. I.e. an arbitrary, computer-generated correlation between obesity and heart disease DOES NOT indicate that obesity is the cause of heart disease. 

Kate Harding also brings up a very valid point: there are fat people who eat well, exercise often, and still remain "fat." There are diseases that cause a weight gain in previously healthy people. Genetics, hormones, stress, etc. are all huge contributing factors to a person's weight, so it is impossible to pinpoint ONE cause--say, that a person is eating too much; therefore, it is impossible to come up with any one solution--PUT DOWN THE BURGER AND GET ON A TREADMILL.

I spent the better part of my childhood convinced that I was overweight because it was a character flaw, that I just wasn't trying hard enough, until I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome at 17. And even at my healthiest weight (5'3", 145 lbs, size 7 jeans), when I could run a 10 minute mile and do a standing half split like nobody's business, the BMI charts still told me I was overweight and in danger. Today the BMI is finally being recognized as an unrealistic and often implausible measure of health; Aveen Bannon of the Dublin Nutrition Centre said that it can be used as a rough guide, but it can often be inaccurate. "For example," she says," a rugby player, who has a strong build made up of heavy muscle, will always have a high BMI and fall into the overweight category." Bannon says that she has also seen cases where a person's BMI was low, but they had a high amount of body fat.

For me, I've decided that as long as I'm healthy and happy it doesn't matter how much I weigh. But not everyone feels this way. Centers for disease control and prevention say obesity leads to $147 billion dollars per year in medical costs, and it looks as though weight loss will become something of a federal mandate. They want to focus on "preventative care" rather than "illness care," but can obesity really be considered an illness? Dr. Kushner is insisting that obesity interferes with work productivity and quality of life, but the last time I checked my BMI of 39 is not keeping me from shuffling my paperwork or lounging on the beach. And you know, I don't want to be "tackled" by the health care system, because I don't feel obligated to lose a goddamn pound. I don't have heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or diabetes, and I don't have a problem with the way I look. If there is a problem here, it's not with me. Get out of my kitchen, back off my body, and go "tackle" a real issue!

Take a look at this dialog between Fat Blogger Kate Harding and Dr. Kushner and tell me what you think:

Newsreel: Too Fat to be Surgeon General?

Have you heard the news? This woman, Dr. Regina Benjamin, is too fat to be our Surgeon General.

Let's disregard the fact that she's got both an M.D. from the University of Alabama and an MBA from Tulane University, that she served as associate dean for rural health at USA's College of Medicine, or that she was the first physician under 40 to be elected to the AMA's board of trustees in 1995. Forget all the committees and commissions for health that she has served on, that she is the founder and CEO of her own health clinic (which she rebuilt TWICE after hurricane Katrina and a fire destroyed it), or that she was the U.S. recipient of the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights in 1998. She's probably a size 12, and that's just not cool.

The controversy stems from the fact that Benjamin LOOKS "overweight," and that she shouldn't be telling other people how to be healthy if she can't be healthy herself. Firstly, I'd like to point out that, no matter how much she weighs, her pounds do not suddenly cancel out her medical degree or her myriad qualifications. And last I checked her weight was not getting in the way of her doing her job. Is she suffering from diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, or any other disease that we believe weight may contribute to (but not actually cause)? Is she unable to walk, move around, or function in her day to day life? As far as I'm concerned, the problem here is with the way Benjamin LOOKS, and not how healthy she is.

If all employers were allowed to discriminate based on appearance (namely weight), more than 50% of U.S. citizens would be out of a job. Should people be denied promotions if they aren't physically fit? Are M.D.'s to be rescinded when a doctor hits a certain weight? Yes, I believe that you should not be hired if you are so physically unhealthy that you are incapable of completing your duties, but that is clearly not the case here.

"We want to influence young people to live a healthy lifestyle and be physically active and eat healthy food," said Lillie Shockney, director of the Johns Hopkins Avon Breast Centre. Acknowledging that Dr Benjamin's weight was not "horrific" or "over the top", she added: "I want an image of wellness [as surgeon general] because young people will hear her better if she is practising what we expect her to preach."

(If weight really does govern a medical professional's ability to dispense health advice, how does Lillie Shockney, left, get off talking about Dr. Benjamin? Doesn't SHE also appear to be overweight according to her own standards?)

Marcia Angell, a lecturer at Harvard University Medical School, told ABC News: "At a time when a lot of public health concern is about the national epidemic of obesity, having a surgeon general who is noticeably overweight raises questions in people's minds."

A doctor commenting on a medical blog said Dr Benjamin looked obese, with a body mass index of over 30, if not a morbidly obese rate of over 40.

One commentator estimated she would take at least a British size 20 in clothes.

Sarah Reed, another family doctor, who said she kept her own BMI at 19, said: "I am disappointed that Dr Regina Benjamin is obese. Obesity is the number one problem in my own practice and I make it a very high priority to lead by example. Although her credentials speak for themselves, her weight cannot be overlooked. Shame on her!"

Seriously? Is there going to be a weigh-in at her hearing? Is the AMA going to measure her waist and slap her on the wrist for wearing a bad Lane Bryant suit? There are so many myths surrounding weight and health, with the idea that a woman of a certain size cannot be healthy or that she lacks a degree of self control. And yes, I understand that the Surgeon General is all about promoting health, but healthy women come in all shapes and sizes.