Category Archives: Uncategorized

Plastic Surgeon, Does Daughter’s Boob Job (WATCH)


This could be a follow up on my piece Creating Body Image: When Parents are the Problem. In “The Cutting Edge,” a new episode of “20/20” set to air Friday, 10 p.m. EST. Babara Walters takes a look at the world of plastic surgery, the procedures and the patient of all ages, from the 83 year old woman who decided to have her breasts enhanced to the 18 year old who’s father did her breast surgery.
Now here is the thing, Dr.Michael Niccole has 2 adopted daughter (both 23) and her regularly performed various procedures on both of them, from belly button reconstruction (an Charm at 10 years of age) Rhinoplasty, breast augmentation, lip injections, and Botox for both the armpits to stop sweating (understandable) to facial which for me at the tender age of 23 is just ridiculous. It’s a very strange dynamic, in the clip we see his daughters and a gaggle of their girlfriends in the Niccole’s office as they all wait to be tinkered with. WTF?!

One of Niccole’s daughters Brittany 23, had her breast done (by her father) at 18 to “Build her “self esteem” yes to build her self esteem and she said it with a straight face. Let me say this, TRUE self esteem is not built through a bra cup size! in my opinion for a person with low self esteem it only gives them the assets to create situations and relationships that might end up being more damaging to a fledgling self esteem because it is an artificial sense of empowerment. It’s akin to the “power suit” sure it makes you feel strong when you have it on but when you take it off you are still you. True empowerment is built from doing the internal, personal work, not “having work done” it is not something you implant, or put on, it is something that you cultivate and develop through experience. Just sayin’

In a later portion of the clip, as Niccole’s other daughter Charm settles into her father’s chair putting protective goggles on (preparing for a laser treatment of some sort) she asks coquettishly “Dad how do I look?” and he replies “Sexy” really. I don’t know about you but that’s a bit creepy. Remember when Joe Simpson make the remark about his daughter Jessica Simpson’s double D’s?

Take a look at this clip it looks like this will be an interesting program, Walters is also talking to the Queen of plastic herself Joan Rivers! Take a look.

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Why the Wheat We Eat Makes us “Fat” and Sick…

This was a hard blow to me I loves ma bread, I do I do…DAMN DAMN DAMN!
I found this really interesting. I was wondering why so many people are coming down with allergies to wheat or Ciliac Disease, well here is the reason. Ugh, just another thing to frickin’ give up!

hosted by Huffington Post

Mark Hyman, MD

Practicing physician

 

Gluten-free is hot these days. There are books and websites, restaurants with gluten free menus, and grocery stores with hundreds of new gluten-free food products on the shelf. Is this a fad, or a reflection of response to a real problem?

Yes, gluten is a real problem. But the problem is not just gluten. In fact, there are three major hidden reasons that wheat products, not just gluten (along with sugar in all its forms) is a major contributor to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia, depression and so many other modern ills.

This is why there are now 30 percent more obese than undernourished in the world, and why chronic lifestyle and dietary driven disease kills more than twice as many people as infectious disease globally. These non-communicable, chronic diseases will cost our global economy $47 trillion over the next 20 years.

Sadly, this tsunami of chronic illness is increasingly caused by eating our beloved diet staple, bread, the staff of life, and all the wheat products hidden in everything from soups to vodka to lipstick to envelope adhesive.

The biggest problem is wheat, the major source of gluten in our diet. But wheat weaves its misery through many mechanisms, not just the gluten! The history of wheat parallels the history of chronic disease and obesity across the world. Supermarkets today contain walls of wheat and corn disguised in literally hundreds of thousands of different food-like products, or FrankenFoods. Each American now consumes about 55 pounds of wheat flour every year.

It is not just the amount but also the hidden components of wheat that drive weight gain and disease. This is not the wheat your great-grandmother used to bake her bread. It is FrankenWheat — a scientifically engineered food product developed in the last 50 years.

dwarf wheat

natural wheat

How Wheat — and Gluten — Trigger Weight Gain, Prediabetes, Diabetes and More

This new modern wheat may look like wheat, but it is different in three important ways that all drive obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia and more.

  1. It contains a Super Starch — amylopectin A that is super fattening.
  2. It contains a form of Super Gluten that is super-inflammatory.
  3. It contains forms of a Super Drug that is super-addictive and makes you crave and eat more.

The Super Starch

The Bible says, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Eating bread is nearly a religious commandment. But the Einkorn, heirloom, Biblical wheat of our ancestors is something modern humans never eat.

Instead, we eat dwarf wheat, the product of genetic manipulation and hybridization that created short, stubby, hardy, high-yielding wheat plants with much higher amounts of starch and gluten and many more chromosomes coding for all sorts of new odd proteins. The man who engineered this modern wheat won the Nobel Prize — it promised to feed millions of starving around the world. Well, it has, and it has made them fat and sick.

The first major difference of this dwarf wheat is that it contains very high levels of a super starch called amylopectin A. This is how we get big fluffy Wonder Bread and Cinnabons.

Here’s the downside. Two slices of whole wheat bread now raise your blood sugar more than two tablespoons of table sugar.

There is no difference between whole wheat and white flour here. The biggest scam perpetrated on the unsuspecting public is the inclusion of “whole grains” in many processed foods full of sugar and wheat, giving the food a virtuous glow. The best way to avoid foods that are bad for you is to stay away from foods with health claims on the labels. They are usually hiding something bad.

In people with diabetes, both white and whole grain bread raises blood sugar levels 70 to 120 mg/dl over starting levels. We know that foods with a high glycemic index make people store belly fat, trigger hidden fires of inflammation in the body and give you a fatty liver, leading the whole cascade of obesity, pre-diabetes and diabetes. This problem now affects every other American and is the major driver of nearly all chronic disease and most our health care costs. Diabetes now sucks up one in three Medicare dollars.

The Super Gluten

Not only does this dwarf, FrankenWheat, contain the super starch, but it also contains super gluten which is much more likely to create inflammation in the body. And in addition to a host of inflammatory and chronic diseases caused by gluten, it causes obesity and diabetes.

Gluten is that sticky protein in wheat that holds bread together and makes it rise. The old fourteen-chromosome-containing Einkorn wheat codes for the small number of gluten proteins, and those that it does produce are the least likely to trigger celiac disease and inflammation. The new dwarf wheat contains twenty-eight or twice as many chromosomes and produces a large variety of gluten proteins, including the ones most likely to cause celiac disease.

continue after the JUMP

The ADELE Effect? French Elle Feature + Sized Model on Cover

Could this be a case of “If you build it, they will come” Well Adele SWEPT the Grammies last night and is even the cover girl for American Vogue but could she be the initiator of breaking boundaries in fashion as well? French Vogue has just featured Tara Lynn (a plus sized model) on their cover, in her skivvies no less, and have deemed her “The Body”. What’s up wit dat?

And she has a B.O.D.Y I love her curves and her are real woman curves. I’m loving it! I love that they featured her body, not covering it up but almost celebrating it. Are we turning the corner here? Where it might be a fluke or are eyes starting to see differently? only time will tell but let’s enjoy it while it lasts! Work it Tara give ’em all you got (and from this cover, you already are!)

here is an interview she did (it’s in French/ and a bit in English)

Adele speaks about her Body Image- VIDEO


I adore Adele for so many reasons. The comments Karl Lagerfeld made about her being “A little too fat” sickened me so much that I didn’t bother to give him posting space! However Adele sat with Anderson Cooper and spoke about her feelings about her body and the comments and I will honor her with sharing it with you!

A Lesson in Life From Whitney (Michael and Amy) Where were WE?

I am dumfounded by the news that the legendary songstress Whitney Houston has died at 48 years of age. For me, and so many others she provided the soundtrack for our teen aged years. I was saving all of my love, I wanted to dance with some one… However during her struggles with addiction, a tumultuous marriage to Bobby Brown and the reality series that gave us the inside skinny on her life “Booobbbiiiie” there is something within me that is saddened and pissed off that through most of those hard times and even when she seemed to pull through them she was public butt of a joke, as was Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse.

Too often we as a society use the plights and illnesses of famous people as fodder for our entertainment. Photos of disheveled  and strung out stars sell, they make for great blog posts and magazine covers. We forget that this is a human being in crisis, in need of help, support and compassion. Just 2 nights before her passing there were numerous blog posts of Houston leaving parties looking like, either she had had a good time or a “Great” time (if you know what I mean) with text that alluded to the idea that she had fallen off the wagon. Now whether that be the case or not, and whether her death was from drugs or of natural causes (i.e. a heart attack- that might have been as a result of years of drug use) or not, this is not, in my opinion the way we should be treating these people.

We can all recall the field day gossip outlets had with Amy Winehouse when she was truly in crisis. Monikers like Amy “Crackhouse” and the like were assigned to her.  I would read and think that this was just mean spirited and insensitive, and damaging. Up until the day he died Michael Jackson was hounded, taunted, teased and talked about, be it for his appearance, his lifestyle, the accusations of child molestation. Does this not amount to bullying? and aren’t we vehemently against bullying these days? Yet the moment he passed it was like all of that fell away and what he contributed to the world, his efforts of humanitarianism, his artistry and brilliance were the only things that people could speak of.THAT was WHO and WHAT he was, not his nose or the masks or the eccentric behavior. Of course it is in bad form to speak ill of the dead, but it only takes a month or so for comics or writers of television shows to start up with the jokes. I know, I know it’s what they do, and we laugh and in a way it’s funny, and in a way healing but I still think that some how we are missing something, we are missing an opportunity to,  as a society show up for people like this a different way.

I feel like we as a society fail them in a way. We fail to see them, to support them. Where they are with us through their art, creating the soundtracks of our lives: bolstering us up, giving us the strength to soldier on, to persevere, or the permission to cry, rage, and even to love or survive loss, and yet when they need our true love — our true support as fans…we fall short. When they need to feel our admiration, when they need a stadium sized intervention with people chanting “We love you, don’t die!” Were are we? Are we scrolling blogs keekeeing about what a hot mess they are?

My heart truly went out to Amy Winehoues’s father because he truly fought for his mother’s life with ever breath in his body. Even when the world, while loving her music and being entertained by it, were almost more entertained watching her demise. I wonder about the people in their camps who might have a vested interest in their staying sick and dependent. I think about the parents, lovers, “friends” managers and agents… I just wonder. I think of the Lindsey Lohans, and the Peter Dohertys and I wonder, could it be different for them, could we be different for them?

I don’t know but I Will Always Love Her!!!

Rest sweet angel in peace…

3 Sisters with the Rare “WereWolf” Disease and their Dream of Living a Normal Life…

Documentary filmmaker Sneh Gupta is planning make a film of the girls in a bid to help their dream of becoming almost hair free - with the eventual aim of finding marriageDocumentary filmmaker Sneh Gupta is planning make a film of the girls in a bid to help their dream of becoming almost hair free – with the eventual aim of finding marriage
This is a sobering story. These young girls are not only afflicted with a rare genetic disorder but they are also living in a country where being a female is… frowned upon. There have been reports of female infanticide  due to a preference for male children. According to some studies, more than 16 million baby girls a year in India are killed by their mothers or by village midwives called dayans. So the fact that these three young ladies are alive is already in a way a survival story. Add to that, culturally females survival often depends on being able to marry (and their families being able to afford the dowry). Now imagine having a condition that effected your physical appearance…
Hosted by Mailoneline.com

It is one of the rarest conditions in the world, affecting just one in a billion people.

However, in an incredible quirk of fate, three sisters have all been blighted by a condition known as werewolf syndrome – where they are covered from head to foot in thick hair.

Savita, 23, Monisha, 18, and 16-year-old Savitri Sangli, who live in a small village near Pune, central India, inherited the hypertrichosis universalis disorder from their father.

All three struggle to keep the condition under control with cream and hope they one day might eventually be able to pay for specialist laser treatment to rid them of their excessive hair.

Despite the devastating effects of the syndrome, the siblings still dream of a day when they might get married.

Hypertrichosis universalis is a genetic mutation, in which cells that normally switch off hair growth in unusual areas, like the eyelids and forehead, are left switched on.

It means the girls have had abnormal hair growth on their bodies and even their faces, affecting their eyebrows, nose and giving them appearance of having a beard.

They must use a special cream every day – otherwise the hair will quickly return. The youngest sister Savitri is still virtually covered in hair.


The girl’s mother Anita Sambhaji Raut has six daughters in total with only three having werewolf syndrome.

The condition was passed down by the girls’ father, who Anita was forced to marry aged at the age of 12.

Because theirs was an arranged marriage and she did not lay eyes on him until the wedding day, she had no idea he was suffering from the condition himself.

Anita and her daughters are now desperate to fund laser surgery that will help to finally remove the curse of excess hair and allow the girls to lead normal lives.

Hopes: The girls dream of marriage and a day when they might be hair-free

In their small village near Pune, central India, the Sangli have little prospects for marriage and the eldest Savita sometimes gets sent home from work when her hair begins to show.

Laser surgery would cost 350,000 Indian rupees – or £4,500 per girl – but the family are not wealthy enough to be able to afford it.


Genetic: The girls stand in front of a picture of their father with their mother (front middle) and two of their other sisters who are unaffected by the disorderGenetic: The girls stand in front of a picture of their father with their mother (front middle) and two of their other sisters who are unaffected by the disorder.

Could the Modeling Industry About to Get Health Guidelines? Fingers Crossed!

It would be nice…

Cfda Health Initiative

Health guidelines for the modeling industry have been in the works for a while now, starting a couple of years ago with the age limit for models walking in Fashion Week (they must be at least 16 years old). Where Italy, Spain and Brazil have taken it a step farther in terms of having weight restrictions, after Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston (also known as Carolina Reston), 21, died of anorexia nervosa, in 2007 but American has lagged behind. Vogue Italia editor Franca Sozzani has taken the the issue of weight and body image to the pages of her magazine by making sure that a wider breath of body images are featured in her magazine. However the American fashion industry might be a on the verge of seriously addressing the issue. Yay—(side bar– from this article it doesn’t sound like Anna Wintour was there but she sent in a question…if that’s the case, why was she not front and center, if she were at the fore of such and important conversation things might actually change, and more rapidly)

 

Hosted by Huffington Post

The fashion industry has long been associated with images of unhealthy beauty — but with New York Fashion Week just around the corner, some of that may be about to change.

Last month, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) released their updated guidelines on model health. They include plans to educate the industry about how to identify early warning signs of an eating disorder, encourage models with eating disorders to seek help, ban models under the age of 16 from runway shows and provide healthy meals, snacks and drinks backstage.

But will the new regulations work?

To begin answering that question, and to take a broader look at the intersection of fashion and health, the CFDA moderated a panel discussion on Tuesday featuring model Karolina Kurkova, jewelry designer Monique Pean, model Elettra Wiedemann, and Arianna Huffington, president and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group. CNN’s Alina Cho hosted the event, which was held at New York’s Museum of Arts and Design, just a stone’s throw from where fashion week festivities will be held later this month.

Throughout the discussion, the panelists touched on everything from eating disorders to personal health to finding balance in a pressure-packed world, whether you’re in the fashion industry or not. Here, a few highlights:

On body image and the fashion industry…

Growing up, Kurkova says she “was the one who stood out” — and not in a good way. She remembers feeling self conscious of her long, skinny legs, of her height and even of her teeth. Then at the age of 16, she landed the cover of American Vogue, which finally instilled a confidence in her that “being different is OK.”

But with that exposure often comes new pressures — Kurkova remembers being told her athletic body wasn’t thin enough, while Wiedemann recalled being told in Italy that she needed to have a breast reduction or a nose job.

“The focus on women’s bodies is not something new,” Wiedemann said. “Bodies always mean more than just bodies.”

Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour asked the panel to offer advice for identifying someone who might be struggling with an eating disorder. Wiedemann suggested looking for physical changes, such as a change in the health of hair or skin, as well as mental ones, like inconsistent decision-making or strange eating habits.

PS: do we really believe that Anna Wintour doesn’t know the signs of a girl with an eating disorder? come on now!

 

Body Anomalies: Her Waist is 20 Inches, and It’s Natural!

This is Romanian born model Ioana Spangenberg she has a 20 inch waist and appearently it is natural, no dieting  (I don’t think a diet can DO that) no surgery, no corset. It’s just that way  she is built. Now when I look at her I was a bit squeamish, It looks like it hurts, and where the hell do her organs live? But what if this is her body? What if this is what she looks like naturally? Then shouldn’t I be just as accepting as I am expected to be of and overweight person, or a short person, or someone is “odd” proportions? Because after all that’s all this really is.  If is is natural then I feel abit bad for her as appearently her image is a favorite for pro anorexia sites. That’s not cool…
Though I have doubts about this being “natural” and I would like to see her actual waist like in a bathing suit or some photos as a youth (in the wedding pic below her waist is obscured by her bouquet) to believe it. What do you think?
and  She tells The Sun :

She is 5ft 6ins and weighs just six stone — and while her hips are 32ins, her waist is only five inches bigger than a CD.

Yet Romanian Ioana, 30, insisted: “No one seems to believe it, but every day I eat three big meals and I snack on chocolate and crisps all the time. I just have a small stomach. It’s a bit like having a natural gastric band — if I eat too much, I feel sick.”

Ioana weighed more than seven pounds at birth. It was only as she became a teenager that she started to look different.

She said: “When I was 13 my waist was around 15 inches. Someone could put their hands around it, their fingers would touch and they would still have extra room.” Even in her 20s she struggled with her self-esteem.

She explained: “In Romania it is better to be overweight, because that means you are from a wealthy family.

“So while my friends were going out and dating, I was sitting at home with Mars bars wishing I could fatten up.”

 

Big day ... couple's wedding

Big day … couple’s wedding

Barcroft Media

In 2006 she met a German holidaymaker called Jan. They dated for eight months before marrying in Berlin.

Ioana said: “Jan was the first person who saw me as beautiful and encouraged me to celebrate my body. He asked me to pose in some photos for him.

“He was so impressed he put them online and the response was amazing.

“I would still like to gain weight so I don’t look so shocking — and now that I live in Germany I can’t get enough pizza or kebabs.

“But I’m finally comfortable in my own skin.”

Cedar Lake’s Benoit Swan Pouffer Tells What He’s Looking For in a Dancer and Gives Audition Tips


I am so pleased to bring you part 3,4, and 5 of my discussion with CLCB’s Artistic Director Benoit Swan Pouffer and it only got better and more interesting. In parts 1 and 2 we talked about his vision for the company, the rep, and what makes a “Cedar Lake” dancer.

In Part 3 we get into how he feels about the body male and female, does he have a type? does weight, height matter? (side note: I love the way that he says “ebony” –e Bonnie!! that French accent get’s you every time!)

In Part 4 Swan shares what the Cedar Lake audition process consists of (and get ready- a ballet class is first) and he tell us what catches his eye! (Side note: I just think he is so sweet, he is so understanding and compassionate and gentle when how talks about dancers)

Part 5 is one of my favorites I posed 2 questions asked by a student and a friend. The first was from Annie Gagen a student in the Jazz/Contemporary program at Joffery Ballet School- she wanted to know “What are your pet peeves?” were! (he loved the question and replies “Dats goood, no one has ever ask me dis!” His answer was great! And then a Friend ask me to asked “How old is too old” don’t You want to know?

Alvin Ailey’s Linda Celeste Sims Shares her Body Maintenance Secrets


Linda Celeste Sims thrills us year after year (16 to be exact) on stage with the Alvin American Dance Theater. Incredibly with an almost non-stop work schedule, and being on stage in leading roles nightly she has remained virtually injury free for 15 of them!! Personally I have watched her year after year and marveled at her consistency technically and her constant growth artistically. I wanted to know how she does it.While preparing to tape Sheyi our physical therapist we were speaking about body maintenance as one of our “tips” and she mentioned how Linda has a regime of body care and maintenance that could rival an Olympic athlete. That’s when I knew I had to have a sit down with her.

I have “known” Linda for years, meaning we have passed each other in the hallways of Ailey and have had brief conversations now and then but I have never had the chance to talk-talk to her. In person she is very petite and demure, she is often a bit withdrawn in her own world, very serious. It’s like, you kind of don’t want to disturb her… With her glasses on she looks like a nerdy, bookworm not like the powerful and grande lead dancer you see on the stage. When I sat down to talk to her I wasn’t sure how the interview would go, would she be open, would I have to ply her to speak? Well, let me tell you I got the shock of my life when this ball of energy started chatting away, she is like the dance version of Rosie Perez!! She was so generous and totally delightful it was a joy to learn more about her as a person and dancer.

When you hear how deeply she loves dance, and loves the work of dance it is amazing. It is only then that you understand where that dedication and commitment comes from that creates that consistency that we sit in awe of every time she takes the stage.


We met one day in between her lunch break/physical therapy sessions during a average work day at Ailey. I want to take this opportunity to thank her for squeezing this interview in!! I hope you all enjoy meeting Linda Celeste Sims (you have to say it with a Puerto Rican accent lol)


with hubby and fellow dancer Glen Sims