>Don't be a sucker for the diet industry or fall for our contemporary,
>superficial obsession with the latest cosmetic fad....

Always remember my mantra (one of several, actually): F*ck the Joneses.
You're never gonna keep up with them, so why try?  I care nary a whit about
what society wants.  This is about what *I* want.  And I think I'd look damn
fine at downright fat according to "fashion industry" standards.  It's
really a sad commentary, what's considered 'beautiful' these days.  I
recently got a sales flyer from Lane Bryant, a clothing chain that targets
large women.  One of the models was all but thin save, to borrow a Monty
Python line, her "huge (pause) tracks of land!"  Every man's dream!  Or
most, at least.  But there she was, modeling clothes for fat chicks.  Mm,
mm, mm.  If I was that 'fat', I'd be famous.

On a more scientific note, serious excess weight has yet to be found among
the few hunter-gatherer tribes left.  I once saw a presentation on a tribe
not far from New Zealand.  One girl, "enjoying" puberty (oh, boy!), was
juuuuust a little on the heavy side.  The researcher said that this is not
unheard of during pubescent development, but that it always ends as they
head into adulthood.

I could be wrong but I take it excess weight has never been a problem for
you.  I used to weigh 255 pounds, far FAR too much for my 5'8" frame.  I
wouldn't wish on you a mile in my moccasins for all the oil in Iraq but
believe me, until you've been there, you just don't know.

Dori Zook
Denver, CO

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