Look Ripped

Celebrity fatties and dysfunctional people

So another week goes by and another celebrity is drawn over the coals for being a fatty, how many times have we seen the before and after shots and then the after the after shots. Kirsty Alley did the get slim and trim shots followed by the get fatter than ever shots, then disappeared under the radar, or probably went off to contemplate suicide. We love a downer especially if its someone else’s, that’s why magazines like Who, New idea and Women’s weekly sell so well, we want to see people fail in its our nature.

Elvis reincarnate

Lisa Marie Presley apparently can’t get enough to eat she’s just like her dad, with one foot on a burger wrap and the other in the grave, friends are worried she’s going to eat herself to death. Chances are if you live in the States and eat food there’s a high probability you’re going to end up fat. “The excess calories consumed per head annually is enough to feed a third world country” A recent survey identified that 40% of meals eaten in the US comes from restaurants, so it’s no surprise that annually 1.5 million Americans suffer from a heart attacks, and of that number 500,000 will turn up their toes, and close to half of those having the heart attacks are people under the age of 65. 

The men of Hollywood past

It would seem no one is safe from ridicule the latest weighty stars to be put under the microscope are Hollywood hunks that are now Hollywood chunks, Mickey Rourke, Harvey Keitel and Ryan O’Neal their aging bodies are buckling under the strain of their ever increasing girths. Mickey Rourke not only has to shoulder the ignominy of being a fat fading star, but also as a victim of plastic surgery gone wrong, apparently the poor sucker can’t smile, even if he could find a reason, he says “My face don’t move no more” 

Our obsession with fat

And so our obsession with fat continues with shows like the biggest loser that take us inside the anguished minds of fatties, where not only do we get to see them sweat and grimace but also to fail, and all from the comfort of our lounge room chairs. Wow! how good is the view from our ivory towers! 

Buffed women a turn off?

Recently at the gym I was training behind a women with an ass like a 15 year old boy and shoulders like an Amazon, it was obvious she had been putting in a huge effort with weights, diet and cardio as her visible body fat was bordering starvation.

So do rock hard women appeal to men? And how are they perceived from within in their own sex?

Rock hard abs are always a great look

So how does your average women perceive these rock hard she men with abs of steel and an asses so tight you could crack walnuts between the cheeks? Well Madonna is a good example of a rock hard women at the ripe old age of fifty she still has the body of a athletic 30 year old, and looks sensational from any sexual perspective. Fit, muscular women along with women that earn more money seem to intimidate most men.

Women don’t like muscular women

The consensus amongst a large proportion of women is that buffed chicks are a turn off; women like to look feminine and find that the boundaries between the sexes become blurred when women sport hard bulging muscles. Similarly a large proportion of males believe the female form should be soft pliable and submissive. 

Too much muscle and not enough fat

Problems that can arise for women with low body fat are loss of menses that is they stop menstruating and that causes a number of hormonal problems with the long-term implications for conditions like osteoporosis.

Cracking walnuts may not be such a good idea

Women with rock hard abs and buns of steel may be short changing themselves further down the track, with brittle bones and hormone imbalances, with any type of exercise or activity its always a good idea not to go overboard in your pursuits. There’s nothing wrong with cracking walnuts in your butt cheeks but when your body fat drops to low the next thing you may be cracking may be your bones.

The evolution of the hypochondriac

Have you had a PSA (prostate specific antigen) yet? Or when did you last have a pap smear? Have you been vaccinated for cervical cancer? You should visit the skin specialist you spend so much time outdoors! I’m worried I may have cancer, I don’t know where but I’m sure I must have it somewhere, I think I’ll go and have a full body scan. Heart disease is killing more people than road accidents should we all have our cholesterol monitored? Or have a full cardiovascular checkup every year? Listening to those around us it sounds as though we’ve become a nation of hypochondriacs, or are we acting proactively?

Influenced by high profile disease

When Kylie Minogue was diagnosed in 2005 with breast cancer there was an unprecedented increase in the number of mammography’s and breast screening rose by 40% in the first two weeks. Women converged on their GP’s in mass; women thought if the singing budgie could get breast cancer so could I. What about Sam Newman recently diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer at the age of 62, the next wave will be men wondering what lies beneath. But were do we draw the line and how long do we want to live for? Regardless of all our precautions the fact is the only thing certain in this life is, one day we will be dead!

Fear mongering

The latest medical offering is cholesterol; the TV commercial depicts several individuals standing alongside a fat guy, the association of obesity and high cholesterol comes as no surprise, its only when the other body types appear do we start to worry. There not necessarily fat some actual look fit but the warning is there “any one of us could have high cholesterol and not know it, get yourself checked today!” (And in brackets at the bottom of our screens the name of the pharmaceutical company) 

Living and dying that’s the deal

So many of us are so worried about dying we become scared of living, death is a reality of life, in large we have no choice when we came into this world and probably little influence to when we shuffle off, although lifestyle may expedite the mortal coil. As a fellow hypochondriac that has the usual plethora of pre -emptive medical procedures I to need to learn to get on with living and stop worrying about dying, life’s not a destination but a journey. Enjoy the journey!

Tom Cruise vindicated

It would appear in the light of recent research that revealed that anti depressant drugs are as effective as taking a placebo, that Tom Cruise’s rant on the Today show in the US may not have been as crazy as we were led to believe. Cruise from his Scientology soapbox decried the use of Psychiatry and its pharmaceutical drugs as

“Pseudo science” he went on to say that vitamins and exercise alone could solve the problems of mental illness and postpartum depression.

The revelations

The result of the research paper that appeared in headlines around the world, focused on studies and clinical trials that were published in highly regarded medical journals, and also research that hadn’t. The current view is that journals are biased as to the research papers that actually find their way between the covers of this prestigious domain. Many well written and researched papers never see the light of day, and its for that reason the study outcomes may be skewed towards those with influence and a vested interest in the outcomes, i.e pharmaceutical companies.

What the study has revealed is that new generation drugs taken for depression may be no more effective for treatment than taking a placebo.

Too late for heath ledger

Its easy to see with twenty twenty hindsight that had this revelation been earlier the death of Heath Ledger may have been averted.With as many as 1 in 5 people suffering from depression at some time in their life and many of that number finding benefit from drug treatment and medical support, should one study overturn decades of research and clinical success stories that have shown their benefit? And remember it was not that long ago Tom Cruise was pilloried for his so called rant against “Pseudo Science” that had him labeled a Nutter!