I am finally famous. It’s about freaking time.

Thanks to the technological wonders provided by gadget geeks, I know what you are saying about me on the internet. Oh yes, I know when you Tweet about me, re-Tweet me (I love when that happens) and especially important — I know when you are stealing my content.

Recently, I found out that I am so famous that this entire blog is being stolen. Honestly, it’s about freaking time.

Thank you plusultrablog for importing my ENTIRE blog into your site. Not just the posts where I write about plus size fashion and sales, but you even stole the piece I wrote about my mother’s cancer. Classy.

And um…plus ultra blog. Just…oh my. How fabulous. I wish I had thought of that. Put up a blog that has no original content and no comments, then claim to be the ultra blog. Hee hee…hey Chucklehead, did you learn that in business class?

Yes I sent them an email telling them they are naughty children and to cut that shit out, and I have sent emails to other bloggers whose posts I recognize, but since all identifying names have been removed (but not the links to outside websites) if you have a Body Positive, Fat Positive, Health at Every Size, Diets Are For Dummies, etc., type of blog then you might want to check for yourself to make sure you aren’t also being ripped off.

Seriously though, I am wondering why it has taken so long for this to happen.

Perhaps I have not been controversial enough to have my blog posts stolen. I think it is very important to be nice — of world impact importance — and I have been using my desire for more niceness in the world to be my excuse to avoid internet fights and stay out of the mud slinging.

But, I am realizing that it isn’t nice to pretend that I don’t feel strongly about issues. But I do feel strongly about many things and I am going to write about it here. It is very nice to be honest, tell people where your boundaries are, and to be engaged in important discussions. It is nice to speak honestly and passionately even if those discussions become heated.

And so for 2010 I promise to roll out all kinds of controversy! I’m gonna have blog wars with bloggity badassness so watch out.

You hear me plusultrablog? I’m coming for you.

I’ve had it with Kirstie Alley

I’ve had with Kirstie. First, she wants to convince me that life will only be good if I am thin, and now she wants to drag sweet, innocent Valerie Bertinelli down with her into the chasm of self-hatred. Grrrr.

Like it’s not bad enough to be bombarded on a daily basis with marketing images telling me that my luscious self isn’t as beautiful as my husband tells me that I am. Harumpf, I say and Codswallop (whatever that means). A fashion industry dominated by men who aren’t interested in women, certainly not women with curves, is trying to convince me to fit my body into clothes that are designed for women who look like boys…Preposterous!

Kirstie and Valerie look great to me. They are smart, funny, talented women with wide hips and big smiles. But no, they have to live on shakes for lunch and chemically processed pseudo-food in bags that get boiled for dinner. Ugh. And why would they do this? They suffer in order to be thin. This is not for me. As I have already stated, “I would rather have delicious lunches than execute one hundred crunches.”

Health professionals agree that diets don’t work. When you reduce your caloric intake your body thinks that you are starving and slows your metabolism in order to store fat more efficiently. Yes, when you diet your body becomes better at storing fat. In addition, you lose both fat and muscle in equal amounts because your body sacrifices muscle in order to provide the energy that is missing due to reduced caloric intake. And then when you gain weight back it is all fat and no muscle.

I have heard some statistics (don’t ask me to cite references — I’m a blogger not a librarian) that suggest if you want to lose weight in a healthy way and keep it off then you should lose 10% of your body weight a year and keep it off for a full year before you attempt losing more weight. So if you weigh 200 lbs. lose 20 lbs. and keep it off for a year. You will weigh 180 so then lose 18 lbs. and keep it off for a year. You will weigh 162 so then lose 16 lbs. and keep it off for a year and you will weigh 146. Most dieters are so desperate to get thin because of their body shame that they are willing to stop eating so they can lose weight rapidly. They then gain back more than they lost, which is unhealthier than being fat, active and happy.

Businesses looking to make a buck have always suggested that there is something wrong with you the way that you are and that you won’t be right until you use their product. This is ok with me and it’s what marketing is all about. But when companies are shaming women about their body size into starvation diets in order to sell energy pills, diet shakes, and “food” in a box — ladies we really must take a look at why we continue to buy what they are selling…both literally and figuratively.

All in all I really think that women are turning over their power. We doubt our attractiveness. This we do all on our own and we have no one but ourselves to hold accountable. The diet and “health care” industries have found the perfect way to control women. We are weak and can’t think straight when we are hungry.

A life of deprivation is not for me. I won’t be trading in a meal for shakes and I won’t give up my slow stroll around the lake for a run. I love my strong healthy size 16 body and I’m not worrying my life away.