Earned Days Off (optional)

caradae

Earned Days Off are days you can take off from the challenge.

Here's how it works:

1. You can earn up to 3 days off per month.

2. An "Earned Day Off" is defined as a day on which you don't have to keep track of your calories, or eat within your calorie goals, or exercise. You can relax on an Earned Day Off. I don't encourage you to binge, but the day is yours to do with as you please.

3. Some good uses for Earned Days Off: holidays, birthdays, weddings, reward for sticking with the challenge, 3-day break between challenges.

4. You must already have earned an Earned Day Off in order to take a day off from the challenge. In other words, you can't report that you slipped up, get removed from the group, and come back and post an essay. You need to have your essay posted before you report that you slipped up. Once you're removed from the group, that's it--you're out.

5. You MAY report on something you've already read or seen. However, you may NOT report on something that you've already reported on, even if you reported on it during a different month's challenge.


HOW TO EARN "EARNED DAYS OFF"

To earn a day off you must:
1. Read a book or article, watch a show, movie, or documentary, or attend or watch a lecture,
and
2. Write a brief essay about it. The essay should be at least two paragraphs long: one paragraph describing what you watched or read; one paragraph giving us your opinion of it,
and
3. Post your essay here.

The topic of the book, article, show, movie, documentary, or lecture must be health-, weight-, or diet-related. Each essay is worth one day off. You can earn up to three days off per month. Earned days off don't roll over: any days off earned this month must be used this month or not at all.


You can read/watch whatever you want (as long as it's health-, weight-, or diet-related), but here are some suggestions*:

-ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: BIG BOOK (a non-fiction book used by Overaters Anonymous (OA members replace the word "alcohol" with "food"; "alcoholism" with "overeating"; and "alcoholics" with "overeaters"))
-THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF DIETGIRL by Shauna Reid (autobiography)
-THE ANOREXIA DIARIES by Linda and Tara Rio (autobiography)
-APPETITES: WHY WOMEN WANT by Caroline Knapp (autobiography)
-BIG BROTHER by Lionel Shriver (fiction)
-THE BIGGEST LOSER (TV show)
-BORN TO RUN by Christopher McDougall
-BRAIN ON FIRE: MY MONTH OF MADNESS by Susannah Cahalan
-THE CHINA STUDY by T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell II (non-fiction book)
-COMFORT ME WITH APPLES by Ruth Reichl (autobiography)
-DISFIGURED (movie)
-THE EMPORER OF ALL MALADIES by Siddhartha Mukherjee
-FAST FOOD NATION by Eric Schlosser (non-fiction book)
-FAT CHANCE by Robert Lustig (non-fiction book)
-FAT VAMPIRE by Johnny B. Truant (fiction book)
-FOOD RULES by Michael Pollan (non-fiction book)
-FOOD MATTERS (documentary)
-GOOD CALORIES BAD CALORIES by Gary Taubes (non-fiction book)
-GOOD GIRLS DON'T GET FAT: HOW WEIGHT OBSESSION IS MESSING UP OUR GIRLS AND HOW WE CAN HELP THEM THRIVE DESPITE IT by Robyn Silverman and Dina Santorelli
-GULP: ADVENTURES ON THE ALIMENTARY CANAL by Mary Roach (non-fiction book)
-HEALTH AT EVERY SIZE by Linda Bacon (non-ficiton book)
-HOW DOCTORS THINK by Jerome Groopman
-HUNGRY GIRL by Lisa Lillien (cookbook series)
-THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS by Rebecca Skloot (non-fiction book; biography)
-IN DEFENSE OF FOOD: AN EATER'S MANIFESTO by Michael Pollan (non-fiction book)
-JEMIMA J by Jane Green (fiction book)
-THE JESUS DIET: AN EASY WAY FOR CHRISTIANS TO LOSE WEIGHT by Philip and Agnes Maynard
-JULIE & JULIA by Julie Powell (autobiography, movie)
-MAGGIE GOES ON A DIET by Paul Kramer (children's book)
-MIKE & MOLLY (TV show)
-THE OBESITY MYTH by Paul Campos (non-fiction book)
-THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA by Michael Pollan (non-fiction book)
-ONE BOWL: A GUIDE TO EATING FOR BODY AND SPIRIT by Don Gerrard (book)
-PALEOFANTASY by Marlene Zuk (non-fiction book)
-SHALLOW HAL (movie)
-SHREK (movie)
-SICKO (documentary)
-THE SIMPSONS (TV show, certain episodes)
-SIZE 12 IS NOT FAT by Meg Cabot (fiction book)
-SIZE 14 IS NOT FAT EITHER by Meg Cabot (fiction book)
-SKINNY ***** by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin (non-fiction book)
-SOUTH PARK (TV show, certain episodes)
-SUCH A PRETTY FAT by Jen Lancaster (autobiography)
-SUGAR: THE BITTER TRUTH by Robert Lustig (lecture, available on YouTube)
-SUPERSIZE ME (documentary)
-THINNER by Stephen King alias Richard Bachman (fiction book, movie)
-TO BE FAT LIKE ME (movie)
-THE ULTIMATE FIT by Covert Bailey (book)
-THE UNAPOLOGETIC FAT GIRL'S GUIDE TO EXERCISE by Hanne Blank (book)
-WHY WE GET FAT: AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT by Gary Taubes



*I don't necessarily endorse or agree with the opinions presented in these titles; I'm suggesting them because I think they're interesting and would spark some good discussions.


If you would like to suggest some titles, please feel free to post them in this thread. I will add your suggestions to the list above.

Gus130

Because I am going to my granddaughter’s third birthday on Sunday and I don’t know what will be served, I am writing this as a “just in case.” I would very much prefer not to use it, as I truly don't want to get off track.

I am going to comment on the movie Shallow Hal, which I have seen a few times. I did not see it when it came to theatres in 2001, as a review I read said that the movie made fun of heavy people and I did not want to waste my money on it. So a while ago it was on TV and I decided to take a chance. It was actually quite good.

The movie stars Jack Black as a shallow young man (Hal) who, with his friend Jason Alexander, is only interested in dating beautiful and shallow young women. Although those two young men are not the most "beautiful" themselves, they make fun of girls who do not meet their high standards, and only try to pick up the most beautiful.

Unbeknownst to Hal, he is hypnotized in a chance encounter with Tony Robbins, who is so appalled at Hal's attitude toward women that now he will only see the inner beauty of people. So suddenly all of the plain and fat people around him are seen by him as very attractive. Hal starts treating all of the plain girls as if they were gorgeous, and, of course, they respond positively and he starts truly having fun with the girls he meets.

Under this trance, he falls in love with Rosemary (Gwyneth Paltrow) whom he sees as we see Gwyneth (thin and gorgeous), but whom everyone else sees as a very fat, sullen girl. Of course, there are some funny pokes at heaviness, such as when he and Rosemary “cannonball” into a swimming pool. He makes a big splash, but her splash is like a tidal wave that carries a young child up into a tree. Hal is amazed, as he still sees Rosemary as the tiny Gwyneth.

And there is a very tender moment when Rosemary takes Hal to visit some sick children in a children's hospital. Hal wonders what could possibly be wrong with these adorable children. He plays with them and has a wonderful time. (Later in the movie, we find that he was visiting the burn unit and the children are disfigured by burns).

Well, eventually the Jason Alexander character persuades Tony Robbins to let him break the spell. At first Hal runs from the chubby, unattractive Rosemary, but, by the end, he realizes that no matter what shape she is in, he is in love with her and finds her beautiful the way she is. She makes him happy.

I think that the movie tries to demonstrate, even with the superficial Hollywood slant, that people need to get past the physical “defects” of others and concentrate on the good inside each of us. I know we are all trying to diet here, but I hope that most of us are trying to be healthier and not just trying to conform to someone else’s idea of beauty.

Rosemary is a very caring and kind person, who comes from a heavy family. We don't know why she is heavy, and there are no plans for her to diet at the end of the movie. She is who she is and shows that she is beautiful in the skin she is in. It is very satisfying to me.