I think it's time to really give Asia something to make them starve, send their food away to Africa, for example. Why don't they give their food to other countries, they can smile for a reason then?? Seriously, put up posters of Skeletor everywhere, so they can aspire to that look. Consider it helping the world............... - 3/7/2011   11:09:57 PM

The issue with the weight in Hong Kong saddened me. - 11/14/2010   5:51:49 PM

I'm not at all surprised by the underhanded tricks used to portray "unattainable beauty".
It just shows the greedy corporate determination to keep us dissatisfied with ourselves and hooked like addicts to their worthless products and treatments. - 5/9/2010   7:23:45 PM

Maybe it is because Easter just passed, but I like the article that the chocolate bunny could lower blood pressure. - 4/7/2010   8:59:01 AM

The issue of weight in Hong Kong really kind of worries me, starvation is always sad. - 4/6/2010   12:14:52 PM

Glad to see the tanning bed article - would love to see more on the effect on eyesight as well! - 4/6/2010   11:31:56 AM

I love the wraps! - 4/6/2010   6:21:58 AM

unattainable beauty - 4/5/2010   9:29:27 PM

First I read about all the over weight children around the world. It is a shame that it is so unsafe for children to play outdoors anymore. When I was a kid we had tv's, but my parents wouldn't let us watch it after school. We were encouraged to go outside, play with our friends at the local park and use our imaginations.
The next article I read is about the alterations to pictures to enhance beauty. Why anyone would think they needed to change Jessica Alba is beyond me, she is so beautiful and slender. The Material Girl (now Woman) Madonna didn't surprise me at all. At her age and all the time she spends outdoors there would have to be some skin damage. One would expect some retouching on her photos for an album. Who would buy it if she looked all haggarly. - 4/5/2010   8:23:21 PM

The slide show of photoshopped images was fascinating. I'm especially amazed by the shots of Kelly Clarkson -- she's totally normal sized -- why not just get her in a flattering outfit and let her looks shine, instead of digitally removing part of her arm? Same with the pictures of the Ralph Lauren model and Faith Hill -- those pictures were SO unbelievable, I'm shocked anybody would want them published! - 4/5/2010   3:48:45 PM

Oooh...great links, Stepfanie! Thank you! Especially enjoyed the Unattainable Beauty ones. Why do we need Photoshop or massive amounts of nip-tuck to just appreciate ourselves for who we REALLY are? I don't get it and never will. - 4/5/2010   1:26:57 PM

Nike "air" collection - wouldn't they actually be collecting Nike carbon dioxide? They can only collect the exhalations, not the inhalations... - 4/5/2010   10:36:55 AM

I am guilty of forcing sweets on others! Thanks for helping me reexamine that habit.

Indepth images of retouched models is always a good reminder that all is not what it seems. I have completely stopped looking at the mass market women's magazines have feel all the better for it! - 4/5/2010   10:36:37 AM

Nike "air" collection - wouldn't they actually be collecting Nike carbon dioxide? They can presumably only collect the exhalations, not the inhalations... - 4/5/2010   10:36:15 AM

I was most interested in reading the articles about wraps and the unattainable beauty. - 4/5/2010   10:31:36 AM

LOVE the Nike Air commercial! - 4/5/2010   10:06:04 AM

The Unattainable beauty story is why so many women feeling negative about their bodies. This includes young girls. I once worked in a school lunch room and was appaled by how many 9-12 yo girls said they were to fat. These girls were anything but fat. Our magazines, tv and parents are teaching girls and women that you have to be skinny to be happy. We all need to teach them that they can be healthy by working out and following a healthy diet. Not starving themselves to look like a star or model. - 4/5/2010   8:04:18 AM

The article about choosing more indulgent foods when planning for others really hit home with me - I've been feeling guilty about holiday dinners for the past 2 years, since I started this lifestyle change, and torn in two, not knowing why. I was trying to eat healthy & urge others to do so, too, yet also holding onto the traditional fatty foods handed down in my family for these meals. Some of those foods represent important people to me, like my grandmother. I have to find another way to include her memory at these events, without killing her grandchildren with her tasty but deadly recipes! Maybe with pictures... - 4/5/2010   12:38:51 AM

Love wraps. Wish I could get these. Hate Tanning Beds. Why do we choose to risk our health this way? Big Brother will always try to help us help ourselves??? - 4/4/2010   4:14:19 PM

I'm always pleased to see new tanning bed restrictions. I worked once in my very early twenties with a bunch of older women who were hardcore tanners and had been for years. They looked like beef jerky or old leather. Horrid look. - 4/4/2010   3:51:07 PM

I think tanning beds are dangerous, and shouldn't be used at all. People who think they are safer than being in the sun are just fooling themselves; I'm sure they don't believe that skin cancer can happen to them, or that by the time they are in their 40's, their skin is going to be wrinkled, dry and leathery.

To me, a tan is not attractive; it just says "skin damage" to me. I have also seen in my own family how dangerous skin cancer can be; I lost a cousin to it when it spread to his brain, and it was a very agonizing way to die. - 4/4/2010   2:22:12 PM

I totally agree with the article about feeding more indulgent foods to guests. I'm doing that today for Easter. :\ Also, the article about slimming centers was interesting and sad. - 4/4/2010   12:55:17 PM

Wow, the retouching was extensive! The celebrities don't like it and neither do I. I wish they would stop it! They still look good and they'd look more like real people!

The comments on the tanning article are ridiculous. Racist, sexist? Please! Stop trying to get cancer and you won't have to worry about taxes on it! - 4/4/2010   12:08:25 PM

I have said for many years that I want to write a fitness/healthy eating guide for Chinese people. My husband (then BF) and I visited Hong Kong in 2005 and every day we'd see another girl who would be The Skinniest Girl We'd Ever Seen. Their thighs were the circumference of my bicep! And because my husband is a white guy, the girls assumed that I didn't understand them when they called me fat in Cantonese - as the article states, a muscular look is not desirable - probably they had never seen a Chinese girl with muscle before.

The culture in Hong Kong is TOTALLY food centered, there are Haagen Dazs, bakeries, McDonalds, food stalls selling snacks every 10 feet, and all the snack food is high in sugar and I've never seen whiter bread anywhere. Of course people snack all day long, I guess girls take diet pills or have ED's...but before my metabolism went downhill at age 20, I looked like those skinny HK girls - while eating crap 24/7 and zero exercise. So my theory is that it's partially genetic. And while genes can only take you so far, it is in large part why the obesity problem is not as bad in Hong Kong yet. - 4/4/2010   10:05:26 AM

I spent some time looking at the altered photos of celebrities. I guess since I don't buy those magazines, I hadn't realized how extreme things had gotten. It's kind of depressing really. My 15 year old daughter told me just this week that a classmate of hers had just gotten a nose job. She said that a lot of kids at school were not only NOT shocked, but perhaps even envious, and "couldn't wait to see the new nose." My daughter says that the old nose wasn't bad at all. I am happy to report that she was shocked and disgusted. So was I, especially when I considered the fact that, as a minor, the girl would have had to have her parents' consent as well as their money. What kind of role models does this girl have, and what will her future hold, if she is already having cosmetic surgery at 15? - 4/4/2010   9:18:25 AM

Since it's Easter, the chocolate bunny story was good reading. The Nike commercial was just dumb, in my opinion. The unattainable beauty story was very interesting, and just goes to show you how widespread airbrushing really is and how far they will go! - 4/4/2010   7:50:36 AM