Lifetime's 'Queen Sized' Adds Some Depth To The Obesity Debate

"Hairspray" star Nikki Blonsky stars in "Queen Sized"

Psssst! Come in closer because I've gotta big secret I'm just dying to share with you today. It will probably make me the laughingstock of the entire male population, but I can't hold it in any longer. This is something I have been meaning to talk about for quite a few years and now I'm ready to reveal it at last to the entire world right here right now at my blog. What is it? (GULP!) I'm a HUGE fan of the movies on the cable network channel Lifetime.

Yep, you can call me a head-over-heels, super-excited metrosexual man because I absolutely adore the quality of the content found among the Lifetime network films. I think they do an amazing job bringing greater awareness to important societal issues that primarily concern women, but also have real application in the lives of men, too. Such is the case with one of the latest movies on Lifetime released in 2008 that my wife Christine and I watched on our date night last Friday night called "Queen Sized."

I was flipping through the Charter On Demand movie selection on Channel 999 and decided to take a peek at what was available from Lifetime On Demand. When I saw the title of this movie, it intrigued me immediately since it sounded like it might deal with the obesity issue. And sure enough, the preview explained that it was about an obese teenager who gets nominated to be homecoming queen at her school as she deals with teasing about her weight from her fellow classmates. I looked over at Christine and said, "We gotta watch this!" And so we did.

What a truly outstanding movie and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who is concerned about issues of weight, health, emotional distress, fear, dieting, and peer pressure. All of these and more are tackled and addressed in an incredible way through "Queen Sized." By the time the movie was finished, I got that warm fuzzy feeling that you're supposed to get after watching a Lifetime movie. It was well worth reliving some painful moments in my own life to remind me why I never want to go back there again.



Starring Nikki Blonsky, whose breakout role came when she was cast in the lead role of the movie version of the Broadway musical "Hairspray" starring John Travolta (in drag, no less!), Queen Latifah (who she calls "my sister") and Michelle Pfeiffer, and veteran actress Annie Potts (best known for her role on the television show "Designing Women" opposite Delta Burke), "Queen Sized" centers around the character of Maggie Baker (Blonsky) who is an overweight high school senior just trying to survive until graduation (sound familiar anyone?). In the midst of dealing with the agony of not being like everyone else at school and simply trying to be invisible, some of the "pretty" girls decide to nominate Maggie to be homecoming queen as a joke.



But instead of allowing it to upset her as it was supposed to, Maggie decided to turn the tables on those who wished harm to her and remained on the ballot to represent all those who rebel against the same people getting chosen year after year. This quickly endeared Maggie to many of her classmates who felt a connection to her candidacy and they decided to vote for her. I won't spoil what happens next, but "Queen Sized" pulls the curtain back on some biting issues that all overweight and obese young people (and adults too!) have to deal with if they are going to survive this thing called life.

Here are a couple of interview clips featuring Blonsky and Potts, who plays two characters--"real" mom and "imaginary" mom--as they talk about their roles in the Lifetime Movie Network film "Queen Sized":





I think the most intriguing role in this movie had to be the mother played by Potts. WOW! On the one hand, you've got the "real" mother constantly reassuring Maggie that she is beautiful and that everything in her life is gonna be okay while encouraging her to get her weight and health under control. Meanwhile, the "imaginary" mother that only Maggie sees (contrived in her mind following the sudden death of her father to diabetes complications) is rude, condescending, and discouraging at every turn. Physically seeing this image of a mean mother personifying all the negative thoughts that fat people have to deal with sent shivers down my spine because it is so true.



When you weigh a whole lot more than everyone else around you, it's funny how your brain will play tricks on you and some extremely negative and vile thoughts consume you throughout the day. These demons inside your head will mock and taunt you relentlessly telling you how worthless you are, damaging your psyche, and preventing you from becoming that person you were always meant to be. I remember those days in my own life when I weighed 400+ pounds and feeling like it was my destiny to be that way for the rest of my life. Lemme tell you, it's no fun at all. But I overcame it and now try to live my life helping others beat it in their own lives.

"Queen Sized" is one of those movies where a large person is given a lead role with a positive message and we need to see more of that kind of thing showing up on the silver screen as well as on television. I'm very proud of Nikki Blonsky for being brave enough to take on this role and lend a voice to the millions of girls (and even boys!) who feel trapped inside their bodies wanting so desperately to lose weight but are simply left hopeless and helpless to do anything about it.

If you have Charter On Demand, then this movie is currently available for free until March 2008 to watch anytime. Otherwise, you can access and download "Queen Sized" for only $3.99 on iTunes (just type in "Queen Sized" in the iTunes store search box in the upper right-hand corner and you'll easily find it). It will be well worth your time to watch this movie and share it with parents of overweight teens as well as obese kids who think nobody understands what they are going through. Who knows, this may exactly what you need to open the door of opportunity to talk about the root causes of obesity in your own family and start the healing process so everyone can choose to start living healthier. That would be an AWESOME thing!

Be sure to tell Lifetime how much you appreciated this kind of programming by filling out this feedback form about "Queen Sized." Tell them as an advocate of overweight and obese people getting the help they need, you are grateful to them for adding depth to the obesity debate by taking on the various aspects of this difficult subject directly. It's hard to do it tactfully, but they pulled it off very well.

Have you seen "Queen Sized" and want to weigh in on how it impacted you? Feel free to share your reaction to it in the comments section below. Did you love it as much as I did? Or was there anything about it that you felt was inaccurate or lacking? Share your thoughts and let's talk about it. Feel free to post your feedback with Lifetime here as well so everyone can see how much this movie has meant to you, too.

Study Shows Low-Carb Diet 'Effective' For Teens, New Reality Show Puts It To The Test

We all know how well livin' la vida low-carb works for adults to produce weight loss, improvements in health, and changes in your life that are simply indescribable. I can personally attest to all three of these and enjoy proclaiming them boldly and proudly here at my blog as much as possible on a daily basis.

But what about children and teenagers? Is a low-carb diet appropriate for them, too? Well, according to this Newswise story, there's a new study that answers that question with a resounding and undeniable YES!

Lead researcher Dr. Robert Siegel, medical director at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, wanted to see the impact of a low-carbohydrate diet weight loss approach on obese teenagers when a pediatrician is involved in dietary recommendations and support. The study lasted six months and carbohydrate restriction was the primary means for attaining the objective.

The study participants were from 25 pediatric offices with 47 pediatricians in the Cincinnati, Ohio area and were between the ages of 12 and 18 with a body mass index (BMI) in the 95th percentile range for their age, or clinically morbidly obese. Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of the children were placed on a ketogenic low-carb diet with 50g or less carbohydrate daily.

The pediatrician and a dietitian counseled the study participants regularly to make sure they understood their new diet and to provide any helpful tips and advice about what they can eat and thrive on low-carb. Nearly 60 percent of the study participants stuck with the plan for the entire six-month period.

So, how well did livin' la vida low-carb perform for these teens?

Very few of the study participants failed to lose weight with an impressive 84 percent of them experiencing an average 11-pound weight loss. There was a wide range of results from a 12-pound weight GAIN (how much you wanna bet this kid didn't eat less than 50g carbs?) to an eye-popping 53-pound weight LOSS (an average of 18 pounds a month! WOW!).

Just as impressive was the fact that the teenagers saw a "significant decrease" in their BMI and a huge boost in their self-esteem. This is one of the most overlooked aspects of livin' la vida low-carb. Because you see such quick weight loss on low-carb rather than the discouragingly slow drip-drip-drip of a half-pound or so a week on low-fat diets, you DO feel more confident and better about yourself.

When you are a teenager, this is VERY important when self-image is magnified a MILLION times more than when you become an adult. Perhaps these obese teens who are losing weight have never had the courage to go out on a date, speak up in class, participate in social activities, and other such formative events in their life. I remember how it felt to be an outcast of sorts because of my weight as a child and young adult. Livin' la vida low-carb changed that FOREVER! WOO HOO!

Dr. Siegel was impressed with the results of the low-carb diet and warned that the obesity epidemic will only get worse the longer we ignore low-carb as a possible remedy.

“Most obese children go on to become obese adults and will face related morbidity and mortality risks," he said. "Pediatricians are often frustrated in finding an intervention that is feasible and successful in the office setting. A low-carb diet may be one answer.”

What was that? A LOW-CARB DIET MAY BE ONE ANSWER!

Can we put that in the headline of every newspaper in America, flash it across the screen on all the cable news channels, quote it on the radio at the top of the hour news...oh, sorry, I got so caught up in how amazing that quote from Dr. Siegel that reality escaped me momentarily. You and I both know that'll NEVER happen with the anti-low-carb bias that exists in the media! Otherwise, it would have ALREADY happened, right?

Wanna know what else happened to the teens in the study typical of a low-carb diet? They spontaneously cut back on their calories. Yep, even without counting them, the average daily caloric intake was CUT IN HALF--an incredible 1200 calories--from 2,401 down to 1,153. This study shows it's true!

Also typical of the low-carb lifestyle that was borne out in this study is that the amount of fat consumed actually remains unchanged, although the percentage of fat in the diet increases. As much as the low-fatties like to claim the Atkins low-carb diet is so "high-fat," the fact is the amount of fat eaten is the very same as what people have been eating. So much for that lame excuse. How's that for some cold hard truth?!

It all comes down to making better food choices rather than obsessing over foods and even teenagers can learn an invaluable lesson that will serve them well for the rest of their long and healthy lives. No more inevitable weight loss surgery for these kids.

In a related story, this London Telegraph story takes advantage of the popularity of television shows like NBC's "The Biggest Loser" and CBS's "Survivor" to create a reality show for obese British teenagers unlike anything you've ever seen before!

The six one-hour shows over a three-week period, set to feature five boys and five girls 16-19 years old, will be called "Fat Teens Can't Hunt" and will feature the original Aborigines children teaching 10 overweight British teens about how to eat like the native people did. Yep, you heard me right, these kids will have to become hunter-gatherers just like our early ancestors.

It won't be airing until late 2007/early 2008, but what an incredible concept! Much in the same way Michael Pollan described in his book The Omnivore's Dilemma, the kids will be required to find and kill their own food or go hungry. EEEK!

What's gonna be in their diet? Nuts, berries, fish...hmmm...

Do you notice what the macronutrient composition of that diet is? If you answered high-fat, high-protein, and low-carb, then you would be absolutely correct! Yeah!!! When can we get this show to come to the United States, hmmm?

I'm sure low-carb researcher Dr. Jay Wortman, who I met this past weekend in Nashville, Tennessee at the Nutrition & Metabolism seminar, would be more than happy to introduce some obese American teenagers to the First Nations aborigines people in Canada.

Although they have already been criticized for being cruel to the children on the show by making them actually find the food they want to eat, the show's producers say it's a novel concept that will make the teenagers appreciate where their food comes from.

"These kids will have to catch, trap, pluck, skin and eviscerate the animals they come across," the producer said. "We'll film them tasting the fruits of their labours."

If the teens get stuck and can't find any food to eat for two days or more, then the television show's producers will provide "emergency rations" to help them survive. Of course, medical professionals will be on hand to keep track the health of the contestants. The producers anticipate the move to livin' la vida low-carb as a permanent healthy lifestyle change takes about three weeks, so they are hopeful the contestants will continue their new habits beyond the show.

I love the attitude of the producers about their show.

"This experiment gives our teenagers a unique opportunity to address their dysfunctional relationship with food, once and for all, before they reach adulthood," they said.

Hallelujah! Somebody pinch me because this has got to be a dream. Livin' la vida low-carb is gonna be on full display featured prominently in a major television series in the UK. When the kids successfully start losing weight and on the road to a healthy life. It's a beautiful visual of what Dr. Siegel found to be true in his study.

Let the endless screaming by the pompous low-fat gurus begin!