The pres of the AMA has weighed in to lecture us all on our deficient Christmas present buying behaviour. Apparently we should be only buying gifts that encourage the recipient to Exercise! in a Morally! Upright! Manner!
Computer games are right out. Instead, we should be buying our friends a cricket set or a new dog leash. I’m kinda amazed she didn’t suggest Jenny Craig gift vouchers and clothes two sizes two small.
She chose not to talk about people giving books for enjoyment and literacy. She chose not to talk about assigning a chunk of your Christmas money, if you have some, to donate to a charity. Perhaps an AMA-relevant one, like an organisation working in Aboriginal health, or providing health services to refugees, or building clinics in war-torn areas.
No, it was all about leveraging Giftmas as an opportunity to scold your fat friends.
Then she dropped this absolute clunker:
“Perhaps you might want to buy your adult friends some weights so that they get a little bit inspired in doing some exercise for themselves.”
Because nothing says “I love you” like saying, “Geez, you’ve got some flabby arm fat there, Sheila. Here, have a couple of dumbbells and fix yourself up, eh? Many happy returns!”
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It always struck me that Rosemary Stanton had a very fundamentalist approach to nutritional advice and then I discovered she’d grown up in a brethrenish sect. I think it shows. Double blah to scolding from Rosanna and Rosemary both.
Phooey to her. She ought to have a nice talk with Dr Rick Kausman (I think he either is or was an AMA spokesperson on eating disorders and weight and body image) – his book and website (“If not dieting…then what?”) are about as close to HAES as you’ll probably get without being *quite* fat-accepting.
Gah, Rosemary Stanton. She’s sometimes so close, yet so far away. You know…diets don’t work! But “lifestyle changes” will make you lose weight! She was even pretty cynical of the “CSIRO diet” but mostly only because it didn’t fit in with her view of a Proper Diet, not because all diets are bollocks.
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Yes. For Christmas I will inform all of my relatives that they’re not as slim as they used to be and really ought to start purging. And weighing in every morning and night, keeping a record of their weight and everything they eat, oh hang on, would that be an eating disorder?
I’ll be giving wine, fair trade chocolate (because the child slaves have a bigger problem than chubby Australians), books and music. And Lego for the nephew. Because I reckon Christmas presents should actually be fun.
And I’ve made a double quantity of my Nan’s brandy sauce, and I’ll be teaching the outlaws the proper method of making pudding ’swim’.
Ah, Rosemary Stanton – I didn’t know she was Brethreny, but it certainly makes sense.
Mmm, brandy sauce. The lad really enjoyed the bit where we set the pudding on fire, and insisted that we light the pumpkin pie, too. It was fun.
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A morally pure Christmas to all of you from the AMA!
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