Weight Loss Programs and the Work Place

Recently in the news Whole Foods new employee weight management program has created quite a stir. The summary of the new voluntary program is that employees who are categorized as healthier can get a larger employee discount on purchases, from the normal 20% to up to 30% off. Participating employees would be categorized based on four criteria: nicotine use, blood pressure, cholesterol, and BMI. Employees would be placed into one of four categories being either platinum, gold, silver, or bronze, or technically none of the above if a participating employee did not qualify for any of the categories.

Of course this is causing a lot of controversy and I have to say my stomach flipped when I saw this. Trying to wrap my head around the reasoning behind a program like this I tried very hard to convince myself that this was not sprouting from hatred of overweight people but that there is some good intentions here. This is what I came up with:

Healthier people are happier and that makes a better appearance at a store.

Healthier people cost the company less in cases where health insurance is provided.

And basically that's all I got. Notice that I am using the term "healthier" and not "skinnier" because a lot of people can confuse the two. Now I personally think there is a huge flaw in the system because it judges you based on your lowest category. So if I was overweight with healthy blood pressure, cholesterol, and didn't smoke I could not qualify for a larger discount. Or if you were a body builder and had a large BMI (because we all know that BMI is not a great measuring device) then you could also place yourself out of the discount level. And to make it worse is that if there are employees who don't qualify, wouldn't you WANT to give them a bigger break. If you want to give incentive to buy more healthy foods at a health food stores you should give it to those who would need it most. On top of that, I feel that you would never want to set up something where your employees have the chance to judge each other further. Imagine buying some items at Whole Foods where you worked and having to get rung up by a fellow employee. They would see what discount you had gotten and,whether or not they wanted to, start to form opinions about you. And lastly, I don't think it's wise for an employer to document this health information. It seems like they are setting themselves up for a law suit. What if someone is fired, whether for legitimate reasons or not, and they claim they were fired because they were fat. The same goes for promotions or scheduling issues. Having that information on file is very dangerous for the employees and the employer.

Read the article here and see what you can come up with.

Then, of all things, this crept into my own workplace with the suggestion of company wide Weight Watchers meetings being implemented. Again, my stomach flipped. Since this was really just a rumor I went straight to the Weight Watchers site myself to see how they conduct meetings that are held for a company.

After reading their brochure here are my concerns :

Weight Watchers says "There is no question that active, physically fit employees have better work performance." Since when? I am overweight and I perform just as well (sometimes better) than my skinnier coworkers. There are many lifestyle choices that cause someone to be a bad worker but I have never heard that being overweight automatically makes you one. I have never taken more than 50% of my allotted sick days and usually have vacation left over at the end of the year. I don't come in late, leave early, or take super long lunches. I eat at my desk at least twice a week. So while there may be research to say that overweight people might have more personal issues to deal with in some polls, it is not fair to make the blanket statement that we are poor workers. It is very discriminatory and it's disappointing coming from Weight Watchers. I always thought Weight Watchers was there for the individual, that they wanted you to succeed because you wanted to succeed. But for their corporate brochure to flat out insult overweight people is a big slap in the face to their customer base. I imagine if I had decided to do Weight Watchers as an individual and upon enrolling they asked me if I was trying to lose weight so I would be a "better worker" I think I would have walked out right then and there. Being overweight doesn't automatically mean you can't do anything and everything that a skinnier person could. And until I truly can't perform the way I should I think I'm going to pass on the free weight management programs.

You can see the Weight Watchers brochure here.

Dancing with the Stars - Niecy Loves Her Body

Season 10 of Dancing with the Stars premiered last night. I'm not a diehard fan, but I will watch it ocassionally. I stumbled upon the premiere kind of by accident. Even though I didn't see all of the celebs and their routines, I did happen to be near the television when television host and comedian Niecy Nash performed. You may recognize her as the host of Clean House or as a police officer on Reno 911, but it was what she was saying in her pre-performance interview that got my ears to perk up.


Niecy is plus sized, something they like to play up for her character on Reno 911! In her interview for Dancing with the Stars she expressed concern. Not concern for her size or her skills, but concern for her shape. Niecy says that she likes her body and her "jiggly parts". She says that many celebs get on the show with the intention to get skinny but Niecy is hoping to stay the same. She even expressed how important it was that she keep her "jiggly parts" in tact to her partner. And boy did she ever look smoking in her gold sequined mini dress.

While she may not be out there in a two piece like some of the celebs this season, she looks good and knows how to dress and accentuate her body. She is truly beautiful, and has great character and personality. I hope that she inspires some of us (maybe even me) that you can get out there and dance, wear attention getting costumes, and flaunt your personality if you are plus sized. No body said there is anything wrong with that, and Niecy is a great example of finding charm in someone different than the norm. I will be rooting for this season!

Product Review - Old Navy Empire T Shirt

First, let me say that I have been a patron of Old Navy for over 10 years now. They often have cute things that I like to wear and even more often have the kinds of staples at the prices I need. I will always shop there as it is convenient, has my size, and will always be there.

However, I was quite disappointed with my recent purchase from their Women's section. They have quite a few new spring t shirts on their site, which is perfect for the climate in which I live. I am the layering queen so cute t shirts are great to go under jackets on the windy days and on their own on the sunny days. So, this cute striped shirt looks perfect for the upcoming warmer days. When I purchased it there weren't many reviews online and they were kind of mixed, so I took a chance. Now, checking back it seems most people are having the same problems with the shirt that I am.

Here is the rub. The colors are not as presented and the widest stripe on the shirt is white and placed right around your middle. When I first put it on (with no body shapers) I looked like I was wearing one those inflatable rings for the pool. Then, the "gathering" under the bust that appears to bring in the waist is not that at all. It's really a piece of elastic sewn into the shirt, about 3 inches long. The shirt does gather a bit right where the elastic is but does not bring in the waist at all. Basically it's a big striped boxy shirt and that's not usually a style that plus sized girls go for. I am keeping the shirt. I have found that with a dark camisole under it, it can pass for very casual weekend wear. But that's not really what I was intending to use the shirt for.

So, items fall flat sometimes. It's hard to shop online, right? Right. Except that what really irks me about this particular fashion flop is that it makes me wonder if the clothes are being misrepresented, as in are they being pinned on the dress form? I guess I'll never know, and as I said before this wont stop me from shopping at Old Navy. But I will have to keep in mind that things may not be exactly as they appear on their website. It makes me miss the days when they carried plus sizes in the store.

New Plus Size Shopping Site - Lucie Lu

Luck would have it that this new store some how found me. When an email came through last night advertising this store I knew that it would require further research. At first I thought they were associated with B & Lu, a rather well known plus sized apparel site because the names are similar. After some preliminary digging I can't seem to find any indication that they are in fact affiliated.

But what I did find was that they have absolutely gorgeous clothes for reasonable prices. This great new store is called Lucie Lu and they are brand new on the plus sized scene. They offer a variety of clothes including dresses, skirts, denim, knit tops, blouses and more. Their line offers a trendy and youthful vibe with a mix of elegant and classic pieces dotted in. A few of my favorites include the Adele Tunic, the Antoinette Dress, and the Patience Skirt, all seen below.

Their sizes vary by garment and can range from size 16-20, 1x-3x, and some styles even going up to 5x. Prices range from about $16 - $62.

The jury is still out on the fit and quality of this line as they are brand new, but I will definitely have my eye on them. I'd love to add another fantastic plus sized store to my list of favorites!

Perfect Jeans - Review

Every plus size girl knows that finding jeans can be one of the most gut wrenching tasks. Something as common as jeans shopping can be really quite traumatizing and not having a pair of jeans that you are comfortable in limits your wardrobe options. So when I determined it was time to throw out my old jeans last week I was dreading finding a new pair.

See, I've never quite found a pair that I loved, I jump around from brand to brand, buying different sizes, lengths, and washes hoping to find that one special pair that is made for me. And I know that when I find them I will never again have to search through millions of jeans. It puts a lot of pressure on the jeans shopping task.

When I found these Levi's online I knew I was interested. They are the Levi's 590 Women's Plus Fuller Waist Boot Cut Jean. I had loved Levi's jeans in college but hadn't tried any of the plus sized options as they were not easily available at the time. The reviews were good for these jeans, and the price just right so I went ahead and ordered them. They arrived and I quickly tried them on.

They are heavenly.

They are a beautiful dark wash with a boot cut leg. The boot cut isn't too extreme so it doesn't hug you in the wrong places. There is just enough room in the waist to let you breathe without stretching out too much. And it really hugs your butt in the best way, something that plus sized gals tend to love!

I found a couple of different prices on a couple of different sites (levis.com, amazon.com, macys.com) so be sure to do the price checking for your size and wash. They run a little long (perfect for me, but probably not so perfect for others) so order the short or plan to get them hemmed. I have washed and worn them three times now and they have bounced back beautifully every time. What a great find!

Vogue Introduces New Vogue Curvy Site

In what seems to be an effort to expand it's readership base, Vogue has introduced a brand new website just for the curvy ladies out there, Vogue Curvy. Since Vogue has long featured designers who do not often offer larger sizes and the skinny runway models who wear their designs, this is a great new expansion for Vogue. I am new to finding this website and there are a few things that made me raise an eyebrow (like since when have Liv Tyler and Christina Hendricks been considered large?) but overall this site seems to have legs. It has features of the lovely Tocarra Jones and Crystal Renn, two plus sized models, and some of their latest photo spreads, as well as fashion, beauty tips, and a blog. They also seem to have expanded the term "curvy" to mean plus sized as well as hourglass shaped, large chested, or anything really that doesn't put you into the super skinny model category, so there is a lot of variety here. I'll be keeping my eye on this site and hopefully you'll give it a chance as well!