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Season 14 of The Biggest Loser premiered last weekend, featuring three teenagers for the first time ever, and critics are in an uproar. There’s so much controversy surrounding the decision to include teens on the show, and I’m finding myself kind of angry about the criticism.

Why is it so bad that there’s a show helping obese teens lose weight? It’s not like they have 100-pound cheerleaders competing. These are actual obese teens who can’t do normal teen things because they’re so overweight. These are teens who want to change their lifestyles.

Critics of the choice are saying that having teens on the show presents a confusing message and perpetuates body image issues. Huffington Post Teen Associate Editor Carolyn Gregoire said:

“You see adults on the show who are running until they fall, until they’re vomiting, and they’re being yelled at. We don’t want to be sending that message to a vulnerable young person who can be very triggered by seeing this kind of activity. I don’t think that shame and creating a fat-phobic culture is a motivating way to tell people they need to be healthy.”

It appears that most of the critics haven’t even seen the show. The teens aren’t doing the same tasks as the adults. The kids don’t even participate in weigh-ins, and they don’t get eliminated. Longtime trainer Bob Harper says:

“With the kids, we wanted to do exactly the opposite of when we work with the adults. We do no breaking down, just lifting up … It’s about getting kids to move around again and getting kids to be kids.“

Isn’t this better than shows like Teen Mom and 16 And Pregnant? I know those shows are controversial on their own, but why is there so much backlash about kids getting healthy? This theory that all teens who watch the show will get body dysmorphic disorder and become fat-phobic is absurd. I think if anything, seeing obese teens get their lives back will be inspiring and helpful.

Surely there are obese teens watching that will aim to make changes in their lives. I don’t think this is going to send teens into an eating-disorder frenzy. The show never encourages contestants to starve themselves. It encourages healthy ways to lose weight, healthy workouts, healthy everything.

It’s also kind of insulting to the teen population that these critics think so little of their intelligence. Y’all are smart. You’re not going to think you’re fat simply because three teens on a show are working out and losing weight to you know, not be obese anymore.

I think having teens on The Biggest Loser is great. I hope these teens have so much success on the show that producers decide to have an all-teen series.

What do you think about there being teen contestants? Do you think it will help other overweight teens? Do you think it will be harmful? Tell me what you think in the comments!

Since we’re talking about weight, Facebook could be the culprit for those extra pounds!

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Facebook may raise your self-esteem–but can it also make you fat?! | Source: ShutterStock

Apparently, interacting with your pals on Facebook can up your self-esteem, which is awesome, right? Right. Unfortunately, a side effect of that raised self-esteem is less self control, which can affect what you eat–and how much you eat of it.

A new study says that people who use Facebook most have a body mass index (BMI) of about 26, while people who log in less are at about 24. (A normal BMI is typically between 18 and 24.9, but BMI isn’t necessarily an indicator of health–it doesn’t account for muscle weight, which weighs more than fat, and there’s a lot more to the equation than this!) High Facebook use was also linked to binge eating, but again, correlation doesn’t mean causation. But it does make you think about those times you sort of plowed through a bag of Doritos without even realizing it while you were lurking your ex’s pictures. Ahem.

Further, the more time you spend on your newsfeed instead of reading the actual news appears to have an effect on your food choice: People in a study who read their Facebook feed for a while and people who read the news were each given the choice between a cookie and a granola bar. The Facebook users chose the cookie, while most of the news readers took the granola bar. Again, it may just be this particular panel–if you’re truly hungry, too, you’ll probably spring for a granola bar, too. There are a lot of different things at play here.

One of the researchers explained it like this: The self-esteem boost you get from Facebook is what may ultimately make you fat, not Facebook itself. “A bit of self-awareness can help you avoid engaging in this behavior. Facebook is not the problem. It’s the feeling of entitlement that’s the problem.”

That’s because it’s a self-esteem boost that is sort of artificial: It’s not the kind of feeling good about yourself that comes from actually doing things or accomplishing something, like, say, working out. And when you get the rush of 50 Facebook “likes” in a row, you’re more likely to want to hang around and surf your social network a bit more instead of heading out for a sprint, right? And when you’re vegging out, you’re also more prone to reach for junk food. When you feel good about yourself and cookies are nearby, you’re sort of like, “Hey, I earned it!” See the pattern here?

At the end of the day, Facebook can’t really make you fat. And if something improves your self-esteem, dude–we’re all for it, because we think you’re awesome, and we want you to know you’re rad, too. But just make sure you have a balance between your awesome digital life and your awesome real life–so your self-esteem isn’t dictated by comments on your Facebook status. You’re better than that!

Do you pick at junk food while you’re on Facebook? Does Facebook up your self-esteem or make you feel crappy? Do you think Facebook can really make you fat? Tell us in the comments!

This 10-year-old made his own version of Facebook!

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When I was in high school, I dated a guy for about five years ( I know). As silly as it sounds, I barely ate in front of him when we first got together. I avoided dinner dates and stuck to “lady-like” foods like salads or picking at fruits when I was forced to eat so that I didn’t pass out. It was ridiculous.

As we got closer and more comfortable with each other, I let my guard down and actually started eating in front of him. My ex was relatively thin and could pretty much eat whatever he wanted without having to worry about gaining a pound. Me, not so much. Once I felt stable in our relationship, I started eating a lot. Like a lot. I figured, why should I care so much about my appearance? My guy loves me the way I am and he’s not going to leave me if I go up a few pounds.

Obviously, I gained a bunch of weight – and while my ex never said anything, it bugged me. I wondered if I was the only one who had gained weight once they were in a relationship, and I quickly figured out that I wasn’t. Over the years, I’ve watched many, many girl friends spend their single lives dieting like crazy, only to get into a relationship and gain all of that weight, and more, back. I’ve watched cousins get married and pack on the pounds. Basically, I’ve seen people literally transform once they get into a long-term relationship.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with gaining a little weight. It happens. It’s nothing to beat yourself up over. But I’ve always wondered: is there really a link between food and relationships? And apparently, yes, there is.

The Huffington Post recently spoke to a psychology professor Maryanne Fisher, who has done a little research on the subject. According to Maryanne, food and love are sort of linked in your brain. She says that in the beginning of a relationship, “Food is a way to display skills to a potential mate. You might buy nicer food, prepare better meals. It’s fascinating how it can be used as part of the relationship.”

TOTALLY TRUE. At least according to my love life. When I first started dating my current BF, I wouldn’t touch greasy chips or fries or candy in front of him – I wanted him to think I only ate healthy foods that are good for you. Why? I don’t know. I once watched my boyfriend wash down two jumbo Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups with a bag of BBQ pork rinds, so I don’t know why I felt the need to lie about my own eating habits.

Maryanne goes on to say that in the beginning of a relationship, people tend to eat less due to the fact that they release an abundance of “reward hormones”. These hormones make you happy and give you energy, and can sometimes suppress your appetite.

However, those hormones don’t stay up throughout the entire course of a relationship. The levels go up and down, and in extreme cases they can even cause obesity. Many other studies have found that people who are married or in long-term relationships are more likely to gain weight. Why? I can only imagine that it’s for the same reasons I gained weight: you feel comfortable and secure in your relationship and you don’t really feel like you have anyone to impress anymore. So you let things slide.

This all makes total sense to me and I’m sure it’s something that a lot of us can relate to. So I want to know: have you ever gained weight during the course of a relationship? Have you ever seen friends do it? Tell me in the comments!

If you’re slightly overweight, you may live longer

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That’s exactly why we found a few quotes that will help you love your body. We’re all about positive body image here at Gurl, and so are these awesome quotes. Read them if you’re feeling totally down in the dumps about your looks or you just need a healthy boost of confidence. These positive words will definitely remind you of just how awesome you are.

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Which of these quotes was your favorite? What did we miss? Do you think you could just more confidence, or do you love your body now? Tell us in the comments!

10 quotes that will help you get a fresh start

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I’ve heard of a lot of crazy weight loss diets, secrets, tips and tricks – but this one just may take the cake. Apparently, the inventor of Segways has teamed up with a company called Aspire Bariatrics to design a pump that will literally suck the fat out of your stomach. I can’t be the only one who thinks this is completely crazy.

Here’s how this would work, according to the Aspire Bariatrics site: the pump basically reduces the amount of calories absorbed by your body so that you don’t gain weight (more calories = more weight gain). How does it do that? After you eat something, food is temporarily stored in your stomach as the digestion process begins. Your stomach starts breaking down your food and then passes it to the intestines and that’s where your calories are absorbed. The AspireAssist (the name of this crazy pump) sucks that food out of your stomach before the calories can be absorbed.

Does this sound familiar to anyone else? Yeah, it’s basically like eating and then throwing up your food. But instead of throwing up, you’re just going to stick an A-Tube™ into your stomach through a hole in your abdomen. No biggie. The A-Tube™ will suck the fat out and is controlled by a little handheld device. UM. There are so many things wrong with this.

For one thing, how does this actually effectively work? The ladies over at Jezebel asked a lot of the same questions I was thinking of: what about the risk of infection? What about all of the other scary complications that come with sticking a foreign object in your body? How does this work once you’ve reached a goal weight? Your body isn’t properly losing weight, so your metabolism isn’t really changing – so I’m going to assume that once you stop using this, you’ll probably just gain all of that weight back simply because you’re once again eating and digesting food normally.

I mean, this thing just doesn’t sound healthy at all. As Jezebel pointed out, this is coming from the dude who invented Segways, otherwise known as the guy who gave us a lazy alternative to walking. That means that this is a lazy alternative to eating healthy. The idea of this seems to be that you can eat whatever you want and still lose weight (although one newspaper discovered that that’s not true). That can’t possibly be safe or good for you.

Ladies, please don’t fall into this. If you want to get healthy, the best way to do it is to simply eat foods that are good for you, maybe eat less and workout on a regular basis. I’m so sick of hearing about these crazy fad diets, like no eating after 5 PM (that’s INSANE), and these ridiculous pills and/or machines that promise results that don’t even sound like they’re good for you. That kind of stuff might help you lose weight quickly, but it’s not going to keep it off. It’s also not going to keep you healthy, which is the most important thing you should be worrying about.

Would you ever try something like this? Do you think it’s ridiculous? Have you ever tried a crazy diet? Tell us in the comments.

Being slightly overweight may be a health benefit

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One of the most popular resolutions out there is to lose weight, so I know that some of you are striving to reach some sort of weight loss goal. If you’re looking to live a generally healthier lifestyle, that’s great! But if you’re freaking out over a few pounds that have been annoying you for the past few years, and if you’re giving up your favorite foods to torture yourself with unrealistic diets, you might want to tone it down a little.

Here’s a new reason to stop stressing over those extra few pounds: a new study shows that people who are only slightly overweight will live longer than those people who are at a “normal” weight. The study focused on about three million people and discovered that those whose B.M.I. (body mass index) ranked them as being overweight actually had less of a risk of dying than people who were at a “normal” weight. Experts say this report is the largest and most carefully done of it’s kind, meaning it’s pretty legit.

While this is kind of awesome news for those of us who are constantly feeling like losing the last 10 pounds would change our lives, there are other things you need to take into account when considering your health and weight. This research studied B.M.I.’s, but it didn’t focus on an individual’s cholesterol or blood pressure or other stuff like that. Doctors pointed out to the New York Times that looking only at someone’s B.M.I. is “an imperfect measure of the risk of mortality.”

It’s also important to realize that being more than slightly overweight is still dangerous to your health, so don’t get too comfortable. I definitely wouldn’t advise you to cut out healthy eating all together and start pigging out on cartons of ice cream. This study basically means that it’s not as big of a deal as we thought to carry some extra pounds – in fact, those extra pounds actually seem to help us.

As I’m sure a lot of you know, it’s really easy to get caught up in a weight obsession. When celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton are called “fat” by critics, it can make the rest of us feel like we’ll never look good enough or thin enough. It’s so easy to forget that there’s nothing wrong with being a few pounds overweight – it’s normal and now we can say it may actually be healthy.

So what’s the best plan for your body? Yeah, you should focus on having a generally healthy diet – it’s not good for anyone, no matter how thin they may be, to stuff themselves with fattening foods all day. But you shouldn’t get caught up in a diet that doesn’t allow you to indulge at all. Eat that third cookie if you want it! Have a piece of your friend’s birthday cake! Like we’ve said all along – stop worrying about being “perfect.”

What do you think about this study? Was your resolution about losing weight? Do you ever worry about how you look? Tell us in the comments.

Try this eating tip instead of a crazy diet

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You know how sometimes you meeting one of your best friend’s new friends and they’re just kinda yuck? Yeah, well, that totally happened to me. Here’s the story.

There are three of us in the best friendship. So, my friend Jen and I went to visit our other friend Melissa, who just moved away. (By the way, all names have been changed to protect the innocent…and even the not so innocent.) Melissa introduced us to her new friend, Val.

At first, Val was really excited to meet us and we were pumped to meet her. And then she was like, “Are you two dating anyone?”

And Jen and I weren’t dating anyone at the time, so we both said no.

Then Val said, “Oh, I know what it’s like for you two. I used to be 80 pounds overweight.”

Um, WHAT? We just said we were single, nothing about our bodies. And we’re not 80 pounds overweight. If you add us together, we’re not 80 pounds overweight!

Even though we both know what our bodies look like, it’s hard not to take a fat comment to heart. Jen and I were shocked and bummed.

We spent the rest of the weekend trying to avoid Val and focused on keeping the girls trip to just the three of us.

Have you ever gotten a totally off the wall body comment like that? Did you handle it any better than Jen and I did? Tell me about it in the comments!

12 signs (in GIFs!) that your crush is a jerk!

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One of the most common New Year’s resolutions is to lose weight. In fact, the goal to lose weight isn’t only popular during the beginning of a new year – it’s something people are constantly talking about. It seems like everyone is always scrambling to find the newest and fastest solution way to drop a few pounds. But here’s the thing: dieting is hard.

So if you’ve ever found yourself in that situation, we’ve got a tip you’re probably going to love. You don’t need to go on a serious diet – you just need to start chewing your food for longer! Previous studies have found that chewing your food for 30 seconds or longer helps you eat less and get full faster, and now new research has come out that says that chewing your food for 30 seconds helps curb your appetite later in the day. Basically, it means you’ll be snacking less.

Think about it: do you ever put any thought into how long you’re munching on your dinner? Probably not… I know I don’t. But consider all of the times you’ve scarfed down a full plate of food and then somehow still felt hungry soon ever. It’s most likely because you’re eating too fast.

So here’s how to implement this into your everyday life if you’re looking to lose a few pounds: eat slower. It’s as simple as that. I’m not going to encourage you guys to go on some crazy diet or anything like that – what you do with your body is your business. But this tip sounds like a relatively easy way to start eating a little bit healthier. And if it helps you get to your goal weight? That’s cool too.

Eating slower will keep you full for longer and help you eat less. When you’re more focused on what you’re eating and you really think about what you’re chowing down on, you’re less likely to eat a ton of it. That’s why we’re always told not to eat in front of the television – it distracts us too much. If you want to try this out, do it during your next meal. I’m not saying you should sit there and count until 30 for every bite of food you chew. That would be weird. But just tell yourself to eat slower by chewing a little longer. 

Are you going to try this tip? Do you usually eat in front of something distracting, like the TV? Would you ever want to work on your eating habits? Tell us in the comments!

Do guys care about body image just as much as girls do?

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Anne, it’s like you’re inside my head. | Source: WENN.com

Right. If you’re staring at your computer screen and thinking, “Yes!,” then you and I and one of my favorite actresses, Anne Hathaway, kind of have a lot in common. Obviously Anne Hathaway is super talented, beautiful, and seemingly pretty smart–but when I read this interview with her in Glamour, I realized she’s also dealing with the same exact insecurities that we all do.

When I read that she said, “I still feel the stress over ‘Am I thin enough? Am I too thin? Is my body the right shape?,’” I was like, wait. Is that me talking or is that her? Why can’t we get a break when it comes to body image and not be fat or skinny, but just be us? You know?

And then the ultimate weird Anne-Hathaway-must-be-reading-my-mind moment came when she said, “I actually really don’t feel like getting made fun of. So I put on something boring and navy and go out and try to disappear.” If you’ve ever wanted to disappear, too, maybe we should all join a club where we can be as weird as we want to–and it wouldn’t matter, because we’d still blend in to our own club? Probably wouldn’t work, but it’s a dream anyway.

I love it when my favorite celebrities are so real and honest about their lives. Nobody’s perfect, and feeling insecure (as much as it sucks) is unfortunately pretty normal. It seems like Anne Hathaway (who I still really don’t think could blend in, even if she tries!) is working on being more confident, and so am I. Are you? I hope so.

Do you ever feel fat or weird about your body? Do you ever just want to blend in because being as crazy as you want to be would just be too much drama? Do you want to be BFF with Anne Hathaway as much as I do? Tell me about it in the comments!

But Seriously, Anne Hathaway Is Seriously A Bad Ass

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When I meet people, I tend to want to make a good first impression, you know? No rude comments, no weird off-color jokes. But apparently some other people don’t feel that way. Let me explain.

I met this girl through a friend and although we’d hung out at parties and stuff, I was really excited to get to know her better and maybe become real friends. I asked her if she wanted to meet me in the food court at the mall one Saturday. She said sure and I knew it would be awesome.

So, there I was, standing in front of Hot Dog On A Stick with my cherry lemonade in-hand when she shows up. Big smile. Big hug. Big weird rude comment! Seriously. The first thing she said to me was, “Wow. You’re really short! Like, are your parents little people, too? Or are you like, the runt of the litter?”

I just stood there stunned. I mean, I’m five feet tall, so yes, I know I’m short–but we’d met before, so she should have known that. Plus, it’s so rude to comment on someone’s body like that! You wouldn’t walk up to a heavy girl and say, “Wow. You’re so fat! Are your parents obese, too?!” That’s just insanely rude. . . so why is it okay to make me feel like some kind of freak for being short?

Let’s just say that after her rude comment, I wasn’t as interested in shopping with her all day. We got pizza, I said I had to dash. As for our friendship, it was as “short” lived as our lunch.

Has anybody ever tried to make you feel bad about your body–whether you’re short or not so short? Do you ignore rude comments or call people out on them? Tell me about it in the comments!

Should You Worry About Your BF’s girl friends?

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