The Devil in Ms. Roth….

You’ve seen her on Fox News.

She takes candy from babies. Literally.

She’s been called the “Ann Coulter of fat.” She’s the bull in a china shop that likes to point out the elephant in the living room. She’s the devil incarnate if you are planning to invite her to a party where donuts are served.

She’s MeMe Roth, a one woman war machine against obesity. She’s such a skilled warrior that she even refused to share low-cal recipes with me, instead, taking the focus off of food.

It’s about time someone put the brakes on the obesity crazy train, no excuses, no whining and blubbering about “fat rights;” what I like about MeMe is that she’s no skinny outsider to what us fat folks have gone through. Almost all of MeMe’s relatives are in the 200 lb+ range. She’s got the fat genes in spades, yet she makes no excuses. She’s overcome her genetics to have a healthy body and you can too.

I sat down with MeMe for a quaint fireside internet chat (no snacks, just unsweetened green tea) because I wanted to know more about the woman that takes candy from babies. What I found was a little bit of the devil and a whole lot of energy, health, vitality and a woman on a mission to heal the world.

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MeMe, I want to talk to you about plate size/portion size.

If you’ve ever bought any dish sets made in the 40′s-70′s you will be amazed at how small the plates, cups and bowls actually were back then, compared to the sets of dishes you can buy off the shelf these days. Plate sizes are double or triple. I was shocked when I ordered a nice 1950′s dinner starter set of 16 pieces off of Ebay a while back. The dinner plates are literally the size if the average SALAD PLATE in modern dishware sets! Now, I use these plates exclusively on my diet to “measure” my portions. It works fantastic for me to eat the same portion sizes that people ate back in the 1950s.

Sad part is, I can’t find any modern dishware that is sized appropriately, and I have looked! I tell people now that you can order the vintage sets off of ebay pretty cheaply (unless you are going for jadite or something like that).

Any other suggestion, comments, ideas, thoughts on portion sizes in the past, and now and how that may correlate with the obesity epidemic?

I’ve been told that our portions of daily food intake should equal  approximately 3 fistfuls. Seems like hardly any food… I think you can eat a lot more if you heap on non-fried, non-starchy veggies!  The truth is we have a warped sense of how much food to eat, what kind of food to eat, and when to eat. Forget the clock, forget social pressure, simply eat based on the demands of your day and the needs of your body, and you’ll find this approach amazingly freeing.

Obviously, ya gotta eat a mostly vegetarian diet (again, non-fried, non-starchy); drink water instead of soda, juice and sports drinks; and exercise about an hour a day. If everyone in America followed this advice, there would be no obesity crisis. We’d have a natural bell-curve distribution of weights–a few at the extreme–but most of us falling within the healthy medium.

We also have cultivated a bizarre sense of entitlement when it comes to eating junk food. I think we believe all the “you deserve this” advertising messages. The reality is you can’t live without inhaling, but that doesn’t mean you have to inhale nicotine and tar.  You can’t live without eating, but you certainly can survive just fine without a Snickers bar. People are confused about what is, and what is not real food.

People have no idea how many calories they should be eating. I don’t  really count calories per se, but I testified on behalf of having calories posted on all restaurant menus and menu boards. And informed customer makes better choices. I know I don’t have room in my life for a 900+ calorie Cinnabon, or a 700+ calorie milkshake–I mean coffee… or even the Outback Steakhouse sweet potato with its topping.

Take the number of your ideal healthy weight and multiply it by 10. That is your estimated daily calorie allotment. What the what?? That’s not a lot of calories is it? Longevity studies show us more and more that if we want to rev up our quality of life, we likely should be eating far less. If that number isn’t high enough for ya, (mine isn’t), then simply exercise to give yourself more calories to eat. I run 4 miles a day for health, for sanity, and so I can have some tasty indulgences without hurting my health.

What is your favorite exercise and why?

I love the flying trapeze and adult gymnastics classes. I also have run at least one sprint triathlon a year since 1992, even the years I had babies. Again, we’re talkin’ SPRINT distance; I like old-school body sculpting classes with lots of squats and lunges and push ups and sit ups too. But, I really love running the best. Why? It takes no equipment or appointment other than your sneakers and a willingness to force yourself outside. Speed-walking is the same. For working parents, running or speed-walking is an EXCELLENT exercise choice. You have no excuses. Plus, you’ll love the cardio benefits from doing the hard work, the rhythm of the exercise, and the dopamine high. I’ve never done yoga, but love the LuLuLemon clothes. I’m a huge proponent of stretching EVERYDAY.

I have to know: what size do you wear? lol. Right now I’m aiming for anything between a 4-8. (I’m 5’10).

I’m 5’6″ and stay somewhere in the low 120s… I should be a  “medium.” I used to be a freakin’ medium, but with vanity sizing, I  keep getting smaller and smaller.  I have to return a size small hoodie to Lands End because it’s HUGE. With my broad shoulders, I  shouldn’t have to be buying size extra-smalls and size 2 anything. But sometimes I do. Mostly, I buy size 4 or 6, but in better stores, I  usually need a 6 or 8. In Marilyn Monroe’s generation, I probably would have  been a size 8, maybe a size 10. My shoe size is a size 7, and hasn’t changed over the years. Are we not doing vanity sizing in shoes yet??

Everyone cries they couldn’t possibly be a size 2. WIth today’s gen-er-ous cuts for sizes, the average American woman at 5′ 4″ should comfortably be fitting into a size 2. Remember, that’s your momma’s size 6–maybe 8.

Give us a list of healthy celebration snacks and treats for kids. Maybe a recipe you like to use with your kids?

Buy some fresh veggies, rinse them, then steam them in a drop of olive oil and garlic–or ginger– or  tumeric– or lemon– or whatever rocks your world. Get your kids hooked on water instead of soda, juice or sports drinks. And give ‘em veggies or chick peas as snack. Those cookies, crackers and whatever else is wrapped in crinkly paper is for losers.

Want to celebrate with your kid? Do something far out fantastic together! Who cares what you eat?? Just eat a normal meal, then do something fabulous–or at least a meaningful experience that will be remembered long after the cake or cupcake or whatever passes on into the plumbing. Kids want to feel special on their birthdays. And we parents want our kids to feel special on their birthdays. That’s about a little creative thought and effort, not candy.

And remember, the greatest treat you can give your child is a treat you don’t eat–treats like family bike rides, or roller-blading, or swimming together. Kids want to be with you doing fun activities   where they’re the center of your attention. Your child will associate your love with all things active, positive and life-affirming, not apple pie. Later on when they’re feeling blue, they’ll think of you and go for a walk instead of downing a tub of ice cream.

Savvy parents are figuring out just how dangerous sugar is. It’s a  pro-inflammatory, it raises bad cholesterol, it desensitizes a child from enjoying natural flavors, it creates a chemical dependency, it sets off a cycle of cravings; it tricks you into thinking you’re hungry when you’re not. And remember, sugar includes table sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, agave nectar, and refined carbs found in white rice, white flour, cookies, crackers, pretzels, white potatoes, most boxed cereals, etc.

And for Zeus’ sake, don’t serve your kid soft drinks unless you really, really don’t like him.

Visit MeMe on the web:

http://www.actionagainstobesity.com/NationalActionAgainstObesity/NAAO.html