Michael Prager | "Fat Boy Thin Man" | Speaker for hire

Another pitch for the Rootstrikers

Michael — Sat, 18 May 2013 18:57:40 +0000

I've posted this before, and about this topic several times before, and may well again: I believe it's the No. 1 issue facing all Americans, and I believe it will only be solved when we demand that it be solved. Yes, that's somewhat unlikely in present-day America, but it's going to happen, because it has to.

The humanitarian stimulus they want to kill

Michael — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:44:50 +0000

I do not get why the farm bills being contemplated this week by Congress would slash food-stamp aid.

Dude, what were you thinking?

Michael — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:54:49 +0000

If there ever was a sober voice in this world’s considerable madness around weight loss, it’s the National Weight Control Registry. Based in Rhode Island, it tracks more than 10,000 people who’ve been keeping an average of 70 pounds off for more than 6 years, and its purpose is to learn what helps these people keep it off.

Diets don't work, but weight loss is possible

Michael — Tue, 14 May 2013 10:26:44 +0000

It is true that much of the commercial weight-loss industry is composed of charlatans who lack evidence to back up their come-ons. But that's not the same as saying that there is no way to reduce one's body size sustainably.

As you know, I did (am doing) it, and I have lots of friends who have as well. But there's also the long-term, legitimate, National Weight Control Registry, which is coming up on 20 years and tracks more than 10,000 people who've lost significant weight and kept it off for significant time.

Doctor, an addictions specialist, explains food addiction

Michael — Tue, 14 May 2013 09:42:46 +0000

Here's a great rundown of food addiction as it interacts with, and sometimes substitutes for, addictions that most everyone acknowledges more easily. The writer is Dr. Vera Tarman, medical director of a Toronto treatment center.

What Samaritans do

Michael — Wed, 08 May 2013 19:24:34 +0000

More out of service to my wife and family than for personal connection, I attended a fundraising event for the Samaritans this afternoon. What I learned:

* Calls to the suicide-prevention service have increased 20 percent since the Marathon attack. I assume that that's local to Greater Boston.

What we can glean from the Christie lap-band story

Michael — Wed, 08 May 2013 18:57:30 +0000

I'm not exactly sure why, but I feel it's part of my portfolio at least to acknowledge yesterday's story that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie had "secret" lap-band surgery. This is what I got:

"Please don't deny my experience"

Michael — Wed, 08 May 2013 11:24:16 +0000

If you've visited here before, you may have read this recent post in which I reacted to a Ragen Chastain post the deployed some of the same illogic that Big Food uses to undercut its foes.

Assaults on the innocence of children — but at least it's only for money

Michael — Fri, 03 May 2013 14:39:17 +0000

One of the greatest harbors for sanctimony is when something is “for the children.” Children are the future, you know.

It’s not that I object to child protection as a motivation. I have a child, and I take seriously my role as one of his caregivers, guides, and educators. It’s going to take a lot more than me to care for, guide, and educate him, but it has to start with my wife and I.

What I object to, other than rank sanctimony of any kind, is how horribly unevenly “child protection” is defined.

Cookies are still cookies, no matter what you say about them

Michael — Thu, 02 May 2013 21:56:32 +0000

Mom instructed me that if you can’t say anything nice, to not say anything at all. But at least one corollary just doesn’t hold up, as exemplified by an ad for cookies that Dr. Yoni Freedhoff highlighted on his blog.