Poultry & Prose: The Anorexic Economy

Everyone’s heard about how Marilyn Monroe’s size 14 of the 1950s would be considered plus size today. But you don’t have to go back that far. The perfect sizes of the 1980s and 90s are today’s portly sizes.

Look at actress Courtney Thorne-Smith, today (left) and from the 1980s (right). Today she's a spokesperson for the Atkins weight loss plan. In the 1980s she played a Laker Girl named Kimberly on L.A. Law. Yesterday's chipmunk cheeks are today's chubby cheeks.

When I drive my son Wyatt around, the car radio is tuned to the local pop music station. At one time, weight-loss products were advertised twice a year: after Christmas and before the beach season. Now, they’re advertised 365 days a year.

One of the commercials made me do a double take. The announcer talked about how she was once a size nine. After taking this particular fat-burning protein powder, she is now a size three. Size three.

The last time I tried to lose weight, size nine was my target size. And now it’s a plus size?

I can’t help but compare how the ideal body size and the ideal workforce size are both shrinking. Absolutely, shedding pounds can be good to a point. You feel better, you’re healthier, and you can accomplish more because you have more energy. But when you’ve shrunk so much that you start shedding muscle and your body can no longer function the way it should, it’s past time to rethink your plan. Ask anyone in the thinned workforce who’s trying to do the jobs of three or four people.

Food for thought as our anorexic, schizophrenic economy lurches along.