Nick

Catch me tomorrow on Today Tonight

Mon, 26/10/2009 - 8:06pm | by

Hi guys,

I thought you all might like to know that I’ll be appearing tomorrow night on the Australian current affairs program Today Tonight. If you aren’t in Australia, I’m hoping to be able to link/embed a copy of the story once it has gone to air.

Otherwise, tune in at 6:30pm tomorrow night and check it out. I’d love to tell you more about the story, but I’m sworn to secrecy. Lets just say that I wouldn’t post it on this blog if it didn’t have something to do with the blog theme. ;)

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  • bri_fatlotofgood

    w00t! Me last week and you this week! We are taking them over baby! I hope you get a segment without the obligatory 'headless fatties' and rebuttal by 'experts' such as I had to endure! lol

  • bubblebee

    Very interesting! Alas, I will be at work, but look forward to seeing it :)

  • 1Sonya1

    I will be watching for sure!!

  • Anonymous

    hi Nick, I love your message and agree that there should be more options for different shapes and sizes, I am not plus sized but still have trouble getting clothes to fit because i am shaped differently to most girls. I do think that clothes are a bit trivial and that the most important issue is your health, I just hope you do not end up like my grandfather and die of a heart attack in your 40s because you are so overweight. Good luck with everything.

  • bagrada

    Just watched you on Today Tonight. I'm not fat, but my girlfriend is, and it breaks my heart to see the frustration in her eyes whenever we go shopping for clothes. It's an important issue that needed to be brought to the light.
    Good on you!

  • Maliss

    Fantastic commentary & interview skills Nick!
    Your comments brought me straight here; to other people who might feel similarly about the weighty issues of 'plus sized'.

  • Steve

    Hello,

    I just watched the story on Today Tonight. I have recently lost over 50kg, and despite the obvious health advantages, the freedom to go shopping with confidence in knowing I will find something I like is terrific.

    Nick, I'm not here to give you a 'lose weight' speech, but I think you should reconsider your energy and priorities. If you put half the effort you have into this website and Today Tonight into losing weight, you will have more benefits then been able to go shopping.

    And lets be honest – don't ignore the fact that most overweight people avoid going out shopping… not only because its difficult to find clothes, but they are unhappy with their appearance. Most 'plus' sized stores do very little business. Its not unusual to find an overweight person who has been wearing the same pair of jeans for the past two years.

    Steve

  • sarahcooper

    Just saw it!!! WOO HOO!!! Finally someone speaking out on media about this massive problem! I have the same issues in finding clothes (i'm a 18/20). It's so hard to find something stylish for my age but also something that looks flatering. There would be heaps of money in it for a designer to make clothes for plus sizes so i don't understand why no one does. Hopefully that will make someone somewhere sit up and do something soon! Thank you for speaking out! And great website by the way!!!

  • brent_bull

    /

  • 1Sonya1

    No.

  • dave36

    sorry mate but after watching you on the t.v tonight, i dont quite understand what your point is? you say you are happy at being fat but then complain that you cant buy fashionable clothes.. you cant expect to go to the top marque shops and expect them to sell off the peg clothes for fatties, there isnt the demand and the shop would be out of business pretty quickly.. i am afraid if you choose to be that big or not choose then you have to shop in stores that accommodate the larger person.. or lose weight and shop where everyone else does.. i am afraid you cant have your cake and eat it all the time!….

  • sarahcooper

    I am not unhappy with my appearance, i am happy with who i am. I would like to lose a bit of weight but i am who i am. I eat healthy, i exercise daily and i have health conditions which mean it is harder for me to maintain a healthy weight. I love who i am and am confident to walk down the street and hold me head high at people like you who think i am overweight because i eat junk all the time and am lazy!!! I love going shopping, i only hate the fact it's so hard to find nice clothes for my figure. I try and re-fresh my wardrobe every 6-8 months (of course this is hard considering the lack of clothing options for me). So get your facts right and don't judge people by your experiences cause everyone is different. I admire Nick for being so confident and happy with who he is!

  • http://www.nicholasperkins.com/blog/ Nicholas Perkins

    Hey Steve,

    Thanks for dropping by. I'm aware that many people have battles (both mental and physical) with their appearance. You don't have to be fat to have these battles everyday – otherwise every 'normal' weight person (and I use the term normal loosely) would be never have a problem with their looks.

    I'm about getting good food into me and moving. I enjoy walking, riding bikes and many other activities. I don't focus on weight loss, but focus on living a good, healthy and happy life.

    My beef is that regardless of what size I am, I should be able to get a decent set of clothes at a decent price. I know that not every brand is going to stock my size. I should be able to go into every day department stores and find a nice outfit. That shouldn't be too hard.

    If retailers sold it, people would buy it.

  • nice_clothes_please

    I just watched your interview on Today Tonight and I was relieved to finally hear someone else saying out loud what I've been thinking since I moved to Australia 4 years ago! Thank you.
    I have felt frustrated at not being able to find any clothes that a) fit me and b) aren't massive shapeless bits of fabric. Even my partner, who doesn't have to wear plus size clothes can empathise with my struggle to find nice clothes and has been on countless shopping trips with me where we have both felt defeated and confused at the array of horrendous floral tunics and multicoloured ponchos…..and don't gt me started on the elastic pants!!!!
    I have started ordering clothes on-line from UK stores and getting them shipped over because they seem to have a better range of styles in a rainbow of sizes. Let's hope that Australian retailers catch on that there is a demand for stylish clothes in larger sizes.

  • http://www.nicholasperkins.com/blog/ Nicholas Perkins

    Not everyone chooses to be fat. Not every fat person eats to excess. I realise that there is this culture saying “Hey fatty, put the meat pie down” but in reality people who are fat for a variety of reasons.

    Some have medical issues that mean they put on weight. Some have mental health issues which are not as simple to deal with as “Hey Fatty! Lock the fridge!”

    It is about having options available for fat people as well as skinny people. If I want a good suit, I will buy the best one that I can afford that will fit me. My point is that if people put the clothes out there, fat people will buy them.

    I accept that some people will always have the mindset that as a fat person I should put up or lose weight. So why do we feel so much sympathy for people with other eating disorders who leave them underweight, when eating disorders cause people to be overweight as well?

    That isn't about health. That's about looking at fat people differently.

  • lilacsigil

    Its not unusual to find an overweight person who has been wearing the same pair of jeans for the past two years

    Yes, because it's so environmentally friendly to buy new jeans every five minutes. I've had some pairs of jeans for something like eight years, though I've read elsewhere that fat people always have to buy new clothes because they're so “hard on their clothes” and clothes aren't designed to take the strain.

  • http://www.twitter.com/vivzilla VivZilla!

    Nice job nicholas!

  • Josh

    got the answer for you.

    Eat less Move more!

  • http://www.nicholasperkins.com/blog/ Nicholas Perkins

    Ahaha. So original. *blocked*

  • http://www.nicholasperkins.com/blog/ Nicholas Perkins

    Eventually Australian retailers will have to get with the program and stock a better range of plus size clothing. I'm glad you've been able to find some clothing only overseas. My wife does that too a lot (and then blogs about the good finds on here).

  • http://www.nicholasperkins.com/blog/ Nicholas Perkins

    Thanks! It is an important issue and a lot of people suffer because they can't find the type of clothes they want. Your girlfriend is in the same boat as many other fat men and women, and none of us deserve to go through it.

    Tell her to get into the fat-o-sphere and see what she can find. There are some great fashion blogs which might have some good ideas and stores/brands for her to check out.

  • http://www.nicholasperkins.com/blog/ Nicholas Perkins

    Thank you. It's important to surround yourself with life minded people. We don't mind some debate here, but trolls aren't welcome.

    I'm glad you enjoyed the interview – it was my first time at such things so a little nerve wracking.

  • http://www.nicholasperkins.com/blog/ Nicholas Perkins

    Thanks for your comments. It's great to know that we are helping other fat people to feel included in a community. It's what we are about here.

    We should all speak out as much as we can and tell everyone we know to support us. If they won't, who will?

  • http://www.nicholasperkins.com/blog/ Nicholas Perkins

    Thank you Vivian!

  • http://www.definatalie.com definatalie

    See ya!

  • http://elasticwasteland.etsy.com/ kiki

    that was awesome nick you did great! hope to see more or this sort of story in the media here in australia!

  • http://www.nicholasperkins.com/blog/ Nicholas Perkins

    Thank you Kiki! I'm hoping so too. It's about time the media looked at these sorts of issues. Australia gets left behind on everything.

  • megandale

    Hi Nick i just left a lengty note about rm williams big mens range but i think i responded to an old blog (im new at this) i hope you find it. there was a pic of a school boy somewhere and some jeans. hope you find it other wise check out their bigmens range it XB to 5XB so about 4.5 XL to 9-10XL
    re your blog Folks a bit of style for the fat man pah-lease

  • megandale

    its all business and our money is as legal as the size 10's its never ceased to amaze me why in this day and age where everyone is reporting about obesity and how many big people there are that no one wants to make a fortune catering for their clothing rerquirements. by this i mean trendy age appropriate ranges not just menopause + . big poeple want to embrace their youth too. I just wish now i had studied fashion design like i wanted because i spend hours drawing large sizes from the buying catalogues I stock my store with. its really disheartening when you own a clothing store and cant wear a thing you stock because no one makes it available. sure there are a few brands but they are all made for their own stores. add to the mix that we live in an isolated mining town and i wonder why i have nightmares about walking down the street naked

  • megandale

    we have to wear them for two years because when we go back to get more they have generally sold out because they simply dont make enough.

  • Jock

    Hey Steve

    Congratulations on overcoming your battle and reaching your goal. As you know it takes a life changing experience to do it and obviously you are enjoying new freedoms now and want others too as well – good job.

    What the excellent crew here is doing though is not judging people on their weight loss or lack of but trying to promote acceptance and not ridicule, and one thing anyone who is overweight has had to endure is being judged even discriminated against.

    It is a bit nieve to say that plus size businesses do little business because fat people dont buy clothes, we wear as many clothes it is just that most times there is none to buy (as someone commented already). Sure as a fat person I dont like shopping, in fact I dread it, my wife drags me along with best intentions but it is heartbreaking to stand in a shop full of clothes and have to walk out empty handed and ashamed.

    Steve I am sure one of the first steps you needed to take on your journey of weight loss was to accept yourself, that is what the great people here are trying to do, and to get others to accept us as we are. We need our self-respect back so we can tackle the next hurdle of losing weight.

    I wish you well with your weight loss but I think that you have forgotten that you needed to feel good with yourself before you could get the confidence to make real progress

    cheers
    Jock

  • bigrockinguy

    Hi guys,yeah im a big bloke and its frustrating that all the clothes i buy are from Lowes etc.Id love to go buy a $99.00 suit,but you get to these places and they are for only skinny people.I mean we are the majority now,not these skinny minny waifs.

  • juliedavidson

    reasonable clothes at a reasonable price..i whole heartedly agree with that. For years i have had the problem of being fat whist exercising my heart out but with a medical condition keeping the weight on, just doesn't help.
    SHopping for clothes, i really loath, but it is a necessary evil. Especially underwear…hey just cause we're bigger doesn't meant we have to go to the grandma section of the colour range ” beige”. No offense to Grandmothers out there but that is what the shop keeper call it..the Granny section.
    I am big and i like bright colourful clothes/underwear just like a normal person. Hence why i started shopping over seas and am trying to set up my own lingerie business catering predominently for the larger size ladies. There is a huge untapped market out there for these type of businesses but you just have to find them.

    CHeers

  • juliedavidson

    to dave36….sorry but we can expect to get decent clothes at a decent price, and some of these “top marque shops” do states that they cater for the bigger sizes, yet when we go there, they advise us that they don't stock that size….how frustrating is this for us. ALso there is no standardising for sizes.
    some shops have a 14 labeled as XXL,,how wrong is that, yet i have been into shops where a size 22 would be lucky if it fit a size 16…it is not one size fit all it's ” one size fits small “

  • http://sirens-and-sailors.blogspot.com emma

    its all well and good to say “if you dont like fat clothes then lose weight”… but what are overweight people supposed to wear in the meantime? Why do they have to endure bad clothes as some sort of “punishment” for being fat? Would it make skinny people feel better about themselves if fat people just stayed at home until they lost enough weight to have the right to wear normal clothing?

  • 1Sonya1

    Best and Less have recently gotten some really cute plus sized underwear! I think they go to a 26.

  • juliedavidson

    cute and great colours but the straps are really flimsy..this is not good for the girls who are top heavy

  • 1Sonya1

    Oh, I meant knickers!! I agree that the straps on the bras are way too flimsy & not exactly supportive.

  • http://www.definatalie.com definatalie

    I like being at home, but if I had to stay out of sight until my countenance was considered “palatable” by the general populace, I'd be even angrier and would probably dress even wackier!!!

  • Steve

    Hi Jock,

    Thanks for your comments. Regarding the naive comment that plus size businesses do little business, I agree – I was stating one of those “massive generalisations that are generally true” – Glen Robins.

    Weight is a challenge. The motivation or me wasn't just physical appearance, but was health. My family has particularly colourful history in heart disease, and at the tender age of 20 weighing 131kg, I felt my life was going down a destructive path.

    I stand by my comments that overweight people will never enjoy shopping – this is not only because of the fashion.

    Steve

  • Pauli

    I'm obese. I enjoy shopping a lot. I don't enjoy the lack of choices. There goes your theory.

  • Steve

    Pauli,

    - Another massive generalisation that is generally true

    Yes, I was stereotyping … intentionally.

    I think a safe assumption would be that most overweight people do not fancy shopping, period.

    Steven

  • Pauli

    I think – and I speak from my experience with fat friends, and from reading in the Fatosphere – that most overweight people would enjoy shopping exactly as much as thin, skinny, average people… if it wasn't for the lack of choices and the stigma attached to being a fat shopper. It simply can't be a nice experience, if you can't find anything to fit and the staff looks down on you… but it has nothing to do with disliking shopping. Many fat people, especially fat women – read the blogs in FA circles, please, especially the ones dealing with fashion – LONG to be able to shop freely! But there's no actual choice of options, no demand for the shapeless sacks, which in return fuels the false belief that fat people don't like or don't want to shop…