cularis / CC

Mississippi chef, restaurateur, and author Robert St. John has revealed that PETA's recent billboard inspired him to go vegetarian for the month of September in an effort to lose weight. In a column for the Laurel Leader-Call, he wrote the following:

There's been a big stink in the news lately. The animal activist group PETA posted a billboard in Florida with a photo of an obese woman in a bikini with the tag line, "Save the Whales, Lose the Blubber: Go Vegetarian." A lot of overweight people were offended. I'm a fat person, and I thought it was funny. If I had my choice, I'd rather see PETA's scantily clad model campaign, but I don't mind a good chuckle at the expense of a fellow fat person.

I wasn't offended, though I was intrigued by the premise. Could I lose the blubber by going veggie? It sounded like a challenge to me, so I'm going to take the challenge.

Yep, for 30 days the meat-loving columnist will forgo the bacon and buffalo wings, which means that some pigs and chickens will be spared from winding up on his plate.

Our advice to Mr. St. John? Stay away from dairy foods too. Seriously, you could gain 2 pounds just by looking at cheese fries.

Posted by Karin Bennett

poptower / CC

You probably remember Maureen McCormick as Marcia from The Brady Bunch—as in, "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!" These days, she's enjoying a renewed sense of celebrity as a result of her appearances on popular reality TV programs, such as Celebrity Fit Club, Gone Country, and its sequel, Outsider's Inn. She's also just released an autobiography, Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice, and it's already successful.

Maureen has long been known for her adorability—it's true, she's super cute!—but even after her (winning!) stint on Celebrity Fit Club, she's still been looking to shed a few more pounds. So, being the helpful people we are, we're sending her a copy of PETA's "Vegetarian Starter Kit" and a word of advice—that one of the best, healthiest ways to lose weight is to go vegan!

As we wrote in our letter to Maureen, vegan diets are a great change from the heart-damaging cholesterol that is found in dead flesh. Cutting out dairy also means cutting out a lot of fat—dairy foods are, after all, about as high-fat as you can get.

You can check out our letter to Maureen here. We hope that Maureen can turn over a new dieting leaf, and maybe she'll find her true voice—as a vegetarian!

Posted by Amanda Schinke

xinhuanet / CC

Does anyone remember our sexy "Go Veg, Texas" campaign? Of course you do! Well, this time around, we're traveling a bit south of the border and asking Mexico to do the same thing (minus the bikini).

If you haven't yet heard, Mexico has recently started the "Vamos por un millón de kilos'' campaign to encourage all residents to lose weight. Well, we know a thing or two about lookin' fine and stayin' slim without all the grease and cruelty that meat-based diets offer. Check out our letter to President Calderón and let us know what you think:

His Excellency Felipe Calderón President of the Republic of Mexico

1 page via fax

Dear President Calderón:

On behalf of PETA, an international animal rights organization with more than 2 million members and supporters worldwide, I applaud your administration's "Vamos por un millón de kilos" campaign. May we add that the best way to help your citizens lose weight while improving their health would be to encourage them to choose a vegetarian diet? As you might know, consumption of meat, eggs, and dairy products is linked to the major killers in the U.S. and Mexico—heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and strokes.

Animal flesh, milk, and cheese are packed with fat, calories, and cholesterol. It's little wonder that as Mexicans move away from a traditional Mexican diet high in healthy vegetables, grains, fruit, and beans and toward the typical U.S. diet, which is laden with fatty animal flesh and devoid of fiber, they are also following their neighbors to the north in packing on the pounds and becoming sick and prematurely incapacitated. Overwhelming scientific evidence shows that vegetarians are far less likely to be overweight than meat-eaters and far more likely to be in better overall health. They live longer and die less painful deaths. The American Dietetic Association—the largest group of nutrition professionals in the U.S.—reviewed hundreds of studies and concluded that vegetarians have lower rates of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer than people who eat meat. A healthy vegetarian diet provides all the nutrients that we need to thrive—without the saturated animal fats and cholesterol found in meat that cause weight gain and clogged arteries. In addition, every vegetarian saves hundreds of animals from the horrible cruelty of the meat industry, such as mutilation without any painkillers, intensive confinement, and violent slaughter.

To help kick off the "Go Vegetarian, Mexico" campaign, two of PETA's beautiful Lettuce Ladies would like to join you for an event at the National Palace to hand out delicious vegetarian fare—like tasty faux-beef tacos and soy-cheese and mock-chicken quesadillas—along with copies of our "Vegetarian Starter Kit." (The kit can be viewed online at SeaVegetariano.com.)

Please let me know when you would like to schedule this exciting event. Thank you for your consideration.

Very truly yours,

Ingrid E. Newkirk
President

Posted by Christine Doré

msnbcmedia1 / CC

You know those commercials we all laugh at? The ones for whatever weight-loss pill, claiming something to the effect of "It's SO easy! You don't have to exercise OR change your diet"? The ones that you laugh at with your friends and that make you say, "Yeah, right"?

Get this—the vivisectors at the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences have announced a new wonder drug, a magical pill that would, they say, mimic the effects of exercise. Just swallow a little pill, their report says, and experience increased muscle endurance and doubled fat-burning muscle. It's SO easy!

The mice who were subjected to the drug apparently showed a decrease in fat and an increase in oxygen consumption—but not any of the other benefits from exercise. People are asking serious questions about the "just like exercise" claim.

It seems to me that the vivisectors at Salk got vaguely promising results from the mice and decided to cash in on America's fascination with weight loss and reluctance to exercise—not to mention all the Olympics-related fitness hubbub that's going on right now!

But come on, we really shouldn't be surprised that these "scientists" are grossly exaggerating their lab results in order to make headlines—think about all the other "scientific breakthroughs" that have been "proven" by mouse vivisection. As Yale University's Dr. David Katz writes, "Extrapolation from rodent research to outcomes in people is notoriously uncertain and fraught with danger. Basic science studies and animal experiments have resulted over the years in headlines about cures for cancer, a definitive obesity gene and effective AIDS vaccines, to name a few. None of these has yet to materialize, and early hyperbole in each case gave way to disappointment."

Well, I'm sure people will be disappointed—disappointed that animal testing is still going on, despite its cruelty, its inaccuracies, and the better alternatives that exist.

Posted by Amanda Schinke