Fighting That "Fattest City" Designation

By Rachelle Bowden in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 11, 2006 3:36PM

The lines began on Monday afternoon, the auditions on Tuesday. The casting director for the reality TV show* "The Biggest Loser," where fat contestants compete for a $250k by losing weight, say they were impressed by the turnout of people in Chicago. Really? What do they expect from the country's fattest city? More than 400 people from across the Midwest lined up for a chance to be on the show, which they say would help motivate them to lose weight.

The nominee to be Chicago's next health commissioner, Dr. Terry Mason, has some other ideas for us to be a healthier city. He says an early step toward getting Chicagoans to evaluate their health would be to begin with health assessments of our city's leaders. He's asked our aldermen and even Mayor Daley to take a hard look at their lifestyles and their waistlines! Nothing like telling your future boss that he's fat. The CDC says that 6 out of 10 people who live in IL are overweight or obese. Put down that deep dish!

*Speaking of reality TV shows - Joe Block, he's a 24-year old U of C grad who was pursuing his doctorate in mechanical engineering at Northwestern. A geek, right? So much so that he signed up for and got on "Beauty & the Geek 2," the show that matches up sexpot girls with dork guys. You can see Joe on TV Thursday night, when the show starts, or to see him live and in person, head over to Joe's (940 W. Weed St.) at about 7pm to see Joe Block and others from the show at a free premiere party. If you're having trouble recognizing him, he's the dork with the huge curly hair and buck teeth!