Released on = June 11, 2006, 10:28 pm

Press Release Author = Living On The Up Beat, LLC

Industry = Consumer Services

Press Release Summary = If you believe the media, a man or woman who doesn\'t fit our
society\'s ideal of beauty--someone who is overweight, for example--would have to
visit an alternate reality in order to be desirable to the opposite sex. People are
looking for attractive mates, right? Not according to the results of an author\'s
survey.

Press Release Body = Andrea Rains Waggener, author of Alternate Beauty, a novel
about an obese woman who finds herself in an alternate universe where fat is
considered beautiful, conducted a survey earlier this year, asking the question, \"If
you HAD to choose one OR the other, which would you choose: a man/woman who is
slender and beautiful/handsome OR a man/woman who is loving, caring, nurturing,
sexual, and fun to be with?\"

If the media is to be believed, most people want an attractive mate more than they
want a loving one. \"Experts\" on TV and in print give more advise on how to be
attractive than they do on how to be loving, caring, nurturing, etc. \"I thought my
survey would reflect our society\'s obsession with looks,\" says Waggener, whose
website, http://www.upbeatliving.com offers resources to encourage people to accept
themselves as they are. \"But I was wrong. Of the 503 responses I received (362
women and 141 men), only 12 women chose looks over personality, and only 4 men
chose looks.\"

Obviously looks aren\'t as important to people as the media would have everyone
believe. \"Of course people want both looks AND personality in a mate,\" Waggener
admits, \"but when they HAVE to choose, they choose personality, or more
specifically, being loved.\" If people truly want to find and keep love in their
lives, they need to learn to accept and love themselves so they can accept and love
their mates. Waggener suggests that websites like hers,
http://www.upbeatliving.com, are essential to creating men and woman who are truly
desirable to potential partners.

Forget diets and weight loss. Andrea wants people to stop worrying about what they
eat and think more about what they do. She tells people

--How societal standards may be ruining their lives and what to do about it.
--Why diets can get in the way of good relationships
--The way to use daily habits (that have nothing to do with diets) to change the way
the way people see themselves.
--How to focus on love and caring instead of obsessing about appearance.

Contact Andrea Rains Waggener at (360) 581-4085 or e-mail her at
theupbeat@coastaccess.com for more insights into this topic. Andrea has been a
guest on Fox News Network\'s \"Fox and Friends,\" Pacific Northwest TV's \"Northwest
Afternoon\" and \"Being In Seattle,\" as well as on several radio talk shows. She\'s
also been featured in Fitness, Shape, and Diane magazines. More information about
Andrea\'s books and articles, along with Andrea\'s inspiring blog and information
about her biweekly newsletter, Living On The Up Beat, can be found at
http://www.upbeatliving.com. A description of Alternate Beauty and an excerpt from
the novel are also at http://www.upbeatliving.com.

Web Site = http://www.upbeatliving.com

Contact Details = Andrea Rains Waggener