Today my friend Viki the Greek issued me a challenge: the first one of us to lose 10 pounds will be treated to a pedicure paid for by the other. I’m already envisioning my toes in OPI’s shade of “It’s Greek to Me” pink. She’ll appreciate the pun, and I’ll appreciate the pedicure.

For those of us who _______ (insert verb of choice – think, worry, obsess) about our weight, summer is a time of accountability. There’s no hiding the excesses over the last 9 months. Wherever you go, there’s talk about fitting into bathing suits and losing 10 pounds before a wedding (a-hem) or reunion.

Aware of this annual hyper-focus on weight/body shape, my ears perked up on a recent morning when the DJ started describing a prenuptial agreement which said that if either party gained more than 20 pounds, it could be used as grounds for divorce. What?!? I wasn’t sure if I heard him right, so I turned up the volume. The DJ talked more about My Fat Spouse, a Web site where the motto is, “It is disrespectful to willingly become unattractive to your life partner.” People go there to vent about their overweight partners and some (the more sensitive one?) seek suggestions for how to encourage their spouse to lose weight. Out of morbid curiosity, I went to the site to look around. I quickly grew disgusted and saddened and clicked away.

“Fat is not a four letter word,” is the slogan featured on Big Fat Deal, another weight-related blog I’ve visited (and actually spent some time on). It looks at how weight is portrayed in pop culture, everything from crazy celebrity diets to the story of a Starbucks’ barista trying to fatten up the Olsen twins by sneaking full-fat milk into their lattes.

While fat may not be a four letter word, it certainly is a loaded word in our culture. Being overweight has serious health implications, but the social and emotional consequences may be even more devastating. All because we live in a fat-phobic society.

I may need to rethink my little bet with Viki the Greek. Maybe the real Wise Women move is to say, “Screw our weight, let’s just go get pedicures together now!” Hey, not a bad idea …