fat farm

Related to fat farm: Fat camp

fat farm

A slightly derogatory term for a clinic, treatment center, or resort that is aimed at helping people lose weight. My weight ballooned after the inactivity that resulted from my surgery, so I'm heading to the fat farm this summer to try to get it back to normal.
See also: farm, fat
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

fat farm

A clinic or resort where people go to lose weight, as in She spends all her vacations at a fat farm but it hasn't helped so far. This is a somewhat derisive term for such an establishment. [Colloquial; 1960s]
See also: farm, fat
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

fat farm

A resort or camp where overweight persons go to lose weight. Considered impolite, the term arose in the second half of the 1900s and with the growing incidence of obesity has become a cliché. The ABC television sitcom The Odd Couple had it in 1971: “If you’re not fat, it’s a health farm; if you’re fat, it’s a fat farm.”
See also: farm, fat
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • collapse under
  • collapse under the weight of (someone or something)
  • trim down
  • weigh in
  • weigh out
  • weigh in at (something)
  • pull one's (own) weight, to
  • carry (one's) weight
  • weight
  • excess
References in periodicals archive
Much more than mere fat farms, today's spas offer a plethora of health-management activities geared to everyday people.
Spa vacations: not just for the rich and famous
NBC's primetime fat farm is giving health and fitness publisher Rodale its biggest hit since "The South Beach Diet" and, under a joint venture with Rodale and Reveille Prods., has spawned an online weight loss club.
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Pete thinks she's been to a "fat farm", others suggest she had Don's baby - what else could explain her rise up the corporate ladder?
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After all, if you work somewhere that used to be known as a "fat farm", poor-taste gags about prison camps, carrot sticks and escape bids to the bakery are unlikely to raise a laugh.
Weekender: Travel: Mud for it; JANE RIDLEY TRIES EXOTIC BEAUTY TREATMENTS AT CHAMPNEYS HEALTH SPA
"I was packed off to a fat farm when I was 12," says Mia.
I'm a BIG role model and I love it; FAME RUNS IN HER FAMILY BUT MIA TYLER IS MAKING IT HER WAY
"To send them away to a fat farm just reinforces negative things.
Are our kids really too fat?; Yes, it's already an epidemic say docs
To artificially boost the number of "enrolled" personnel, even unfit candidates are now enlisted anyway and given (up to) 90 days to complete a "fat farm" course to get them in shape, with the hope that at least 50 per cent of these overweight recruits will successfully complete basic training.
Stretched too thin? Canada's military by the numbers
I'd just done The Insider and went to a fat farm just outside San Diego to re-establish my diet which hadn't worked.
The Razz Movie reviews : Movie Q and A RUSSELL CROWE
Victor said, as he nominated Kitten to lose her suitcase: "She's not all there mentally, she's mentally more at risk than the last slice of pizza at the celebrity fat farm club."
THE BIG BIG BROTHER PAPER: KIT NAPPED; Ex-lover claims housemate locked her in Dutch hotel room
So while the "fat farm" recruit may appreciate the $2,000 donut, they are unlikely to be very fat by the time they get to eat it.
Fat farm candidate
Unlike the lettuce leaf and water cuisine of the stereotypical fat farm, at Stobo you can really enjoy your food.
Travel: Pampering i is so suite; Stobo Castle offers the ultimate in indulgence its Cashmere Suite sets the standard for luxury, writes LEE-ANNE FULLERTON
The star, who found success in Hollywood as a character actress, spent the end-of-year break at the 800-a-week Scrublands fat farm in Herefordshire.
The Scurra
A "fat farm" Springs Hydro is NOT - the emphasis is on making you feel fitter, healthier and relaxed, not starved.
GET SHAPED UP WITH A GYM 'N' TONIC
In fact, the army will enlist you and then send you to a preliminary 'fat farm' for a period up to 90 days.
Chubby chasing at DND
NEW comedy clubs tend to have the life expectancy of a Mars bar on a fat farm.
Club you'd like to join; COMEDY: Captured Peppermint Lounge, Edinburgh