Category Archives: Uncategorized

Take Yourself for a Walk

When the amazing and wonderful Velvet D’Amour asked me to come up with a workout for her new issue of Volup.2 she said that the theme was “simplicity”. It really didn’t take long for me to come up with the workout plan. I decided on walking–one of the safest, simplest and cheapest workouts in the world. Once again, I retained the photography talents of Kelly Varner–one of the very best photographers I know, and we went out to create a photo essay on the joys of walking. You can see the results HERE.

There are as many wonderful workouts in the world as there are people. But whenever I’m helping somebody who is stuck, who isn’t sure where to start, I suggest they put on their sneakers, grab the leash and the dog or the hand of their sweetheart and simply go for a walk. Naturally, I’m partial to walking outside, but if the weather is truly wretched, the mall will do. I can’t say I’m a big treadmill fan–the thing makes me feel like a giant gerbil. But some people really love working out with the treadmill. To which I say–to each his own.

There is something so local and gentle and simple about going for a walk around the neighborhood with your friend, hand in hand with your lover or even all by your self. Walking is gentle enough to allow for conversation or contemplation. Sometimes, when I walk by myself, I focus on the seasons and what is happening around me. Sometimes when I walk by myself, I imagine sending positive and kind thoughts to people who live in the houses that I am passing. And sometimes, I walk hand in hand with my husband without saying anything at all. We just enjoy being together.

And if I don’t feel like walking alone and my friends and my husband are busy, I can always count on my handsome dog Max. He loves to walk so much that he’s even figured out how to spell the word. I used to be able to talk to my husband about taking Max for a w-a-l-k. But now, even if I spell it, Max is completely insane with excitement, whining at the door where we keep his leash and ready–always ready to go.

So, I’d like to invite you to find just a little time for a little stroll this week. Don’t worry about counting steps, or calculating calories burned or miles accumulated. Just lace up your sneakers and step out for your little fix of joy. I promise it will be worth it.

Love,

The Fat Chick

Stuff that Weighs More than Me: World’s Largest Box of Chocolates

1 Reply

Well I hope your Valentine’s Day was full of everything you desired. Like this GIANT box of chocolates maybe? This colossal confection was commissioned by Thornton’s and holds the record for the World’s Largest Box of Chocolates. This giant box of sweeties was unveiled in London, U.K. back in 2008 to advertise the (then) new Thornton’s Box of Moments Chocolates.

The giant box of chocolate sported thousands of the assorted twist wrapped candies that were available free to passersby. So enjoy the vicarious thrill of imagining the best Valentine’s Day present ever while you peruse these sweet stats:

Box Height: 5.04 meters (16.5 feet)

Box Width: 3.5 meters (11.5 feet)

Total Number of Chocolates: 220,052

Total Box Weight: 4,805 pounds (over 2 tons!)

Conclusion: The World’s largest box of chocolates weighs more than me!

Love Your Body Week TRAVEL Edition (sigh…)

Why I Love “Love Your Body Week”

4 Replies

I’m having such a great time presenting at Love Your Body week at Dickinson college this week! I feel just like that joyful little baby elephant up there. The students are enthusiastic and I too am learning a lot!

I was invited to speak for the college’s “Love Your Body Week” and I’m just one part of an amazing number of fun and meaningful activities. I”ve been impressed with the “Love Your Body Week” theme and it’s a great tool for the college campus for a number of reasons. Here are a few:

1. I think it’s inclusive. It’s not love fat people week or love think people week. It’s not just for boys or girls. It’s not just for athletes or artists. It’s love your body week. Everybody with a body is included.

2. It’s positive. Rather than telling us what not to do, it’s telling us what TO do. This is the Health At Every Size (R) way, which tends to focus on positive, definitive, loving and nurturing things that you can do for yourself. It’s hard to think of something more positive and nurturing than loving your body.

3. It brings attention to eating disorders on college campuses. There is a LOT of disordered eating on college campuses. This is a serious and dangerous problem for both men and women. Love Your Body Week brings attention to eating disorders in a very gentle way, which does not call people out or shame them for disordered eating, but rather allows everybody access to this important information.

4. It’s joyful. See? Look at the baby elephant. That’s how I feel! We’ve talked about some very serious subjects this week. But we also chatted, laughed, sang, played and danced together this week at Dickinson College. An awful lot of this was fun. And I’m hoping that fun will bring young men and women back for more year after year.

5. It’s planting an important seed. I am not naive or egotistical enough to believe that I can change anybody’s mind about body love, self acceptance, size acceptance or Health At Every Size with one speech. But I can say I wish somebody told me about it back when I was a college kid. I had to wait until age 30 to even be exposed to this idea. Love Your Body Week allows us to plant the seed of why it’s so important to love your body at every size among young people. Nobody knows when or if that seed will bloom. But at least the seed has been planted.

That, my dears, is why I love “Love Your Body Week”. Are you having a “Love Your Body Week” at your college campus or workplace? If not, why not institute one of your own. Let’s work together to make every week “Love Your Body Week!”

Love,

The Fat Chick

Why You Just Shouldn’t Mess with Wisconsin Women

4 Replies

Once again, a woman from Wisconsin is at the center of a controversy over body snarking, and once again, a woman from Wisconsin has totally schooled the world on why this isn’t okay.

I’m talking in this case about former Green Bay Packers cheerleader, Kaitlyn Collins. Apparently somebody posted a picture of Kaitlyn from her Packers cheerleader days on the Chicago Bears Fan Facebook day with the caption, “Like If You Agree The Packers Have The Worst Cheerleaders In The NFL!” And the comments. Oh the comments.

Now as a diehard Packers fan, I can attest that the rivalry between the Packers and the Bears is longstanding and epic. And thus, it’s probably not that surprising that the comments got ugly in a hurry. But this level of body disparagement and the nasty objectification of women did not go unanswered.

Kaitlyn created the YouTube video that you see above and she was NOT playin’. She called some of these bullies out by name–which may be getting somewhat humiliating for those folks, especially as this story gets more and more public. And I think the point she made was clear and concise. I don’t really have a lot to add, except…

It reminds me somewhat of the case a few months back, involving the anchorwoman from Eau Claire, Wisconsin who called out some comments regarding whether or not she should remain an anchorwoman at her current weight. She called those hateful folks out on the air as well and the backlash was amazing.

I guess I’d like to point out three things here:

1. Nobody is safe from body snarking–not even gorgeous NFL cheerleaders.

2. I’m from Wisconsin.

3. You just don’t want to mess with us women from Wisconsin.

That is all.

Love,

The Fat Chick

Stuff That Weighs More Than Me: Big Ben at Dickinson College

1 Reply

In honor of my upcoming appearance at Dickinson College, I thought I’d find something on campus that weighs more than me. And it didn’t take me long to settle on Big Ben. I’m not talking about the big clock in London here. Nope, by Big Ben, I mean the large bronze statue of Benjamin Rush that was unveiled at the college on June 11, 2004. The sculpture is actually a replica of one accepted precisely 100 years earlier by President Theodore Roosevelt as a gift from the medical profession to the nation.

Benjamin Rush is an important person to both American history and the history of Dickinson college. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and was an important figure in psychology and medicine. He fought against slavery, and for universal education (for both boys and girls) and for universal health. He also fought for women’s rights and better treatment of patients with mental illness. Benjamin Rush was one of the first to envision Dickinson College and served as an important trustee from the founding of the College until his death.

Let’s look at the statue stats:

First statue to grace Dickinson Colllege

Material: Bronze

Artist: Recast from statue originally created by Roland Hinton Perry

Height: 7 ft.

Weight: 568 pounds

Conclusion: Big Ben weighs more than me.

Dealing with Diabetes: Episode 004 of the Right Now Show with Jeanette DePatie (AKA The Fat Chick)

Buyer Beware: When the Trainers at the Gym are Big Stupid Bullies

7 Replies

What happens when you sign one of those one-sided, draconian gym contracts and then find yourself verbally and emotionally abused by the trainers in that gym? Think you’ll get out of the contract? Maybe, maybe not. In the ever growing pile of “stuff on my facebook feed that makes me totally aggro” was this story on a site called Consumerist. This site shares stories of people who feel they have been ripped off. I am disappointed that the Consumerist felt the need to redact the name of the gym, although they are happy to name other companies (Kohl’s, Michaels) in other stories. Maybe they felt that the gym was so small it might be a little too easy to figure out who the bad guys are and where they park their cars.

Anywho, the story’s victims, Shayla and Mr. Shayla joined a gym. They took the first of their two “free personal training” sessions with a trainer who “pressured them” to sign up for personal training services. (*Note this happens very often in some gyms.) When the couple (both plus-sized) mentioned that they were going to try on their own for a while, the trainer looks at their bellies and says, “Obviously what you’re doing so far, isn’t working.” So Shayla and Mr. Shayla tell the manager they want a different trainer for their second (and final) free training session. But now the first trainer is harassing Shayla and Mr. Shayla at every opportunity. The wronged couple jumps through many hoops to try to talk to a manager. When they finally get through, they ask to be let out of their contract. They are denied at every level. As Shayla says, “I am forced to watch them deduct money from my credit card each month (a portion of which, naturally, goes to my abuser), with no recourse until my contract expires.”

At the end of the article there’s an opinion poll asking:

Should the gym let Shayla out of her contract?

___No. If she doesn’t want people to point and laugh, she should lose more weight.

___No. She should wait and see whether her complaint does any good first.

___It’s her fault for not buying personal training sessions.

___Yes. Everyone should be able to find exercise that suits them in a respectful, jerk-free environment.

First of all, let me tell you that I was able to maintain the tiny thread of hope I hold out for humanity when I saw the responses–over 92 percent voted for the final “yes” response. But I have to tell you, I thought of a few other options:

__Yes. And if the company won’t do it, she should contact her local television station and share the story for a potential “expose” story. Lots of stations love these stories and companies should expect public humiliation when they allow their employees to humiliate customers.

___Yes. And Mr. and Mrs. Shayla should get x-large t-shirts printed that say, “I don’t train with [Name of personal trainer] cuz’ he’s a bully.” and hand them out in the gym parking lot.

___Yes. And somebody should remind that gym about what happened when 24 Hour Fitness thought it was cool to put up billboards that were insulting to fat folks.

___Yes. And redacted, my @ss. I need the address, phone number and license plate number of that bozo that was doing the bullying!

But seriously folks, there are a few important lessons to be learned here. One lesson is to be very, very careful when you join a gym–especially for a period of time of one year or longer. There are many super-awesome completely reputable gyms that will give you a wonderful, safe, comfortable place to work out. There are, unfortunately, also a number of gyms out there who just want to get you to sign a contract and will never, ever, like for any reason, let you out of it. They don’t care if you have a good experience. In fact their idea of the perfect customer is the one who is a perpetual member who never, ever shows up at the gym. Don’t believe me? Go take a look at some of the complaints with your local Better Business Bureau. I’ll bet at least one group is about a lousy gym with bad business practices. Buyer beware, people. Check out Yelp. Google the name of the gym you are considering and the word “complaint”. Ask around. If you do get a contract, there should be a reasonable clause in it for both parties to opt out. Don’t listen to any glib verbal assurances given by the salespeople. Go with what’s written on the paper. Consider trying the gym for a month or even three before signing up with a contract. If there are no month to month or even 3-month options, consider this a red flag and check even closer into the gym’s practices. Again many gyms are awesome, but some clearly are not. Be careful.

And finally, yay for Shayla and Mr. Shayla for standing up for themselves. There is no excuse for any fitness professional to treat you with anything other than courtesy and respect. EVER. None. Zero. Nada. If this happens to you, call it out, complain about it, but don’t put up with it. Because people of all sizes deserve courtesy and respect.

Love,
The Fat Chick

P.S. Looking for a safe place to work out? How about your living room? You could always try my live streaming classes. They are totally cost and contract FREE!

Working Out in High Heeled Shoes and Other Forms of Insanity

6 Replies

When I came across this in my facebook feed, I thought surely this is a joke. Clearly this is some sort of Onion-esque wry statement on the deep link between fitness and soft porn. Alas I was wrong. Apparently there are exercise classes out there designed to be done by women in high-heeled shoes.

I’m not kidding. There are exercise classes available here in Los Angeles designed to be done in high heeled shoes. Why, you ask? Well one of the websites (that I refuse to provide links for) features a buff fitness instructor in some strappy stilettos saying that this workout is for women who want to have it all. And since far to many of us have become resigned to the fact that beauty equals pain, she’s going to help us with this workout designed to help us wear and walk in high heels the right way. She says we can work out and feel sexy. She says we can wear high heels without being in agony. Which leads me to a few questions…

Naturally, the video promos on these sites feature slinky women, undulating around to soft porn sound tracks. But somehow I can’t envision myself feeling sexy in that class. I imagine myself calling 911. And while it’s possible that I would meet a super sexy EMT in the back of the ambulance, I probably wouldn’t enjoy it because of the you know, agonizing pain of whatever foot, ankle, knee, hip or shoulder (choose your point in the kinetic chain) injury I was sporting. And even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t be able to take any more of those super high-heeled sexy classes after settling my massive insurance co-pay. Look, I’m for whatever makes you feel hot in the bedroom, but I have to admit Ben Gay, crutches, splints, braces, and the like don’t work for me as aphrodisiacs. I’ve experienced all of the above apparatus, and I can tell you, regardless of how much I glittered and bedazzled, they did not work for me as sex toys.

I wonder, why does working out have to be like a low-budget soft-porn production anyways? Can’t I just dance and swim and lift and sweat? I was reminded of this question by this excellent blog post from Caitlin on Fit and Feminist. She talks about the reasons that personal trainer Nia Shanks gives for not feeling the need to post pictures of herself in a bikini. Here’s some hints: 1) There are videos on Nia’s site showing her sumo deadlifting 300 lbs. over three times in a row and 2) You’re kidding, you don’t really need a second reason do you? I don’t think I need to ask either Caitlin or Nia how they would feel about working out in 4-inch high heeled shoes, do you?

Look, a big part of the reason I call myself The Fat Chick is that I’ve had just about enough of the fallacy that if you work out regularly, you will look like a super celebrity, red carpet-ready, porn star rock singer. Now, I don’t have anything against anybody who looks like that. But that look is simply unattainable for a great many of us. As Danielle Prohom Olson points out in her terrific blog post on the subject, yoga is not necessarily going to lead to what we’ve come to accept as the “yoga body”. And I think the notion that working out a few hours per week is going to give everybody the exact same body with thin muscular arms, flat and prominent six-pack or eight-pack abs, a round perky butt and thin muscular legs with no visible cellulite is patently ridiculous. And equally ridiculous is the notion that we all need to look like that to be considered successful or even acceptable. Bull cookies! Work out because it feels good while you’re doing it. Work out because it feels good after you’re done doing it. In my opinion, at all times before, during and after exercise, lipstick is freaking optional! As I’ve previously mentioned, one of the major selling points in turning my career towards fitness is the fact that I can wear sweat pants, sports bras and athletic shoes to work nearly every single day. If I have to wear spike heels with my spandex pants I am out of here!

But I before I leave, I have to ask just one more question. If wearing high heels causes agonizing pain, couldn’t you simply choose not to wear them? I mean, maybe I’m being completely unreasonable here, but doesn’t that seem a little simpler than sumo lifting in spike heels? I guess not (sigh…) Better dim the lights, cue up the oom chicka mow mow music, and pass the body oil; I’m gonna go work out.

Love,

The Fat Chick.

By the way, if you want to work out with me at home wearing whatever you darn well please, there are a few options. You can pick up a copy of my DVD, “The Fat Chick Works Out!” which features a safe, easy and fun workout for beginners or you can join me for my FREE live streaming classes on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 8:30 AM PST. Workout in sweats, jammies or even totally nude, I don’t care! Just join us and have fun!

Dance Like Nobody’s Watching–Even at the Airport

2 Replies

Okay, first you gotta watch the video. Grab a cup of coffee and click the arrow. It will only take a minute.

Wow, how cool is that? We’ve all had the experience of standing in the bloody baggage claim area after a long flight, watching that little belt go around, straining hopelessly to catch a glimpse of our long lost underwear. But not this girl. Oh no. She just put on some tunes and rocked out!

When was the last time you did something like that? I think maybe it has been years and years for me. I used to regularly engage in PAI (Public Acts of I-don’t-care-what-you-think). When I was a kid, I was an endless source of humiliation for my poor sister. I wore crazy hats. I was kicked out of grocery stores. My cousin regularly reminds me of how we used to ride around town in her convertible with the top down and me singing opera at the top of my lungs.

What happened?

Is it just because I’m older? Have I grown wary and frightened? Or is it because I got bigger? Were I to dance around at the airport like that today, would people around mostly ignore me or smile gently like they do at the girl in the video? Or would they hurl insults at me and call me names like they did a few months back at the restaurant?

But I often wonder if this is one of the most insidious repercussions for those of us who have been bullied. How many insults can we endure before we shut down? How many of us have had our bright, bright lights muted under bushel baskets for years and years because we have been traumatized, battered, and bruised by very public opinions about our bodies? I continue to wonder about the squandering of those most precious resources. Resources we desperately need in our society like energy, inspiration, spontaneity, creativity, courage and joy. Can our world afford to throw these precious gifts away in order to sell more diet pills and gain more research funding for take home bulimia kits? I don’t think it can.

So my friends, let’s see if we can’t find a way to get our collective mojo back. I think exploring our inner child is a good start. And so is collecting for radically awesome events like A Fatty Affair. And joining fantastic groups like The Size Diversity Task Force can’t hurt either. After being part of the SDTF, inspired me to shoot this video on a busy weekday at my local thrift store. I’m committed to doing whatever it takes. Because hiding our light under a bushel basket doesn’t just diminish us personally, it deprives the world of our fantastic, glorious, gorgeous light, which is a crime against humanity. So let’s see if we can’t find even more ways to pull those bushel baskets off and dance like nobody’s watching.

Love,

The Fat Chick