Spent the day at the horse races at Santa Anita Park.  We had won some tickets to the fancy “Turf Club” at a silent auction at my church.  Everybody was dressed to the nines and I couldn’t help thinking about the Ascot scene in My Fair Lady.   [Watch it Here.] I even had my very own Eliza moment as our long odds horse came up from the very back to come in second. 

And as I was watching and sipping champagne and all-around enjoying our very successful and fun day, I kept thinking about what Eliza says in that scene.  C’mon, Dover!  Move your bloomin’ arse!  And you know, for all the thousands of pages of advice about how to stay healthy and happy in this world, it does kind of boil down to that, doesn’t it?  Just get up, and move your butt!  Sorry if it sounds crude, but that’s it.   There are lots of other things that are important for good health, but getting out there and shaking your booty is probably the most important.  Shake your booty–shake up your life.

As much as we’d all like to snap our fingers and have our lives be different–be better, we can’t expect our lives to change unless our behavior changes.  One of the very simplest and most direct ways to do this is to get up and move our bodies through space.  Don’t worry about how much and how far.  Don’t worry about how much other people are shakin’ theirs and if shakin’ yours is making it any smaller.  Just shake it honey!  Move your bloomin’ arse!  Not sure how to begin?  Go ahead and check out the tools in the [Start] page of my website.  Enjoy!

Love,
The Fat Chick

I realize I’ve been promising to share some info with you about our big video shoot for weeks now.  Well better late than never, I guess!  In late March, we did a video shoot for a short piece about me and my completely fabulous students and my life as The Fat Chick!  In addition to the photo above, I’ve got a flikr page here:  [Fat Chick Works Out Video Shoot]  The weather was glorious and we had a fabulous time!  (Although I was a little nervous.)  I can’t wait to get through the editing to share the final piece with you.

I love to teach.  I love my students.  I especially love how different they are from one another and what they bring to the class–their energy, their joy and their sense of humor.  If you live in the LA area, and you’ve been thinking about taking a class with me, I hope you’ll just come on over and give it a try.  You can find out more class information here:  [Fat Chick Class Calendar]  Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the calendar.  Come on, and join the fun.  W00t!

Keeping with the Easter theme, today we’re talking about the world’s biggest basket (which becomes the world’s largest Easter basket but only between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday).

The basket is a 160x replica of Longaberger’s Medium Market Basket and is used as the Longaberger company headquarters.  Between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday large replica eggs are added to the top of the basket.

Here’s the stats:

Bottom Dimensions: 192 ft. long by 126 ft. wide
Roofline Dimensions: 208-ft. long by 142-ft. wide at the roofline
Weight: I can’t find any statistics or estimates.  But we’re talking about a 7 story building here.  Shortly after the thing was built a small PLANE flew through the handles.  So I feel it’s pretty safe to say:


It weighs more than me.

Oh.  My.  God.  Sure there’s the architectural marvel of the world’s largest Easter egg.  But we’re talking about CHOCOLATE now.

In 2005, the people of Guylian lovingly created an object of flocks of further fantasies with this big beauty.  All it took was 26 master chefs, 8 days and 50,000 Guylian praline chocolate bars.  It was built in Belgium (where else?)  Oh, and YUM!

Here’s the stats:
Height: 27 feet 3 inches
Width:  21 feet
Weight: 4,299 lbs

Conclusion: The World’s Largest Edible Easter Egg weighs more than me.

Holy hernias Mr. Bunny.  The world’s largest Easter Egg is found in Vegreville, Canada and was built in 1975 to commemorate early Ukrainian settlements there.  The Pysanka is a tremendous computer modeling, engineering and architectural achievement containing 524 star patterns, 2,206 equilateral triangles, 3,512 visible facets, 6,978 nuts and bolts, and 177 internal struts.

The patterns are believed to represent specific meanings:
The stars symbolize life and good fortune.
The three-pointed stars reference the Christian Trinity.
The band that circles the egg represent eternity.
The windmills are said to reference a good harvest and prosperity.

Ready?  Here’s the stats!
Egg Width: 25.7 feet
· Egg Height: 18.3 feet
· Total Height: 31.6 feet
· Material: Alumuinum skin
· Turns like a weathervane
· Star Patterns: 524
· Triangular Pieces: 2,206
· Visible Facets: 3,512
· Nuts and Bolts: 6,978
Weight: Over 5,000 lbs.
Conclusion: The World’s Largest Easter Egg Weighs More than Me.

Well my commitment to blogging every day has frankly flagged somewhat.  But my commitment to my project, of sharing The Fat Chick has grown exponentially.  So how to classify?  Should we call this a success or a failure?  Well if you’ve been reading by blog AT ALL for the last couple of months, I think you know which way I’m going to go on this.  I’m calling it a success.  Because as important as it is to stick with your microgoals–those teeny tiny steps that draw you inexorably towards the life you wish to achieve, it’s equally important to be flexible and not lose sight of the big picture.

So on the big picture side, I’ve been posting diligently to my facebook pages and twitter feed.  And I just had a shoot for a promotional video for The Fat Chick Works Out!  So sometimes you have to put a few of the baby steps aside to take a few giant leaps.  I feel fairly certain that Neil Armstrong put aside sorting his laundry and filing his taxes while he was flying around in space.

So while the blog posting has been a bit sparse, stay tuned for some awesomely cool new stuff.  And don’t you sweat the small stuff either.  Okay?

Love,
The Fat Chick

Well along with the decades-long argument between Lebanese and Israelis about where hummus originated, we also have a battle for who can make the biggest hummus plate.  The Israeli’s launched the opening initiaitve in May of 2008–creating a giant 4 meter (4.35) yard plate containing 881 pounds of hummus.  (The Israeli’s love hummus with the average, per capita consumption hovering at about 22 pounds.)  But the Lebanese battled back in October of 2009 creating what is now considered the world’s largest plate of hummus.  Here’s the stats:

Hummus Plate
Number of Chefs: 300
Mashed chickpeas: 2,976 pounds
Lemon Juice: 106 gallons
Salt: 57 pounds

Total weight: 4,532 lbs.

Conclusion:  The World’s Largest Plate of Hummus–whether Israeli or Lebanese weighs more than me.

The great bourdon bell, called Emmanuelle, is located in the South Tower at Notre Dame in Paris.  It is the largest of five great bells at the cathedral.  It is rung to mark the hours of the day and on special occasions.  The bells were once rung manually, but are currently rung by electric motors, when it was discovered that the size of the bells could cause the entire building to vibrate, which threatened its integrity.

Stats:
South Tower Bell: Notre Dame: Paris:
Housed in South Tower Which is 228 feet tall
Weight of the bell’s clapper: 500 Kg.
Total Bell Weight: 13 tons

Conclusion: Emmanuelle weighs more than me.  She can be heard throughout the city of Paris which means that the bell is not only heavier than me, but has the rare honor of being louder than me too.

Periodically, (okay–all the time) I run into folks who think I am crazy for my belief.  They cling to the idea that only thin people can be healthy and their life will be so much better once they lose that 20 lbs.  And they think (okay–tell me to my face) that I am wrong or in denial about my ability to be a healthy fat person.

And sometimes, it makes me a little upset (okay–wildly angry).

But when that happens, I try to take a deep breath and remember a few things:

1.  Some people are never going to agree with me, no matter what I do or say.  And that’s okay.
2.  Some people may disagree with me, but still take something useful away from our conversation.  And that’s great.
3.  Some people may agree with me someday, but they just aren’t there yet.  And that’s awesome.

At least in my experience, the journey towards Fat Acceptance and HAES is just that, a journey.  I didn’t get there all in one go and I suspect that many other people find it that way.

In my experience, the attraction of the culture of thinness lies somewhat in it’s simplicity.  Lose weight, feel great, be healthy and then you will find career success, love, adoration, wealth and truly fabulous clothes.  The beauty of this plan is that it allows you to believe that all of those things are coming as soon as you lose weight.  So naturally you don’t have to do any of the other difficult things that are required to get you what you want in your life until you lose weight.  This leads to the whole syndrome of “weighting around” to start your life.

Sure, once you apply research and logic and good common sense to this formula, it’s easy to see that it’s hogwash.  But in giving up this fantasy, you’re giving up a lot.  And the truth, at first blush seems a lot less sexy and much more subtle and nuanced.

Once I gave up the “weight loss fantasy” and started moving on with my life, things clearly got SO much better.  But it’s important for me to remember, as I try to shepherd others along that there was a mourning process involved.  I had to mourn:

1) The idea that I would lose weight and find the man of my dreams and earn a billion dollars and win an Academy award all in the same year.

2)  The EXCESSIVE time and money I wasted involved in body-hating schemes and plans.

3)  The idea that I’m right about everything all the time, because I had to admit a lot of what I believed sincerely with my whole heart was wrong.

It’s helpful to remember that the journey towards Fat Acceptance and HAES is intrinsically destabilizing and uncomfortable for people–both for those experiencing it and those watching it.  And I believe that we have to work extra hard to replace the benefits of our old fantasies with other benefits that are healthy and more sustainable.  Like playing with our kids, or going for a walk.

What loving, kind thing can you do for yourself today?  I took myself out for a healthy lunch.  (It was awesome.)  What’s one simple thing you can today to help replace the fantasy of the perfect life that comes with the perfect body, with the reality of tiny, simple, daily joys?

I’d love to hear from you!  Tell me in the comments or participate in the discussion on Facebook.

Love,
The Fat Chick

Watching the Fat Dinosty (which is awesome by the way) got me thinking about the good old Stegosaurus.  Apparently the translation of this guy’s name is “roof lizard”.  Don’t ask me why.  Anyways, this lovable plant eater was far from petite.  Here’s the estimated stats:

Height: 14 ft.
Length: 28 ft.
Diet: Vegetarian
Weight: About 6,000 pounds.

Which proves two things.  One, being a vegetarian does not guarantee you’ll be thin and two, the mighty stegosaurus weighed more than me.