How big is the Average American House?

The Formula:  
The basic ratio of square footage to weight for a home is 2000 pounds or 1 ton per square foot of floor space. This estimate takes into consideration the contents within the floor space but does not include the weight of the foundation. All you need to do is multiply the square footage by 1 ton.

According to the National Association of Home Builders, the average home size in the United States was 2,330 square feet in 2004, up from 1,400 square feet in 1970.

So the average American home weighs about 2,330 tons.

Conclusion:  The Average American home weighs more than me.

Object: Windmill Tower outside of Palm Springs, CA
Height: Up to 300 ft.
Weight: The compartments at the top containing the generator, hub and gearbox weigh 30,000 to 45,000 pounds.

Conclusion: A Palm Springs Windmill weighs more than me.

When we are in panic mode, our bodies are urgently prepared for fight or flight.  And while you may be tempted to fight–especially if there’s some dunderhead that made some stupid comment about your weight that got this whole panic thing started, that’s rarely a sensible course.

Actual flight is probably not a resonable course either.  (At least, I find most conditions that cause me to be airborne don’t end well).  But a simple walk away from the trigger or just for the sake of walking can be a very useful initial coping technique.

In order to move beyond the initial mental cloudiness of panic, we’ve got to get some of that adrenaline out of our systems.  And one of the fastest, safest and most productive ways to do this is to take a little walk.  (Sex is great too, but I personally don’t feel very amorous in the middle of this type of situation).  Just put on some tennis shoes or other comfortable footwear and head out the door.  Spend a little of that energy getting away by yourself and breathing deeply.  If you can walk safely outside, this is best.  The fresh air will help you.  But even if you can’t walk outside, just take your fear and your panic and take a little hike.  Walk fast at first, and then allow your walking and your breathing and your mind to slow down.  This allows your adrenalin to do something useful instead of just being stored in your body.  It allows your body to do what you primed it all up to do in a safe and healthy environment. 

So  next time you feel like the world is about to end, lace up your shoes and head out yonder.  You’ll feel better, I promise.

Love,
The Fat Chick

Steinway Model D Grand Piano
Introduced in: 1884
Available in: Mahogany, Walnut, Rosewood & Ebony
Length: 8′ 10 3/4”
Width: 4′ 6”
Weight: 990 lbs 

Conclusion: A Steinway Model D Grand Piano weighs more than me.

On New Years Day we talked a little bit about the big fat cycle.  That 4 step circle that we go around and around every so often or every year or once a month.  The cycle (as I define it) starts with panic (OhmyGod, I’m so fat) moves on to fantasy thinking (I’m going to drop 4 dress sizes by Valentines day) Defeat (I’ve only lost 1/2 a pound.  Forget it, I’m eating cookies.  A LOT of cookies) and despair (I’m so lame.  I can’t even stick to this for one week).

Since we’re still pretty close to that magic January 1, New Years Resolution stage, I figured a lot of us are experiencing step one, panic.  Now this panic is very real for many of us.  We’re talking genuine, stay up all night, hyperventilating, I need a paper bag kind of panic.  For some of us, the jeans are a little tighter after all the Christmas cookies, or we’re heading in to see the doctor for our beginning of the year annual physical.  Or many of us just get caught up in the January insanity where all the newspapers and news stories switch seemingly overnight from recipes for chocolate holiday bliss to screaming about America’s expanding waistline.

It’s easy to succumb.  And for many, many years, I did succumb.  But at some point, I finally realized that it didn’t get me anywhere.  It just got me to drop my money and my common sense and sign up for some lose-weight-quick scam.  The reason for this is simple.  Panic is vastly inappropriate to this situation.

Today, we know panic as “ a discrete period of intense fear or discomfort that is accompanied by at least 4 of 13 somatic or cognitive symptoms… often accompanied by a sense of imminent danger or impending doom and an urge to escape…or desire to flee from wherever the attack is occurring.”
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition [DSM-IV]. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association, 1994, p. 394-403

The symptoms the DSM-IV list are:

1. palpitations, pounding heart, or accelerated heart rate
2. sweating
3. trembling or shaking
4. sensations of shortness of breath or smothering
5. feeling of choking
6. chest pain or discomfort
7. nausea or abdominal distress
8. feeling dizzy, unsteady, lightheaded, or faint
9. derealization (feelings of unreality) or depersonalization (being detached from oneself)
10. fear of losing control or going crazy
11. fear of dying
12. paresthesias (numbness or tingling sensations.
13. chills or hot flushes 

Panic is the body’s way of guiding us towards immediate unconsious action, i.e. fight or flight.  This is very appropriate if an elephant is running full speed on a direct collision course with us.  We don’t have time to think, evaluate the consequences and so forth.  We have to MOVE.  But panic is an inappropriate response to an issue like body weight.  Who are you going to fight?  Genetics?  Your grandma’s chess pie?  The stupid fashion designers who decided that skinny jeans are “in” this year?

And where are you going to run?  The gym?  The nearest “groupthink” weight loss center?  A surgeon’s office for weight loss surgery?

Panic is bad for a few reasons.  It raises blood pressure and bad cholesterol and heart rate and floods adrenaline into our system.  It shuts down blood flow to some areas of our bodies.  And while this is necessary and useful if a huge pachyderm is thundering down the road towards our location, it is not useful and physically dangerous if experienced over a long period of time.

And what’s more, panic reduces our capacity to reason and to think.  It only offers two choices–smackdown or run away.  Neither of which is very useful in this situation.

However much it may seem like it, you didn’t achieve your current body size, shape and weight in a day.  So it won’t hurt to take a little time to calm down and carefully consider what’s best for you.

So how ’bout it?  Get a cup of tea, love and take a deep breath.  We’ll cover the bases, one by one.  But for now, just breathe.

Love,
The Fat Chick

There is little nourishment in the world as important or as satisfying as spending time with a good friend.  Someone to share your joys and your sorrow.  A shoulder to cry on.  A drinking, shopping or eating buddy.  Somebody who will tell you that you have spinach in your teeth and when you need to find a new hairdresser.  Somebody to dare you to wear the bright red dress or the Armani dinner jacket.

I’m so glad that I have so many good and dear friends. And I’m especially lucky to be married to my very best friend of all.  But as much as we ourselves need nourishment, our friendships also need nourishment in order to survive.

Luckily, it’s as satisfying to give as to receive friendship.  Why not take a moment today to do something kind or generous for one of your friends.  Just do it right out of the blue.  I guarantee it will warm YOUR heart and nourish YOUR soul.  Give it a try.

Love,
The Fat Chick

Hummer H1 Alpha
Curb weight: 7847 pounds
Conclusion: A Hummer weighs more than me.

Sometimes there is nothing quite as nourishing as 8 glorious hours of uninterrupted sleep.  After spending the last 4 days working nonstop at a convention for one of my clients, I honestly can’t think of anything better.

Sleep is very important.  It allows your body, mind and spirit to repair normal wear and tear and prepare for the day ahead.  And what’s more, good sleep feels awesome.  I think you should get under the blankies and get some real rest tonight.   I could tell you  a lot more about the philosophy of sleep, but ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Love,
The Fat Chick

There are several grades of ice that can be used for sculpture. 
Crystal clear ice is made with more water circulating during the process and better quality water.
A large ice sculpture can range anywhere from 6 to 30 feet tall.
Large ice sculptures can weigh anywhere from 500 to 50,000 pounds.

Conclusion:  A large ice sculpture weighs more than me.

Mais Oui.  C’est grande!

She’s a big one:

2.5 million rivets

40 tons of paint

Total Height: 1052 feet, 4 inches

Total tower weight 9441 tons

Conclusion: The Eiffel Tower weighs more than me.