Working Out in High Heeled Shoes and Other Forms of Insanity

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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

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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

Stuff That Weighs More than Me: Oscars Night Red Carpet

Right Now Show–Episode 003: Healthcare and YOU

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In episode 003 of the Right Now show, we explore the new initiative by the Association for Size Diversity And Health (ASDAH) called RESOLVED: addressing weight bias in health care. Jeanette DePatie (AKA The Fat Chick) shares some stories about her journey in healthcare and shares details about the RESOLVED project with the viewers.

For more information about the RESOLVED project, go to the ASDAH website. And to read another story about a truly frightening misdiagnosis of a fat person, click on THIS LINK.

And finally, if you’re enjoying the show, don’t forget to subscribe at: http://www.youtube.com/jeanettedepatie.

Thanks so much!

Love,
Jeanette
AKA The Fat Chick
http://www.thefatchick.com

P.S. This marks my 365th blog post! (One whole YEAR of blog posts=YAY!)

Don’t forget to enter your miles in the Fit Fatties Across America page on the Fit Fatties Forum. Let’s see if we can get out of Colorado and a little further down the road!

And if you’d like more information about how to pick a doctor that’s right for you, there’s a whole CHAPTER on that subject in my book The Fat Chick Works Out! You can buy a hard copy or an e-book, whichever you like!

Ellen and the Biggest Bully

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I love the Ellen show. I love the sweet, silly nature of it. I love the dance breaks. I love Ellen’s work to end bullying. So I was so very sad when one of my readers gave me a heads up that Jillian Michaels was going to be interviewed on the Ellen show. Sure enough, the show aired yesterday, and I am so very disappointed. I am so sad that Ellen had professional bully Jillian Michaels on her show for a super soft interview. First, she let Jillian go on and on about how she’s helping people with The Biggest Loser. Please. Who exactly is Jillian helping with that show? Scientific studies have been conducted. One of those studies indicates that people are less likely to exercise after watching The Biggest Loser. So the show discourages exercise. What about weight loss? According to Yoni Freedhoff in his excellent article “When Science Met the Biggest Loser” even former contestants of the show are unlikely to keep the weight off. There are a few, who have since made their body size into a career with lucrative speaking engagements and product endorsements who manage to stay thin. A group of researchers including the show’s own Robert Huizenga have determined that those participating in shows like The Biggest Loser face an extremely significant metabolic slowdown after their weight loss, making it very difficulty and extremely unlikely that participants will maintain their weight loss. Another study cited in Freedhoff’s excellent article indicates that people who watched even a single episode of The Biggest Loser led viewers to “dramatically increase their own hateful and negative biases towards those with obesity”.

So who is Jillian helping? She’s making millions of dollars participating in a show that increases stigma against people of size, makes people less likely to exercise and espouses a weight loss method almost guaranteed to leave participants even larger in the long run.

Next, Jillian went on to complain that her role on the show is taken out of context and that people see her as a “cartoon caricature”. Yet, in this same episode of Ellen, Jillian participates in a segment where she “yells at Ellen” and is in turn yelled at by Sean Hays for not, yelling at Ellen well enough. The clip concludes with Ellen and Sean making sure Jillian is gone and then stuffing popcorn and donuts into their face as quickly as they can. So if Jillian worried about her image as the woman who yells at people a lot, she sure has a funny way of dispelling that image. I think it important to mention the one thing in this clip that is accurate. There are studies that indicate that shaming and bullying people is more likely to produce binge eating and other negative health habits than to encourage healthy habits. So score one for accuracy there. But I don’t think Jillian is misunderstood. She is a professional bully. She makes her living by finding new ways to humiliate and shame fat people. She makes MILLIONS of dollars at it. Misunderstood? I think she’s understood only too well. If by chance there is some shred of decency in her, if she really doesn’t believe in behaving like a cartoon villain, guess what? All she had to do was walk away from the show and not come back. All she had to do was turn down those big fat paychecks. She didn’t. She may use that “I’m helping people” line to make herself feel better, but she isn’t making people feel better. She isn’t making people healthier. What she’s making is money and LOTS of it. What’s not to understand?

Then Jillian went on to a section where she busted some exercise myths. Please. As if Jillian Michaels is somebody we should trust to fill us in on health and fitness. The Biggest Loser is one of the greatest perpetrators of exercise myths on the planet. As I pointed out in two previous posts, just about everything they do on The Biggest Loser goes against solid exercise science. And as was stated previously in this post, science indicates that The Biggest Loser does more harm than good. Either Jillian is in agreement with what happens on The Biggest Loser which demonstrates poor analytical skills, or she’s in disagreement with what happens on The Biggest Loser and participates merely to make a buck. Either way, this is not a person I’m going to turn to for solid advice about health and fitness.

I can’t say I’m disappointed in Jillian. She delivered exactly the kind of nonsense I thought she would. But I am disappointed that Ellen caved to whatever pressure was brought to bear and allowed someone like Jillian Michaels on her show. I’m so sad that Ellen offered yet another media platform to a person who makes her living hurting and humiliating fat people.

By the way, the petition to keep kids off The Biggest Loser is still live. If you haven’t signed yet, you still can. Why not do it Right Now?

Love,

The Fat Chick

A Fatty Affair 2013 was Off the Hook!

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If, like me, you were privileged enough to go to A Fatty Affair last weekend, I imagine you are still basking in the afterglow of what can only be called a massively cool rad fatty event. If you didn’t get to go, I’m sorry. But you can still view the clip above to get an idea of just how much awesome and win was experienced by all.

There was singing and dancing. There was talk about sex. There was home-baked yummy desserts. There were hula hoops. There were butt bounces. There was laughing and playing and more fabulous clothes for swapping than you can even imagine.

Kudos go out to Sarah Redman and her entire planning committee for creating such an uplifting, warm and positive event. I can’t wait for next year! Thankfully, Sarah has informed us that they plan on doing even more events in the coming year. If you want to stay on top of all the stuff this great group is cooking up, check out their web site.

This weekend reminded me once again, just how powerful community can be. I think at one time or another all of us feel like we are all alone in our journey towards self acceptance. But there’s no reason to go it alone. In addition to the Fatty Affair folks, there’s the Size Diversity Task Force (who has already collected over 15,000 pages towards the Paper Mache in a Big, Big Way project), ASDAH, The Fat Chick Clique and The Fit Fatties Forum (who have reached the Rockies in their jaunt across the USA). Don’t worry if one particular group is too far away or doesn’t fit your style. There are amazing size acceptance groups everywhere! So don’t try to do it all by yourself. Share or be square!

Love,

The Fat Chick

Joyful Movement Taught by 14 Month-Old Ivo

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Click on the photo to see a beautiful video…

A friend recently sent me a link to this fabulous video on facebook. Apparently some dancers were looking for some inspiration for their new dance piece. And as they were dancing, 14-month old Ivo wandered in and started doing his thing. The dancers decided to let him lead and the result is the above linked facebook video which is rapidly going viral.

And why is that? He’s not a world celebrated choreographer. He never danced at the Bolshoi or studied with Fosse or Graham. So what is it about this little guy that has made him a facebook phenom at such a tender age?

I admit that I smiled and even giggled a little as I watched this video. Ivo is terribly cute! But I think what attracted me most is the idea that Ivo’s performance perfectly embodies joyful movement. Ivo is not calculating how many fat grams he’s burning or working on his “core”. Ivo is not wondering about calories or carb loading or fast twitch muscle fibers. Nope. Ivo is just dancing because he hears some music and because it feels good and because it’s fun. The fact that all the bigger people joined in is just an extra bonus feature as far as Ivo is concerned. Ivo is dancing because Ivo wants to dance.

I think children have so much to teach us about what joyful movement is and what if feels like. I was inspired by a talk given by the ever-fabulous Deb Burgard at last Saturday’s A Fatty Affair in San Jose (which totally rocked by the way). In her talk, Deb talked about how as an adult, she wants to bring recess back. She asks us to remember how great it felt to hear the bell ring and run outside and jump on the swings or the merry-go-round or teeter-totter. She reminds us of the release that came from just moving our bodies because it felt good, because it was a reprieve from studies and books and because it was fun!

Outside of borrowing a 14-month old kid to teach our fitness classes, I wonder how we can find our way back to this feeling again. Can we just hop on a swing and pump our legs as we taste the sky? Can we feel the whoosh of air going by as we spin on the merry-go-round? Can we respond to an elegant Cello solo by flopping on the floor and kicking our legs in the air?

Look, I’m a fitness professional. Obviously I believe there is a time and a place for integrating exercise science into our workouts. Science can help lead us to exercise and help shape our exercise plans so we can exercise safely and effectively. But I don’t think it’s the science that keeps us exercising. I think it’s the sky tasting, whoop and swoop and kicking that does it. So that’s the challenge I’d like to offer you right now. I’d like to invite you to let Ivo, and your old playground self to inform your next workout. Then, if you like, you could drop me an email or post in the comments to let us know how it went.

Love,

The Fat Chick

Stuff that Weighs More Than Me: Giant Frozen Poo Sculpture

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Oh my goodness. Once I saw this posted on my friend Kathleen’s wall, I just knew what I was going to use for my Friday blog post this week. I mean it’s got everything! It’s a sculpture, and it’s frozen and it’s made of cow poop! It’s in Russia, and it depicts a king cobra just in time for (wait for it) the Year of the Snake.

And lest you think this is the first of its kind, it appears that the artist, Mikhail Bopposov is a serial scat sculptor. Apparently Mikhail has previously created a poop tank, and a winged serpent to celebrate the Year of the Dragon.

He’s practicing up for next year which will be the Year of the Horse. At least I know that I won’t run out of blog, um, material for a while.

Anyways, here’s the stats (that I could find…)

Subject: King Cobra

Materials: Cow dung (“balbalkh” as it is known in his native Yakut language) contributed from Mikhail’s 17 cows.

Weight: 880 pounds

Conclusion: The world’s largest poo sculpture weighs more than me.

The Right Now! Show: On the Size Diversity Task Force

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This week on episode 2 of “The Right Now Show with Jeanette DePatie (AKA The Fat Chick) I’ll be talking about a fabulous activism project created by the Size Diversity Task Force (of which I am a proud member). The Size Diversity Task Force is asking folks to “liberate” diet books from thrift shops and rummage sales and donate the pages to the SDTF. The group will then take the pages and use them to create a world-record breaking paper-mache sculpture! You can learn more about it here:

Paper Mache in a Big, Big Way

Oh and if you’d like to win extra special bonus points and save the planet while you’re liberating diet books, check out this video created by Julianne Wotasik and Ragen Chastain:

I had so much fun working on this trailer. And I liberated over 1,500 pages for the cause just in one day! It was easy! Thanks so much for your interest in the show. Remember, I’m collecting ideas for future shows so drop me an email at jeanette at thefatchick dot com to let me know what you’d like me to talk about.

And to make sure you don’t miss a single episode of The Right Now! Show, don’t forget to subscribe to this channel.

Thanks!
Jeanette DePatie
AKA The Fat Chick
http://www.thefatchick.com

P.S. Tonight I’ll also be doing a Teleseminar with Anne Cuthbert. You can sign up for free right HERE! I’ll be speaking at 5:00 PM (PST) and I can’t wait to take your questions about how to set up fitness resolutions that won’t leave you sad, sick, injured or dead!

I want to be the chubby mouse with the big fat brain.

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Isn’t it interesting how so many people who have never met us are nevertheless quite sure they know exactly what we want? I have been inspired by a number of amazing posts by fellow HAES experts this week that talk about the notion that no matter what the cost, we all want to be thin.

It all started with Ragen Chastain’s amazing post about the notion of having a “fat brain”. She talks about the various “experts” she’s run into who promise that being fat is simply a state of mind. These experts tell us that if we just get our mind right, we’ll be thin. And I have to state, I’ve run into a fair share of folk who have suggested the same thing to me. I remember sitting through a lecture during one of my fitness certifications where the leaders decided to go off book. They drew a stick person on the board with a hole in the center. They said that fat people eat because they have a hole in their lives that they need to fill with food. They suggested that once these poor fat folks figured out where the “empty spot” was and learned to fill it with something other than food, they would be thin. I wish I could say that I stood up at that moment and asked the leaders where the “hole” was in my fat body, because I sure couldn’t see it. I think I was too angry and freaked out to stand up at that moment. (And in retrospect, maybe asking a fitness instructor to help me find my “hole” wasn’t such a good idea after all. And in light of the proposed medicalized bulimia apparatus a new “hole” may wind up in the future of quite a few fat folk.) I seethed the entire weekend and ultimately wrote a scathingly bad review and called the district supervisor. But the message of these misguided teachers was nevertheless quite clear. I had a fat body because I had a fat brain. And nobody wants a fat brain, right?

Except, I kinda do. Because you know what? Brains are made up of mostly water and fat. And we can argue on and on about the type of fat that is in our brains. But no matter how you slice it, a scrawny, skinny brain is not the very best for thinkin’. I like my fat brain. In fact, I might even want to plump that bad boy up a little. So score 0 for the folks who felt quite confident they could read my chubby little mind.

On to the next cyberbump on this topic, this time delivered by the always amazing Dr. Deah Schwartz. It seems she was pretty upset about the last line found in this article discussing how endocrine disruptors have been shown to cause obesity in mice. The article begins with a picture of two mice–one skinny and one fat and ends with the line, “After all, which mouse would we rather look like?” Clearly the author believes that no one would rather look like the more rotund rodent. Just like nobody could possibly want a fat brain. Except, I’m not so sure. I think the tubby mouse actually looks a little cuter. And since this mouse study seems to indicate that mice who are on a diet seem to be depressed all the time, I think I’d prefer to look like the fluffier little fella.

Look. If you wanna be my lover (or friend or collegue), don’t assume you know what I want. Don’t assume that I am eager to meet your aesthetic standards for the way I look or what I eat or how I hope to be. If you want to know, ask. Then I’ll tell you what I want what I really, really want. The answer just might be something completely different than you originally thought.

Love,

The Fat Chick.

P.S. Tune in to the blog tomorrow for the next episode of my new YouTube show: “Right Now! with Jeanette DePatie (AKA The Fat Chick). And don’t miss the telesummit I”m doing with Anne Cuthbert tomorrow about setting safe, healthy and happy exercise goals. And finally don’t forget to add your minutes and miles to the Fit Fatties Across America form. Help us get all the way to San Jose in time for A Fatty Affair on Saturday! We’ve got 1,300 miles to go, so enter your time and your miles today!