The Zen (sort of) Art of Camping

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Sometimes I joke that the best part of camping is how relieved you are not to be camping any more. Seriously. You know, like when you say to somebody, “It hurts when I do this!” They invariably dutifully ask, “Well, why are you doing that?” You reply, “Because it feels so good when I stop!” Yeah, camping is a little like that.

When I told one of my good friends I was planning on going camping, she said that for her, camping seemed to be mostly about cooking and cleaning up after cooking and getting things ready for sleeping and sleeping and picking things up after sleeping. And I agreed. Camping is kind of like that too. But for me, that’s sort of the point of camping.

For me, camping takes me out of my routine at home and slows me down. Everyday things like making a meal or doing dishes are more challenging when you have to pull everything out of a cooler and make a fire and heat your own water. But I also find that the slower and more challenging nature of doing these things in a more primitive way causes me to live in the moment. While I’m making dinner, I’m not also on the cell phone and figuring out what I’m going to wear today. While I’m doing dishes, I’m not also watching TV and thinking about what my last client said to me. I find that I can be absorbed in what I’m doing and achieve a state of flow.

For me, a state of flow is a condition where for a few, brief, blessed moments, I’m concentrating completely on what I’m doing while I’m doing it. It’s rare and elusive but supremely relaxing. It’s living in the now without reflection and without worry. It’s just a matter of doing stuff while you’re doing it. This is something I also feel whenever I teach an exercise class. There’s so much to keep track of while teaching–from how my students are doing to the temperature in the room to the beat of the music to what step I’m supposed to be doing right now to making sure that everybody is being safe and not getting hurt. Whenever I start thinking about what I’m going to have for lunch or whether or not I should buy that shirt I saw at the mall last night, it all falls apart. I stumble. I lose my place in the music. And I find I have to shake my head, march us all in place for a little while and begin again. But when I’m just thinking about my students and the beat and the dancing, it’s calming and joyous and maybe a little teensy bit zen.

So my little chicklettes–I want to ask you to think about what activities allow you to achieve this sort of moving meditation. What allows you to live completely in the “now”? Is there something you love to do? Something during which you can be completely absorbed and time seems to just “fly by”? I encourage you to find your thing. Maybe you could even try camping. Because, when you stop camping and take a bath and slip in between clean sheets on a real bed, it feels soooooooo good.

Love,

The Fat Chick

The Fat Chick Unplugged: Back to Nature

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The Fat Chick and family get back to nature

I often talk about balance on The Fat Chick Sings. My husband just finished up a pretty intense gig and I knew he needed a break. So the minute he told me the date of his last day, I announced that the day after his last day, we were going camping!

Now I love technology as much as the next chick. Possibly even MORE! And my husband works as a high level technology consultant. But sometimes my little chicklettes, you need to unplug and get away from technology for a little while. So we go camping.

We have a funny rule on our camping trips. We only check cell phones/email one time per day and we only check our spouses email/cell phones not our own. We know each other well enough to know what constitutes a real emergency and what can wait. And then neither of us gets sucked down the rabbit hole of emails and electronic love that pulls us out of the moment.

So we unplug the technology, stoke the campfire, pour some wine into our plastic camp cups and sit. We feel the breeze on our faces. We trace the patterns in the stars. We talk about everything and nothing. We breathe.

I wonder sometimes if feeling the sun on our faces is something that we need for health. Some casual googling reveals many folks believe that spending time in nature helps deal with depression, helps us heal, makes us feel more creative and may even help us live longer.

Now I’m not saying that camping and/or being outside is always awesome. There are challenges (more on this tomorrow). And I admit, it’s a whole lot easier to spend time outside when you live in Southern California than in many other places in the world. But it seems like getting outside for just a few minutes each day might be a good addition to our list of healthy habits.

So my little chicklettes, I invite you to spend just a teensy tiny bit of time today feeling the sun on your beaks and the wind ruffling through your fluffy little feathers. Take two deep breaths and call me in the morning.

Love,

The Fat Chick

Gone Fishin’

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Don’t worry. The Fat Chick will be back soon!

Hello my dear chicklettes. I don’t want you to feel neglected. I’m out with my family for a much-needed recharge! New blogginess coming soon. In the mean time, gone fishin’, bisy backson.

Love,

The Fat Chick

How You Should REALLY Use Your Digtial Scale

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In honor of our secret agent week, I couldn’t resist this happy little photo. So many of us allow the scale to be our evil nemesis. We step into its bathroom secret lair and allow the number listed on it to determine whether we’re having a good day or a bad day. We step up to it frightened, contrite and naked (unadorned even with jewelry) and allow it to determine whether we’re a good person or not. Ninja kitteh says, “unless you’re using it as a secret agent paw print scanning device, just put it away already. I don’t let any silly piece of hardware make me cry.”

Good advice kitteh. Good advice.

Stuff that Weighs More than Me: Giant Hovercraft

R.A.W.R.–Random Acts of Weightloss-industry Rebellion

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In light of this week’s James Bond/Secret Agent theme, I’ve been thinking about some specific revolutionary maneuvers of my own. Recently the “Screaming MeMeMe!” has helped to clarify what we’re up against. There’s a whole lot of hate out there my little chicklettes. But both you and I have the power to be a force for good. And there are so many ways that we can act up and cause trouble for those who sow hate.

Now not everybody is ready to be as public in their rebellion as those who participated in Marilyn Wann’s I Stand campaign, or those delightfully awesome folks who are gaining supervillian status over on Red No. 3 as Agents of Obesity. Or even those who participated in the Kiss-In to protest Marie Claire’s nasty article.

But that’s okay, because there are plenty of covert operations you can participate in as well. One of my favorites is NAAFA LA’s bookmark campaign where they print out body positive bookmarks and slip them into diet books in libraries and bookstores. And of course NAAFA LA’s Big Fat Flea Market is also an act of positive rebellion in quietly asserting that people of all sizes deserve to look fabulous at reasonable prices. And I love the post-it note campaign at Operation Beautiful, where folks are encouraged to post body-positive notes on public restroom and dressing room mirrors.

There are so many ways to be quietly positive in a world that shuns us and shames us. Sometimes it’s simply a matter of saying something nice to someone trying on a pretty dress at a department store, sometimes it’s about leaving a NAAFA brochure at a weight loss clinic, often it’s about just being you as hard as you can. So my little chickies, lets think this week about how you can perpetuate so R.A.W.R. And enjoy the secret thrill of making the world just a little better and a little safer for every BODY.

Love,

The Fat Chick

Finding the Right Training Program

I expect you to DIE(T) Mr. Bond.

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My husband and I have been watching a lot of vintage James Bond lately. So this morning when I was trying to decide what to write in my blog, I have to confess the above scene popped into my head. Except to James Bond’s query, “So do you expect me to talk?” Goldfinger’s reply IN MY HEAD was “No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to diet!” It’s always an interesting morning when your hubby rolls over in bed and asks you what you’re giggling about.

It led to an exceptionally silly line of thinking wherein I imagined what the secret evil lair of the weight loss industry would look like. I wondered, could the weight loss industry qualify for James Bond nemesis format? Let’s see:

Impossibly thin, conventionally beautiful babes working as a front for the organization? Check.
Attempted world domination by bankrupting various segments of the population? Check.
Perpetuation of male-dominated societal stereotypes? Check.
Organization selling something completely different than what is outwardly offered? Check.
Organization offering products that are inherently dangerous to the population? Check.
Organization infiltrating other society groups including not for profits for financial gain? Check!

Yup, the weight loss industry (on the whole) qualifies for a secret evil lair. And with over $60 Billion per year in revenue (that’s Billion with a “B”) there’s a lot of money to work with. Surely they could afford a hollowed out volcano or two. There’s probably even enough left over for a private submarine entrance and a tank with sharks with frickin laser beams on their heads.

And the prospects for the world weight loss industry as an evil empire look frankly, pretty good. After all weight bias is extremely useful:

Government running out of money? Being forced to cut popular social programs? Blame fat people! Prescribe weight loss.
Company benefits program cutting into CEO’s yacht fund? Threaten to cut benefits without weight loss.
Faced with diagnosing a difficult condition or disease? Prescribe weight loss.
Health insurance costs spiraling out of control? Government deadlocked regarding solutions? Blame fat people! Prescribe weight loss.
Can’t balance a city budget? Arbitrarily single out inexpensive foods, make them illegal, and prescribe weight loss.

Yup, all that’s left to do is pick out the sexy mid century modern furniture and come up with naughty double entendre names for the front office girls.

Because our governments don’t want us to talk, they just want us to die(t).

Love,

The Fat Chick

Stuff that Weigh(ed) More Than Me: The Beatles

Sometimes It Takes a Village–And a Pedicure

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This week on the blog we’ve been talking about help–why it’s important to give it and receive it and how to find it. Now I’ve got to share with you about a group that has provided such amazing and powerful support for me. I’m talking about my local Los Angeles chapter of NAAFA–The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. This fabulous group of men and women is one of the best groups I’ve ever been in, and I’ve participated in a lot of groups. But this is one of the most genuinely caring and supportive groups of people I’ve ever met. And what’s more, we get stuff DONE! We cook up some sort of fabulousness nearly every month and sometimes even more awesome than that. Somebody has an idea, everybody gets excited and we just roll up our sleeves and get ‘er done. Like the INDD Spa Day shown in the video above. We just made a few phone calls, sent a few emails and BAM, just look at the awesomeness!

So my little chicklettes, I want to encourage you to find a group of people who are just right for encouraging you. If you’re in the LA area, then you should DEFINITELY join NAAFA LA. And don’t forget–there are some awesome folks on The Fat Chick Clique and in the Fit Fatties Forum.

Love,

The Fat Chick