Getting off the Fast Food Train

We recently stopped at McDonalds on our way to a trade show in Vegas.  The McDonalds had converted rail cars–which is where we sat.  As you can see from the picture, it was kind of fun.  And as you can see from the picture, it was pretty windy.  And my German friend Marcel (also in the picture) was sort of interested in the whole McDonalds/Train Car/Tourist extravaganza.

I know, I know.  I’m furthering the fat girls eat McDonalds stereotype, but I do–very occasionally eat at fast food places.  (As do most people I know–skinny or fat).  I eat a lot less fast food than I used to though.  I have gradually weaned myself off fast food and now will eat it in a pinch.  But now that I eat rarely at fast food places, I find I don’t enjoy it very much.

That said, I understand the instant gratification, nom while I’m on the LA freeways for over two hours allure of fast food.  I’ve always known that fast food isn’t the best for me, but when you’re working an 16-hour day with a 1+ hour commute each way, it’s tempting to pull into the drive through and get a little bag of psudo-food. 

I tackled this the same way I’ve tackled other issues in my life–a little bit at a time.  As I may have mentioned before, I do not diet.  I do however try to tackle one “food related” habit per month to work on.  And when I started this process years ago, the first habit I tackled was the drive through.  I didn’t try to give up fast food altogether at that time.  And I didn’t try to deal with every aspect of my eating habits all at once.  For one month, I simply decided not to go to a drive through.  That was it.  That was enough.  Now, years later, I VERY rarely visit a drive through.  And I find that I’m not really even tempted any more.  So instead of trying to change all my health habits at once–which might last maybe a few months, I’ve tried tackling one health habit at a time–resulting in changes still in place years later.  I’m totally convinced this is the way to go.

A while back, I limited sodas of any kind to meals outside of the house.  I stopped buying soda for home a few years ago.  This month I went cold turkey on sodas and pretend sugar of any kind.  I thought, well this should be easy.  I’ve already limited soda.  WRONG!  At first the cravings were pretty intense, but as always, the cravings are gradually subsiding.  But clearly, for this month, that’s enough.

So how about you?  Do you have ONE food-related health habit you’d like to improve this month?  How about one fish or vegetarian meal per week?  How about eating a good breakfast every day?  Are you ready to cut down on your two-pot-per-day coffee habit?  Drop me a line and let me know how you’re doing.  And remember, success comes one step at a time.

Love,
The Fat Chick

Stuff that Weighs More than Me: Dover (and his Bloomin’ Arse)

Went to the races today and so I have horses on the brain.  (Not literally, I mean–ouch!)  But I loved watching those beauties sprint across the line.  So I did a little research and here are the stats:

Hand=4 inches
Height: 15-17 hands (60-68 inches)
Weight: 900-1200 lbs.

Conclusion: A race horse weighs more than me (and is faster than me too). 
Want to hear more about my trip to the races?  [Click here.]

What Eliza Can Teach Us.

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

Exercise Superstar!

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!

Stuff that Weighs More than Me: The World’s Largest (Easter) Basket

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.

Stuff that Weighs More than Me: The World’s Largest (Edible) Easter Egg

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.

Stuff that Weighs More than Me: The World’s Largest Easter Egg

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.

Please Stand By

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

Stuff that Weighs More than Me: Where’s the Giant Pita?

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.

Stuff that Weighs More than Me: The South Tower Bell at Notre Dame

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.