Tag Archives: body acceptance

Stuff that Weighs More than Me: World’s Biggest Cheeseburger!

Now that is some serious toppings kids. And there’s no question that this is a big, Big, BIG burger! This world-record-breaking patty was cooked and created at the Black Bear Casino Resort near Carlton, MN. I think you might just want to ask for a to-go box before you even start this bad boy. Here’s the stats:

Diameter: Over 10 feet

Patty cook time: 2 hours–flipped via crane and cooked for another 2 hours

Bun cook time: 7 hours

Calorie count: 4.1 Million

Weight: over 2,100 lbs.

Conclusion: The World’s Largest Cheeseburger weighs more than me.

Dive Right In

All New From Concentrate: Fat Chick Quips

Reductionism: Why They Want Us Smaller

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Yup, those dogs sure like to chase!

A friend of mine recently started experiencing a lot of success and positive attention in her career. She started doing really well, and began to realize some of the dreams she’s had for decades. But she also started seeing a lot more criticism for her weight, and found that that criticism had become nastier than before.

In addition to the increase in body shaming she received, she found that she was also feeling especially vulnerable to these negative comments. She found that things she might have easily shrugged off a few weeks ago were now hurting her deeply. She found herself frustrated both with herself and her peers. And she found herself yelling at herself for her hurt and her tears. It led her to ask me, “what is going on here?”

I think that as we get larger in the world and as we make a bigger impact, forces both within and without conspire to make us want to be smaller. I think this is true for two reasons:

Many of us women have been taught all our lives to be smaller. Think about it. From the time of our birth, many of us girls were taught to fade into the background. We were taught to sit with our legs together with our handbag sharing the seat. We were taught not to brag, not to make too big of a deal of ourselves, and not to make too much noise. So I think, for many of us, as our lives become larger, we are triggered by a desire to make our bodies smaller. We feel so conspicuous and so exposed by the new attention in our lives, we want to shrink back down, curl up, and not expose our luscious bellies to the enemies.

Dogs don’t bark at a parked car. And it’s not so surprising, really that our enemies head directly for our soft underbellies just as we start to see some success. Most of our enemies were taught the same thing we were taught. They were taught to be small and humble and inconspicuous. So what happens when they see somebody who starts to grow in stature and achieve many of the dreams they may have had for themselves? What happens when they see the car speeding away from them? They start chasing, and they start barking. And oh my goodness what a racket they make! When folks see somebody achieving something they wish the had the guts to go after, do you think they are introspective and use it as a life lesson to get themselves off their butts? Well some folks do. But most folks just run along side, nipping at the tires and yipping their fool heads off.

So my dear chicklettes, this week I’d like to talk about reduction. I want to talk about making our doubts smaller and our lives bigger and louder and even more amazing! Because I don’t want you to let the yipping dogs slow you down. Oh no. I want you to speed on ahead in your gorgeous, great big convertible and leave all those other dogs panting in the dust.

Love,

The Fat Chick

The right to bare arms

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In my previous post declaring body independence I asserted “I have the right to expose my fleshy arms as I embrace my freedom”. And I firmly believe this. Yet I sometimes still have trouble doing it. I am now coming to love my upper arms after a long time of disenchantment. I have what my dear friend calls “hello-goodbye arms” (because they just keep on waving). But you know what? It’s HOT out there! I don’t like hot and I certainly don’t like wearing extra clothes when it’s hot. I’m coming to terms with my arms. Instead of “hello-goodbye arms”, I’ve got “guns” (pew, pew). I’ve got biceps. They are powerful and strong. I can lift babies. I can lift groceries. In fact my arms are almost strong enough to hoist my insecurities.

So my little chicklettes, ask yourself in these sweltering days? What gorgeous part of you are you hiding from the world? What are you keeping under wraps? Why not use this summer heat to shed a little insecurity, and just a little more clothing?

Love,
The Fat Chick

Exercise Animals: Getting a Little Lift

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Okay my dear little chicklettes. Sometimes it can be tough. But it’s amazing how far we can fly when we help one another. That is all.

Love,

The Fat Chick

Is Exercise Sexy?

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The Shake Weight demonstrates the sex/fitness connection, sort of, well not really…

I saw one of those ads for athletic shoes the other day. You know, one of those ads where a perfectly shaped pert little body, glistening just so with perspiration shows a sexy godess of fitness–and I burst out laughing. I was giggling because I thought about how different that particular view of fitness is from fitness in my actual, real life. First of all there is no low mood lighting with special spotlights to highlight the shape of my rear end. I don’t, as a rule, casually drape a perfectly white fluffy towel over my shoulders. There’s no semi-pornographic, oom-chicka-mow-mow music playing where I work out. And there’s nothing that glistens, glows, or gently shines, because girlfriend, I SWEAT. And I think it’s pretty unrealistic that any amount of exercise is gonna make me look like that chick in the advertisement (even if I had the ARMY of stylists and digital re-touchers she’s working with). So I asked myself, given the huge yawning gulf between the advertising view of fitness and what exercise looks like in my world, is exercise sexy?

Well, I think exercise can be really sexy, but not usually in the way depicted on television. I think it can be sexy when it’s a kind and wonderful thing that I do for myself. I don’t think exercise as punishment is particularly sexy (even in a S&M sorta way). But I think the way that exercise makes me feel, is sexy. For example:

Improved Self Esteem–Feels Sexy

Stronger Body–Feels Sexy

Better Sleep/Better Rested–Feels Sexy (and more likely to be awake for sex)

Better Stress Management–Feels Sexy (and a lot more in the mood for sex)

And when you come right down to it. Research indicates that people who exercise regularly have better sex lives. So is exercise sexy? Yes, YES, OH GOD YES!!!!! Just don’t expect it to look like it does on TV.

Love,

The Fat Chick

Olympic-levels of FUN!

Spring Cleaning: Wiping out Negative Body Talk

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Let's do some "spring cleaning"!

In honor of spring, I’m initiating a little spring cleaning. But instead of cleaning closets and windows and cars, this year I’m going to try clean up some of my habits, and assumptions and attitudes. When cleaning closets or the garage, I’m pretty brutal about tossing out things that I no longer need or want. So this year, I’m going to throw away a few habits and attitudes that just aren’t working for me any more. I’m going to pull out the big trash can, and I’m going to start with negative body talk.

Does this sound familiar?

“I hate my thighs!”

“Does my butt look big in this?”

“I can’t believe she’s wearing that.”

“Why can’t I have hair like hers? Mine is too flat.”

Yup, those phrases represent negative body talk–those little phrases we say inside our heads or share with friends in conversation that put down that most magnificent and beautiful and personal gift, our bodies. Negative body talk is everywhere. Our friends do it. Our families do it. And most of us do it from time to time.

So what’s wrong with it? Plenty. Negative body talk has an immediately detrimental effect on our physical and mental health. A recent article highlights some studies that indicate that “fat talk predicts changes in depression, body satisfaction, and perceived pressure to be thin across time.” According to one study, the more fat talk a person talked, the worse they felt–resulting in lower body satisfaction and increased depression after 3 weeks.

Negative body talk is bad for us, and it’s everywhere. So why do we do it? I imagine sometimes it’s to fit in and sometimes it’s because we feel bad. But a lot of times, I think we do it because we don’t even recognize we’re doing it. You see, negative body talk can be kind of sneaky. Sure, we recognize a phrase like “I hate my butt” as negative body talk. But negative body talk can also be much more subtle:

“I’m exercising so I can tone up and look good in a swimsuit.”

“I can show my arms because they look okay, but not my thighs.”

“That dress just doesn’t look good on certain body types.”

“I don’t need to look like a supermodel. I just want to look good in shorts.”

This kind of negative body talk can be harder to recognize, but it’s negative body talk all the same. It’s still damaging. It’s something that “doesn’t work for me any more.” And this spring I’m working to throw it all out.

So my little chicklettes, how about you? Ready for some spring cleaning? Let’s get out some big cardboard boxes and the super big industrial-sized trash bags and get ready to clean house!

Love,

The Fat Chick