Hey kids! My birthday falls on a Saturday this year so here we go. A special birthday edition P.A.D.S. Saturday submission.
What is P.A.D.S. Saturday you ask?
It’s Public Acts of Dancing Spontaneously. I know this isn’t entirely spontaneous. This kid has done a bunch of these Apple store dance recordings. He’s famous for them. But I posted it because, check it. Kid’s wearing aqua blue glasses and is rocking in a public place. Those girls behind him look all weirded out by it. But honestly I think they are jealous. I’m jealous. Kid’s clearly FEARLESS! This is my wish for the new year. I was like that once. I was fearless. Here’s to a year of finding my way back to it again.
Hoping you have a week that’s both FEARLESS and FULL OF DANCING!
As the nearby “Cabin Fire” has us coughing and staying inside, I thought I’d cheer myself (and you) up with a PADS Saturday. What is a PADS Saturday you ask? PADS Saturday is a semi regular Saturday-only blog feature which includes
Public
Acts of
Dancing
Spontaneously
I ran across this video and frankly love everything about it (except the comments of course). This guy has got it going ON! There is no questioning his commitment. And this guy has got some incredibly strong hamstrings, quads and glutes. Check it out when he goes down low. And slides to the floor. And, and, and! His dancing partner has some great moves too. But I have to say for inventiveness, for committing fully to getting his groove on and to rocking it out while not dropping his cell phone (note the clip) this guy wins the Internetz for today!
And I would be remiss if I didn’t invite you to collect just a little sumthin, sumthin from this guy’s mojo. Where are you holding back? Where are you making yourself smaller or less than? And how can you get out there and PUSH IT–PUSH IT REAL GOOD?
If you are wondering what PADS stands for, it is:
Public
Acts of
Dancing
Spontaneously
And for our very first PADS Saturday, we have this totally epic dance to Pharrell Williams’ song “Happy”. This kid decided to bust a move at the Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s basketball tournament last Friday. Since then his crowd-pleasing spontaneous boogie has gone viral, and why not. This kid has got some epic moves.
You’ve got the boogie down the steps. You’ve got the point. You’ve got hand claps up, down, behind and under the leg. And you’ve got the layback dance down. This kid is totally and completely committed to this groove, and for that, I salute him. You danced that like a boss! You totally earned the ovation you got at the end.
The dance has garnered so much attention, that word got to Pharrell Williams who reportedly said, “He experienced no limits. Every kid needs to know they all possess the potential to access that feeling.”
That, my friends, is what PADS is all about. It’s about seizing the moment. It’s about letting joy overwhelm you. It’s about parking shame at the door and not worrying about what anybody has to say. It’s about fully committing, I mean really GOING FOR IT–damn the torpedoes.
So what can basketball Happy dancing kid inspire you to do today? If you get a crazy idea, and ACT on it, I want to hear about it right here in the comments. Extra bonus points for photos and videos.
I ran across a video in my feed yesterday and I have to admit made me smile. It’s not perfect. The song lyrics have some problematic phrases. And I wish the leadership of the dance was a little bit different. But with all of that said, this dance held at a technical high school had some promising elements. One element is the diversity of body sizes and types found in the dance. This wasn’t 50 typical, thin, blond professional dancers and one or two token fatties. This was a cross section of a school with single digit and decidedly double digit dancers collectively shaking their groove thing. And some of those folks could really move! I find the whole thing pretty exciting! Here it is if you’d like to take a look:
Body diversity is so important for so many reasons. When I was in high school, I didn’t really have role models that showed me that fat people could be happy or dance or be sexy or have sex. I didn’t really have anything to counteract the dominant message that the ONLY way to have these things was to get and stay socially, acceptably skinny first. That’s why I love this video. There are people of all kinds of sizes and all kinds of SHAPE gettin’ down. The bigger students aren’t all modified hourglass plus-sized models. Not that there is anything wrong with being a modified-hourglass, size 12 plus-sized model. It’s just refreshing to see that people come in all DIFFERENT shapes. Some have a lot up top. Some have relatively small bust and a lot of booty. We’re looking at round, square, apple, hourglass, pear and every other shape and fruit you care to name. So we get to see that bodies don’t just have to be one size to be awesome. Bodies don’t need to be just one shape to be awesome. Bodies don’t have to be one height to be awesome. Bodies don’t have to come in one color to be awesome. Bodies don’t even need to all work the same way to be awesome. Bodies of all different kinds can just rock the house together.
I wish I had this to look at when I was a teenager. I’m really glad that teenagers get to look at it now.
Love,
Jeanette DePatie (AKA The Fat Chick)
P.S. Want to book me to come talk to YOUR teenagers about body diversity? I’m booking talks right now for spring. Send me an email at jeanette@thefatchick.com to make sure you get the date you want! I can work within most schedules and budgets! You can learn more about me here.
P.S.S. Want to get a book about how to move your body joyfully and safely at any size or shape? Buy my book here.
Dear readers. Please excuse me as I interrupt your regularly scheduled reading for this DANCE break! I ran across this great video yesterday and I just needed to share it with you. But before I do, let me share with you that “Jumpers” is a word that folks in Britain commonly use to describe what us Americans commonly call “sweaters”. And second, let me state that I can indeed count, but 5 Jumpers Jumping just doesn’t scan right with the song. (Think FIIIIIIIIIVE Golden RIIIIIIIIIIIIINGS!) Anywho, enjoy:
And I ask you. Was that not a hoot? Dads are gettin’ DOWN! Even with my busy schedule, I manged to watch this an embarrassing number of times. AND I downloaded the full track of the music. AND I even checked out the place you could buy those fabulous sweaters, I mean jumpers. Oh, and by the way, if you just can’t bring yourself to buy a sweater you only wear to one hipster party per year, you can always buy a DIY HolidaySweater Kit.
I love to watch people dancing. But I love to watch people who don’t look like stereotypical dancers even more.
That’s why I was so excited yesterday, when I ALSO ran across this new project being launched down under called “Nothing to Lose”.
It’s a dance production featuring amazingly talented fat dancers. You can hear about it here:
And get a little tiny taste of the upcoming awesomeness right here:
So I hope you enjoyed today’s unscheduled dance break featuring deliciously wonderful dancers who have inspired me to shake my groove thing today. Remember, whatever is going on in your life, and whatever else you have scheduled today, I hope you get a minute to get up offa that thing!
I now return you to your regularly scheduled reading. Well if you can sit still that is.
Lots of love!
Jeanette DePatie (AKA The Fat Chick)
P.S. Share the love and subscribe today!
We just finished the First Annual Fat Activism Conference and I am still a bit giddy. Of course there’s plenty of stuff we can do better next time. And of course it was far from perfect. But WE. DID. IT. I’m talking about 3 days, over 40 speakers and over 30 hours of live content.
And while I am proud of the accomplishments of myself and the very best producing partner in the whole entire world Ragen Chastain, I am even more proud of our movement. Of the over 40 men and women of many sizes, races, sexual orientations, abilities, ages and attitudes who so generously shared the wisdom they have accrued over years and decades. Of the people who texted and tweeted and prodded and questioned and asked for more. Of those people new to the movement taking their very first fledgling steps by sending in a comment or asking a question. Of the many people who shared their thoughts for making this conference better next year and volunteered to help make it so!
And when I feel this level of happy, I have to dance. Well today at least I can dance again. Yesterday I mostly slept. And I mean like A LOT. But today I am dancing and sharing a happy video of other folks dancing as well. I mean how cool are the Durham Diamond cutters. They certainly don’t look like stereotypical dancers. But there they are, running the bases and tearing up the field with their fun moves!
And if you are feeling sad. If you are not dancing because you fear that you missed out on all the awesomeness of the Fat Activism Conference this past weekend, I have some news that will just get you right on up outa your seat. You can still register for the conference and listen to the recordings, but you have to hurry.
Tomorrow is absolutely the LAST DAY to register for the conference and get access to the recordings. So get up offa that thing and run to register today. Seriously, you don’t want to miss this:
Love, Jeanette DePatie (AKA The Fat Chick)
P.S. Want to stay in touch and get access to FREE STUFF? Click here to join my list!
P.S.S. I speak all around the world on the topics of Fit and Fat, Health At Every Size, Body Acceptance, Fat Activism and more! CLICK HERE to book me!
It’s been a tough week for me and in many ways a tough week for our country. So I thought for today’s blog I would post a FRIDAY DANCE BREAK!
Whatever else you may have to say about this week, it has been a great week for dancing. Here’s just a few of the things that have popped on my feed this week.
First, I ran across this wonderful piece of a plus-sized pole dancer on Britain’s Got Talent. I braced myself for Simon to be a total tool, but (spoiler alert) aside from some eye rolling, he managed to keep it together and be a gentleman. And perhaps the best news is that the comments are disabled on this YouTube clip so I don’t even have to tell you not to go there! Sweet!
And then there was this fabulous clip. This is a group called Company and they took SECOND place in the Vibe Dance competition. Props for the fabulous dancing and at least a teeny, tiny bit of body diversity. There were definitely some khaki’s above a size 00 out there. And this group is tight. And SO much fun to watch. Check it out!
There’s another version of the video with more closeups available here. This gives you a better chance to see the different bodies that are rocking it out.
And last but not least, this week, I ran across this adorable dancing kid on my Facebook feed. I mean how cool is she? Seriously?
Werk it girl. WERK IT! And it just goes to show, that when you get on our there and shake your thing, other people will want to join the fun. It takes the little guy a while to get with the program, but he does eventually get to steppin.
So there you have it. Not a lot of thought or philosophy. Just chock full of wiggling, jiggling bodies of all ages, shapes and sizes. You’re welcome!
Thanksgiving will be here soon (at least if you live in the United States) and we’re swinging right into the major holiday season. Between the holiday parties and the extra cooking and baking and gift shopping and family obligations, it can be especially difficult to keep fitness in your schedule. Last week, I explained why the end of daylight savings time might be just the best excuse to start exercising EVER. In theory, you’re getting an extra hour of sleep and thus, I reasoned, you could trick your body into getting up an hour earlier without too much pain.
So how did that work out for you? Did you do it? If not, don’t feel bad. I’m not judging you. But if you feel sad that you missed it, guess what: you get another chance! Today is Veteran’s Day and many people (at least in the U.S.) have the day off. It’s a perfect day to slide on those tennis shoes and get in a little exercise. And if you are really especially clever, you can exercise your body and exercise your compassion at the same time by honoring a vet. You could walk out and participate in a Veteran’s Day event in your area. You could volunteer at a local Veteran’s Hospital. You could take a walk and explore a nearby battleground. You could even walk out to or march in a local Veteran’s Day parade.
You could even use today an excuse to start training. I’m training for an event which has become an annual tradition for yours truly–the Turkey Trot. I usually participate in a 5K Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day that raises money for my local YMCA. The course is short, fast and easy. There are plenty of aid stations, and a large percentage of the participants are walkers like me. I can take my time and have lots and lots of fun!
Participating in the Turkey Trot does mean that I have to amend the rules of 1-hour pants day. I now have to add about an hour of sweat pants to the mix. But I have found that this is one race that is scheduled on a day that I am not expected to speak or teach or have any professional obligations. PLUS, I get to go right home, take a shower and a looooong Thanksgiving day nap right after. Awesome!
And if a Turkey Trot isn’t right for you, how about a postprandial stroll to check out the early birds who manage to get holiday lights up by Thanksgiving Day? You could honor their industry while strolling by on your way to a post dinner hot chocolate, or antacid.
Or you could always go out with your cousins and play a little football. Although I should mention that activity is not without risk.
I don’t want to give you the impression that you have to exercise during the holidays or any other times. That’s up to you. You are the President and CEO of your own corpus! But I am suggesting that if you’ve been looking for another little incentive or boost to get your fitness efforts going, you can honor the holidays and give an extra special gift to your body as well in the form of exercise (or the form of chocolate, ‘cuz chocolate is awesome too…)
And speaking of gifts, I’m pleased to announce that the third winner of The Fat Chick’s Great Pedometer Giveaway is Megan Page Montgomery! Hey Megan, just drop me an email at jeanette at the fat chick dot com with your mailing address so I can ship your pedometer on out to you! Yet another great excuse for getting started with a fabulous, shiny, new fitness program.
I have to admit that the blog post I did on Monday broke my heart. The idea that it is even possible that a six-year-old girl may have died because of weight stigma is just so sad. I need to reiterate, that none of us can know precisely what that doctor was thinking. But the testimony she gave at her own trial makes me more than a little suspicious.
And you know what? It doesn’t have to be this way.
There are far simpler ways to help kids be healthy. Not the least of which is simply helping them find safe places to play and joyful places to move their bodies. Because one of the best things we can do to help kids be healthy is offer them fun ways to get exercise. Yet another study came out this week that indicates that cognitive abilities among kids have a lot more to do with fitness levels than BMI. But this fact, doesn’t seem to deter those who feel the best way to help kids be healthy is to send home a BMI report card. Despite the fact that BMI is very loosely correlated with health in young children, and that focusing on BMI makes kids more likely to develop eating disorders, and that focusing on BMI tends to lead to shame in kids which not only makes them develop other bad health behaviors, but also tends to make them gain weight, we are STILL PERPETRATING THIS NONSENSE IN SCHOOLS. Let’s focus on helping kids be healthy without increasing the risk from eating disorders. Remember this chart?
Helping kids be healthy can be positive and fun. This past weekend I led some fitness demonstrations at a local event. The City of Hope hosted its Foothill Fitness Challenge event here in Duarte and over 1,200 people showed up. It was so much fun! I led two fun dance demonstrations and was so excited to see moms and dads and kids all dancing together and having a good time. Check it out:
It made my heart so happy. Little kids and big kids and grandmas were all dancing together. If we want to help kids be happy, LET’S DO THAT! Let’s find some kids, put on some music and dance with them. Sure maybe it’s simplistic, but it’s also fun and is likely to do no harm.
So what do you say? I challenge you to connect with a kid and go out and play this week. Dance, bike, throw a ball around–whatever makes you (and them) happy.
Okay kids, I’m a little bit tardy (2 days) but I am back with a renewed desire to offer you juicy blogging goodness. And I’m back with a brand new video showing just a little bit of what I’ve been up to for the past few weeks.
On September 18, we held our second annual Hot Flash Mob in Justin Herman Plaza on the Embarcadero in San Francisco. The weather was GLORIOUS! Our initial turnout was small, but after some rapid recruiting among those enjoying the fabulous San Francisco sunshine we got a crowd together and did our dance…
This crowd was a great mix! There were men and women. There were older people, younger people and in-betweenies. There were thin people and fat people and people with amazing hair and even a cameo from one of San Francisco’s street population. We all had a wonderful time.
And all of this makes me more determined THAN EVER to get groups of people together and get them dancing. Because dancing is sort of like a magic catalyst. It crosses line of age, shape, gender, class, language, economic status and more. And even if you can’t do the moves just like I do, we can all find and share the beat together and boogie down.
It this time of serious strife and division, where I almost can’t bear to look at the news and hear the latest details about the complete breakdown of civility and communications, I think it is more important than ever to just dance.
Maybe that’s what we need to do. Just get all the politicians in the world together to dance:
fatchicksings.com 