Tag Archives: Health At Every Size

Talking about Bullying

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This past Saturday, I  had the great privilege to speak on behalf of the Size Diversity Task Force at the Stop The Pain Anti Bullying Conference in Riverside.  I spoke about all bodies being good bodies and I talked with them about the fact that weight-related bullying can come from many sources including parents, teachers, doctors and coaches.  It seemed like many of them were interested in the topic and I had a great time.  But one of the moments that really touched me, came from a Dad in the back of the room.

The room was overfilled and he had stood against the wall for the entire presentation.  At the end I asked for questions and he raised his hand.  He said that he had come to the presentation on behalf of his sixteen year old daughter.  He said that he came with his beautiful wife (and he gestured towards her) because he wanted to know how to help his daughter.  He said that his daughter had always been somewhat heavier, and that she was having a hard time accepting herself.  He said that he and his wife told her that she was beautiful every day, but that she was having a hard time believing it.  He wanted to know what he should do.

I told him first of all, that he should keep telling her that she is beautiful.  That maybe it doesn’t seem like it’s sinking in, but that she’s hearing it.  I told her that sometimes we aren’t ready for that message at that moment in our lives, but that there will come a moment at some time in our lives when we are ready, and we will gather those words and those memories to us at that time and we will treasure them always.  I told him that he could offer help, but that he has to be patient.  She will only accept help when she’s ready.  I suggested that he could direct her towards support groups like the Size Diversity Task Force that could some day help her find her way through the prejudice out there and help her emerge triumphant as a size positive freedom fighter.  And I thanked him for asking the question.

Honestly, I was blown away by this guy and his wife.  They cared enough about their daughter to stand in a hot classroom for an hour and listen to me talk about my journey, size diversity, size prejudice, the near impossibility of permanent weight loss, Health At Every Size and more.  They were able to keep their minds open and see if they could learn something new.  And they were humble enough to ask for help.  Now I have no idea what it is really like for them in their house and in their family.  But I was deeply moved by the idea that there are parents out there willing to buck the status quo to really help their kids and there is hope in this world of size oppression within strong families willing to care for their kids in a way that may not be “socially acceptable” but in a way that works.

I am deeply grateful to Kandee Lewis and the Size Diversity Task Force for this opportunity to speak, but more importantly to listen and learn from other folks who are working to end bullying in their own lives and the lives of others.

Love,

The Fat Chick

Stuff that Weighs More than Me: The World Peace Bell

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BellIn the aftermath of all our country has experienced in the past week, I felt that I was ready to think about peace.  So today, I bring you the World Peace Bell.  It is located in Newport, Kentucky and is one of more than twenty large peace bells located throughout the world.  It was first rung at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2000, and it was said that it could be heard up to 25 miles away.

The bell was first cast at a propeller factory in France.  It then underwent a 1.5 month sea journey, and arrived in port at New Orleans, Louisiana.  The bell was then transported to Newport via the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, stopping at 14 cities along the way.  Presently the bell is rung on special occasions and every day at 11:55 AM (so as not to conflict with the courthouse bell which rings precisely at noon.)

Here’s the stats:

Materials: 80% copper, 20% tin

Diameter: 12 feet

Musical Pitch: A

Yoke: 16,512 pounds (7,490 kg)

Clapper: 6,878 pounds (3,120 kg)

Total Weight: 73,381 lb (33,285 kg)

The inscription reads:

“The World Peace Bell is a Symbol of Freedom and Peace. Honoring Our Past, Celebrating Our Present and Inspiring Our Future”.

The bell stands as a symbol for much that I am yearning for this week, and incidentally, weighs more than me.

Love,

The Fat Chick

P.S. If you’d like to learn more about making peace with your body, you might wish to consider buying one of my books or a DVD.  And if you go to my website and buy a copy for a friend, you can save $5 off the regular price! Just click HERE and enter the code “peace4_18” in the box!

For the 100th Time, Shaming People Doesn’t Help!

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chalkboard.001This week I ran across even more research that indicates that shaming fat people does not turn them into thin people.  This is hardly the first time this sort of research has surfaced.  I’ve talked about this many, many, many times.  But somehow, it seems nearly impossible to get public policy people and health people to get it through their heads.  They still advocate BMI report cards and singling kids out for special “health interventions” and still do not think they need to add “body size” to any of their legislation about bullying.  And meanwhile, bullying against fat kids is getting worse.

Maybe we should make them all stay after class and write 100 times on the blackboard, “Shaming people does not make them happy, healthy or thin.”  It doesn’t save our country money.  It doesn’t save our children.  Shaming people about their weight does not do anything positive at all.  Shaming or bullying people about their weight:

  1. Makes them more likely to engage in unhealthy behavior.
  2. Makes them less likely to seek medical help.
  3. Makes them miss more school and get lower grades.
  4. Makes them sicker.
  5. Makes them heavier and puts them at greater risk for eating disorders.

Despite a mountain of evidence that dieting and shaming don’t work, and a mountain of evidence that dieting and shaming cause harm, we still have public policy and health experts suggesting that we help kids by shaming them and teaching them to diet.  I think we just might have to give them all a piece of chalk and make them stay after school.

Love,

The Fat Chick

P.S. Want to learn about a body positive approach to health and wellness?  How about checking out my book or my DVD?

Stuff that Weighs More Than Me: The Biggest Pot of Tea in Boston

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If you have a big craving for tea, here you go!

If you have a big craving for tea, here you go!

If you’re having a craving for tea, I’ve got just the thing!  If you go to the corner of Court and Tremont Streets in Boston and look up, you’re likely to see this huge teapot steaming away.  Built by Hicks & Badger in 1873, this giant kettle has been a Boston tourist attraction for many years. The teapot has an apparatus inside that makes it “steam” year round.  Locals say the steam is much more pronounced in the colder months.

The “Big Teapot” is perhaps best known for its part in a major publicity stunt held in 1875, when a contest was held to guess the exact capacity of the giant kettle.  Over 13,000 guesses were submitted and more than 10,000 spectators filled the square on the day the capacity of the kettle was measured.  It took over an hour for Boston’s Sealer of Weights and Measures to fill the kettle and learn exactly how much it would hold.  At 1:05 the total was announced: 227 gallons, 2 quarts, 1 pint and 3 gills.

We don’t know the actual weight of the teapot itself, so I’m just going to calculate the weight of the tea that would fit in the pot:

227 gallons=1890.91 pounds

2 quarts= 4.165 pounds

1 pint=1.04375 pounds (at room temperature and sea level)

3 gills (each of which is about 5 oz.)= 0.978 pounds (at room temperature and sea level)

For a grand total of 1897.09675 lbs.

Conclusion: This pot of tea weighs more than me.

Love,

The Fat Chick

By the way, here’s a few ways to satisfy some other things you might be craving:

Want to work out with The Fat Chick?  Check out my free live streaming or just buy the DVD.

Want to get your workout program off the ground?  Try my book, “The Fat Chick Works Out!”

Craving justice and equality in health care?  Why not consider taking the time to create a video for the Resolved project hosted by The Association for Size Diversity And Health as well as the Size Diversity Task Force.  But hop to it!  The Size Diversity Task Force deadline is in just one week!

Right Now Show Episode 010: Craving the 2K Cookie

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Many of us have been taught that cravings are something to be thwarted, ignored or denied.  But our bodies have a way of insisting on getting what they want.  In this video you will learn about why it’s so important to pay attention to cravings, what happens when you ignore cravings and the very simplest and most effective way to deal with cravings.  You’ll also learn about the 2,000 calorie cookie, so check it out!

Intuitive eating can be extremely challenging.  But there is help out there.  Here are a few important resources:

The Fat Nutritionist

Ellyn Satter (especially in the area of family nutrition)

HAES(R) research about eating

And the amazing Golda Portetsky

Hope you get a chance to be good to yourself and treat your body well, right now!

Love,

The Fat Chick

Mindful Eating

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mindfuleatingA friend of mine had the above picture in her facebook feed this morning and it got me thinking about mindful eating.  I gave it some thought, and I guess I’m of two minds when it comes to mindful eating.  There are many different definitions of eating mindfully.  From making sure that what you put on your plate is exactly what you crave, to setting the table with candles and linens and enjoying every bite, to eating alone and in silence to tune in to every morsel to putting your fork down between every bite to slow down the eating process.

On the one hand, I think there are some good ideas here.  I think it’s important to eat food that tastes delicious to you.  I think it’s a great idea to focus on enjoyment when you are eating and allow your body to extract pleasure from your food as well as nutrients.  I think I enjoy my food more when I am not eating in front of the television.  And I think I deserve wonderful meals with candlelight and tablecloths and even fresh flowers. In general, I think food tastes better when I am hungry and less wonderful when I am already full.

But I think mindful eating can taste a little bit like dieting when the rules become too rigid.  I think food tastes better when every bite is savored, but putting the fork down between each bite or chewing a prescribed number of times feels like restriction to me.  And sometimes I want to get together with my husband or my extended family or a group of friends and enjoy a meal together.  I think it’s important to enjoy not only the food I’m eating, but also the company I’m with.  And sometimes, I just want to eat a hotdog at a ball game or eat pizza in front of the TV.  And I think in a healthy food life, all of these things should be allowed and savored.

I think I am most in tune with those mindful eating experts who recommend spending some time learning to get in touch with your body if your relationship with food and eating has gotten really out of whack.  If you’ve never really learned to distinguish between when you are starving and stuffed, it makes sense to take some quiet time eating alone to sort that stuff out.  And there’s been a fair amount of work done that points out that distracted eating can often mean that you don’t get as much enjoyment out of food and feel less satisfied.  I believe this is true.  But I also believe that hot dogs taste better at the ball park and chips and salsa taste best at a restaurant with a few great friends and a lot of laughter.

In other words, I think mindful eating is wonderful, helpful and beautiful–in moderation.

I’d love to hear what you think!  Just drop me a note in the comments box.

Love,

The Fat Chick

Cravings

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Recently, a very dear friend sent me a link to this video.  I think it’s partly because she knows how I feel about cookies.  But it got me thinking about what length I would go to to get a chocolate chip cookie and all about the nature of cravings.

In a recent post I talked about the “Big Fat Cookie Cycle” and how deprivation and binging go together like peanut butter and jelly.  There is no question in my mind that systematically restricting our access to certain foods gives us cravings for those foods.  But it seems to me the whole issue of cravings is somewhat complicated.

Cravings can also be driven by nutritional needs.  And as we become more in tune with our bodies I think we can learn to listen when our body is asking for certain foods.  Sometimes I crave things based on what my body needs like vitamin C or protein or carbohydrates or all the happy stuff in green leafy vegetables.

But what about chocolate chip cookies?  Does vitamin C stand for “cookie”.  (Alas, no.) Cravings can sometimes be about nutrition, but cravings can be about other things too.  Am I craving sugar because I’m looking for a boost?  Am I craving cookies because they just taste delicious?  Am I craving a chocolate chip cookie because it is simply one of the best foods invented ever?  And so sometimes these cravings happen and I’m okay with that.

Sometimes I crave a cookie because I’m feeling sad, tired, overstressed, lonely, depressed, or just feel like I need a pick me up.  And you know what, I’m okay with that too.

Sometimes I grab a cookie because I have three minutes in which to stuff food into my body before my next appointment and a cookie will allow me to quickly get enough energy to get through the next two hours and still keep one hand on the steering wheel.  Unfortunately cookies consumed for expediency as opposed to genuine desire do not taste so good.  So I’m working on this whole aspect of things.

The truth is, I crave different things at different times for each or all of these reasons.  I am not an “intuitive eating” ninja who always understands why I’m eating what I’m eating.  I don’t always have 40 minutes over which to enjoy a leisurely meal complete with linen napkins and candlelight and savor each bite of deliciousness and ponder its purpose in my life and resultant effect on my well being.  And I don’t only crave foods that my doctor or the latest diet guru says I should.  Sometimes I crave kale and sometimes I crave chocolate.  I am a real person with a real life.  And so I can’t always tell you why I want a cookie.  I just know if I don’t get a cookie when I really, REALLY want a cookie, (see above video) there’s likely to be a backlash.  And when that backlash hits, one cookie simply will not do it.  Take away my cookies for too long and I don’t even know if that jar on top of the fridge would be enough.  So I will continue to eat cookies when I really, really want cookies and try to make time for the deep philosophical pondering later.

Then again, had he lived in our time, Freud might have said, “Sometimes a cookie is just a cookie.”

Love,

The Fat Chick

Stuff That Weighs More Than Me: Antique Bath

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tubIf you are a major bath lover and I am a MAJOR bath lover, you know that antique, claw footed tubs totally rock for long happy soaks.  You also know that these cast iron beauties are heavy–especially when full of water.  You don’t want to put one of these into a bathroom without a reinforced floor!  But they are totally worth the hassle.  Because as far as I am concerned, taking a bath is one of life’s great joys.

My bathtub is a total immersion thinking device.  Seriously, there is something about the warm water and the bubbles that allows my brain to relax.  I have seriously considered adding a “tub time” line item to client invoices, because I get a lot of my very best thinking done in there.

But an antique claw foot tub is not something to be taken lightly.  Getting one of those bad boys up to a second story bathroom is a major, storming-the-Alamo-level undertaking.  Here’s the stats:

Length: 3-5 ft.

Width: 30″

Height: 24″

Capacity: 40-60 gallons

Water Weight: 300-500 lbs.

Tub Weight: 300-400 lbs.

Total Filled Tub Weight: 600-900 lbs.

Conclusion: A claw foot tub filled with warm water and bubbles (of course) weighs more than me.

The Right Now Show 008: Fit Fatties Cross the Finish Line!

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In this episode, we watch the Fit Fatties as they enjoy the final leg of their virtual journey–swimming, cycling, walking, running and dancing across the USA. Watch as they issue a new challenge to Fit Fatties Around the World!  The Fit Fatties are members of the Fit Fatties Forum created by Jeanette DePatie (www.thefatchick.com) and Ragen Chastain (www.danceswithfat.com).

Learn more and join the new challenge at http://www.fitfatties.com.  And if you’re enjoying the show, don’t forget to subscribe!

Love,
Jeanette DePatie
AKA The Fat Chick

Young Guns in Self Acceptance

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I was excited to see this video on YouTube this week.  It’s so exciting to see fresh, young faces who are embracing elements of the size acceptance, size diversity and self acceptance movement.  Laci Green has a lot of wonderful things to say in this video about the end of diets.  (Although some of the things she defines as a lifestyle change still sound a little bit like a diet to me.) She covers a lot of ground in this short time in a charming and fun way.  And she ends up eating pizza in a bikini!  How awesome is that?!

I am so inspired by the courage demonstrated by these young guns in the social media space–not only Laci Green, but also Stella Boonshoft with her brave photo, former Green Bay Packers cheerleader Kaitlyn Collins and so many others.  A big part of why I became the Fat Chick and started blogging and writing and teaching in the first place is the deep hope that I can, at least in a small way, help young people discover body acceptance a little bit earlier in life.  I hope to help them avoid putting decades of their lives on hold waiting to be thin, to help them reclaim a year, a month, a week or even a day that they might have spent obsessing about diets or their weight.  I hope to add my one small voice to the chorus of voices that are singing of loving and living life out loud–full tilt boogie in the body you have right now.

The voices are all different.  It takes different sounds to make a beautiful ensemble.  The music is so much more subtle and nuanced when it is sung by high and ethereal soprano voices, and deep chocolatey contralto voices and brightly shining tenor voices and deeply booming baritone/bass voices.  It takes all of these voices to make a choir.  I am thrilled and deeply honored to be singing the same tune as these amazing new talents in our community.

Love,

The Fat Chick