sarah redman |

If, like me, you were privileged enough to go to A Fatty Affair last weekend, I imagine you are still basking in the afterglow of what can only be called a massively cool rad fatty event. If you didn’t get to go, I’m sorry. But you can still view the clip above to get an idea of just how much awesome and win was experienced by all.

There was singing and dancing. There was talk about sex. There was home-baked yummy desserts. There were hula hoops. There were butt bounces. There was laughing and playing and more fabulous clothes for swapping than you can even imagine.

Kudos go out to Sarah Redman and her entire planning committee for creating such an uplifting, warm and positive event. I can’t wait for next year! Thankfully, Sarah has informed us that they plan on doing even more events in the coming year. If you want to stay on top of all the stuff this great group is cooking up, check out their web site.

This weekend reminded me once again, just how powerful community can be. I think at one time or another all of us feel like we are all alone in our journey towards self acceptance. But there’s no reason to go it alone. In addition to the Fatty Affair folks, there’s the Size Diversity Task Force (who has already collected over 15,000 pages towards the Paper Mache in a Big, Big Way project), ASDAH, The Fat Chick Clique and The Fit Fatties Forum (who have reached the Rockies in their jaunt across the USA). Don’t worry if one particular group is too far away or doesn’t fit your style. There are amazing size acceptance groups everywhere! So don’t try to do it all by yourself. Share or be square!

Love,

The Fat Chick

Click on the photo to see a beautiful video…

A friend recently sent me a link to this fabulous video on facebook. Apparently some dancers were looking for some inspiration for their new dance piece. And as they were dancing, 14-month old Ivo wandered in and started doing his thing. The dancers decided to let him lead and the result is the above linked facebook video which is rapidly going viral.

And why is that? He’s not a world celebrated choreographer. He never danced at the Bolshoi or studied with Fosse or Graham. So what is it about this little guy that has made him a facebook phenom at such a tender age?

I admit that I smiled and even giggled a little as I watched this video. Ivo is terribly cute! But I think what attracted me most is the idea that Ivo’s performance perfectly embodies joyful movement. Ivo is not calculating how many fat grams he’s burning or working on his “core”. Ivo is not wondering about calories or carb loading or fast twitch muscle fibers. Nope. Ivo is just dancing because he hears some music and because it feels good and because it’s fun. The fact that all the bigger people joined in is just an extra bonus feature as far as Ivo is concerned. Ivo is dancing because Ivo wants to dance.

I think children have so much to teach us about what joyful movement is and what if feels like. I was inspired by a talk given by the ever-fabulous Deb Burgard at last Saturday’s A Fatty Affair in San Jose (which totally rocked by the way). In her talk, Deb talked about how as an adult, she wants to bring recess back. She asks us to remember how great it felt to hear the bell ring and run outside and jump on the swings or the merry-go-round or teeter-totter. She reminds us of the release that came from just moving our bodies because it felt good, because it was a reprieve from studies and books and because it was fun!

Outside of borrowing a 14-month old kid to teach our fitness classes, I wonder how we can find our way back to this feeling again. Can we just hop on a swing and pump our legs as we taste the sky? Can we feel the whoosh of air going by as we spin on the merry-go-round? Can we respond to an elegant Cello solo by flopping on the floor and kicking our legs in the air?

Look, I’m a fitness professional. Obviously I believe there is a time and a place for integrating exercise science into our workouts. Science can help lead us to exercise and help shape our exercise plans so we can exercise safely and effectively. But I don’t think it’s the science that keeps us exercising. I think it’s the sky tasting, whoop and swoop and kicking that does it. So that’s the challenge I’d like to offer you right now. I’d like to invite you to let Ivo, and your old playground self to inform your next workout. Then, if you like, you could drop me an email or post in the comments to let us know how it went.

Love,

The Fat Chick