Tag Archives: the fat chick

Nekkid–the Joys of being Nude.

So, a number of things in the universe are conspiring to make me think about the joys of being in the altogether. There’s my post last Friday about the drama surrounding Lululemon’s $100 yoga pants. And then there’s the latest issue of Volup2 called naked which has so many wonderful completely NSFW pictures in it, you just can’t even believe it. I’m warning you, even the cover is NSFW, but here’s a link if you’re interested. There’s even an interview in there with me HERE, but lest I be accused of false advertising, I have to admit that the accompanying photo features me completely clothed. There are also articles featuring Substantia Jones and Leonard Nemoy so you may want to check it out!

There is something so joyful and freeing about being naked. There’s nothing quite like the delicious thrill that comes from skinny dipping or fatty dipping as Nearsighted Owl calls it. And unlike $100 yoga pants, being nude doesn’t cost a penny. (Well unless you’re arrested for indecent exposure–pick your time and place, kids!) One of the best pieces of advice I heard in learning to accept our bodies is that we just need to spend more time per day with our clothes off. This is not necessarily about sex. (Although more sex and better sex can be a consequence of spending more time in your birthday suit.) This is simply about learning to be more comfortable in the skin you’re in.

The more I think about this, the more I think it’s a super interesting and cool idea. In fact, I’d like to issue a challenge! As you know, with all challenges I advocate starting with just a few minutes and moving up from there. So to start, I’d like to suggest that we all spend 5 minutes per day outside of the bath or shower completely starkers. You can go to bed naked. You can do your makeup and dry your hair while naked. You can vacuum your house or do the dishes naked. Be creative!

If you’re looking for more (decidedly fully naked and NSFW) inspiration you could check out the most amazing Adipositivity site or the Nu Project or this totally delightful video showing Amanda Palmer’s response to the Daily Mail who decided to spend an entire “review” of her concert talking about her “wardrobe malfunction” rather than her music or her performance.

And as always, I’d love to hear from you. First of all, do you think The Fat Chick has simply gone off her rocker or do you think this might be a good idea? Are you already a confirmed at home nudist? If so, how did you come to be that way. Are you terrified to even try this experiment? And if you do try it, I’d love to hear about how it went! Did you learn something new about yourself? Did you find yourself feeling more comfortable with the idea of not wearing clothes every minute of the day? Did you get surprised by the UPS guy at the door? Hit the comments section and let us know!

Love,

The Fat Chick

Like my posts? You’ll love my stuff!

Buy my book: The Fat Chick Works Out! (Fitness that is Fun and Feasible for Folks of All Ages, Shapes Sizes and Abilities)–available in softcover and e-book versions

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Big Fat Yoga Pants

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Yesterday a brouhaha was begun when former Lululemon employee Elizabeth Licorish told reporters that her former employers routinely discriminated against larger customers. In other news, water is wet.

I mean come on. The store only stocks clothes up to size 10 or 12. And they label their size 12 as XL. Clearly this is a company who has never catered to a plus-sized clientele.

Licorish claims that while she worked at Lululemon, the company only stocked a few items in sizes 10 and 12. She also asserts that these lonely larger sizes were not displayed prominently in the front, folded neatly on shelves or hanging from display racks, but rather, were crumpled up in the back.

Which leads me to ask a question. How exactly is this different from nearly every other retailer on the planet? Aside from the few stores like Lane Bryant and Torrid and Christines that cater specifically to plus-sized customers, most stores have pitiful, tiny poorly managed sections for their larger clothing. Even if you look at the major, high-end department stores, the plus-sized section is much smaller, has much less inventory and is less well-staffed than virtually any other clothing department in the store. Given the fact that about half of American women are plus-sized, I have a hard time understanding the reason why plus-sized clothing gets less than 10 percent of the floor space devoted to clothing in the local neighborhood mall.

Lululemon is not so different than most clothing companies, in that they fail to see the amazing market afforded by plus-sized customers and they are letting their brand arrogance lead them into leaving millions of dollars on the table.

But they know this already.

So instead of yelling at Lululemon for improperly displaying the “ginormous” size-12 yoga pants retailing for over $100, I’m going to take this moment to remind the world that there are now some truly fabulous resources for budding plus-sized yogis out there.

On our Fit Fatties Forum we have the super amazing Abby Lentz moderating our Yoga group. Aside from being an awesome yoga teacher, Abby also has her Heavyweight Yoga DVD and an especially cool feature on her website called “Change the Image of Yoga” where she features lots of beautiful, smiling yogis who don’t look anything like the ads or the saleswomen you’ll find at Lululemon.

Another wonderful Yoga Teacher that I know and love is Anna Guest-Jelley. Anna is founder of Curvy Yoga and also offers certification for other teachers who are interested in learning the Curvy Yoga method of instruction. She also offers her world-famous 30 Days of Curvy Yoga program.

And if Lululemon pants fit neither your butt nor your budget, you might want to check out the yoga wear at Junonia.com. They have some lovely, high-quality pieces of yoga wear available up to a size 6x.

So may I make a suggestion? Rather than be upset that one hoity-toity “yoga wear” company doesn’t want to take your money, how about supporting one of these amazing businesses? Help them to help you and many, many others to spread the word that yoga is for every BODY.

Love,

The Fat Chick

Like my posts? You’ll love my stuff!

Buy my book: The Fat Chick Works Out! (Fitness that is Fun and Feasible for Folks of All Ages, Shapes Sizes and Abilities)–available in softcover and e-book versions

Buy my DVD: The Fat Chick Works Out! (A Safe, Easy and Fun Workout for Klutzes, Wimps and Absolute Beginners!)

Buy a book or a DVD for a friend and save $5! Just enter FRIENDBLFT in the discount code box!

Check out my Training Programs–both in person and via Skype (Starting at just $25!)

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Stuff that Weighs More than Me: Mirrors on the Hubble Telescope

Right Now Show Episode 16: The Fat and Proud Project

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In episode 16 of the Right Now Show we discuss the Size Diversity Task Force’s New “Fat and Proud” project. We also talk about why The Fat Chick has chosen to reclaim the word “fat” and how we can use that word to describe but not to define us as people. Enjoy!

You can learn more about why Jeanette calls herself The Fat Chick on her website here:

You can learn more about the Fat and Proud project and download the page templates on the Size Diversity Task Force Web page here:

Learn more about the Size Diversity Task Force here:

Read a fascinating discussion about how one organization is coping with the word “fat” on Ragen Chastain’s awesome blog right here:

Subscribe to the Right Now Show here:

Become my friend on facebook here:

And join my mailing list here:

Love,

The Fat Chick

New Study Finds Shaming People Doesn’t Help Them Lose Weight: Confirms Ursine Creatures Poo in Forest

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Bear poops in woods. News at eleven!

Yet another study came out this week confirming that perceived weight stigma does not help overweight get thinner people. In fact, weight discrimination is more likely to make them gain weight.

Participants who experienced weight discrimination were approximately 2.5 times more likely to become obese by follow-up (OR = 2.54, 95% CI = 1.58–4.08) and participants who were obese at baseline were three times more likely to remain obese at follow up (OR = 3.20, 95% CI = 2.06–4.97) than those who had not experienced such discrimination.

In other news, a study confirms the pope is Catholic.

It’s possible by now you are well and truly sick of hearing me say that fat shaming people does not help them lose weight. I know I’m a little sick of saying it. But as long as the world takes this “fat shaming doesn’t work but let’s try it again” approach, I’ll feel honor-bound to keep repeating it.

On the same day that I came across this new research, I came across this gem (warning, serious asshattery) touting some new “hard-hitting childhood obesity ads” out of the UK. While the article on Buzz Feed praises the ad for not showing pictures of fat kids looking miserable (as in the Georgia Billboard campaign), the author clearly needs a delivery from the clue department. Because, even if you use kindergarten level graphics or an image of an overflowing urn, shaming people is shaming. And shaming people doesn’t work. Shaming people doesn’t work. SHAMING PEOPLE DOESN’T WORK. *Grabs paper bag and starts breathing into it…*

Despite all the evidence mounting from all the studies about shame and obesity, the anti-fat people regularly demonstrate the qualities of insanity by trying the same things over and over again and expecting different results. I think the reasoning goes something like, “Even though it didn’t work last time, fat-shaming gets government and organizational funding like nobody’s business. Let’s get a grant to do it a little bit differently than we did it before and spin the results like a Maytag washer.”

So it seems that folks are going to continue to spend money on ineffective and dangerous fat shaming. And I’ll continue to write about it. It’s the circle of blog life I guess.

Love,

The Fat Chick

Like my posts? You’ll love my stuff!

Buy my book: The Fat Chick Works Out! (Fitness that is Fun and Feasible for Folks of All Ages, Shapes Sizes and Abilities)–available in softcover and e-book versions

Buy my DVD: The Fat Chick Works Out! (A Safe, Easy and Fun Workout for Klutzes, Wimps and Absolute Beginners!)

Buy a book or a DVD for a friend and save $5! Just enter FRIENDBLFT in the discount code box!

Check out my Training Programs–both in person and via Skype (Starting at just $25!)

Book me to speak at your special event!

Stuff That Weighs More Than Me: Cassini Spacecraft

Should the Boy Scouts Add a “Weight Cycling” Badge?

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Proposed (by me) “Weight Cycling” patch

In the wake of my previous blog post about BMI and the Boy Scouts of America (BSOA), I’ve been reading some responses. And the responses I’ve been reading by various members and officials within the BSOA are troubling to say the very least. Let me give you some examples:

1. We haven’t turned anybody away because of BMI. In an article found in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Adult leader Ron Blasak states, “there was no one in the Greater Cleveland Council who was turned away because of a BMI issue.” However, Blasak also admits that it’s possible “that someone read the requirements and shied away.” To which I reply, hmmm. Do you think so? Do you think that plastering BMI requirements all over the marketing materials and saying they will be strictly enforced just might make a kid fear that he will be shamed and ridiculed at this shindig? Do you find it surprising that your average 13-year-old might choose not to trap himself miles away from civilization with people who are convinced he can’t do anything?

2. We’re turning away kids with high BMI for their own good. In that same article, Blasak also states, “Overweight boys would have a tough time getting around and probably wouldn’t have much fun.” I have to wonder what evidence he is using to form this conclusion. BMI is a simple calculation based on height and weight. It doesn’t tell you anything about the fitness level of a potential participant. A Scout with a BMI in the “ideal” range may be very unfit and may be at greater risk than a stouter scout who exercises more and has greater functional fitness. Assuming that all the overweight kids will be miserable is just that, an assumption. And we all know what happens when you ASSuME.

We’ve given the scouts plenty of time to get thin. In many of the articles I’ve read, BSOA spokespeople are quick to point out that they released these health requirements two years in advance of the Jamboree, which should give the scouts plenty of time to get fit and achieve an acceptable BMI. In an article published by Fox News, BSOA spokesperson Deron Smith states:

“We published our height-weight requirements years in advance and many individuals began a health regimen to lose weight and attend the jamboree. But, for those who couldn’t, most self-selected and chose not to apply.”

To which I say, “You got it half right, but 50 percent is still a failing grade.” Over a two year period, it may be reasonable for a young person to make significant changes to their overall conditioning and fitness level. We know how to do that. What we don’t know how to do is make a fat kid into a thin kid–at least over the long term. We can make a fat kid into a thin kid temporarily. We might even get the timing right and make that fat kid thin at just the right moment to pass his physical and enjoy the Jamboree. But when we look at the statistics for that kid staying thin over the long haul, the success rates are dismal. So instead of teaching fat Scouts how to become thin scouts, we are teaching them the amazing, adult-level skill of weight cycling. This is the process of losing weight, gaining it all back plus a little more, losing weight, gaining it all back plus a little more and so on and so on. In fact, this process of BMI busting in order to make Jamboree weight seems ideally suited to the process of weight cycling. That’s what led me to suggest that maybe the BSOA should just make a “weight cycling” badge and be done with it. (Please see proposed badge design above.)

And what can I say about “self-selected and chose not to apply” other than “see point 1 of this blog”? Yup, if you tell pudgy kids and chubby kids and fat kids that they are not welcome in enough ways, with enough 14 point bold print on your website, they will ultimately get the message, “Don’t bother to apply, because we don’t want you.”

But the real story is not in the rhetoric that is flying back and forth on the airwaves and in cyberspace. The real story is the way that this policy will affect the lives of real kids. Kids like the one referenced in this recent NAAFA press release:

One mother reported to NAAFA in 2009 that her son was having issues attending Philmont High Adventure Boy Scout Camp in Cimmaron, NM. “Philmont has a weight standard and anyone over this standard is labeled unhealthy and cannot participate. I tried to explain to them that my son plays football, wrestles and runs relays, shot put, discus thrower, in track & field and a weight lifter. During the summer he swims, weightlifts and conditions for football. He has been conditioning for Philmont by hiking for 2-3 hours with a 50 pound pack on his back for the last 2 months. He weighs 261 lbs. and has been eating a 1200 – 1400 calorie diet trying to lose weight. Unfortunately he only lost 3 pounds… According to Philmont medical staff if he doesn’t weigh below 246, he will be sent home. It didn’t matter to them if he is active, only his weight number. I have watched my son condition for football and he can run circles around other players that are what society deems healthy.”

This is why this is such a big deal. We have kids who really want to go, who have put in the long hours of training required to be physically prepared for the challenge, who are probably in far better physical condition than many of their younger counterparts who are told, “go home fatty.” Given the rise in eating disorders among young men, I have a hard time understanding not only how this is considered reasonable, but also, how it can be considered responsible.

Maybe we need to help the BSOA along a little and propose some new HAES-friendly, body-positive awards. Got any ideas? I’d love to hear your proposals for new BSOA awards patches that are more likely to help young men accept and care for the bodies they already have and learn to feel comfortable in the skin they are in. Feel free to post your ideas in the comments below!

Love,

The Fat Chick

Like my posts? You’ll love my stuff!

Buy my book: The Fat Chick Works Out! (Fitness that is Fun and Feasible for Folks of All Ages, Shapes Sizes and Abilities)–available in softcover and e-book versions

Buy my DVD: The Fat Chick Works Out! (A Safe, Easy and Fun Workout for Klutzes, Wimps and Absolute Beginners!)

Buy a book or a DVD for a friend and save $5! Just enter FRIENDBLFT in the discount code box!

Check out my Training Programs–both in person and via Skype (Starting at just $25!)

Book me to speak at your special event!

Our Big Fat Community

See Fatty Run: Designer Sweat and Supermodel Athletes

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It’s enough to make you crazy. People of size are constantly asked to exercise, but are criticized for neglecting to look like supermodels while they are doing it. Sometimes in the same article we are told not only that we need to get off the couch and exercise but also, please, for the love of all that is holy do it somewhere in private where there is positively no chance the “enlightened author” will have to look at us. Is it any wonder some of us get fed up with exercise?

It seems that even for those in the highest and most prestigious positions in the land are especially vulnerable to attack while exercising. I’m not talking about physical attack. Those secret service dudes are serious business. I’m talking about emotional attacks that play out in traditional and social media. I was struck by this recent piece in the Telegraph entitled George Osborne horror pic: Why do Fat Politicians go Jogging in Public. Seriously. For realz. A major paper published an opinion piece by one of the EDITOR of their blogs complaining that politicians who don’t sport a perfectly toned and tanned body need to exercise in a gym, far away from they prying eyes of the public.

And this is by no means a new development. Bill Clinton was ribbed endlessly for his public jogging pictures–and not just during his presidency. When new Bill Clinton and Al Gore jogging photos surfaced in 2011, it made NATIONAL NEWS for crying out loud.

Obsession with the weight of the president complete with the obligatory Bill Clinton jogging shot.

Even incredibly talented and extremely accomplished professional and Olympic athletes are expected to look like supermodels at all times. I mean when an African American gymnast wins one of the most highly coveted medals of the 2012 Olympics we still feel the need to spend news cycles talking about her hair being a little bit messy. Because as we all know, Olympic athletes are all about teh sexy. And as the inimitable Ragen Chastain points out, even winning Wimbledon doesn’t prevent snarky newscasters from expressing their disappointment that the winning tennis star doesn’t meet their personal standards for personal attractiveness.

I blame Sports Illustrated. Not only do they have a swimsuit edition, which requires the featured women to have exactly enough athletic prowess to pose nearly naked on a beach for a few hours.

Is it any wonder that so many of us feel so very intimidated by the notion of going out to exercise in public? Is it any wonder that many of us who can’t afford designer workout wear, fake tans, liposuction and a secret service team feel like we can’t be seen on public streets working up a sweat. And once we get up the courage to get out there and stumble along, yet find ourselves facing some stupid kid hollering insults or making animal noises out the window at us, will we do it again? Will we lace up our sneakers, head out the door and face more abuse?

With all the outcry about lack of physical activity in this country, I think we need to spend less time idealizing “athletes” who have their own hair and makeup people and personal stylists and spend more time making fitness safe for the rest of us. We need to make more places that are physically safe for us to walk the dogs, ride our bikes and even run our untanned, unretouched chubby legs down the street. And we need to create a culture that makes exercise emotionally safe for people who don’t happen to look like supermodels.

Love,

The Fat Chick

P.S. Dear friends, starting tomorrow at 10 AM Pacific Time, we will be streaming live from the Size Diversity Task Force Big Fat Flea Market in Los Angeles. YOU CAN PARTICIPATE EVEN IF YOU ARE NOWHERE NEAR CALIFORNIA. You can buy raffle tickets online and you could win one of over fifty prizes with a total value of over $1,000. You can also use our live streaming feature to connect virtually with one of our personal shoppers. They will hand select clothing just for you and send it out via priority mail. This all happens TOMORROW, and you so DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS!

The Dubious Power of Pretty

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It seems like everywhere I look in the last week or so, I’ve seen more and more stuff about the power of being pretty. We’d love to deny it. We’d love to move past it. But this video interview from Dustin Hoffman, which has gone super viral in the past two days, really brings it home. In case you haven’t seen it, I’ve attached it here:

There is a lot to take in during this short video clip from Dustin Hoffman. I think many of us feel heartened that a man, any man, gets what it’s like to be ignored because you are not conventionally beautiful. We are inspired by the fact that he has this epiphany and we are moved by the level to which he is moved. But for the purposes of this post today, I’d like to concentrate on what Dustin Hoffman says he learned at an “early age” and how he said he was “brainwashed”.

Dustin Hoffman says that although he thought when he was dressed up as a woman for “Tootsie” he was an “interesting woman on screen” but he realized that if he met that character at a party he would have “never talked to that character because she doesn’t meet, physically, the demands that we’re brought up to think women have to have in order for us to ask them out.” He later laments that, “There’s too many interesting women I have not had the experience to know in this life because I have been brainwashed.”

It’s really interesting to me the way Dustin Hoffman describes so succinctly one of the deep tragedies of living in a society absolutely obsessed with the way that women look. He quickly gets to the heart of how this obsession is a tragedy for all people–both those who are overlooked because they are not conventionally pretty and those who lose the experience of meeting some pretty amazing people–including potential business partners, close friends and even soul mates, because they are brainwashed by the dubious power of pretty.

And I’ve been thinking a lot this week about how this comes to be. How and when does this brainwashing start? And in one of those not at all rare cases of serendipity, I’ve also run across a lot of stuff about how girls are socialized at a very early age to understand the dubious power of pretty.

One of these things is of course, Barbie (R). Much has been written about the impossible dimensions of the body of Barbie. We know that in real life, Barbie could barely stand up, would most likely not have a menstrual cycle or be able to produce babies and despite having the outfits for being everything from a doctor to an astronaut would probably find real life pretty taxing for her impossibly willowy and busty body.

Just last week, artist Nickolay Lamm posted some pictures of what Barbie might look like were her proportions more similar to the average woman. These pictures are a continuation of a larger project/study in which the artist compares the measurements of Barbie with that of average women. The pictures are striking. And they really make you think about the aspirations and goals we are giving to our young girls.

Now, unless you want to read a whole lot of nonsense from unenlightened, chest beating, non-Dustin Hoffman-like males, I recommend that you save your sanity points and skip the comments. But in a way, the comments on this post are deeply instructive. Despite the fact that there are links to research about how Barbie’s image can lead to unhealthy behavior and thought patterns in little girls and young women right in the post, and the fact that these studies are in no way obscured within the post, the comments are full of men commenting about how Barbie is just fine, how stupid feminists are, and whether or not they would “do” either the traditional barbie or the doll modified to look more like real life. There’s also a fair amount of moralizing about the “obesity epidemic” and a few women who claim to look like the traditional Barbie and don’t see what the problem is. See? See how many sanity points I saved you by parsing the comments on your behalf?

So is Barbie(R) part of the brainwashing that Dustin Hoffman was talking about?

And what about the princesses? There has been a lot written over the years about the influence “princess culture” has on our young girls. I was super excited to see this video from the folks at GoldieBlox, a small company funded by a Kickstarter campaign which is creating toys encouraging girls to learn engineering skills:

So what is the answer? We can’t keep our kids in a bubble and keep them from all the toys and media and images in the dominant culture. But perhaps we can strive to ensure they also have access to toys that encourage them to learn math and science and engineering. Perhaps we can help boys understand that not all girls look like Barbie and that confining their attention to a very narrow view of acceptable appearance is going to mean that like Dustin Hoffman, they will miss out on meeting many amazing and extraordinary women. And maybe like this incredibly talented poetry slam champion, we can fight–fight for our children to understand that they are so much more than pretty (NSFW):

As always, I’d LOVE to hear your thoughts and experiences! Record in the comments below. And remember, if you liked the post, please share it with your friends. Clicking is caring!

Love,

The Fat Chick

Like my posts? You’ll love my stuff!

Buy my book: The Fat Chick Works Out! (Fitness that is Fun and Feasible for Folks of All Ages, Shapes Sizes and Abilities)–available in softcover and e-book versions

Buy my DVD: The Fat Chick Works Out! (A Safe, Easy and Fun Workout for Klutzes, Wimps and Absolute Beginners!)

Buy a book or a DVD for a friend and save $5! Just enter FRIENDBLFT in the discount code box!

Check out my Training Programs–both in person and via Skype (Starting at just $25!)

Book me to speak at your special event!