Tag Archives: weight loss

New Years Resolution Special Edition

Hello everybody. Sorry the post is so late today, but I was working up the special treat you see in the video above. I’ve been thinking a lot about New Years resolutions lately and how to make them more body positive. That was the inspiration for the video.

I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that the video mostly has pictures of me. And while I’m okay with looking at pictures of myself, what I REALLY would like to do is create a video with some pictures of YOU. I think working together makes us so much stronger! So, I’d love it if you would send me some photos along with body-positive resolutions. Just send them to projects@thefatchick.com. You can use the video above as an example of the kinds of photos and resolutions I’m seeking. You can send anything–(just keep it PG and body positive, please!)

I’m so excited about the coming year and the amazing projects we can do together! For instance, on the Fit Fatties Forum we are launching Fit Fatties Across America. Starting tomorrow, forum members can enter their exercise duration or miles on a very simple form. We’ll add everybody’s time and distance together and calculate how long it will take all of the Fit Fatties to get across the USA. (NOTE: the program is open to folks all over the world. We simply picked the US as a beginning geographical marker. Once we get from New York to LA, we’ll have a big party and begin discussing “Fit Fatties Across the World” or “Fit Fatties Fly to the Moon!”) If you’re interested be sure to join the forum (it’s FREE) and hop right on in there!

Also launching on the Fit Fatties Forum on January 1 are, by member request, training and support groups. There are groups lead by fat certified fitness professionals for people of all sizes, abilities, and goals. There is a group for those with a goal of 150 minutes of activity a week, a group for those planning to participate in a fitness event this year, one for those who want to enjoy movement without tracking or structure, and then there’s Team Zombie. People can join as many groups as they would like. There is a small fee to be involved but it’s pretty cheap and it will be awesome. You can find out more info here. (If you aren’t a member you’ll be prompted to join at the link – it’s free and doesn’t commit you to anything.)

We are also launching an amazing new project with the Size Diversity Task Force here in Los Angeles. We’ll be “liberating” diet books and papers from our closets and garages as well as local resale shops, thrift stores and rummage sales. We will then be incorporating these diet books into an extra special super cool art project! Want to make sure you’re in the loop on this awesome project? Check out the site for the Size Diversity Task Force.

Well that’s about the limit of awesome I can fit into one blog post. Tune in soon for more updates. Oh, and Happy New Year!

Love,

The Fat Chick

I expect you to DIE(T) Mr. Bond.

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My husband and I have been watching a lot of vintage James Bond lately. So this morning when I was trying to decide what to write in my blog, I have to confess the above scene popped into my head. Except to James Bond’s query, “So do you expect me to talk?” Goldfinger’s reply IN MY HEAD was “No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to diet!” It’s always an interesting morning when your hubby rolls over in bed and asks you what you’re giggling about.

It led to an exceptionally silly line of thinking wherein I imagined what the secret evil lair of the weight loss industry would look like. I wondered, could the weight loss industry qualify for James Bond nemesis format? Let’s see:

Impossibly thin, conventionally beautiful babes working as a front for the organization? Check.
Attempted world domination by bankrupting various segments of the population? Check.
Perpetuation of male-dominated societal stereotypes? Check.
Organization selling something completely different than what is outwardly offered? Check.
Organization offering products that are inherently dangerous to the population? Check.
Organization infiltrating other society groups including not for profits for financial gain? Check!

Yup, the weight loss industry (on the whole) qualifies for a secret evil lair. And with over $60 Billion per year in revenue (that’s Billion with a “B”) there’s a lot of money to work with. Surely they could afford a hollowed out volcano or two. There’s probably even enough left over for a private submarine entrance and a tank with sharks with frickin laser beams on their heads.

And the prospects for the world weight loss industry as an evil empire look frankly, pretty good. After all weight bias is extremely useful:

Government running out of money? Being forced to cut popular social programs? Blame fat people! Prescribe weight loss.
Company benefits program cutting into CEO’s yacht fund? Threaten to cut benefits without weight loss.
Faced with diagnosing a difficult condition or disease? Prescribe weight loss.
Health insurance costs spiraling out of control? Government deadlocked regarding solutions? Blame fat people! Prescribe weight loss.
Can’t balance a city budget? Arbitrarily single out inexpensive foods, make them illegal, and prescribe weight loss.

Yup, all that’s left to do is pick out the sexy mid century modern furniture and come up with naughty double entendre names for the front office girls.

Because our governments don’t want us to talk, they just want us to die(t).

Love,

The Fat Chick

Sweaty and Fabulous: Plus Sized Fitness Wear for EVERY Body

But won’t you lose weight if…?

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At the San Bernardino Valley College screening of “Strong!”

Last night at the panel discussion after the screening of StrongI at the San Bernardino Valley College, I got asked a very common question. People assume, that if I did a marathon or if I ate healthy or if taught aerobics, I would have lost weight. And audience members were, as always, floored when I told them, yes I did those things and no I didn’t lose weight. They usually follow this question with a tentative, “well you lost inches, right?”. To which I usually respond, “well I didn’t get any shorter!” Seriously, it seems very hard for folks to believe that a person can do healthy things, even extraordinary physical things and not get thin. This seems to fly in the face of EVERYTHING that they’ve heard. And I’m sorry about that. But it’s still true.

When I started teaching fitness, I went from very little exercise to over 4 hours per week. Did I get svelte? Did I get slim? Nope! When I bumped my teaching up to 9 hours per week, I lost somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 pounds and ended up with a ligament tear in my knee. I gained one 3-pound pair of crutches for a net weight loss of 0.00. While training for the marathon, I routinely walked and ran 15 to 20 miles per week. Near the end it was well over 30. And you know how much weight I lost? Zero. Zip. Zilch. I felt better. I was stronger and healthier. And no doubt some of my weight shifted around a bit. But the fact is, I didn’t get thin.

And here’s why that’s important. Wouldn’t it have been a shame for me to have crossed the finish line of my first (and only) marathon feeling like a failure? Can you imagine? Going 26.2 miles in one day without dying and feeling like a FAILURE? Well that’s precisely what would have happened had I not learned to separate the concept of fitness from the concept of weight loss. Since I wasn’t worried about losing weight, I can tell you that crossing that finish line was one of the most amazing moments of my life.

So that’s it. That’s why I call myself The Fat Chick. Because I think it is so very important to let fitness stand on its own as an accomplishment. Because I want people to understand that not all folks who exercise look like fitness cover models. A lot of them look an awful lot like me. In fact, if you’d like to see some exercisers of size, don’t forget to hit the photo gallery of Fit Fatties which I developed in concert with the lovely and amazing Ms. Ragen Chastain.

And remember my little chicklettes, if you want to see what an athlete looks like, just check in the nearest mirror.

Love,

TFC