Woo Hoo, it’s actually happening! 

I’m a plus-sized Professional Dancer based out of Austin Texas and I’ll be teaching these classes every Saturday starting on January 10th in a completely private studio in Central Austin.

Beginner Class at 2pm.
Intermediate Class at 3pm.

Please rsvp to danceswithfat@yahoo.com so that I can be sure I’m prepared for enough people.

Classes are open to anyone who is  completely size-positive regardless of size.!
For more details  check out my website!!!!

My best friend is on his way to his new home in Manhattan, New York.  I went up on Friday to help him get packed up and moved.  I’m really excited for him because this is the culmination of a dream that he has had for years.  It’s certainly mixed emotions for me.  He and I have never lived more than a couple of hours apart for the last 12 years.  We talk on the phone almost daily and I hope that doesn’t change but the realization that I can’t just hop in the car and go hang out with him for an evening or a weekend is starting to sink in.  I made a concerted effort not to spend the entire morning crying as we packed up the truck.  Cried in public as we said goodbye.  Just a really emotional day.  

 

bulletin.aarp.org/yourhealth/healthyliving/articles/fat_and_fit_who_says_you_can_t_be_both_.html

To me this is a big flaming sack of duh, but I still think it’s fantastic.  To summarize the study-related parts:

Even before last summer’s pronouncement of an obesity emergency, researchers had reported different findings in a study published in December 2007 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The study found that fitness—in this case the ability to walk quickly on a treadmill for a few minutes or longer—was a better predictor of who would die, and when, than BMI.

The study followed 2,600 adults over age 60 for 12 years. Participants were asked to walk on a treadmill at a quick walking pace, with a gradually increasing incline. Based on the results of the treadmill test, they were then put in five fitness categories, from least to most fit.

Researchers found that the least fit, regardless of BMI, were four times more likely to die during the course of the study than the most fit. But the most surprising difference in mortality was between the least fit group and the one just above that, who were half as likely to die during the study. In other words, just a little fitness could be twice as good as no fitness at all.

When the results were adjusted for other factors, such as smoking and age, fitness still mattered most.

So is it fitness, rather than fatness, that really counts? “That’s what we keep finding,” says Steven N. Blair, a coauthor of the JAMA study, and professor of exercise science and of epidemiology and biostatistics at the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina. Clinical trials under way on the benefits of fitness will likely show that physical activity preserves brain health, too, Blair adds, meaning fitness may also lower the risk of dementia.

Another study of 5,400 adults, published in August 2008 in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that fully half of overweight and one-third of obese participants were “metabolically healthy,” meaning they had few, if any, risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure or low levels of “good” cholesterol. On the other hand, about a quarter of “normal”-weight people were metabolically unhealthy and exhibited cardiovascular risk factors. This study did not measure the fitness levels of the participants.

To be clear, health and fitness (by any definition) are not an obligation, barometer of worthiness, or entirely within our control. 

 

 

I have a challenge for any fathletes out there who want to accept.  If you work out somewhere that has a locker room, walk around calmly and proudly…and naked. 

I noticed in my gym locker room that many of our fathletes become Cirque du Soleil contortionists to get into and out of workout close without exposing more than 4 square inches of their bodies at a time. No doubt there are thin girls who do this to, but I see a preponderance of big women doing this.  (I don’t know if it’s the same in the men’s locker room so some male fathlete will need to enlighten me!)

I noticed this some time ago and I started to do this, just calmly walk around – not be creepy, not freak out, just walk around like I normally would. ..and it’s been AWESOME!!!!!   

What do you think?  If you do it I totally want to hear about how it goes!

x-posted to (as you might expect) fathletes 

I’ve watched The Biggest Loser and other weight loss shows and I was pondering today as to what my issue with them is and I think it’s this:

I have no issue with people choosing what size they want their body to be, for whatever reason they want to choose.  It’s not my job to tell someone that they are too thin, too fat, etc.  My problem is that so often in these shows (and when I see people lose weight), they talk about how they "didn’t love themselves" and "couldn’t be proud of themselves" but now, since they’ve lost the weight, they love themselves and are proud of themselves.  

I have some huge concerns about that – what if something happens and they gain back the weight?  I’m guessing that they’ll gain back the self-loathing with a big side of failure to go with it.

Let’s teach people to love themselves for who they are, not the size of their body.  Then, if they choose to gain weight, lose weight, or stay the same, they still have solid self-esteem no matter what.

Am I just crazy?

You may have seen my earlier post about dance classes for bigger bodies in Austin, Texas.  If you are interested, it would be completely awesome if you could take this quick survey to help me get things organized and figure out what everyone wants. 

Just click here (if you can’t click for some reason, just copy and paste the url):
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Hcnl_2bvgtWRWW7vUnpef5Qg_3d_3d

x-posted to a number of fabulous communities

An awesome article that happens to have my picture atttached (which was originally posted at www.elasticwaist.com/2008/12/health-at-every-size-athletes.php) made Yahoo Shine!’s Healthy Living Section.  So full of awesome!!!

My dance studio is doing it’s annual winter showcase this Sunday at 7pm at the Omni Southpark.  My BHM dance partner and I will be performing two numbers  -an East Coast Swing to Big Fat Mammas are Back in Style by Candye Kane, and a more serious waltz/nightclub medley.  There will be plenty of student’s dancing as well as a bunch of great dancing in our Pro show.

Tickets start at $18.00.  It is a charity event and the proceeds go to Lifeworks.

All the details are here:  www.godancestudio.com/44/showcases.htm