Fat Chicks Rule

Traveling comfortably and SouthWorst

Most of us at one time or another have had to fly. Sometimes that trip is easy, sometimes nightmarish. The chance of it being nightmarish is worse if you happen to be fat. Fat people are often stigmatised and/or marginialized by the airline industry (I think that they find it easier to nickle and dime the flying public off the backs of fatties).  Some are better than others but basically even though they claim to "serve the customer" you are actually not that important. (All that is wrong with the airline industry is a rant for another day another blog. But here is a good article about it.)

And a quick shameless plug. Let Travel Abundantly  help with your vacation plans.  They are a business especially geared for us fatties. And if you got 10 bucks join the Association for Airline Passenger Rights which works with NAAFA and is fully aware of the discrimination fat people face at the airlines.

So here are some tips (some of which are not in my book but I got at the NAAFA con's tips on traveling)

1. Shop around Right now, from word of mouth, I suggest Jetblue. It is my preferred airline and the seats aren't so bad. (A woman at the NAAFA con was proud to say she was able to get Jetblue's tray table down.) While they have their issues, they seem to have the nicer seats plus  you can get an upgrade for the seats with extra space (price depends on costs of the ticket). Also if you have a favorite airline, continue to use them.

2. Travel times and packing. When traveling try to go it off peak, late at night or early in the morning and travel on Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday (Less business travelers.)  When packing use space saving bags so you can pack clothes more compactly. And wear natural clothes on the plane, less chance of burning in a fire as well. Airlines almost all charged after one checked bag (at a certain weight), so try to pack as light as possible.

3. Disability issues. Be sure to contact the airlines and let them know if you have some kind of disability.  If you have trouble walking, it's okay to get a wheelchair (make sure you get a big one), because airlines are notorious for changing gates. Be sure to get curbside check in. (Make sure you tip); Feel free to camp out at a terminal restaurant until it's time to board and pre-board because it will give you a chance to get settle in.

4. That pesky second seat. I'm sorry to say most airlines charge for the second seat if you can't fit into one. And there is currently no law in the US protecting fat people from this discrimination. So if you have to fly, and you think you are too big for a standard seat, here are some suggestions. If you can afford buy business or first class; seat next to a friend with you either on the window or the aisle, with them in the middle, so you are encourching on them.) Or if you are fatties traveling together, split the costs for the seat in the middle. Again try to travel off peak and let the flight attentent know you would like to be seated next to an empty seat. Supposedly Delta doesn't charge for the second seat and Jetblue will try to accomendate (Although their policy is the same as the other airlines.)

Now why I hate Southwest. If you remove Southwest's fat hatred, they seem to be reasonable. After all they are one of the few airlines that refunds the second seat if the flight isn't overbook and they will give you frequent flier miles for it.  While I believe in one person, one ticket, this policy isn't as bad as United or Northwest that won't give you a refund or frequent flier miles. 

However Southwest has no uniform policy. They randomly pick out fatties usually on returning or connecting flights. Director Kevin Smith was booted from a return flight for supposedly being to fat to fly in a single seat even though her was able to get his armrests down.  He was not the only one. Most recently Southwest decided to humiliate a young woman by first forcing her to buy a second seat even though she flew without a problem before and was willing to sit next to an aunt and uncle. They still forced her to buy the seat claiming safety reasons, but later refunded her the money and moved her uncle into that extra seat she bought because they couldn't find space for another passenger.  So much for her safety.

Voiceless no more and a famous fat person just says no.

A while ago, I was interviewed for a paper about the Fatosphere (Unforunately you have to buy it or get a copy through the local library, here is the abstract). The interviewers wanted to know how writing my blog affected my wellbeing. The paper was about weight-based stigma and the fatosphere's response to it.  

Researchers who have examined the social consequences of obesity have shown that obese individuals experience extensive stigma and discrimination, which in turn impacts negatively on their physical and mental health outcomes

At the recent NAAFA con I talked about dealing with negative comments on my blog. When it was suggested I stop writing it, I knew I couldn't. This blog had become not only my voice but my therapy. I encourage everyone to start a fat positive blog or if you aren't one for writing, a twitter account.  The fatosphere is one of the few places that you can have a mostly safe space to tell everyone you love your body and give yourself a voice against the tide of fat hatred. This study shows that being a fat acceptance blogger can help you cope better with fat stigma.

And speaking of loving your body, Chef Julie Goodwin has refused a deal with Jenny Craig, not only because she is a chef and all chefs should be horrified by the idea of processed food, but because she has no interest in weight loss and loves her curves.  (Although sadly after Goodwin turned it down, the deal was offered and accepted by comedian Rebel Wilson of Bridesmaids).

How loving my body saved my life.

I don't remember the exact day I started getting heart palpitations but it was early 2002.  In January (January 2 to be exact), I started what would be my last diet. When I say diet, I mean consuming fewer calories than my body needed. After failing repeatedly on Weight Watchers, Slim Fast, and Nutrisystem, in 1998 I gave low-carb a try. Low carb was my most successful diet. I almost never cheated and I lost 40lbs and kept it off for a year. I was pleased with my weight loss and hoped for more. I ignored the beginnings of GERD, that my cholesterol was at the high side of normal, the massive sugar crashes, dreams about eating bread, obsession with carbs (the diet required eating two no-carb meals, and one meal with a carbs that had to be eaten in an hour),  and what I can only call fun filled nights of heart palpitations. 

However after losing weight I stopped at 40 pounds. I weighed about 190 lbs which was still considered obese. And nothing I would did would restart the weight loss. I was also bored by my limited food choices. (The doctors who wrote the diet, recommended eating a salad before the carb meal.) Eventually the cheating started going into high gear. And when I say cheating, it wasn't just eating more carbs, I began bingeing on unhealthy crap. 

But in my mind, I thought low carb was the answer. After all failing many times at other diets, I had been somewhat successful on this one.

So back to early 2002, after the low carb failure, I went to the no-carb diet, Atkins which I had been doing for a few weeks. Again I was pleased. I was losing weight again. 

Then I tried going to sleep. 

My heart felt like it was going to explode. I felt like it was pounding, skipping a beat, and struggling. I went to the emergency room. They couldn't find anything wrong. I went to a cardiologist who discovered I have a slightly prolapsed value, but after an echo, ekg, halter monitor, everything looked okay. He put me on a beta blocker.  My gastroenterologist diagnosed me with GERD and put me on nexium.  (Actually he told me Atkins was crazy but I should still lose weight.)

But I still couldn't sleep and my heart kept me up. I was terrified it was going to stop in the night which made it race even more.  I was doing Atkins induction where you eat 20 grams of carbs or less to get your body in ketosis. (I never got to full ketosis) so I moved out of the induction phase to next one where you could have some carbs. 

The heart palpitations went away, so did the weight loss. Then I realized it. This wasn't healthy. I was now on two medications. This crazy dieting had to stop, it wasn't helping me.  

So I stopped. However this time around I didn't binge as much. This time around I had something different. Body acceptance. 

I've toyed around with body acceptance since I was in college. It was always in the back of my mind. Picking up Marilyn Wann's book in 2001 helped even more. I realized dieting had possibly done irreversible damage to my body. I knew that going to sleep with a dread of not walking up and now being on two medications I didn't previously need that dieting and this obsessiveness with weight loss would kill me. I know that I had to (a) stop dieting and learn actual healthy habits and (b) learn to love and accept that I am fat.

I knew that giving up dieting did not mean I had to give up being healthy. I didn't celebrate the end of dieting with a huge cake. I had to relearn how to eat, because my eating had become so disordered that when I wasn't dieting, I was eating fast and too much. (As if my body didn't think it would ever get food again.) I started to learn to listen to my body. Eat the foods it liked and avoid foods it didn't.  I eventually got off the Beta-Blocker and moved from Nexium to an antacid and herbal remedies which have improved GERD's greatly. (I am hoping to stop taking the antacids eventually); I rarely eat more than my body can handle and I am slowly but surely learning to eat normally again. (I don't know if I ever will.)

Every time I get the temptation to diet again, I think about the nights on Atkins where I wasn't sure I would wake up.  Because thinking that you are dying isn't healthy.  Listening to and loving your body is.

Yay Naafa con!

On the Outside Looking into New Jersey.

8/2 EDIT, I am guilty of skimming. Grassroots Natural Market did not in fact discriminate.  They did allow the store be used as a set for "What would you do." to see if anyone would come to the aide of a woman being discriminated against due to her weight (some one did). The woman and the manager were actors. 

However fat people still face legal discrimination, The food sustainability movement is still rifled with anti-fat rhetoric.  And if this wasn't a setup, the woman would still have no legal recource for being denied the job. 

Speaking of New Jersey, their governor Chris Christie had an asthma attack. I'm not a political fan of him, but his weight has always been mingled into criticism of him. Fat hater Bill Maher called him Governor fatty fat and a sumo wrestler and facebook haters came out in force after his hospitalization. His asthma attack has been attributed to his weight (Christie himself blamed his fat.) However asthma is not triggered by weight, but usually allergens, air quality etc. This allergy season has been so bad, it has even affected my (thin) cat. 

I am concerned that Christie's desire to lose weight has little to do with health and more to do with political ambitions. After all we can't have a fat president. (Sorry Taft.)  If he was really concerned about his health, he would get a pulmonary specialist and figure out what his trigger is. He is sending out the poor message that if you are fat and have asthma, just lose weight!

Also next week is the NAAFA convention and I will be there until Monday so most likely no blog post, just maybe some pictures.