Today’s Tank Top Tuesday picture is from the lovely & amazing Kath of TheFatHeffalump. This pic is from the day she got her gorgeous fat lady tattoo! While it’s winter in Australia now, this pic was taken in the summer so she could bare her arms and show off that magnificent tattoo with pride! I love it!

Thanks so much, Kath! I love your outfit, so stylish! Did y’all catch her shoes? Too cute! They match her top!

I am taking submissions from anyone who wants to exercise their right to Bare Arms! Email your pics here: notblueatall@notblueatall.com, please include the name you’d like included in the post, a blog or etsy shop you wanna plug, your thoughts on bare arms or other fatty philosophies. It does not have to be in a tank top, so long as your arms are bare. Have fun with it!

Also, feel free to still treat comments as TMI topic/discussion area! Feel free to ask TMI questions or just vent/rant about your own stuff. I love it! We all do! =0)

I know I am always preaching self-care, but it’s so important! It really is! And so I wanted to share some more of what I do and have learned…

I think it was shortly after starting my first in-front-of-a-computer-all-day job that I’d heard about the 20-20 rule. Oh, you haven’t heard about the 20-20 rule? The 20-20 rule, when sitting in front of any illuminated screen, is to look away and at anything non-illuminated (preferably natural light but I know that’s not always possible) for 20 seconds every 20 minutes. This is for your eye health, people. I used to get dry-eyes and headaches until I heard about this rule. So please do.

A recent study was released this week, it’s all over the news, that claims that sitting for 6 hours or more per day greatly decreases your life span. And it’s worse for women than men. To be clear, I haven’t read the study (can’t seem to find it) and when I google it I get a bajillion results all from various local news outlets. It seems most of these stories stipulate sitting during leisure time only, but I think many of us have to sit for this amount of time at work. I don’t want to assume, but it would only make sense that this would have the same impact on your health if it’s simply the sitting that is the cause. They did point out that diet and exercise in the study had no impact, though general activity was encouraged and of course helps overall health.

I found this interesting because of the diet bit. They said in some (though others claim the opposite) that even those who work out and eat healthfully still were at great risk due to sitting for more than 6 hours per day. They didn’t go into why the risk is worse for women. I remember my old job where I was absolutely sitting at my desk for 7-8 hours per day, then drove home, thus sitting another 30-45 minutes on top of that. So what can you do?

I recommend stretching and getting up and walking as much as possible. For me this means if I am sitting for an hour I need to get up and walk around for about five minutes to prevent leg cramps (bananas help with this, too) and other issues. I have very tight hamstrings that get super tense if I’m not stretching them often. At my desk job I would rotate my ankles in circles and bend and straighten my knees. One gal even had one of those little foot pedal things so she would just sit there and pedal away. I secretly wanted one, but never did anything about it. You should also pay attention to the ergonomics of your desk/chair situation. Specifically, you should have some sort of ramp-like foot rest. This way your feet aren’t flat on the ground and your thighs/knees are hopefully not getting cut-off by your chair. Lumbar pillows (for your lower back) are also highly beneficial.

I had one job with the worst chair ever! That on top of it always being colder than a meat locker in that place lead to my going to an acupuncturist for back pain. He recommended all of the above and after two visits to him my back pain was gone! I highly recommend acupuncture, even for those who are needle-shy. You honestly can barely feel them. I had one needle in the top of my head and didn’t even know it until he pulled it out and showed me. They can help with almost any pain issues you’re having (I say almost because I don’t know if they can help those with Fibromayalgia or other chronic pain).

Stretching is a great low-impact self-care method. My husband is a great believer in the power of stretching. I resisted, but am now trying to get into it myself. I don’t have a routine, but whenever my “hammies” feel tight I try to do some lunges and such. I would also recommend these things for your wrists and fingers and hands if you type a lot or do paperwork/filing things. Shake out those wrists, wiggle those digits and stretch your arms over your head. Good stuff! And you know how when you have been sitting awhile or in a uncomfortable chair and your butt had that flat/dead feeling? Yeah, time to get up and move and shake it! If you’re embarrassed you could always head to the restroom for this, but I love seeing people smile so I just do it whenever and wherever.

What other self-care do you do? Do you do anything like the above at work? How do you remind yourself to do self-care every day?

Today’s Tank Top Tuesday picture is from Amanda of FatWaitress and LoveYourBodyDetroit fame! She’s been doing a lot of fat activism this year and I am always so impressed with her creative ideas and adventures! She’s planning a fat clothing swap in July as well as attending the Ann Arbor Art Fair (in Michigan, July 20-23). So look for her and her LYBD crew there, too!Here’s Amanda & Rae with a colorful “Yay! Scale” doing their best to positively influence passersby:

Love those signs, too! Woo! Thanks, ladies! <3

I am taking submissions from anyone who wants to exercise their right to Bare Arms! Email your pics here: notblueatall@notblueatall.com, please include the name you’d like included in the post, a blog or etsy shop you wanna plug, your thoughts on bare arms or other fatty philosophies. It does not have to be in a tank top, so long as your arms are bare. Have fun with it!

Also, feel free to still treat comments as TMI topic/discussion area! Feel free to ask TMI questions or just vent/rant about your own stuff. I love it! We all do! =0)

Through my own fat acceptance journey, I have been exposed to other intersecting communities. Some of these communities I had had some misconceptions, preconceived notions and absolute prejudices about. Because of fat acceptance, and attending fat events, I have realized just how wrong I was about every single one of them. Yep, I am checking all of my privileges and myself and opening my heart and mind to these communities, experiences, choices, lifestyles and people! And guess what? I am loving every minute!

I actually had a bit of an awkward conversation with my husband about this exact thing. Many years ago he’d been invited to an event that one of his peers was participating in. How it was presented to me colored how I saw it and I, being the stubborn Scorpio that I am (and I cop to and own this about myself, though I work on it, too), simply said, “No way!” But time goes by and things happen and minds can and do change. I had to explain to my husband and partner of over 13 years that, well, my views of the world are actually quite different (and I hope more mature) than they were back then.

I’ve always considered myself a tree-hugging hippie sort, very open and loving. But somehow some of these communities hadn’t touched my life or been presented to me in the way they have been since I found fat acceptance. And let’s face it, fat/body/self acceptance intersects with many communities! I hadn’t previously considered myself a feminist. Relying on the very old concept and representations, I had thought of the cliched “femi-nazi” bullshit. Wow! I was so very wrong. Not only am I a feminist, I’m loving learning about the various aspects and communities within the feminist community online. So many blogs, so little time. No, they don’t all get fat acceptance or even positive body image stuff right, but what I take away is what I want to and I choose my battles carefully.

I am only recently discovering and participating in the more femme-queer communities and events in my area. While I’ve participated in and organized and donated to the gay community over the years, I never considered myself more than an ally because of my current relationship. I felt like an outsider because of it. I felt as though without my BFFs there with me as homo-cred or permission, that I would be kicked out or something. Silly, I know. But I did feel this way for awhile. Now I see how very queer the fat community is and can be and my own sexuality isn’t as simple as “straight” or “hetero” but a much more flexible thing that I am not sure I’ve completely sorted out yet. For now I shall call it situationally hetero, but a great and fabulous friend recently said it was hetero-flexible, which I also like.

The simple fact that I am secretly (though not so much since I’m about to spill some of them beans) fantasizing and dreaming and plotting my very own  burlesque identity and show says everything about how far I’ve come in accepting myself and just about everyone in the damned world! I keep talking myself out of the idea, but then a song will come on, my hips start to sway and shake and then I hear Virgie in my head yelling, “Sexy Bitches!” and I can’t help it! I might just have to make this happen…just to see that I can do it. Ya know? Ha-ha! I still get the ugly thought monster, “Old broad! You think you can strut your stuff and strip in front of people? You’ll clear the place out!” That damned inner critic ain’t as dead as I’d previously thought, but I keep kicking her ass to the curb as much as I can.

Truth is, none of this would have come into my life without FA and most definitely not without pushing myself outside of my comfort zone. Going to fat and queer events. Meeting new people! *gasp* Being more social! What? I know! I even accept more invites than I turn down now days. That’s saying a lot considering my complete lack of an income, but I make it work and all of these new people in my life are so rad they totally understand! I still get shy and have days when I wanna hide under the covers, but all I have to do now is remember those times when I did push myself (like the flesh mob with Marilyn Wann) and I soon find myself smiling so big I forgot why I wanted to hide to begin with!

So, my lovely readers, what has fat acceptance made you change your mind about? What have you been exposed to for the first time because of FA? Do you find it easier to get out of your comfort zone? Tell me all about it!

I have talked to other fats about fat acceptance when I have encountered friendly souls. I have, more often than not, held myself back from doing it though. Why is that? I know how positive and fabulous FA is and has been for me, why not share this wealth of knowledge and resources? How would you like to be approached by a fellow fatty about Fat Acceptance?

I have once or twice just given them my blog-business card (I fucking love vistaprint.com, so cheap!):

and invited them to contact me…so far none have. And I encounter fats all of the time. I always smile, because, well, it’s just polite and I like to see other people smile back. Would it be crossing some sort of line to walk up and say something? How would I ease into it? I feel that the business card helps, at least it’s not like I’m selling them something. But I am curious. I am not sure how someone would have introduced FA to me had I not discovered it on my own (through BUST magazine).

The truth is, there are simply far too many self-hating fatties and I want to reach out to them, to hug them and hold them to my loving bosom and let them know that it’s okay, they are worth everything in the world. They aren’t worthless or disgusting. But I can’t just go around forcing hugs on people (funny story, that).

Right now I’m thinking about a young gal that serves me at a local drive-thru. She’s adorable! I always want to say something, but I never know what (and it’s always before I have coffee so I’m not all there if you know what I mean). Can I just hand her my card and say, “Hey, I think you’re rad, check out my blog!”?

What have you done to introduce someone to FA? How would you have liked to be introduced to it? Have you approached a stranger about FA? I’m dying to hear your stories and advice. Thanks! And happy Friday!<3