Maybe funky undies would snap me out of a body funk. More likely: not looking at pics like this.
Lately, my calves have felt as thick as anacondas. And my stomach is showing signs of too many drumsticks–not the chicken kind, but the chocolate-covered kind. And then yesterday, during my longest bike ride in years (65 miles!), I spent way too much time fixating on the fact that my upper arms just jiggled and jiggled. And…and…and…
Even though I’ve got a tall frame and a healthy BMI, my body image is, more often than not, far from healthy. I hate that. I hate that after a great triathlon a couple weeks ago, I can still fixate on the fact that I can feel my stomach double over on itself. I hate that I still see myself as collection of body parts and not the cohesive, capable whole that I know it is. I hate that I doubt I will ever think of my body as perfect or even lovely.
I’ve graduated from high school and college, maintained a marriage, bought a house, given birth to two kids, run thousands of miles, but when I’m on a PMS, negative-self-talk tear, I can reduce my whole life to how far my thighs spread across a chair.
I try to avoid the downward spiral, of course, because it serves no.good.at.all. Here are some ways that work for me:
1. I stay off the scale, which is definitely tough. But if I can bypass it, I can avoid an emotional landmine. Because if I’m feeling large and bloated and that’s reflected in the scale, it pretty much validates my bad mood and my thoughts about myself. Embarrassing to admit, but there it is.
2. I try not to read People, US Weekly or any other celebrity-driven magazine. I used to get week-old copies from some generous neighbors and read them in bed, and I realized looking at pictures of celebs, so well-dressed and made-up–minus the Stars! They’re just like us! feature–just made me feel crappy about myself. So I rarely do it anymore. Unless I’m at the dentist office, where I’m going to feel crappy anyway.
3. I force myself to work out. Sure, the endorphins help, but really, it’s my secret trick to not eating as much junk during the day. I don’t know what chemical is released, but when I sweat in the morning, I swear sugar isn’t as appealing. I still eat it, of course, but not in the quantities and frequency I do when I’ve let my bad mood sink my motivation.
4. I avoid Fitspiration. Usually on Pinterest, these images are supposed to be motivating. The words usually are, but the bodies–the sleek, photo-shopped bodies–convey a totally other reality.
Exhibit A. Yes I want it. But my “it” will never look like that.
I should admit, though, that I do love the words-only messages. (Or rare pictures of more realistic women.)
A little snarky, but there’s truth in there.
5. I wish my last tip was some positive self-affirmation, mentally reframing my calves or arms, but I’m not mature enough for that. So I ignore myself–and tell myself that if anybody is watching or judging me, it’s their problem, not mine. I crank the tunes and just tune out.
So I feel like I’m standing in front of you naked, with all my jiggles and dimples and wrinkles exposed. I know I’m far from the only one who struggles with this, so I want to know: how do you deal with your bad body-image days?
Thank you! I needed that.
You are right, we all struggle with this. Thanks for your honesty!
p.s. thanks for the bumper sticker too! Got it today.
I think we all have those moments, but I think it’s really important to focus on what we can do rather than what we look like. A lot of our culture is focused on appearance (hence the crazy photoshopped hot chicks in the athletic things who aren’t actually doing anything!), but the fact of the matter is that a person can be really thin and very unfit. So, I try – with varying degrees of success – to focus on the fact that I can run 5 miles with very little trouble, something lots of people can’t do, rather than whether I have too much on my waistline. I think if we as women valued ourselves more for our ability and less for our appearance, we’d do much better.
I try to remember that my body has changed a lot from what it used to be and is still changing. I like to think of myself as a work of art in progress :)
I saw a great post somewhere recently, can’t remember where. “Feeding your mind negative self-talk is just as bad as feeding your body junk food.” It’s a difficult cycle to break. I’m putting effort into gratitude for my body. What my body CAN do over what it can’t or doesn’t look like.
Can you believe there are people who naked running races?
I needed this, today. I too lately have faced down the negative demons, as my kids say in my triathlons, “mom you weren’t last this time” or “you rocked the swim, even if you had to walk part of the run.” My greatest reality check is my 10 year old daughter. While I may still struggle at 39, she is so vulnerable and I would rather choke back my negative self talk and smile when the kids call me a turtle, than send her a message that she isn’t some “ideal.”
Oh Dimity I feel the same way often and right now it is forefront on my mind because I am 8 months pregnant and so want my old body back. I know once I get that body back, or at least part of it, I will be back complaining about what body I wish I had. I too avoid the scale and gravitate to exercise and positive affirmations. I do avoid the magazines too, they are killer! No matter how hard I try, those few days each month are just tough, I wish those days to go quickly!!!
I am an avid runner but no mater what I do, I can’t fight the genes my dear mom has passed on to me. Thought she’s fit and trim, she still has the dreaded CELLULITE. And there isn’t anything she (and eventually, I) can do about it. I’m trying to hold it off for as long as possible, but it’s there and every time I go for a run with my short shorts or take a yoga class in my spandex it’s all I’m thinking about. I wish I didn’t care, but I do. So, whenever those negative thoughts creep into my head I try and remind myself that at age 37 I’m as strong, fit and happy as I can possibly be and my body is doing the best it can which is pretty freakin’ good!
I try to laugh..hate how my c-sect scar makes a little shelf for fat. And, I also have very big calves. In H.S., I was sometimes called Popeye. I just recently told a friend that through this Marathon training, I may just need to get a grease pen and draw anchors on the back of them for a long run laugh.
Lindsey, I have the exact same little shelf from my section! I have to tell myself (over and over) that it was worth trading what was once my “one good body part” for my kids.
This can be so hard! I try to minimize the scale and I totally avoid it if I am premenstrual. I try to remind myself how far I have come and to remember that no matter what I do, my genes are what they are.
Wow – this is so hard, isn’t it? Same as you, once a month I go to a dark, self-loathing place for a couple of days. Not one thing on my body is good enough during that time. Cripes, not even my fingernails! I once went dress shopping for a wedding (of a 20-something who works for my husband, no less!) during a PMS-bout. Not pretty. At all. There were more tears that day than there have been on the Olympic podiums! But. This, too, shall pass. I just accept that in my head, I know it will get better. And I usually push a lot harder during those couple of days during runs than any other time. It’s nice to know someone who looks like, well, YOU can be just as insecure as the rest of us.
Thanks for your candor. When I feel bad about my body, I try to remember that this too shall pass.
I needed this today. Bad body days just seem to become more frequent as I get older – and ironically fitter.
I made a conscious decision to not buy womens fitness magazines after my daughter was born. That was about 8 years ago. I try to laugh … but I feel like an addict. They are still so hard to resist at the checkout stands.
We don’t own a scale. We never had one growing up and so it just wasn’t something I thought to buy when I moved out. When Tom and I moved in together his scale didn’t fit into our little apartment bathroom, so we tossed it. Now, I find out my weight at the dr. (and the kids weight, too– and sometimes I feel like a sucky mom because I don’t know how much my kids weigh when I’m filling out some random form that requires their weight). But, for me having scale in the house would be a huge temptation. I’m a healthy weight and a healthy person and if I had a scale I’d be on it everyday. No thanks. That said, I can find plenty of flaws with other parts of my body. Just this morning we were doing planks after our hill repeats and I could see down my shirt -there were my little boobs and my stomach looked odd from that angle, to the say the least…… I made a comment about it and we laughed through the last 10 seconds of our plank. We’re all in good company…..
Thank you for your honesty Dimity! It is so hard, isn’t it? When I’m feeling this way I try to find one thing I like about the way I look and always focus on the things my body can do/has done and express gratitude for that. Not always easy by any stretch but it helps some :)
Ditto. I’m feeling that too.
I have “fat days”. I feel bloated, pudgy, stiff, and defeated. I think, “What’s the point?” and eat poorly, letting my emotions dictate my diet. It sucks, and usually my workout sucks that day too, or course. To combat it, I think of how much I want to be fitter, stronger, and healthier to beat my D2. I want to be able to play with my kids, be their example, show my daughter that strong and sporty IS beautiful no matter the body shape, and that usually helps to shake me out of the doldrums and negative inner voice (that is lieing to me).
Just the other day I changed my swimsuit twice because I didn’t like the way my thighs looked. I thought they looked too big. Then after changing I found a skirt to cover them up with. I felt better, but not the fact that I obsessed over my thighs for 20 minutes tearing my room apart looking for a cover up. But I have to remind myself: I don’t notice all the flaws on other people and I bet they don’t notice them on me. Because I am sure my friends have flaws, I just don’t see them. And they probably don’t see mine. But still, I want to cover up the thighs. And the tummy. And the boobs. Just give me some yoga pants, all right?
Thank you, that was much needed. Somewhere I read that you should ask yourself if you would say the same words to your best friend as you are saying to yourself. If you don’t judge her on her jiggly thighs or stomach roll over, but count the endless ways she is wonderful, why can’t you do the same for yourself. Great words, not always easy to follow.
Jacki-
Wow- what a great way to change the mindset! I will try and do that and be as encouraging to myself as I try to be to my friends.
Or, would you say the things you say to yourself to your daughter.
When I see myself with no clothes on I just think that my 4 beautiful children were worth it. My last pregnancy was twins and they left me with many stretch marks and don’t get me started about my breasts. Take a deep breath, throw on a supportive bra and a smooth pair of yoga pants (they always make your butt look 10 year younger). If you are reading this than you are also a mother runner, so yeah for you!!! Thanks for the bumper sticker… it is proudly displayed on the back of my Yukon (yep with 4 kids you need one of those).
I needed this today. Thank you!!
You and me both, sole sista. I’ve been having terrible body image as the last of the baby weight refuses to budge a year later and my tummy likes to resemble a hot dog bun. I always find it helps to throw myself into training. Instead of thinking about what my body looks like, I think of what it’s doing. It might jiggle but it can run 8 miles. I also like to set up a new challenge. Right now, I’m determined to do one stinking pull-up (and I have to thank Dimity and an old AMR podcast for that one). Worst case scenario: Get a good family portrait taken. I’m always surprised that I don’t look like complete @ss when I get the proofs.
Thank you.
Your post is perfectly timed. After a week long camping bender – think hot dogs, smores, chips, you name it, piled with low miles from “resting” my body and I am feeling like my strong, athletic body is miles and miles away.
I felt 5 months pregnant yesterday. And, I’m not.
I stepped on the scale this morning. GASP! It confirmed.
Thankfully, today is a day I remember and celebrate my brother who passed 1 year ago and I head out for 13 miles. 13 because it’s his number. 13 thinking of him, thanking God for him and taking my mind off myself.
Thanks for the little therapy session :)
I get over my BBDs (Bad Body Days) by reminding myself that it’s temporary. I just returned from an indulgent 6 week vacation and haven’t gone on a run in about a month- every little thing is jigglin’ but I realize that I more than earned that jiggle and if I want that toned body back, I can have it with just a little work. Nothing is permanent.
Thanks for your honesty! This is such an issue for me and I needed this today :)
Over the past year I’ve lost a significant amount of weight through running, but i think the weight loss primarily came from some personal stresses I had in my life at the time. Running cleared my head, which helped me decisions to make those stresses disappear. And while I’m still running (in fact even further and faster), the stresses are gone and some of the lost weight is coming back. Which is starting to stress me out. But I shouldn’t mind–my weight before was perfectly fine (150 lbs on a 5’11” frame). The stresser is finding that optimum healthy weight and body image. And at age 46, I thought this would be behind me. I look fine! I’m healthy! I can run far! has become my mantra.
Echoing other mother runners, thanks for the post!!
As a teen getting out of gymnastics and into less demanding sports in HS, a battle began that lasted more than 15 years with eating disorders, body image issues and a daily struggle with thoughts on the subject. It was such a waste of time and I do not wish that on any girl growing up. That’s why programs like Girls on the Run and so many others are so important to help offer encouragement, strength and sharing our stories of running and the power, calm and joy it brings us – jiggling pieces or not.
I still have bad body image days but deal with them and know they will pass. I have always liked this quote: Life is to be lived, and the better shape you’re in, the more you want to live it. (I don’t read this as the thinnest you are, or being perfect; just moving and proving we’re badass).
Like most women I have struggled with body image most of my life. Even though I have been blessed with “good genes”, there are always things I pick at of myself (it doens’t help that I have a twin that looks just like me but always 20 lbs smaller than me). I just had my second baby and I fret daily over my stomach. It’s always been my least favorite area and now even more so. When I am out running and look at all the girls/young women that run faster than me, with thinner legs, and flat tight stomachs and start saying, “I wish I was like that.” I remind myself that there are women of all shapes and sizes out there running and some of them probably think the same thing about me that I think about those girls with better stomachs. It’s all relative and sometimes we moms just have to remember what our bodies have been through.
I am often snapped out of my bad body image haze by a comment either my kiddos or husband makes. My eight year old son recently commented when I returned home from a run in 95 degree heat wearing a jog bra and shorts that, “Mom, I like your stomach. That’s where I lived before you pushed me out.” My abs are neither ripped nor six packed, but they have “delivered” wonderful gifts including my children and much laughter.
Love! What a wonderful little guy you have. I hope we can all appreciate our bellies and what they have carried and delivered!
Love this! I’ve had 3 kids and often am complaining to my husband how my stomach is still squishy. I have to remind myself that for almost 3 years I carried another life in that belly! And then delivered 3 babies, 2 of them without any pain medications. And I can run 13 miles. Our bodies are truly wonderful and amazing.
I struggle with this, too. When those thoughts envelop me, I try to focus on the positive things I can do with this body, my goals for my future self, and the steps I’m taking to get there. When I count my blessings and focus forward, I always feel motivated to move myself forward. And this is always a good thing … :)
I think part of my bad body image problem at this point is that I’m involved in running and triathlon. Great! Except that in the world of run/tri, I’m decidedly fluffy – in the world of the general population, I’m way fitter and trimmer than average. It’s hard to reconcile my body image with these two worlds. One thing that has started to change the way I think is realizing that underneath my fluffy belly and thighs is a strong machine that I’ve been training week in and week out. This came to me after an Olympic distance tri (my second tri ever) where I blew away my goal (which I thought was a stretch goal) by 7 minutes and qualified for the Olympic distance nationals. I realized that I’d been measuring my progress by the remaining jiggles in my belly and not by the progress I was making distance and time-wise. I don’t know exactly what my point is except that I agree – we’re too hard on ourselves!
Love this! As I approach 50 next month, there are things happening to my body that I can do nothing about. Gravity is not our friend!
I feel like we’re sharing the same brain here! Thanks for the post. I wish I had a good way for dealing with this, but I don’t. I know that daily weight fluctuates, but that doesn’t stop me from getting on the scale every day and using the result as my mood barometer. It only complicates things that my outlet, running, has no shortage of svelte bronzed beauties who can cruise at twice my speed.
I’m REALLY struggling with this right now as I had a baby four weeks ago.
I must have been feeling the same way when I made this blog entry:
http://runjanrun.tumblr.com/post/21398892572/my-body-through-my-runners-eyes
THANK YOU FOR THIS POST!! This is how I’ve been feeling and it was even prompting me to write a post about how completely out of shape and yucky I’ve been feeling lately…especially with 100% humidity that really makes me feel like a true hot mess,lol. :)
Listen up: we are beautiful! When we stretch our legs out for the next stride, muscles flex, and we move forward. Our bodies are working to be efficient and stronger. Someone looks at YOU in awe, your daughter, son, niece, sister, mother, etc. Don’t look at your bodies under a microscope. You are FAB-U-LOUS!!!
How did you get in my brain…thank you!
On days when the mean self talk won’t quit, I’ll visit this site to remember that the variation and differences in our bodies is healthy and normal AND beautiful: http://theshapeofamother.com/
How great to see own my thoughts echo’d right there in your writing! Just further affirmation that, as alone as we feel on those “moody, miserable days”, we all go through it. On occasion, for the sake of my husband, I try to reign in the “crazy” by reminding myself that the 15k I ran last month wasnt even a remote possibility two years ago. My body may have jigglypuff parts but I am healthier than ever. And if that doesn’t work….I stuff a brownie in my mouth, crank the mopey tunes and ride the storm out. :)
I’ve been skinny and fat and still battling the later. Though I’m way healthier then I was 5 years ago. No matter where you are on the BMI chart you will find fault with yourself, even when others will say “what are you complaining about!” The goal is to be happy with yourself, but if you find a fault fine, get over it and move on, don’t dwell on it. I never had issues with my body until the military told me I was fat, I was flabbergasted to be told I was in the overweight zone ACK! Now in the obese zone and I can run a 1/2 marathon, not my ideal way to run but I’m out there, striving to be better. I didn’t want to wait until I was skinny again to run.
I seduce my husband and then feel like a total goddess afterwards… He loves my body more than I do :)
I’m still in the early stages of becoming a runner and have been annoyed with the slow body transformation. Luck for me, my husband is smart enough to ask “Have you lost some weight?” every now and then!
Wow, I had no idea there were so many other women out there who thought this, too! I have lots of days like this, not just PMS-ing, but really any time I feel negative about something I have done, it translates to my body. What’s been a huge eye-opener is to look at past pictures of myself. For almost all of them, I can say, “Wow, I looked pretty good then!” And I know that at the time the picture was taken, I felt pretty crappy about my cellulite or flabby arms. So apparently a couple of years of perspective helps.
Thank you for being so open about your thoughts and negative self-talk. Most of the posts have left me feeling quite sad. Sad because so many women are judging their bodies on how they think they look and not on what they have done and can do. When I experience these moments I ask myself, how’s my diet and am I working out? Then I’ll go through a list of things my body can do. My last step is to remember, it is the rare man who put’s himself through this stuff. Men, for the most part, don’t bemoan the size of their thighs or butts. They don’t hide their guts or flabby biceps if they have them. They don’t change clothes because they feel fat in something, etc. Once I’ve throw in the fact I’ve had children, I’m good.
Wonderful post, Dimity. Pretty much every sentence in this rang true for me–and I’m even critical of the same body parts on my own body. Ugh. Your advice is right on. I avoid the celebrity rags too, don’t need that unrealistic comparison. And the supposedly motivational images on Pinterest are bothersome too. But just think: If we were having coffee together and griping about this I would say, “But Dimity, you look AWESOME!” and you would say the same to me. If only we could just say this to ourselves. :)
Love.this.
I cannot tell you how many times in a day I think about my “batwings” or my muffin top or my back fat, yet barely think about how many miles I ran that morning. I blog about my body image often, because it helps me when I vent, but also I realize that the people that read my blog (mostly friends and family) have the same issues I do. Even those that you would think LOVE themselves and have no reason to doubt their beauty to being with…those people are usually the ones that hate themselves the most.
So thank you, Dimity, for this excellent post. You made me feel a little less alone in my thoughts. BTW, I love your body. I, myself, am 6’2″, and knowing I look like an awkward giraffe running, doesn’t make me want to run any less, and reading your books and your blog make me feel better about myself, my running and my body. You.are.awesome.
Thank you AGAIN for being the one to say what the rest of us feel. I am only 5 feet tall and have always been tiny but even 9 years after having my youngest child I am still 15 pound heavier than I was before kids. On my small frame that’s a lot of pounds. I try not to obsess over pictures of myself and I try to run as often as I know I should. I wear higher waist running pants so that my belly doesn’t pop out and bounce around. :-) And I wrap my arms around my husband knowing that he will run his hands up and down my body and love every inch of it!
I think this is a demon I will always struggle with, too, and though it makes me feel guilty, I’m glad I’m not alone. FWIW, I think you look great–slim is the top word I’d choose for the way you look!
I like the advice above about treating yourself like you would your best friend or your sister or your daughter. My mom was constantly calling herself ugly in front of me, and I have vowed never to describe myself as fat or ugly in front of either of my kids. I may feel that way inside sometimes, but I think not being allowed to vocalize it helps.
My belly drives me nuts. It has since I was 7 years old and best friend’s grandma told me to suck it in while we were playing by the pool in our bathing suits. My legs, however, have always been thin, and now that I’ve been running for 2 years, they’re hot… Strong, muscular, and hot. My belly doesn’t drive me nuts enough to do ab work (wish it did, that would probably improve my running), but when I’m having the belly blues, I just look at my legs and think “damn my legs look good!” :)
Sad…. I hope as you experience more life and have fewer years left to live than you have already lived, you will appreciate your own great life, your achievements, your family and friends, your inner beauty and soul. I hope you can stop obsessing about the shell (your body) that holds all your goodness. Keep your body healthy so you can live well until you die, stop worry about the small “imperfections”. Cheers!
I like my legs, but that’s about it…and they are scarred because I am such a klutz! I have gotten much better, though. I used to have days where I would cry when I looked in a mirror! I have made a somewhat peace with myself now, as I have finally understood that I am just not meant to look the way society says I am supposed to look. I have always had arm jiggle and a fat belly, even when I was a teenager. But I can run far. And I can tackle mountains that most people wouldn’t WALK up. And that, I remind myself, is what makes me beautiful.
Thanks, ladies…. Thanks to you all!
Great and timely post. (Is there ever a time this isn’t a post we could all relate to?) Thanks for sharing your thoughts. It helps to know we’re not alone in our self-deprecation.
My favorite thing to remember, which so many of the other mother runners have voiced here, is that our children are worth the sacrifice of having a perfect physical body. Sometimes it helps to remember how strong we are inside. It’s like I frequently tell my husband, “I have a six-pack…under that layer of skin and fat!” :)
Thank you for making me feel so much less alone in the self-talk zone of my brain. Appreciate the honesty and the suggestions.
I’ve got the opposite problem. I focused on function through the three year recovery from a child birthing injury, then infertility, then a huge rib injury that took years to recover and now I see myself in photos and I am surprised by how squishy I look and that in fact my jog tops are not tighter from a laundry mishap. So back to the gym and the smaller Fiestaware plates instead of the dinner sized so I can continue to have good function instead of waking up one day 50 lbs overweight with bad joints. Sigh.
I struggle with this. It doesn’t matter to my partner what I weigh. He doesn’t notice or care. But I care! And even though I’m much stronger than I was a year ago, the scale is higher. Honestly? It kills me when I think about it. So I try not to.
Unfortunately It isn’t just a couple of days a month anymore for me, going through pre-menapause the demons vary from day to day…so I just take it one day at a time and on the bad days it IS a struggle to ignore the negative talk and get ANYTHING done, and there is the odd day when I allow myself to wallow but I only let myself have the one day and then tell myself that tomorrow I WILL be stronger and ignore all the ugh talk/feeling, I KNOW I always feel so much better once I have worked out! :-)
THANK YOU for that post. What timing it is for me. Last Friday I pulled a muscle(i am hoping that is all it is) in my kettle bell class which left me pretty much horizontal for the past week. and not having done any exercising, I must say I just feel like all the fatness is jumping back on me UGHHHH.
My plan today is getting out for a walk. and then HOPEFULLY jogging by the weekend.
I am strongly impacted by this post, and this has been something that is on my mind even more than usual this week. I want to read all of the responses and write a lot more, and I figure I should at least get a comment in as the time to write more may not materialize for a while. I really struggle with how to maintain the sweet spot of becoming fit and enjoying what my body can do, and not slipping over into obsessing about race times, pace, reps, pounds, inches, and jiggles. I am a psychologist in Denver and have seen a huge spike in people discussing body issues this week or so after the Aurora shootings. My theory is that our world feels extra out of control after this event, and being overly focused on our bodies, enhanced “naval gazing”, is a futile attempt at regaining control. It is a way to try to shut out the overstimulating world, but in a way that only does us more damage. When we are so focused on the minutia of our bodies, we miss out on our beauty and capabilities, and that of the wonderful folks and world around us. I stick with running and working out because it renews my faith in myself and the universe, and I have to work just as hard to hold onto those feelings. There is a light and a shadow to everything, and it takes a lot of heart and muscle to resist the gravitational pull of the shadow. Thanks for providing a place for me to blurt this out.
I remember that each part of me has been placed especially there by God for a purpose. He has counted the hairs on my head and each is precious to Him. He didn’t make my arms jiggly to tick me off or give me a bad self-image but to draw closer to Him. To realize that my self-worth is not based upon how I look but who He is and who I am in Him.
I don’t have a daughter to pass along my body issues to but I do have sons. I want them to understand that their mother is a capable woman who has ran several half marathons – that’s amazing! I want them to understand that what we put into our bodies help form those bodies.
And working out like another mother runner helps too.
I hear ya. At 39, I am a smaller size than I was through most of my teen years, and I celebrate that on one hand.On the other, through my entire 10 mile run today (which was a first for me!) I kept pulling my hydration belt and tugging on my shirt so my “roll” wouldn’t show. Sometimes I am out there running, thinking ‘yep, look at me lapping everyone on the couch’. And sometimes I just hope nobody sees all the jiggling!
Its a continual battle to stay focused on what my body can DO, not just what it looks like. (As it is a continual battle to stay on a healthy eating program, excercising, etc.)
We just have to keep fighting the good fight!
Thank you for the comment about pinterest. Honestly, I may be in the minority but I don’t work out in my bra and panties. Those images just frustrate me more than motivate me. I’ve stopped pinning fitness stuff because of it. Show me a real woman, at home, with her hair in a birds nest and a child using her as a bridge as she tries to do a pushup, covered in sweat then I will start pinning again.
I was SO thankful for this post Dimity, I don’t even have the words to describe how much I needed to hear someone else put this in their own words. The day I read this, was a day after I had been on my bike with hubs and babygirl in tow on another bike. I was feeling SO awful about myself, which is ridiculous as I’m a fit 41 year old mom in week 10 of half marathon training. But as I was riding, I was just so angry that I felt so badly about my self and said to my hubs and I quote “what’s the point of doing all this working out and running, and training if I’m not going to see any results. I eat well and run a lot and nothing is changing, in fact, I’m getting bigger! Bah! I should just keep eating well and can all this running crap, what’s the point?” I then proceeded to turn my bike towards home in a huff. and then I read this and almost cried. :) Of course, it’s making a difference, the running, the training. I’m bigger in a different way… but a healthier way. And I just finished running 8 miles, which is virtually miraculous for this mother runner. Thanks Dimity.
I appreciated this today! Thanks!