our subject isn't cool, but he fakes it anyway
May 18, 2015 by Sarah Ogden Trotta
I’ve written previously about the challenges I face while exercising as a kind of curvy lady.
I’ve shared with you all that it can be really tough to exercise in a world that assumes that exercise for women is for weight loss only – and for a kind of fat lady, there is no space for an alternative narrative.
That’s fucked up.
And I think a lot of you Everyday Feminists know that, too.
I received a lot of e-mails and notes after publishing that article, asking how exactly I came to a place where I could feel confident and comfortable building an exercise routine out of self-love instead of body shame.
How exactly did that process unfold for me? How exactly did that shame and fear become smaller, and how exactly did my self-loving attitude grow?
And I get the sense that folks want a five-step program for gaining the capacity for loving self care in the form of exercise at any size. Wouldn’t that be great? I mean, I would love that, too!
But unfortunately, it’s not that simple. It’s a process, and processes take time. And work. And love and intention and everything else that makes anything worthwhile.
Because being able to do anything – anything, including exercise – out of self-love is so, so worthwhile.
I don’t have a simple five-step program. But I do have some tools to share with you about my particular journey from exercising out of shame to exercising out of self-love.
Keep in mind that this set of tools is what worked for me – and it worked for me largely because exercise is something that I wanted to engage in, not something that I felt like I should do.
The truth is that we’re all fed really toxic messages about how we should exercise. For women, it’s to lose weight. For men, it’s to become more muscular. For trans or non-binary folks, it’s to fit more simply into this unfair and unrealistic binary.
And the last thing I would ever want is to tell someone what they should do – especially with their body.
But if the journey from exercising out of self-hatred to exercising out of self-love is something that interests you, you may find these tools useful.
1. I Accepted My Body As It Is
This one was the hardest and the most elusive piece of my journey. Accepting my body exactly how it is has always seemed impossible.
читать дальше
I’ve written previously about the challenges I face while exercising as a kind of curvy lady.
I’ve shared with you all that it can be really tough to exercise in a world that assumes that exercise for women is for weight loss only – and for a kind of fat lady, there is no space for an alternative narrative.
That’s fucked up.
And I think a lot of you Everyday Feminists know that, too.
I received a lot of e-mails and notes after publishing that article, asking how exactly I came to a place where I could feel confident and comfortable building an exercise routine out of self-love instead of body shame.
How exactly did that process unfold for me? How exactly did that shame and fear become smaller, and how exactly did my self-loving attitude grow?
And I get the sense that folks want a five-step program for gaining the capacity for loving self care in the form of exercise at any size. Wouldn’t that be great? I mean, I would love that, too!
But unfortunately, it’s not that simple. It’s a process, and processes take time. And work. And love and intention and everything else that makes anything worthwhile.
Because being able to do anything – anything, including exercise – out of self-love is so, so worthwhile.
I don’t have a simple five-step program. But I do have some tools to share with you about my particular journey from exercising out of shame to exercising out of self-love.
Keep in mind that this set of tools is what worked for me – and it worked for me largely because exercise is something that I wanted to engage in, not something that I felt like I should do.
The truth is that we’re all fed really toxic messages about how we should exercise. For women, it’s to lose weight. For men, it’s to become more muscular. For trans or non-binary folks, it’s to fit more simply into this unfair and unrealistic binary.
And the last thing I would ever want is to tell someone what they should do – especially with their body.
But if the journey from exercising out of self-hatred to exercising out of self-love is something that interests you, you may find these tools useful.
1. I Accepted My Body As It Is
This one was the hardest and the most elusive piece of my journey. Accepting my body exactly how it is has always seemed impossible.
читать дальше
