Category Archive

exercise

Here’s the weird thing about getting fit after 40

“I have never felt this good!” is not what you’re told your 40s are supposed to feel like.

This makes me wonder: what other common narratives around aging aren’t necessarily true?

Tackling body dysmorphia with pole dancing

How one woman tackled her body dysmorphia with pole dancing

I was completely inspired with hope as I sat across from Jillian and listened to her story. The room buzzed with her energy. She was dynamic and powerful. I would’ve never known that just five years before she was in the depths of her struggle with Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). BDD is all consuming — a constant obsession about the shame of one’s appearance. This description did not characterize the woman who sat confidently before me. I asked what shifted. I was not prepared for her response.

Exercising with dogs: How you AND your dog can be more active together

Following the “lead”: how you AND your dog can be more active together

Our lives are often sedentary, and those of us with dogs know that they can get on that bandwagon, too. In spite of their innate need to move and play, our dogs often find themselves sitting on the same sofa we ourselves sit on. It’s easy for all of us to become couch potatoes together. Here are some easy ways to make exercising with dogs more enjoyable for everyone…

Why ditching my kid to go exercise makes me a better parent

Something I often get mom guilt about is leaving the house to workout. The truth is, leaving the house to get a workout in helps make me a better parent! And it could do the same for you, here’s why…

13 pieces of plus sized gym advice for newbies

It is hard being the fat girl at gym sometimes. Some things I do to help cope, include reminding myself I’m not the only bigger person there, coming up with a goal for my session, focusing on other things, wearing clothes I love…

Trust me, I have a long list of tricks up my sleeve to get through as a plus sized gym newbie!

How a Harry Potter-themed “virtual race” got me off my ass IRL

My mind was blown. How in the hell could a running club or a race be virtual? I looked into it a little more (let’s be real…I Googled the term “virtual race”) and was astounded at how many I found, and absolutely gobsmacked at how many of them had amazingly geeky themes.

This was the perfect combination of external motivation (shiny medals) and appealing to my sense of altruism (some races donated money to cancer research) to get me up off my ass and moving.

What I’m learning from dancing poorly

Inspired by a local dancer’s athletic performance in a show I saw years ago, I asked her if she would teach me some stuff. She said she would, and then I cried a lot because it’s really hard looking stupid and learning new things. METAPHOR ALERT!

It’s not “ruining a diet,” it’s called “living life”

To tell people who are so committed to a part of their lives that it could be in jeopardy from a single hot dog (or an entire plate full of them) is ridiculous. And it’s part of what is wrong with the “diet culture” in our society. It’s not a fucking diet. It’s just life…