body positivity!!

On the topic of patrons pay though, I wish I could fit comfortably into my tub to enjoy a bath. It's like I have the smallest possible tub in the world. I used to take baths every day. Great way to relax.

Patrons post

f. hazel, which app do you use?

There's a free one for OS X called Apimac Timer that does everything I need it to, i.e. a stopwatch function that dings every 45 minutes using a sound file I can choose!

Nice, thanks! This is an excellent idea. Now I just need to find some exercises I can do in my normal clothes, in 5 mins, against a wall.

i hadn't seen stevie's last revive, v nice post and v strong look. i find it hard not to judge myself by comparison to some generic version of 'handsome', but telling myself how blatantly ridiculous it is goes some way towards it - those generic ideas have no impact on how i view other people so it's clearly really dumb to apply them to myself.

not dumb just interesting

Roller skating was fun and today my hips were sore.

The best. Yesterday two ppl asked me if I had lost weight and I was like no, I've been lifting lotsa weights though and then one person called me a lean machine :D

Much better than "I hate you"

How have you approached weights, LL? I need to hear about sane ways of getting started, and I bet you were very sane about it. I keep saying I want to do weights but I'm rebelling against a 'program' of some kind. I just wanna start really, really small, just 20 mins 3 times a week or something like that, plus 5 mins of, I dunno, squats or something at work in an empty room.

dunno how sane this is, but it works for me bc it's fun. do you have any songs you like to listen to that could bear many repeated listens that are roughly 10 min long? i just lift the weights in time with the song (i've had 2 different ones in about 8 months) while i pace back and forth across the basement. kinda like dancing but much slower and more deliberate/controlled? sometimes i pretend i am part of a machine :-/ i don't think about reps or anything. between that and some pushups, i have really improved my upper body strength!

i'd start with little weights, like 2-3 lbs and then if you wanna move up bc it's too easy, move up. but getting into a routine was the hardest part for me.

if you add that to like 15 min of aerobic dancing, that's a fun do-able workout afaic
also there's no "you're doing it wrong" or ppl shouting at me about work and pain or ppl looking at me.

I do only four lifts: squats, deadlifts, overhead presses, bench presses. All at the max weight I can manage in good form for 3 sets of 5 reps except for deadlifts where I only do 1 set. Very simple, very in-and-out-of-the-gym-quickly. Sane and manageable for me. You need a power rack, bar (40 lb) and weights. Starting Strength is a way way way nerdy and dense weightlifter book that would be totally overwhelming to most, including me, but it emphasizes these four lifts and makes a good case that these are really all a normal person needs.

I only get to the gym twice a week to lift. That is twice more than would be the case were I to have a more complicated regimen. I'm no lean machine and never will be because I refuse to change what I eat and drink, but it has done wonders for my problematic lower back.

Oh wait I also do some back exercises that a physical therapist assigned, but they are easy and I just bang them out between sets.

Also I go to what is considered an old lady gym but I love it because it is owned by two older women and the old ladies in there are super cool and no one is ever in the weight room except for me.

I love the song idea, LL! I'm not a dancer at all so that part doesn't appeal, but timing lifting to a song does. Q, I've decided that for now I have to work out at home because it's the surest way to get me into a routine - just like LL, that's the hardest part for me. I do like the idea of picking four basic movements and sticking with those for now (and maybe forever), though. I'm sure I can find a way to work them all in without the bar. I've heard good things about Starting Strength so will check it out.

I am looking forward to feeling more stretched and lithe!

i mean you can dance however you want! just bounce around if that's fun -- do the Muppet, write your name with your butt in the air, anything! anyone who can move can dance afaic

just do whatever routine makes you happy X times per week without pressure and eventually you'll want to add more and i think it'll be good for you!

Right, that is exactly what I'm going for! dancing and bouncing will not do that, sadly, (yet?) but other things will!

AY so i teach a speech and debate elective and we did persuasive speeches on a topic of the speakers choosing and one of my students chose body positivity and it was so rad and so well researched and she quoted gabby sidobe at the end i was doin little backflips in my mind.

awesome!

Tomorrow I'm getting a "real" haircut for the first time in years

what sort of place are you going to?

a salon. they do good work afaik. I trust them to not make me look like a republican or macklemore.

getting a real haircut can be the best even if you think you don't give a shit about your hair or you don't want people to think you give a shit about your hair

m bise I <3 that kid and their speech
getting a real haircut is always worth the $$$ to me
I need to find a new stylist bcz the last one called me "mousy" and that is a no-go even if she is perfect at the great chrissie hynde hair

I have a fitness buddy for the first time in lyfe and it feels cool
we both love bicycles and kitties
we both work with people with autism and we both love movies so we have good conversations
and most impt we think ppl should not be judged by their weight
so awesome

the good news is i am keeping it positive

Uh oh
Did you get a crazy haircut?

it's just really short! i think it will be ok. it just takes some getting used to.

give it a day, i bet it looks great.

Srsly, you have top notch hair and a face to match, you'll be ok!

hooray we can see more of yr lovely face crut <3

that happens to me literally every time i get a haircut

Haircuts are like soups, better the day after you make them

I felt p alarmed the first time I broke the ten yearish period of DIY haircuts but I warmed to it. have had the most success getting my hair cut by the newest&cheapest person in a swanky place, much better than going to a decent place & cost about the same

I finally feel some positivity towards my body and want to post in this thread now. Over the past two months I have drastically reduced my (formerly insane) sugar intake, and I feel so so awesome. Some days, the only refined sugar I have in an entire day is the two sugars I take in my coffee. This is a gigantic change, and thus a really important health step for me. My weight hasn't changed as far as I know, but I am trying not to focus on outward things. My terrible diet has been a source of a lot of anxiety for me, so to finally make a concrete, lasting change is a big deal. Go moderation!

yall, my legs are strong as F
lupus aint mean shit to them

tell me your secrets!

its probably just yoga and walking a lot!

here's a new wrinkle (lol) in the body posi discussion

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119581/against-sedation-and-general-anesthesia-time-take-back-our-bodies

And, I’d add, the loss of the wonder of self-discovery. You are only this one body, it’s all you are and ever will be; it won’t be there forever; and why not become familiar with it, when science gives the chance? I began refusing sedation out of a work ethic; I continued through fascination.

ok, barf, no

why does that appall me so deeply

i don't know why people have to evangelize about stuff like this but i felt it was relevant

ok, barf, no

Oh man, I'd love to see my appendix but I'm into medical stuff and everything behind OBOS etc. Also, I have totally done the spectrum thing and looked at my cervix.

it's not even that i think it's gross; i think it'd be marginally cool but mostly boring and physically uncomfortable. they usually give me photos anyway.

What are the countervailing benefits of unconsciousness?

Well, if you have a casual interest in human cognition, coming out of twilight sleep is pretty interesting. It's pretty amazing to be sitting there having a conversation with someone and all of a sudden being "back" as if a memory needle had stopped skipping.

I loooove twilight sleep, I have to get a colonoscopy every year bc I have crohns and it's basically my annual groovy drug experience

i like the tingly feeling but it also feels like a sneak preview of death which makes me a lil uneasy

Eh, I feel like that about going to sleep half the time anyway

i have been thinking a lot about how yoga helps me feel good about my body/self and i would like to propose a moratorium on the phrase "yoga bitch" -- just bc someone enjoys yoga, that person is not a bitch. if someone bitchily flaunts his/her yoga-ing, it's not because of the yoga, it's because that person is bitchy fundamentally. i dunno, it makes me feel bad when i think that people would call me that; doing yoga alone in my basement can't possibly be a bitchy activity.

I have never heard that phrase
it's rotten!

One time I ran into this toned trapeze yoga bitch at the co-op & she was all "oh! You don't look well!" I think what I hated about it more than her saying I looked like shit was the condescension, like I'm some baby who can't take care of myself & I need her fucking vedic tips or whatever.

― emilys., Thursday, July 25, 2013 5:46 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Lol @ toned yoga bitch

― free your spirit pig (La Lechera), Thursday, July 25, 2013 5:50 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark

like, i loled, but then i thought about it for a year