Healthy living support thread for feminists

can i jump in please?

i so need a safe place to talk exercise and running, without the talk of needing to fake tan my legs or worry about body hair

if you want to do that, fine by me, but please can we just talk about the exercise*

*me thinking out loud

FF- I'm glad you enjoyed the weights. I think it's something that more women should do but I also know that there a few reasons why more don't.

You're also right about weighing yourself daily to. It can have some good points but it's mostly about the weekly trend

PT session was good, I tried the bench press - I managed to lift the bar for a couple of sets, which apparently is a good start! I can't imagine putting actual weights on it in addition. I'm quite tempted to pay for some sessions with her as she was good and I liked her. Hmmmm

I weigh every day. I know you're not supposed to, but I've never had the patience for that kind of thing. As long as you don't beat yourself up if it wavers up and down a bit, and keep focused on the general trend I think it's ok.

Morning. I'm going for a taster session with a personal trainer this morning. Only because they were having an personal training open day at the gym, I can't sign up to paying for sessions, so I feel a bit guilty.

I'm not quite sure what I'm going to tell her about my goals etc. I'd quite like her to show me the weight lifting section of the gym, I've never ventured in, but I don't want the whole session to be about that. I need to work on cardio too.

Just checking in and saying good night!

I could use a support thread! I've been battling PND/depression since having my babies and the medication I am on is known for weight gain (it's an anti-d sometimes used to help people who need to gain weight).

I injured my knee in December and have just recently started physio for it which is helping greatly. I do a lot of step ups and lunges right now to try gain stability in my knee.

I probably have 50 pounds to lose to put me at a weight that allows me to be active with my two boys, especially as they get older and more active.

I hope to be starting a job at the end of September which will help me with routine and less comfort eating on the days my boys are with my ex. 2 out of 4 work days I will be using public transportation so will do the walk to a further stop, get off a few stops early to add extra exercise in.

My biggest downfall is not eating properly. I make sure my boys eat properly but I fail myself. I'm pretty good with fruit and veg but have terrible sugar cravings - cakes, chocolate cookies (no smoking or alcohol though so I have some good things going for me). Any suggestions to cut a sugar addiction?

I guess the switches being periods of healthy/not healthy, like Sera mentioned, actually protect against taking it too far, to a degree. Although a more stable outlook would probably be best in the long run.

I remember one Christmas, when I'd previously had a good run of losing weight, I actually had the thought process - 'fuck it, I'm eating what I like, I can lose weight again later'. Which was definitely a mistake because it's not that easy to make a deliberate choice to switch back to healthy mode, and it took over a year before it happened.

I think I'm a bit hyper-aware of the dangers of taking it too far because a couple of people I was close to when I was young suffered from eating disorders. Dieting became a dangerous and unhealthy thing to do in my mind. I understand the benefits now, and that it can be done healthily, but part of me has enjoyed the control and the ability to change my body, and that's a bit scary.

I think your point "taking it too far" is really interesting FF.

I lost about 3 stone a few years ago, I then wanted to put some muscle on. I thought I'd be happy at X weight, I'm currently about one and a half stone over that. Unfortunately it kind of feels that it's never enough.

I think that goes with a lot of things health and fitness related. Whether that's weight, size , a running time or a certain amount of weight lifted. I think there is a potentially dangerous drive in some of us

This is a good thread for me. I have been losing weight recently, mostly through diet, but I've kicked up my exercise rates too. It was sparked by buying a swimming costume online in a size that I thought I was but struggled to get into it. It was on sale so I kept it as a goal to fit into. I've lost a stone so far and can wear it now. And I've been enjoying the new aesthetic, enjoying clothes shopping, which I never used to do.

So, my motivations and pleasure in my success haven't been entirely 'pure' in terms of doing it for healthy living. But the losing weight definitely felt like a 'now or never' thing, I've seen how many problems being overweight can cause as you get older, and how much harder it is to deal with later in life.

I have two daughters and I don't talk about dieting or food restriction in front of them. I've mostly done it through no snacking and slightly smaller portions, so nothing they would have noticed. I feel like when I put them in the creche (which they enjoy) so I can go to the gym, or leave DH to do bedtime so I can go for a class, I'm giving an example that it's normal to make time for exercise in your life. I've also enquired about a family taekwondo class for me and dd1 to go to together, which she seemed excited about - mostly about going with me rather than taekwondo itself, though I hope she likes it.

I like feeling fit, and I like feeling strong, and I like that I have discernible muscles in my arms now, but sometimes I look in the mirror and think how weird it is that there is less of me now. How strange it is that a person can be smaller than they were.

I also worry that by starting this process I might accidentally drift into taking it too far. Already I've reached my original goal and decided I'd like to lose another half stone, and now that I'm comfortably within my healthy BMI range, I think, why not aim for the middle of the range?

I wish making a decision to be healthier could come without all the other baggage.

It's very sad about kids picking up on this. I have 2 dds and 2 nieces. My dds are 15 and 5, and dd1 seems a bit oblivious to it all, she doesn't care what she looks like particularly, she's a geeky nerd, with a perfectly healthy size 12/14 frame (she has the family boobs poor girl). Dd2 sees me standing on the scales and she sometimes likes a turn too, but she's young enough that she just likes reading the numbers and she thinks whatever number it says means she's perfect. It won't be long til she picks up the insecurities of her friends.

I do that too Sera. My recent bad period has lasted since the end of June, because I got stressed then, then sort of thought "well I've buggered it up now anyway, I may as well carry on".

I think I self sabotage quite a lot. People thought I was losing weight to look good on my wedding day, whereas I knew that I just want to be healthier. The few weeks before the wedding I ate all sorts of crap, and I think it was subconsciously to prove that we were getting married whether I'd lost weight or not. Now the wedding is over, I'm back into healthy mode with no problems.

Outsself, I'm one of those people who has always been slim and has never had any trouble with weight. I never comment on my body because I never think to. My 8 and 9 year old daughters are coming out with horrifying stuff. 'x makes you fat', 'do I look fat'. etc. It's so hard to shield them from all that stuff, even if you don't have anxieties yourself.

I walk a lot, and also do reasonably strenuous 2 and 3 hour hikes. Hate running with a passion!

My next mission is to start more seriously with weights. I worry about osteoporosis. I'm really not strong enough, at all.

I try not to worry too much about food as I don't want to pass my anxieties on to the kids. God, I hope my kids are bulletproof.

I've always fancied triathlons but not enough to reorganise my life into doing one. Cycling would be my worst bit though - I can run and I used to swim for my county. Cycling is all a bit optional i.e. you can just glide along looking at shit, doing the odd push. Maybe because I had my bike primarily for commuting I never quite did it sportingly. I went off it a bit when I was knocked off my bike in London and the other cars just went round me, beeping crossly. A passing runner helped me out but the cars just went right by.

The Great North Run is a half marathon. That used to be a regular long run distance. Til children. I don't think you keep your condition for four years really, do you?

I feel like I've done really well today. I took dd2 for a picnic at lunchtime and while she had sausage rolls, I chose to have tuna salad with no dressing (because I hate all salad dressings with a passion), and I enjoyed it , way more than I would have enjoyed sausage rolls. We had chicken and veg risotto for dinner. I also made fairy cakes with dd2 so I had to help her lick the bowl, and sample one with her, they weren't bad even if I do say so myself

I've even been swimming. I swam for 45 mins and was just short of a mile but the pool was closing so I couldn't do my last few lengths.

Not really because they were "I'm too busy" food. But I am now walking to the station again and trying to clear my head!

Good point Magi, it's like all those people who talk about having a "cheat" day/ meal. You're not cheating because there aren't really any rules. If you fancy something "bad" have it, as long as it's not everyday you'll be fine.

Well I hope you enjoyed them, Yonic - and that's not said in an arsey way.

Everyone has some snacks sometimes, my downfall is cheese 'n' onion crisps. I could eat 2/3 packs a day no problem but I don't.

But when I do decide to have some I bloody well enjoy them!

No point in guilt.

Have done v badly today eating snacks. Oh well!

Sera thankyou so much for sharing that article I feel exactly the same way she does. I do have before and after pictures (clothed) on Kodak from the first time but they havent been in any magazine. And your point about the instant gratification is a good one. Ive seen body shamers apply this term very readily to overweight people but those who want quick results or try to make you feel you are not doing well enough because even though you are losing ,its not coming off quickly are just as guilty of buying into the instant gratification thing surely . An excellent point.

Ive lost my weight at slimming world and although i still attend i dont buy the slimming world magazine anymore . Years ago it used to be quite health based ....now its much more looks based.

And re. Brooke from the article even if the mag had agreed with her at the outset they could easily have backtracked on that and airbrushed the photos. There is too much misogyny in the press for women to trust any promises they may make.

I opted for poached egg on toast for lunch rather than a cheese sandwich. I also got dressed in to my running gear so that I an ready to go as soon as it cools down enough, and I've put my iPod on charge.

I've dieted before, but never just tried to get healthy. It's nice to not be obsessed with points / calories / syns / dress sizes / weighing things. Just making small healthy choices.