Lead a Fit and Healthy Life
Posts tagged body image
Drastic Weight Loss Measures Endanger the Young
12 weeks ago
As a friend on Facebook said – I think people have SERIOUSLY lost their minds.
Young, obese and getting weight loss surgery
Though Shani Gofman had been teased for being fat since the fourth grade, she had learned to deal with it.
She was a B student and in the drama club at school. She had good friends and a boyfriend she had met through Facebook. She even showed off her curves in spandex leggings and snug shirts.
When her pediatrician, Dr. Senya Vayner, first mentioned weight-loss surgery, Ms. Gofman was 17, still living with her parents in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, her bedroom decorated with glow-in-the-dark stars because she was afraid of the dark.
There was no question, at 5-foot-1 and more than 250 pounds, she was overweight.
But she resisted, saying she could diet.
“I’ll lose weight,” Ms. Gofman assured her doctor.
Dr. Vayner said, prophetically, “It’s not your fault, but you’re not going to be able to do it.
Along with the obesity epidemic in America has come an explosion in weight-loss surgery, with about 220,000 operations a year — a sevenfold leap in a decade, according to industry figures — costing more than $6 billion a year. And the newest frontier is young patients like Ms. Gofman, who allowed The New York Times to follow her for a year as she had the operation and then embarked on a quest to lose weight, navigating challenges to her morale, her self-image and her relationships with family members and friends.
We All Have Something
02 months ago
by Stephy
in Fitness/Exercise
A friend of mine is recovering from Breast Cancer — she was under 30 when diagnosed and it changed her physically and emotionally. She wrote this post recently that I when I read it yesterday, it was perfect timing. I really needed this reminder. I hope you find the inspiration and support in her words — which I did– when you are feeling down about you and your body.
…understanding that we all have something. Maybe some more severe than others, but we have all been through challenges and perhaps don’t like certain things about our bodies. It is a personal journey of acceptance of one’s own self and loving who you are despite sickness or injury.
Bad Pics Mess with your Mind
02 months ago
by Stephy
in Fitness/Exercise
Seriously sad how one bad pic (above) can derail me so bad. Ugh!
But here’s a shot the same day a bit more flattering —
It’s all perspective I guess — and changing the voices in your head.
You really are OK
03 months ago
Can You Stay Off ‘Fat Talk’ — For A Week?
I’m not one for these weeks devoted to self awareness and all, but this one is certainly carrying the right message. I work on this sort of stuff every single day. Self talk – the little voice we have inside of us that second guesses, fills you with self doubt and questions or self worth. It’s the same voice that tries to deflate and devalue all the work I have done living healthy and fit.
It’s not uncommon for women (or even men) to bond with each other over the travails of their appearance: their hair, their clothes, their weight, their fat. Sound familiar? If so, take note. The week of Oct. 16-22 isFat Talk Free Week. It’s a week in which people are encouraged to stop their “fat talk.” What is fat talk? It’s comments like” I feel so fat in these clothes,” or “do I look fat?” It can also be saying to someone else, “You look great, did you lose weight?” This implies that lost weight is the metric of looking good.
Although some women say that such talk makes them feel better, research suggests that in fact the opposite is true. Do you engage in fat talk? If so, here’s a challenge: Try not doing it — for a day, then for a string of days, then for a week. And what better time then during Fat Talk Free week.
If you partake in fat talk, it’s in part because our culture encourages it. Through various media (including TV, film, magazine ads and articles), we’re all encouraged to think that our bodies should approximate a thin “ideal.” And if we don’t have that type of body (which the vast majority of us don’t), then we shouldn’t feel okay about our bodies. Unfortunately, most of us go along with this premise and we dislike our bodies. Fight back against this premise and the way it makes you feel. To help you in this endeavor, Oct. 19 is Love Your Body Day.
This song by Pink always speaks to that voice inside –
MISS REPRESENTATION: Be The Change You Want to See…
03 months ago
I watched a trailer for a documentary coming out and it just completely drove home something I was thinking about — just yesterday. Hannah – My amazing, smart, beautiful, funny, quirky, inquisitive, bold, artistic, confident, caring daughter. She is so sure of herself, so confident. I love that she sees the world as hers for the taking — no obstacles in her way.
She decided a few weeks ago she wanted to run for Vice President of her elementary school. No discussion with us about what we thought, no signs of doubt –she was nominated as a candidate, got to work on her speech and poster — all without any real involvement on our end.
They are filming the candidate speeches today – she practiced, figured out how she wanted to deliver it, picked out a nice outfit, brushed her hair extra this morning, told me she was a bit nervous, and then waved and kissed me goodbye as she headed off to school. I wished her luck and told her I was so proud of her and that i thought she was made to do this!
She showed no signs of doubt, no worries if she is good enough or if she is worthy of running. She just knows she is — and I am so beyond words proud of her.
But sadly, I know there will come a time, if she is like most young girls, where those feelings will be challenged, if not lost. She will begin to doubt her abilities, her accomplishments, and even more – her looks. She will begin to think her looks matter more than her actions and intelligence. She will begin to focus on her imperfections, which are exactly the things that make her HER and so special. What causes that moment when it changes? I wish i could capture the HER right now — and release it as she grows up and needs it. I want her to grow up and be an enhanced version of HER, but keep the part of HER- that knows she CAN DO IT – in tact.
There is no science to bringing up an mentally healthy human being, and I am definitely not able to be with her everywhere, all the time — like media. What can I do, as her biggest fan and her Mom, to help HER escape unharmed? My friend Jenny suggested to not let her forget…“Film her. Record her. Blog about her. Get her a journal. Lead by example”.
I think she’s right — we, as Mothers, Business Owners, Entrepreneurs, Care Takers, Sisters, Friends, Aunts, Decision Makers, Politicians, Professionals… – need to lead by example. That truly is the something we can all do that is within our own power to control. Every day, make a conscious decision to “Be The Change You Want To See In The World…”
The video below is a trailer for MISS REPRESENTATION, a movie highlighting the misrepresentation of women in positions of power by the media:
“MISS REPRESENTATION uncovers a glaring reality we live with every day but fail to see. Directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the film explores how mainstream media contribute to the under-representation of women in influential positions in America and challenges the media’s limiting and often disparaging portrayals of women, which make it difficult for the average girl to see herself as powerful.
In a society where media is the most persuasive force shaping cultural norms, the collective message that our young women and men overwhelmingly receive is that a woman’s value and power lie in her youth, beauty, and sexuality–and not in her capacity as a leader. While women have made strides in leadership over the past few decades, the United States still ranks 90th in the world for women in national legislatures, depression rates have doubled among teenage girls, and cosmetic surgery on minors has more than tripled in the last ten years.
Stories from teenage girls and provocative interviews with politicians, journalists, academics, and activists like Condoleeza Rice, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Margaret Cho, Rosario Dawson and Gloria Steinem build momentum as MISS REPRESENTATION accumulates startling facts and statistics that will leave the audience shaken and armed with a new perspective.”
Watch this Video. It’s Important!
Girls, You are Full of Awesome!
04 months ago
by Stephy
in Parenting/Family
Holy Smokes do I love this!
There was a time when you were five years old,
and you woke up full of awesome.
You knew you were awesome.
You loved yourself.
You thought you were beautiful,
even with missing teeth and messy hair and mismatched socks
inside your grubby sneakers.
You loved your body, and the things it could do.
You thought you were strong.
You knew you were smart.
Do you still have it?
The awesome.
Did someone take it from you?
Did you let them?
Did you hand it over,
because someone told you weren’t beautiful enough,
thin enough, smart enough, good enough?
Why the hell would you listen to them?
Did you consider they might be full of shit?
Wouldn’t that be nuts,
to tell my little girl below that in another five or ten years
she might hate herself because she doesn’t look like a starving and Photoshopped fashion model?
Or even more bizarre,
that she should be sexy over smart,
beautiful over bold?
Are you freaking kidding me?
Look at her.
She is full of awesome.
You were, once.
Maybe you still are.
Maybe you are in the process of getting it back.
All I know is that if you aren’t waking up feeling like this about yourself,
you are really missing out.
Scales are not the only indicator — Read this…
06 months ago
Read this post — I love this post – it really shows why Scales do not tell the whole story or even most of the story:
Now that you are done staring in amazement, eyes darting back and forth between the two Debs and down to “155lbs” to make sure you read it right, let this information really sink in. Let it change your perspective to something healthier. Forever!
Now go throw away your scale.
Faced with the facts above, basing your goals – or even worse, your happiness – on the number on your scale is absolutely ridiculous. I’ll give you an example of why weight is useless information in all but extreme cases. Let’s pretend Deb came to me at a weight of 200 lbs and told me she wanted to get down to 155 lbs. Which side of the picture above do you think she would prefer? Do you think she would have been satisfied with the left side? Look at her face. She is ecstatic with her body on the right, but on the left she can hardly stand to have her picture taken. We can glean from this that goals based on weight are too vague to be useful. If I had only given you her circumference measurements (waist, hips, thighs, bust, etc.) and no photos, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind which 155 lb Deb you would have chosen as the more aesthetically appealing. But when you look in the mirror and see a body like the Deb on the left you probably say, “Damn, I need to lose some weight.” Now you have undeniable evidence that defies that thought. Losingweight is not what you want and pursuing a number on your scale is not the path to success. It will drive you insane, though. But that’s probably not your goal.
Change your perspective to something healthier. Forever!
What do you like about You?
06 months ago
I saw this post today — thought it was a cool idea for all of us to do. Take time to keep a running list of things you actually like about yourself. It can be made Public or kept private. It’s up to you —
Reading that also reminded me of this quote:
The more you like yourself, the less you are like anyone else, which makes you unique.- Walt Disney
Things I Like About ME
My lovely friend Elena came up with this amazing idea: “And so an idea was born. The idea of making a list. A powerful list. A list with no self deprecating sarcasm. A list of love. This list, will be “Things I like About ME.”
I decided to give it a shot. I am my own worst critic. I swear, I am horribley hard on my self. Doug often leaves the room when I am trying to find something to wear, he can’t deal with how many times I say “I look fat.”
The number on the scale …
07 months ago
Thought it would be good to post something weight/scale related from a guy’s perspective. He makes some very fair points about the laws of attraction.
Have I made my point? The bottom line is that the scale just doesn’t have any really valuable information for you. Everyone has heard the obligatory “muscle weighs more than fat” ad nauseum, but scale addiction lives on. Even though, as I pointed out above, weight says virtually nothing about attractiveness, it continues to be the primary focus of most women and many men when it comes to aesthetic goals.
Self Image Sabotage
18 months ago
I have been thinking a lot about my posture and how I look in general. I saw some candid pictures from the CrossFit Murph WOD on Monday and candidly — I was seriously horrified at how I appear. I was hesitant to post this, but then thought about how one of the things that made me start to blog regularly was to know that I am not alone in the way I feel and think. So here goes…
You know how you have this vision of yourself in your mind — and then you see few pictures of yourself and it has the power to break me down. Bad photos and the scale’s numbers have this amazing hold over me that can break me or make me depending on the good/bad it tells. That’s what happened to me this weekend. After seeing some of the pics of myself doing and post Murph WOD — I seriously got messed up in my head. That is not the vision I had of how I look. I am not looking for sympathy or compliments when I share this either. To some of those that I have shared this with already, I heard how crazy I am. But this is what goes through my mind: How come I don’t look as amazing as the other athletes I work out with? I work just has hard, focus on my nutrition and I still don’t look what in my mind would be considered good. It’s tough for me to share that with everyone, but if I am not honest here, then why bother? Can you imagine how frustrating that is to me? In many ways I am glad CrossFit doesn’t have mirrors or a scale because it’s not about those things –its about being fit. But if they did, I think I would be even harder on myself. There are times when I see people who I know read this blog outside in the real world, and I think to myself –oh man, I hope they aren’t disappointed by what they see or think –’with all that working out, you would think she would look better.’ Pretty pathetic thoughts right?
I can sit here and talk about how it’s not about how you look and it’s about being fit all day long, but in reality it’s something that I am still learning to acknowledge and accept – obviously. I think I work so hard at it not only because I love the feeling I get and the people I hang out with, but because I don’t think I look good. I saw those pictures and thought how schlumpy I look and how much more work I have to do. It’s really upsetting to me and it has been going through my mind for days now– and I know these feelings will fade into the background of my life once again, until they bubble up from another bad image. I can prepare and talk about being ready for it — but it’s so sad that it has this type of control over my outlook. I can understand how it can consume one’s life — the strive for what one considers perfection. So, I’m down this week about it and battling against these types of thoughts, but I know it won’t keep me down and on I go.
Today’s workout was about Muscle Ups. Yeah, good times.
Warmup
50 DUs
10 PassThurs
10 Good Mornings
10 Head Rotations
10 Trunk Rotations
1 Rope Climb (or rather for me, attempted)
Skill
Muscle Up
WOD
15m AMRAP
7 Muscle Ups (I did MU Transitions)
400m Run
total rounds: 5
Muscle Up Video:
