body image

I Finally Figured Out Why My Jeans Fit Funny [Me vs. My Numbers. I Win!]

May 6, 2012

No actual numbers were harmed (or used) in the making of this post. While I do discuss my eating disordered history, I’ve tried to keep triggers to a minimum and if you are suffering from an eating disorder I would actually encourage you to keep reading. This is my message of hope. If I can do this, you can do this. Hope: for you, from me. All those years I taught college I kept waiting to see this happen. What really amazes me about this pic is not that his pants finally fell down (is that a water bottle?!) but [...]

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What’s the Best Way to Compliment a Fit Girl? [Or: What NOT to say to a fit girl!]

April 30, 2012

“Girrrrl! Do you play hockey?!” My friend was a bit taken aback by the question from the bouncer outside the club she was heading into. “What? No. Why do ask that?” Checking out her short shorts, he answered, “Look at those muscles! You’ve got hockey player legs!” While I’m pretty sure he meant it as a compliment (who doesn’t love hockey?), my very fit friend was not complimented. And I don’t know many girls that would take that one very well, frankly. But if you can’t compare a girl to your favorite pro sports team then what can you say [...]

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The #1 Thing I Wish I Knew When I First Got Into Fitness: I am not ornamental

April 16, 2012

Totally unrelated but Gym Buddy Allison and I were noticing the other day how ridiculous song lyrics look when you have to read them close-captioned on the TVs at the gym. I still love Adele. End tangent. (Does it count as a tangent if I haven’t even started on the subject yet?)  What is the number one thing you wish you had known 8 years ago, when you were first starting your health and fitness journey? During an interview for a magazine the other day, the journalist asked me a question that I have been asked in some permutation hundreds of [...]

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How to Combat a Fat and Ugly Attack [Reader Intuitive Eating Question]

April 10, 2012

Trigger warning for mild mention of eating disordered behavior. This post talks about part of my recovery process. I love love love Natalie Dee. Ever had a “fat and ugly attack”? It’s like being on one of those makeover TV shows where everyone who you thought loved you shows up to tell you that you dress like a 50-year-old Amish hooker. From the 80′s. And then giggles while they go through your stretched out sweat pants and you try not to cry on camera. Except that instead of being attacked by your family and friends (seriously what is up with [...]

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Pretty Girl Privilege Is Real – But So is Pretty Girl Pretentiousness [The Samantha Brick Debacle]

April 9, 2012

Samantha Brick may be the most hated person on the Internet right now. And considering Tonya Harding has a website, that’s saying a lot. She makes the backlash against tragi-comic singer Rebecca Black look like mere backwash. What was her crime against society that earned her such an…honor? Trading on her looks. And then bragging about it. And then writing a piece for the Daily Mail (i.e. Daily Fail) about how all other women are just jealous of her. The article, ” ‘There are downsides to looking this pretty” – Why women hate me because I’m beautiful“, is a 1200 [...]

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Red-Circle Cellulite Pic Scared Lauren Conrad Out Of A Swimsuit For Years. [The "flaw" I refuse to apologize for]

April 3, 2012

I love it – the artist even gave her a little orange-peel bum hole! “On [a recent] vacation to Cabo, I wore a bathing suit on the beach for the first time in years. Usually I’m just petrified. A couple of years ago someone zoomed in on my cellulite and it was so mean. I took it really personally. I haven’t worn a bathing suit in L.A. in years because of that.” So says Lauren Conrad – most famous in my house for having her own clothing line at Kohl’s (which is actually pretty cute, I have one of her [...]

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Do Women Really Need Separate (Pink) Races?

March 18, 2012

Air out your shoes! Get your bike out of the garage! Locate that tri suit that you got on a great sale and then felt too pretentious in it to wear it in a real race and so now you have guilt every time you look at it! ‘Tis the beginning of race season! While I’ve mostly sworn off of exercises I have to pay extra for (sorely limited budget + workout ADHD = drastic measures) there is a new race on the roster that caught my eye: The Women Rock Minnesota marathon/half/10k. Sure I like the timing (September is perfect [...]

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Should We Ban the Phrase “Skinny Fat”?

March 14, 2012

Equinox gym is known for having provocative advertising. Remember these ads – a photo spread, really, shot 70′s porn style by noted perv Terry Richardson – that drew so much fire for using catwalk models in sexually submissive poses to sell fitness memberships? (Of course the outcry wasn’t about how the women were being dehumanized and belittled in every picture but rather that they were so skinny they couldn’t possibly know what the inside of a gym looks like outside of the spa.) Well, they’re at it again with a new ad campaign taglined “Are you skinny fat?” Ah skinny [...]

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New Fit Trend: Makeup designed specifically to workout in?

March 12, 2012

Bare-faced to full-fledged drag queen – when it comes to makeup in the gym, I have seen it all. But even I didn’t see this one coming: courtesy of a product pitch I received a few days ago I learned that there is now a full line of cosmetics specifically for working out. Rae Cosmetics* helpfully explains, “Look, we know you wear makeup to the gym. Here’s how to doll yourself up without ending with smeared cheeks and a face full of pimples. If you don’t select the right products, though,[sic] you could wind up looking like a hot mess.” Considering [...]

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Did Plus-Size Paean Crystal Renn Really Betray Us By Losing Weight?

March 4, 2012

Disclaimer: This post may possibly be triggering for those struggling with eating disorders. They are not discussed in any detail but you know what you need – please take gentle care of yourself. Crystal Renn in her plus-size heyday Model Crystal Renn made huge waves (no pun intended) several years ago when she went from a mildly successful straight-size model to a voluptuous, internationally acclaimed plus-size model. Proud of her curves, she even wrote a best-selling book, Hungry: A Young Model’s Story of Appetite, Ambition, and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves, detailing her anorexic past and how she broke free from the [...]

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