Many people assume that because I have a body acceptance blog that somehow means I’m anti-exercise. I’m not quite sure why that is but I want to set the record straight that although I’m not much of an exercise buff (I have a gym membership which I maybe use a couple times a month), I’m certainly not against exercise, in fact, I’m all for it.
My concern about exercise is mostly about over-exercise. I’m sure you’ve seen them too; those people at the gym that look like they are about to keel over (like they haven’t eaten in a while) and are running like their lives depended on it. My friends and I call this the “Gotta lose ten pounds” syndrome. Back in my pre-cheeseburger days, I used to have this pretty bad. Even though I was already thin, as soon as the scale started getting just a little bigger I would go on a gym binge and try to work off the extra weight. I was running and running, trying my hardest to get the weight off. I was overdoing it.
I recently was talking to one of our readers who told me that her Mom did an extra two hour exercise class last week just because she ate a little cookie batter when making cookies for her family. I don’t think using exercise in such a way is the healthiest mentally speaking.
So please understand that I’m not anti-exercise. I think running is a really cool thing, and I know plenty of people who work out on a regular basis, which I think, is great for them. But straining your body to meet a goal that could potentially end up getting you hurt? Freaking out and running to the gym after you have an extra cookie? That’s not something I’m down with. I think exercise is a good thing recreationally and a lot of studies have shown that there are health benefits too. So now, when I do work out, I don’t work out because I ate a cupcake after dinner, I work out because I like it and it’s good to keep my muscles strong and flexible.
So the next time you are at the gym, instead of obsessing over how your current workout is affecting the scale, think about how you might be benefiting mentally and physically (in a non-obsessive about your weight kind of way).
Thank you for this post. Stumbling upon the size acceptance/HAES community has been a boon to my recovery from anorexia. Exercise is actually FUN when you aren’t obsessing about your heart rate and how much you burn. After hating my body for so long, I need to be reminded sometimes that it’s about what my body does, not what it looks like.
I am so glad that you wrote this. In my own experience, I’ve found that when I declare I’m pro-FA, people asume I’m anti-exercise. You stated my feelings perfectly though. If you’re spending five hours a day, five days a week at the gym because you licked off the cake mix batter on a spoon, you aren’t exercising for your health anymore. It’s an extreme form of exercise to reach an extreme standard of beauty.
Exercise should be fun and enjoyable; it should be something we look forward to doing, not something that agonizes us. Swimming at the beach for fun, taking a walk through the local park, playing ball with kids… THAT’S healthy exercise. Running on a treadmill at a steep incline at a rapid pace with the intent of burning off 1000 calories in a 30 minute period… not so much.
This is one of the biggest misconceptions about Fat Acceptance: that what we’re promoting is eating nothing but fatty, fast-food and sitting on the couch all day. Which is so far from reality that it’s ridiculous.
Well “spoken”! Exercise SHOULD be done for fun; not as some sort of calorie-burning torture! It is a good reminder to hear so thanks 😀
Back in my ‘dieting’ days when i was at my worst i used to consume those diet milkshakes up to 1000 calories a day and then I would go to the gym and burn off 1000 calories. If I ate more I would burn off more. Essentially I was eating nothing since everything I did eat I burnt off. Now I think about it burning off 1000 calories is a hell of a lot of time on the treadmill and I for sure would have had that desperate gotta lose 10 pound look.
Needless to say it has caused me to be a bit anti exercise. However, lately I have found myself easing back into working out on a treadmill. Not to lose weight (hell no) but just to breathe easier, relax and feel more freedom in my movement. Plus as you said it is healthy. But it is a stark contrast to what I did before. Now Im only burning off 100 calories:)
Know what I hate about exercise? The word. I don’t know why but it makes me cringe when I hear it. “Work out” is a bit more tolerable- just a bit. I’d rather hear, and talk, about activity. “I’m going running. I’m going swimming. I’m taking a bike ride. I’m going out dancing tonight!”
It at least sounds as though the person is doing the activity for the sake of the experience- not to burn calories or lose weight or “get healthy”. (“Healthy” is another word that has taken on a bad cast in my mind). Exercise just sounds like no fun, and what fun is that?
Yes! Man I really needed to read that because it is an issue I am very currently dealing with. Some history:
I found a gym in my town that I *love*…lots of machines, big lockers in the dressing room, a flippin’ TV on EVERY cardio macine, and the people at the front desk are friendly, non-condescending, and greet me by name when I go.
Well there’s the catch ~ when ~ I go.
This past year I have suffered through 2 deaths (my mother and my cat! my dad has been dead 10 years) and haven’t had the motivation, desire, or whatever to go to the gym. Or dance, which I love also. Or take walks. Basically any exercise. So I have been a ‘silent sponsor’ of my beloved gym…letting my paid membership languish. I’ve sort of been on hiatus from my own body! It hasn’t felt great.
I would try to talk myself into going…I had a regular habit of going to that gym several times a week for a few years.
The 7-year-old in me threw tantrums. C’mon, let’s go to the gym….NO. I’m NOT GOING and you CAN’T MAKE ME.
Fine.
The other evening a couple of girls triggered me like crazy…talking about the infamous “10-day-cleanse” that they had attempted and failed. One girl said, “But I made it 7 days!” and she seemed so pleased with herself. You must understand: both of these girls are very thin already, and fairly healthy, I mean, it’s not like they’re eating bags of cheetohs and snorting meth so they don’t really NEED a “cleanse” IMHO.
The next day I bought a bottle of carb-blocking supplements and a jar of ‘slimquick’ tablets.
That night, I went back to my beloved gym after months and months of absence.
It was awesome.
The desk attendant greeted me by name and said “good to see you back” in a genuine way that made me feel part of the GYM community, not like some heinous backslider.
I went on the stationary bike for about 45 mins. and watched “The Real Lives of Rock-star Wives”.
I did 11 crunches on the abs machine and 11 reps on the leg press. Then I went into the little classroom they have in the back – beautiful smooth wood floors, exercise balls, and a punching bag – and played with one of the balls. I looked at myself in the mirror. I wasn’t repulsive. I looked strong. I thought “I love you” to my reflection, even though I didn’t say it out loud.
It was fun. Actual fun. I feel I made friends with my body again, to some degree, and can support myself returning to the gym tonight, because I somehow made the shift out of NOT going.
I’m ditching those pills, though. *haha!*
But it is my belief that working out should not be a way of punishing yourself for some dietary transgression you think you’ve made. It should help you feel more alive!
To be clear: I’m returning to the gym so that I can begin to become physically active again after about a year of stone-cold sedentary NON-activity…..not to lose x number of pounds.
* : )
I didn’t really say that, but that’s what I meant.