Swimsuits for Every Body?
If there is one magazine cover line that suckers me more than any other, it's "The perfect _____ for your body type!" promise.
Why? Because finding these so-called "perfect" prom dresses/jeans/swimsuits for my body has, historically, required a lot of frustrating and fruitless labor, and I know I'm not alone in that (tall, big-bottomed ladies unite!).
Nothing makes me stabby quite like shopping for swimsuits. Take this weekend: I tried on some 30 different suits with no success. After an hour of playing "this top is too big, this bottom is too small, this color really brings out my cellulite," I gave up and left empty handed.
So, while grocery shopping, when I saw that a popular women's magazine was offering advice on finding the perfect suit for "EVERY (yes, even you!)" body type, I was powerless against the blatant manipulation and flipped to the article. Unsurprisingly, it was the same as every other version of that photo spread ever printed.
The takeaway? Finding a swimsuit is easy if you're a model and have professional hair and makeup. Plus, the body types are totally subjective -- and often infuriating. For example, this particular article featured a suit for the "athletic body."
Annoyed, I showed a friend and demanded, "What the [mumble] is an athletic body type?! Athleticism isn't a size!"
"Well, according to their picture, athletic bodies are skinny with big boobs," he offered.
Sad, but true. (Also: completely untrue.)
So I'm cutting myself off. No more unrealistic, ultimately unhelpful guides to buying flattering clothes. It's just so ridiculous to base shopping decisions (and potentially self-worth) on the belief that the eight body shapes that magazines decide are Normal are the only ones that exist. And that fashion editors get to decide what clothes look good on my body.
Can we all just agree that the best swimsuit for your body is the one you feel good wearing? That the perfect swimsuit doesn't actually exist, but your body confidence can make any piece of clothing work for you? Finding clothes that fit well is important, sure, but owning and loving your body -- as it is right now -- is the only way that any of us will ever be able to wear our stretch marks and dimples with pride.
I'm never going to have the perfect body with which to wear the perfect swimsuit. But I have my body, and I'm learning to be happy with exactly where I am -- cellulite and all.
(Photo by anyjazz65.)
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bike
"Sometimes [biking] strikes me as an intricate form of torture. In his book the triathlete Dave Scott wrote that of all the sports man has invented, cycling has got to be the most unpleasant of them all. I totally agree." --Haruki Murakami in his memoir What I Talk About When I Talk About RunningI read this paragraph just a few days after I starting biking the long (for me) ride between Minneapolis and St. Paul. His words spoke to my soul.
Cycling any sort of distance is a completely new experience for me. Turns out I hate it. And I love it. On one hand, biking gives me agency over my transportation (I'm carless, so I rely on public transportation). I get exercise and don't have to wait on street corners at odd hours of the day or night. In many cases it's actually faster than taking the bus, and I'm the slowest biker in the world! The universe!
On the other hand, I completely agree with Murakami that biking feels like exquisite torture. Each time I push the pedal down, the seat wedges itself further into my sensitive parts. I used to think running hills was hard -- and then I started biking up them. Also, wind. Cursed wind.
There's a period of adjustment that comes with every new activity, especially when you're coercing your body to use muscles in a foreign way. I'm still floundering in that adjustment period, forcefully introducing the idea of saddle soreness and wind resistance to my unwitting lower half.
Like all things, I know it will get easier with time. And the benefits? Completely worth the nether-region numbness.
Brie, Strawberry and Pecan Salad
Ingredients
Mixed greens
One chunk of Brie
Strawberries
Raspberries
Pecans or walnuts (I used honey-roasted)
Poppyseed dressing
Chop up the Brie and strawberries, put everything together and drizzle with dressing. I don't normally crave salads, but I want to eat this one pretty much every day. 
Enjoy!Kettlebells Are Making Me Stronger
I've done seven weeks of kettlebells, and even with only one session a week I've noticed a big difference in my body.
For one, my butt has changed shape. Almost three years of running, squats and lunges, and yoga didn't do this.
My newly toned backside makes sense, as we do upwards of 200 swings during every class, which amounts to lots and lots of work on that posterior chain (think hamstrings and glutes). And thanks to Jen, I always think of squeezing the invisible quarter in my bum and between my shoulders in order to activate the right muscles and protect my back.
In the past, I've never had a very successful go at strength training. Something about the grunting and high-school-weight-room memories I associated with it, I guess. It seemed intimidating and boring (I like to be outside, wind in my hair. I'm like a dog that way. Weight lifting seemed like such a "go to the gym" activity).
Kettlebells is one of the first times I've made the connection between fun and strength training. You get to swing heavy things around! And pretend you're a hardcore Russian spy! I love that I'm using my whole body (my smarter-than-me-about-this-stuff coworkers have all echoed how important this sort of functional training is).
I hope to keep building my strength once this 8-week class is done and find even more full-body workouts. I read about all kinds of fun stuff (TRX, outdoor strength training, band workouts, and on and on), but I've always felt too novice to even attempt them. You're talking to a girl who can barely do knee push-ups, let alone a full on pull-up.
But my confidence is building, and so are my muscles. So let's keep this train moving!
--
Find more info, and fun k-bell exercises, in this article.
(Photo by ldanka.)
Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon Race Report
Sunday was the day. We trained for three months, through injury, while traveling and in every sort of inclement weather you can imagine.
On race day, the weather was perfect -- sunny, breezy and not too hot. We started out at a nice clip (our first four miles were under 10 minutes), and then we slowed down to a more sustainable pace for the rest of it.
Let me just say, I am SO glad we did hill training because this course had quite a few ups and downs. The finish line was located just past a fairly steep hill, which did not make me happy. In fact, it kind of reminded me of my last leg during the Ragnar Relay, after which I was a very cranky potato for about two minutes. Then the anger chemicals dissipated and I was happy again. (Ragnar wasn't even the first time that happened. Apparently I get a bit emotional after tough runs.)
After finishing on Sunday, I got some water in me, listened to the rockin' band at the finish line, and all was right with the world again. I was incredibly lucky to have an awesome group of people to run with, which makes everything more fun.
After a head-to-head sprint to the finish line, I finished 5/100ths of a second behind my boyfriend. He responded by saying, "Wow! You're fast!" I'm trying not to be offended that he sounded so surprised. Ahem.
(Photo courtesy of www.lakeminnetonkahalfmarathon.com.)
I Am Not a Moderator
Over on her blog for The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin posed a very interesting question recently: Are you a moderator or abstainer?
I've been thinking about that question for a long time. Conventional advice seems to demand moderation -- Don't be too restrictive! Allow yourself what you love! -- but that's never really worked for me.
Sure, there are some things I've never had a problem moderating (alcohol, for example). But if you put ice cream in my freezer, I will eat it until it's gone.
When I set limits that are mostly black and white, I've taken the decision out the equation* and I can relax. I think that's the reason I've been able to do programs like the UltraSimple detox or a three-month candida diet. I'm not tempted to (over)indulge because my temptations are not even an option.
This could also be why my fitness pursuits have tended to be a bit myopic -- if I set a goal, like the marathon, then that's what I'm doing. I have something to achieve and a plan. Long-term, more amorphous goals (i.e., the ones without a finish line, like my yoga practice or strength training) tend to be placed on the back burner.
It's a relief to acknowledge and embrace the modus operandi that works best for me. And I hope that, over time, moderation will become easier and more natural. It's a practice. Someday, I might be able to eat a spoonful or two of Ben & Jerry's, but until then, I'll keep it out of the house.
--
*This reminds me of Dan Gilbert's TEDTalk on the nature of happiness and decisions. If you have 20 minutes, I highly recommend it.
(Photo by yomi955.)
Stumbling Toward a Healthier Balance
I have about as much balance in my life as a rhinoceros perched atop a light pole.
I'm very good at diving into one thing at a time with reckless abandon -- a super strict Candida diet! Training for a marathon! Being a lazy pile! -- but when it comes to marrying a sustainable fitness program and healthy eating, I have a long way to go.
As such, I've declared 2010 the Year of Balance. To me, this means finding a path that doesn't lead to burnout (cough marathon cough) and that can turn into a lifelong endeavor, not just a temporary project.
One of my first steps is to tackle an area that I chronically neglect: strength training. I'm taking an 8-week kettlebell class and can already feel the difference. And by "difference," I mean "soreness." But the prospect that I might actually be able to do a big girl pushup at some point in my life is VERY EXCITING. I'll be posting regular updates from the kettlebell trenches as I continue, so be sure to check back.
To counteract my shortening hamstrings (as a result of k-bells and the half marathon training), I've signed up for a 10-week yoga class at a new studio. The teacher is fantastic and though I've only had one class so far, I am already reaping the benefits of having a mind-body element in my routine.
On the healthy eating front, I've been making a point to eat breakfast, which is a revolutionary act in my world. I've heard from many well-meaning folks in the Healthy Club who can't understand how I don't eat breakfast. It's so easy! It's so important! Everyone knows this!
Well, that's all true, but none of that is particularly helpful when it comes to establishing long-term habits and fundamentally changing your behavior. What works for me is starting small and building on my tiny victories. I hard boiled a dozen eggs on Sunday night so I'd have snacks or a quick breakfast during the week? Gold star for me! I threw together berries, nuts and yogurt the night before so I'd have something ready in the morning? Three gold stars!
None of these shifts are a complete and total overhaul, and it might not be as much as I should or could be doing, but it's something. And that's where you have to start.
(Photo by johnnyalive.)
Music To Run To
This song -- "Say Hey" by Michael Franti & Spearhead -- makes even high-intensity intervals fun. That's nothing short of a miracle. It also makes me clap my hands and startle the people running on the treadmill next to me.
Oops, I Forgot To Eat Lunch
It's not just lunch. I've been skipping breakfast, postponing dinner and only occasionally remembering that lunch is supposed to happen closer to noon than to 4 p.m.
Here I am working at a magazine all about health and wellness, and I can barely remember to eat. Fortunately, at least some of information and research I wade through on a daily basis has sunk in and I know it's precisely when things get busiest that committing to your health is most important.
Knowing that stress "reduces our life satisfaction, that it leaves us more susceptible to a host of physical and mental illnesses, and -
according to new research - that it can even shrink and
age our brains," means that I definitely don't want to add a blood-sugar roller coaster to an already precarious situation.
To help keep my body sated and blood sugar stable, here's what I'm doing this week:
- Packing snacks for the whole week on Sunday, so I can easily grab them in the morning to bring with me to work. I have mixed nuts, string cheese, hard-boiled eggs, and veggies and hummus
- Bringing lunch to the office. Not only is there the money saving benefit, but if I know I have to leave to go get food somewhere, I'll put it off until I start seeing dancing veggies in my peripheral vision
- Always having berries and yogurt or hard-boiled eggs around so I can make a quick breakfast if I'm running short on time
- Snacking early and often. I'm trying to remind myself to eat before I'm ravenous (calendar appointments work well), and it's giving me much more consistent energy throughout the day
- It's also been helpful to eat a small snack before making dinner so that I'm not ready to gorge myself by the time it's done.
(Photo by zoutedrop.)
The Challenge of Healthy Travel at SxSW
I've been quiet this week because I was in Austin for the SxSW Interactive conference.
As any of you who have been to this sort of event know, it's a whirlwind of learning, connecting and networking. Which is awesome! Except when you're left with no time to eat or sleep. It's six straight days of too much caffeine, free beer, BBQ and bad convention center food. Exercise? What, are you crazy?
I'm proud to report that I *did* run hill repeats near my hotel on Thursday when I arrived. And I finished a 9-miler on Sunday, which turned out to be a fun way to see the city. Texas was a tad warmer than Minnesota (go figure) so I had to play a few mind games with myself to get through the last couple of miles, after which I collapsed onto my freshly made bed in a pool of sweat.
But before I get all self-congratulatory about how great I was at managing exercise and travel -- AT THE SAME TIME! -- I need to confess. Tuesday night, instead of running intervals, this happened:
What can I say? I'm human, and room service is a cruel temptress. You pick up a telephone, tell someone you're hungry, and they bring you food! This combines two of life's great guilty pleasures: instant gratification and eating in bed.
It's a very good thing that I don't live in a hotel.
Overall, though, I did OK. I figure with only one skipped run, and one significant nutritional compromise, the trip turned out much better than I expected.
What are your strategies for sticking with a healthy routine while you're on the road? Let me know, because I obviously have a few things to learn.
We published a great round-up of healthy traveling tips in Have Body, Will Travel.
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