Category Archives: self image

Love Your Body Day!

Happy Hump Day!  And Happy Love Your Body Day!  Two great days, if you ask me  :mrgreen:

Hump Day started off with a bagel!  We ended up driving instead of biking as John needed to get an early start on his day and it was actually drizzly in town when we got there.  I had a warm cup of Adirondack blend coffee and my wheat bagel:

When we got back from breakfast, I took my umbrella and went on a 2 mile walk to get in some activity.

Lunch time included a sugarless 1 minute muffin topped with peanut flour and blueberry jam.  I actually like to split this and toast it to get a better texture than just microwaving it.

So, it is Love Your Body Day.  Why just a day?  How about every single day.  Dump the negative body image and down talk!

Sometimes when you are very overweight, such as me and 100 pounds of extra weight, there is the assumption that when you lose weight you will look like a model.  Like the reward of all of that hard, hard work will be perfection. That is sort of the dream image you put in your head.  However, that reality doesn’t happen too often.  Nobody really tells you about what your body looks like after having been overweight for so long, not to mention being older, and just the shape of what the body is underneath to begin with.

John said that at times I am hard on my body as far as what I see.  He is correct.  I am working really hard to change that view.  So – I proclaim my body is awesome!  While I may not fit any TV model of thinness or beauty – my body does so much for me and I appreciate it exactly as it is with every individual thing that makes it unique to me.  Of course, that doesn’t mean I won’t work hard to keep progressing, but if I had to stop exactly here forever –  I am okay with that and proud to be me.

I worry a lot more about my young nieces and how they are going to view themselves as they become more self aware.  As an adult, I understand how we are manipulated by the media with airbrushing and the selection of the 2% of the population “Hollywood body type” for us to hold ourselves up to.  Do they understand this?  I don’t know.  And of course, it is most important to note that this is not just directed at women, but men, too!

Okay, that made me thirsty for an almond milk latte:

And some candy corn:

I was kind of snacky today (thank you, wheat).  I had to have the candy corn go up high today as I was nibbling on it a lot.

Today seemed to drag on with work. I actually was productive, but it just seemed to take forever!  I was glad for dinner to roll around.  I managed to snack on tortilla chips while cooking dinner, too, just to be honest here.

That’s some pork on the plate.  Bad lighting, too.  Must get out light box.

Posting a bit early tonight I am going to a talk the the library about Jane MCcrea, who lived in our little town.  We live in a very historic area.

Pink item of the day:  My earbuds!

The Breast Cancer Site

 

Biking butt and scale manifesto

Woke up and wiggled the legs, which felt pretty good.  We decided to bike to breakfast!  I had a protein drink for some fuel.

Then we hit the path.  The bike path is a little bit longer and a little slower than the roads (due to rough surface), but so beautiful and quiet on Sunday mornings.  We got to Panera Bread and had an interesting exchange with someone while locking up the bikes. This man was sitting on the patio.  He was quite a large man, as well.

Man:  How far did you guys bike today?

Me:  It will be 17 miles total, 8.5 here, then home after breakfast.

Man:  Wow. That’s great.  Then you can eat whatever you want.

That is such a common misconception.  Burning an extra  few hundred calories does not give one license to eat whatever.  Too many people think this. I actually mentioned that this ride would not do that, but said how we had done 45 yesterday and could eat more because of that, but you can’t go crazy.  He was then saying how he did some walking and was trying to do more, which we encouraged.  I kind of wanted to tell him that I had lost 100 pounds and was now able to ride a lot, but sometimes it feels like bragging or being preachy, you know?

I was hungry by this time!  That protein drink lasted me about 2 miles.  Holdover from yesterday’s ride, I think.  My delicious bagel.

Nom, nom!  I really have kind of backslid on the types of bagels I eat.  I am eating less of the whole grain ones and more regular ones.  Part of that is that I dislike Panera’s whole grain bagel.  It has a strange fishy aftertaste to me (blargh).  Not sure what that is, but me no likey.

Then it was biking home and getting to what little work there was to do.

Couple of bike things.  Tish asked:

How did you learn about how to repair your bike? Did you take a class?

No. I actually can’t really do a lot of repairs on my bike, but I can do the basics. There is a good book out there by Susan Weaver called “A Woman’s Guide to Cycling.” I found it at my library. It helps to get to know your bike. Understand how the chain works. Most problems with bikes are either flat tires or chain problems. Anybody can learn to fix those. Other stuff can go to the bike shop. You really should have working knowledge of how to change a flat tire, cause it is going to happen.  Or at the very least, make sure you have your phone with you to call for a pick up.  😀

Ish also commented:

You must either have an amazingly plush bike seat or buns (literally) of steel.

It’s really the 2nd part of that. It just takes time. When I first got this bike about 5 years ago, I could only ride a few miles and man did my fanny hurt! It hurt just sitting in a normal chair after biking. Then I started getting used to it. I don’t have a gel seat or anything special; it is just the seat that came with the bike. In fact, I need to replace it soon and I am afraid to because it is so comfie. You need to ride consistently to get rid of the soreness. That means going out every other day. Yes, it will hurt at first, but that does go away. I promise. After the first summer biking I was fine, and then the next spring my butt hurt again, but not as bad. This year it didn’t hurt at all getting back on the bike. I have really built up whatever bone strength/callus I needed by consistent training. I now own padded bike shorts this year and can go even longer comfortably.   I did find my threshold for soreness, though, and that was at 95 miles.   Then I started to hurt.  Just like with anything in life, your body adjusts the more you do. You just need to be patient and consistent. (How many times can I use the word ‘consistent’ in a paragraph??)

Lunch break! Tried a new cereal with yogurt and strawberries. It’s Total Omega 3. Had a coupon, so gave it a shot.

Tasty! A little sweet, but very good.

Slow work day, so I got more work done on the cookbook and some outside stuff.  I am trying to patch our driveway, but it is really more crack and hole than asphalt left, so it might be a lost cause.

I was ready for snack time!

Then an hour later I was still hungry, so I had the last of the picked blueberries.  Wahhh!

Sometimes I really like what I write.   Things every once in a while come out sounding just like I think them.  For those that didn’t read yesterday’s post (gasp!) , I said this:

The scale is just a box with a number on it.  It does not tell me that I am strong and beautiful.  It does not know that I can bike 100 miles in a day.  It does not know that I can squat and deadlift in the weight room with the guys.  And I don’t care what it doesn’t know about me – because *I* know it.

Shelley called it my scale manifesto, and I fell in love with that term! (Thanks, Shelley!).  I need to put it on a t-shirt or a coffee mug or something.  Definitely going to put in the sidebar at some point when I have time to fiddle with the blog (I also note I need to change my age to *ahem* 42…).

Smokehouse run today, so we finally have meat!  John grilled up some awesome boneless pork chops.  Side of brussels and a mango tango pluot.

I really like the pluots.  So juicy and a mix of sweet and tart.  Yum!

I am also so excited – the drought is over because tonight is some football!!! Are you ready??  I  am!  I don’t care if it is preseason, I’ll take whatever 😀