Tag Archives: body image

Aug23

Mile 838.5: Five Reasons You Should Be Wearing Leggings Right Now

Posted on by
Standard

“And I wonder
When I sing along with you
If anything could ever feel this real forever
If anything could ever be this real again.”
–Foo Fighters, “Everlong” 

Miles since last time: 61.5
Total miles: 838.5

For a long time, I told myself that I would never wear skinny pants, no matter what size I was. They seemed specifically designed to make my legs look like sausages, and who feels good about themselves when their pants make them feel like spicy ground meat that is usually stuffed into a tube of skin? (Thanks for that G-rated definition, Merriam-Webster!)

When replenishing my wardrobe a while back, I decided to bite the bullet and try skinny pants out so that I could also invest in tall boots. That’s really all I wanted–to be able to wear my new tall boots during the winter. Much to my surprise, I discovered that skinny pants are not fabric sausage factories or the Devil’s garment. They didn’t even look that terrible. In fact, they were even quite comfortable.

It was this revelation that lead me to also reconsider similar feelings about leggings. (Well, that and my desire to never subject the public at large to the sight of my bare legs. You’re welcome, public at large–now I wear leggings with dresses.)

I began with running leggings. When these proved to be a pleasure to work out in, I moved on to tights to wear with dresses. Then cotton leggings. Then jeggings–don’t judge. Now, I basically want to be wearing leggings all day, every day, which means I really need to invest in more tunics and long shirts. (I mean, I love leggings and all, but not enough to walk around like, “HERE’S THE EXACT SHAPE OF MY BODY WITH NO FLATTERING WAY OF HIDING PROBLEM AREAS, EVERYONE.”)

Here are five reasons I’m wearing leggings right now and why you should be, too.

1) They are ridiculously comfortable.
OHMYGOSH THE COMFORT. Wearing leggings is like wearing no pants, but without that weird leg sweat that results from sitting with two different areas of skin touching each other for too long. Wearing leggings is basically like having a second, cotton skin that protects you from back-of-the-knee perspiration.

2-5) See reason number one.
You need no other reason.

Apr27

Mile 771.5: Seven Body Image Memes We All Need in Our Lives

Posted on by
Standard

“I wish you would step back from that ledge, my friend.
You could cut ties with all the lies that you’ve been living in.”
–Third Eye Blind, “Jumper”

Miles Last Week: 55
Total Miles: 771.5

I hate to make presumptions, but I’d say that most of us have fallen into the body shame trap. I’ve spent so much time there that I practically have my own wing–but it’s not that great and everyone else hates it because their wings and rooms are much better/more comfortable/fancier/etc.

The 2014 Mile Project is not just about having a healthier body. It’s also about achieving a healthier body image. So, I scoured the Internet (ahem, searched Pinterest), and here are a few bits of wisdom I unearthed.

Un-Interneted? Is that more accurate? I don’t know. Whatever.

 

Let's talk about your tibia. Source

Let’s talk about your tibia.
Source

Awesome has no number. Source

Awesome has no number.
Source

Many have tried. Source

Many have tried.
Source

Look for the positive. Source

Look for the positive.
Source

But really. Source

But really.
Source

Adore it. Source

It houses you.
Source

Wow, I'm skinny, Source

Wow, I’m skinny.
Source

 

Feb16

Mile 303.5: Shouldn’t I Feel Different?

Posted on by
Standard

“Am I the only one I know
Waging my wars behind my face and above my throat?”
–Twenty-One Pilots, “Migraine”

Miles Last Week: 46
Total Miles: 303.5

Yesterday, I prepared to step onto the scale after my time on the elliptical, as I do every Saturday morning at the gym. I wiped every drop of sweat I could from my face–I definitely didn’t want those ounces to count against me. I took a deep breath, stepped onto the small black box, and moved the counterweights until the needle seemed balanced. Then, I looked at the number–

–and saw that I’d lost 50.5 pounds.

I’ve done a lot of thinking about what hitting the fifty-pound mark would be like. In my head, my reaction would typically fall somewhere between collapsing on the floor in a giggling, hysterical mess and announcing my milestone to everyone in the gym, who would then celebrate me with a round of slow claps and/or fist bumps. (No hugging, of course, because we would all be sweaty and kind of gross.)

In reality, I took another deep breath, grabbed my keys, and went home.

A few weeks (and about ten pounds) ago, a couple of friends asked me if I felt any different after making some progress. The simple, honest truth is that I don’t. Not even a little bit. I don’t even think I look different.

Sure, I intellectually recognize that my clothes don’t fit the same. I’m able to fit three fingers into the waistband of pants that I had no hope of wearing a year ago. (Why am I so obsessed with talking about my pants?) I can comfortably cross my arms while wearing my wool coat without worrying about going full-Hulk. I know that there is room in my wardrobe where there hasn’t been before. I even see that I’m able to last longer on the elliptical. But I can’t say that I feel different. None of it seems like it’s really happening.

And please don’t think that I’m trolling for compliments or need an ego boost. I’m just trying this thing where I’m honest about stuff, and the truth is that I thought I’d feel more accomplished or excited, at least.

I think this is what they call a “mental wall.” That’s a thing, right?

Perhaps it hasn’t sunken in yet. Maybe it’s that I still see how far there is to go. Or I could be looking into the wrong types of mirrors. I don’t know.

For now, I think I’ll treat myself to some homemade angel pie and that always-uplifting zombie drama–The Walking Dead.