Tea Gets Fit, Week 6

[teaberryblue]

Before I start this post, there is something I feel like I need to say.

After last week’s post, someone said that these fitness posts were triggering to them, but didn’t offer any details as to why. They asked me to cut them, and I said no.

That’s not something I will say very often, but in this case, for me, the purpose of making these posts is to challenge taboos about looking at bodies and discussing the way our bodies make us feel. It’s also for myself, to help me become more aware of the way I think about my body, and make me braver about my physical self. It’s very important for me, for the purposes of personal self-improvement, and putting these photos under a cut would not serve the same purpose.

I’m also troubled by the idea that photos of a woman in shorts and a sports bra could be so severely upsetting or cause such a severe physical reaction that someone can’t even look at them, especially since I see people dressed like this on the street when they’re jogging, or in less clothing when they’re swimming– or on billboards. Imagine how you would feel if someone told you that even a glimpse of your body could cause severe negative emotional or physical reactions to them. That really upset me. Even if it’s not what intended, it’s effectively saying “looking at your body makes me sick,” and I’m sure anyone who has ever had any kind of insecurities about the way they look or feel would be hurt if they heard that.

That being said, I realize that I have always been pretty healthy and able and for the past several years, on the slender side of normal as far as my body type. So if any of you ever take specific issue with something I say about body shapes or body types or anything like that, or think that anything I say shows an insensitivity toward other people’s bodies or ignorance about other people’s ability levels, please feel free to tell me what it is. I will try to listen and improve. After all, the purpose of these posts is to try to engage in body-positive thinking. But please don’t suggest that it’s bad for me to work on improving my self-image in my own journal in the way that I need to for myself.

On to this week!

So, last week I did my exercises every day but Friday, because we went to Delaware. So I didn’t get to take my pictures till today. I missed out on exercising yesterday but I walked a bit instead and I did some today.

I really enjoy stretching. I think it is my favorite type of exercise and it’s the one where I feel the most marked improvement every time I do it.

Once I move, I am going to get some weights and start working on my upper arm strength because I think that is the place where I am doing the least to improve my physical fitness. I feel like my upper body is very weak, especially my left arm, which is funny because that’s my dominant arm, so I really should start doing something about it. But a lot of the exercise routines are getting easier and easier. On a few of them, I still can’t do the “extra challenge” bits, but I can do most of the regular bits and that is making me really proud of myself. Especially when there’s this bit that I thought I was doing right all this time, and then I realized that my legs had become stronger and that in and of itself changed the way I did that exercise. It was a sudden realization of wow, so that’s how those muscles are supposed to work!

Mirrored from Antagonia.net.