4th Trimester Bodies — a new vision of post-pregnancy
4th Trimester Bodies Project began in 2013 as a passion project of Chicago-based photographer Ashlee Wells Jackson as a way to help women feel both comfortable and proud of their post-pregnancy bodies. As quoted in Buzzfeed, Jackson says: “I see beautiful, inspiring, real women on a daily basis who struggle with their body image because […]
Old lady bookworm dork boxer (aka me)
Here are some things you should know about me. I’m 5 feet tall. I’m 40 years old. I have a PhD. I am a bookworm. I like to eat tasty food. I can’t catch a ball. I run slow. I was picked last for pretty much every team in elementary school. (By high school I […]
Anjali Forber-Pratt, one of the most interesting women in the world
Dr. Anjali Forber-Pratt is an elite wheelchair racer and Paralympic ambassador. She’s the 2011 World Champion in the 200m, holds two bronze medals from the Paralympic Games in Beijing, China; and now currently Assistant Research Professor at the Beach Center on Disability. You can see an inspiring short film about this incredible woman here. From her blog […]
Can you disordered-eating-proof your kids?
How do we teach our young girls how to be — how to love their bodies and how to overcome the bullshit that pollutes kids’ minds and behaviours? A letter from Mistress Krista to a concerned mom.
STRONG! An interview with weightlifter Cheryl Haworth
Cheryl Haworth is a legend in women’s Olympic weightlifting. A new documentary — appropriately called Strong! — profiles her career. Here, Cheryl sits down and raps with Stumptuous about her experiences.
A Couple Good Reasons (and One Bad One) to Drag Your Crippled Ass to the Gym
It can be hard to remember because your illness or disability sometimes feels like your body’s defining characteristic, but remember that your body is, in the ways that matter, the same a everybody else’s. It wants to move, to act with purpose and focus and silliness and joy. Your body does not care that it can’t do the same things other bodies can, or that it moves differently, or that other people might think it looks weird – it just wants to do what it can do, whatever that may be. What’s different about you is not nearly so important as what’s the same. Your body, just like everybody else’s body, wants to be used. Use it.
Can Felicity Aston conquer Antarctica?
Felicity Aston is a 33-year old British explorer. For the last decade she has been planning and leading expeditions to the coldest regions of the planet.
Now, she’s about to embark on a landmark expedition and a world first: a 1700 km (1056 mile), 70-day ski journey. If she makes it, she’ll hold the record for the longest solo journey made by a woman in the Polar Regions; and the first woman in history to cross Antarctica alone.
Interview with Gillian Mounsey
Building true strength and self-compassion broadens our horizons, instead of constricting them. This was strength athlete Gillian Mounsey’s journey, which she courageously shared on her blog, and the Starting Strength site. By turns painful, honest, and brave, it’s a must-read for any female athlete who wonders whether she is alone in the madness of performance-pushing and body angst.
Shaky Man in the Gym 3: Trembling, but no fear
The intrepid Shaky Man, Neil, goes forth and conquers.
Everything you need to know, right here
I posted this as a comment response elsewhere but I think it bears mentioning here too. Folks are always asking me, “I want to do X but also Y and Z and it’s not working and I’m getting discouraged.”
Here’s my answer: Throw all that shit out.
“Gain muscle” and “lose X lbs” and “run a marathon” and “do a million pullups” are all great goals but if you’re an average person who just wants to feel, look, and perform a bit better, it doesn’t fucking matter because you need to get into better overall shape and eat better, period. I guarantee it.
Throw all that detail shit out. Stop reading the goddamned interwebs and magazines. (Except me.) Stop distracting yourself with crap.
Then focus on this ONE goal…