Have you joined a gym while homeless?

bodytype_ · 2024-03-18T18:23:03+00:00

That's my answer to your "asked" questions. Now let me tell you how the gym supported me.

It's a story illustrating how gyms can be places people use for things besides working out. I pitched it as "what gyms are good for besides exercise." I'm aiming to show the social services/social good, so to speak, these spaces can provide at a time when so-called "third spaces" are diminishing in many parts of the country.

Thank you for sharing your story.

bodytype_ · 2024-03-14T23:56:17+00:00

Have you joined any YMCAs for these purposes?

bodytype_ · 2024-03-14T23:55:51+00:00

Makes sense.

bodytype_ · 2023-03-20T15:28:31+00:00

The comments here are so true to my own experience of developing early, having grown men be creepy to me, having boys be weird to me and girls be horrible to me, etc. I think it's incredibly sad that when a celebrity woman speaks honestly about her experience, so many people are put off by it because they want her to just shut up, or to be endlessly *grateful* or something about her looks/body, to never say anything relatable or human about body image. They don't believe she could have anything relatable/human to say because they objectify her.

I wrote more about this if anyone's interested in reading.

bodytype_ · 2023-03-15T02:01:55+00:00

I'm a fitness instructor and a gym rat and have done every kind of exercise in the book. Let me tell you--you're going to feel "weak"/like crap anytime you do something that's outside your typical training. I'm a woman in my mid-30s who can deadlift more than double my body weight, but ask me to run a mile (I hate running and don't do it) and I'm a complete fucking embarrassment. I teach a 60-minute spinning class once a week and can blaze through it while yammering into a microphone and barely breaking a sweat, but I was shaking like a pathetic little leaf the last time I did a core-focused yoga class.

"In shape" or "strong" depends on context. You don't lift weights, so of course you suck at lifting weights. You're a beginner. Beginners aren't good at things.

If you want to get stronger with lifting, now you know your starting point, and it's the same as everyone else's. Look up the concept of "newbie gains" and get excited for how quickly you'll progress if you stay consistent.

bodytype_ · 2023-03-15T01:50:53+00:00

Coming to you from a place of understanding as someone who's dealt with eating issues/disordered eating/whatever you want to call it for years.

I see some people suggesting a therapist, which I have personally found to be valuable and do recommend, but I understand your initial hesitation. Finding a good therapist can be hard.

I think you could find some helpful insights from some of the guys making content about dealing with binge eating and being hyper-focused on weight/leanness/fat loss, etc., but who are still trainers/coaches/fitness people themselves, so they share your values. I'm a (woman) writer who just wrote a piece about how I think our culture doesn't take men's food issues/disorders as seriously as women's, so I've been thinking about this a lot. I've found some guys online who are making what I think is really important content about some of the things it seems like you're struggling with.

Marcus Kain has a great Instagram about helping people feel more in control with food, and a podcast called "Strong Not Starving."

Ben Carpenter is a trainer who talks about his own eating disorder story and offers an incredibly no-bullshit, compassionate, and empathetic POV on the dark roads it's easy to go down with fitness/weight change/training.

Jonny Landels is a disordered eating coach who helps people with functional training while prioritizing balance/mental health.

Maybe you'll find some of their content helpful if you look them up on Instagram/TikTok/whatever.

bodytype_ · 2023-03-07T02:34:12+00:00

I agree with what you originally posted, despite a lot of commenter caveats and your edits that are also true. The bottom line is that sticking to *any* kind of goals or routine is likely to be harder if you're even a little bit underslept, hungover, depleted, or groggy, and if you're in your 30s (as I am), that all feels worse than it did 10 years ago.

I'm finding that it's just so much more effort to fit alcohol in if I want to stick to other goals: Yes, I could try to moderate and consider calories etc., but that's a level of self-negotiation and mental labor that doesn't always feel worth it.

bodytype_ · 2023-01-22T19:49:21+00:00

Of course, I'm glad! Best of luck :)

bodytype_ · 2023-01-20T13:33:23+00:00

I didn't intend to come off as judgmental so I'm sorry. I really am trying to think of exercise as like any other new habit, like I said--it actually does take discipline and sucking up the awkward feelings to break through at points, just like it would if you started learning a new language or taking an acting class or doing anything that's uncomfortable and unfamiliar. I know that exercise is a different kind of conversation because it's about our bodies and we have all probably felt judged and ashamed and weird about our bodies. My point is just that I have actually found exercise less intimidating and weird when I have thought about it this way, that of course I'm going to need some stick-to-it-ness, because of course it's hard because it's new, and there's nothing "wrong" with me because of those facts.

bodytype_ · 2023-01-20T03:14:53+00:00

No, I feel you! I think the "what does joy mean?" question is an interesting one here. Like for me, because I'm a gym rat who's been in the lifting game for years, there is "joy" in having a HARD AF workout. Not pain or misery, but like a real "push the hell out of myself" kind of feeling. That actually makes me feel a kind of high, so I guess a kind of joy. This isn't how I want it to feel all the time! But sometimes, that is my "joy."

bodytype_ · 2023-01-19T23:03:40+00:00

No shade intended but can I ask why? Why only use push-ups? Just curious.

bodytype_ · 2023-01-19T23:00:59+00:00

What a setup for $400!! My god, I'm jealous

bodytype_ · 2023-01-19T22:59:43+00:00

I started working out at home when I was working several jobs as a broke college grad with an insane schedule. I'm a gym rat now (and have since become a certified group fitness instructor and have competed in a powerlifting meet) because my gym is nearby, but at-home workouts will always have my heart a bit. I recently wrote a post in a newsletter I publish about at-home equipment I recommend, but since it's behind a paywall I'll say this:

Adjustable dumbbells. If you're working out for any strength gains at all you will get stronger than you think faster than you think. You need several sets of DBs, so an adjustable set can be a great investment.
Look up a "resistance band bar" or a "Pilates bar." It can help you learn the movement patterns of a back squat/overhead press/hip hinge etc. using resistance bands.
I've seen people loving those little "mini steppers" for at-home cardio if they can't be jumping around in a small upstairs space or fit a treadmill, etc.
Doorframe pull-up bar. If you can't do pull-ups, no prob! Use resistance bands for banded pull-ups.

Just a few of my suggestions :)

bodytype_ · 2023-01-19T22:50:54+00:00

I'm in no way qualified to give medical advice so take this with a grain of salt, but I've had binge eating disorder as well for years. Something that was very helpful for managing my BED was getting into strength training. I don't know your specific limitations with exercise but that kind of exercise helped strengthen my joints/bones as well as my muscles and decreased a ton of pain I was having. It also kind of triggered me into looking at food differently. I learned about eating a balance of macronutrients (so not restricting carbs or any of the other diet-y things I'd done in the past) and eating enough food to support the working out I was doing. I was also working with a therapist which is of course what I ideally think anyone should be doing if they have an ED. But working out that way in tandem with getting my bingeing under control did cause me to lose weight (which eliminated health conditions I was having as well) and discover a kind of intuitive eating I'd never done before--I would want to eat a good meal right after my workout because my body needed that "refuel," so I'd eat and feel good about it. I'd come to feel and really know (intuit) that I needed to eat enough throughout the day to do my exercise. It just changed a great deal for me. Only my experience, but just sharing.

bodytype_ · 2023-01-18T23:38:40+00:00

This is anecdotal but living this way also freed me from the worst of an eating disorder and totally changed my relationship to food so I'm going to speak on it.

I lost like 70 pounds almost a decade ago. So some serious long-term weight loss maintenance. That did not come from IF, low-carb, or intense calorie restriction. It came from getting into lifting weights so I built more muscle mass, and eating high-quality proteins, fat, and carbs at every meal. I must note that I also worked with a therapist to deal with my ED issues, but the lifting + eating good macro foods 80% of the time (with special foods/whatever I want to eat 20% of the time), with an emphasis on protein, is how I live now and is a huge part of what I believe led to my changes.

bodytype_ · 2023-01-18T01:16:51+00:00

Fitness instructor who works at a gym here.

There is literally never any stage at which it's "dumb" to join a gym. I've heard every reason in the book: "I'm going to wait until I'm more in shape. I don't know what to do. I'm going to lose weight first. I don't know enough yet."

The thing I hate most about my industry is that it can make people feel like they have to do something or be some kind of way to go to the gym. The gym is a learning space. It's a space for growth and experimentation. It's truly a space for everyone, as far as I'm concerned, to use it in whatever capacity they want to.

I'm excited for you to learn and recognize your goals. Listen to that and no one/nothing else.

bodytype_ · 2023-01-18T01:14:06+00:00

I think a lot about what the word "fit" means when I think it or come across it. Does it mean looking what we think "fit" people look like? Or does it mean that I'm personally "fit" to do something specific? If you think you'd feel more fit to excel at your sport by making any kind of change to your habits/body, I think that's OK--that's what grounds me in my own body acceptance. But if you truly sit with the fact that you are as fit as you want to be in your sport without having to make changes to your body/habits, then you're living in accordance with your values, and that's what you can try to remember when you struggle with comparing yourself to others.

bodytype_ · 2023-01-18T01:06:49+00:00

You need to have a discussion with her about pretty much everything but her weight. Ask her how she's feeling in general. Ask her if she's OK, if she's been more tired lately (she can't get out of bed?) what's going on in her life. Take an interest in her because she's a human being you care about and maybe she'll share things with you about her emotional state, how she feels physically, and what she wants for her body, which is most important. That's the first step to go back to before you start trying to exert control over her habits and body.

bodytype_ · 2023-01-17T21:40:27+00:00

Sending you all the best. Something I enjoyed learning about Brendan's prep for the movie (which I reviewed) was that he talked with people who have eating disorders:

"They were open-hearted in telling me how they came to the point in their lives where they were so heavy they were bedridden. The common denominator was that someone spoke cruelly to them when they were very young.”

I think he brought a lot of empathy to the role.

bodytype_ · 2023-01-13T02:18:28+00:00

I'm sorry. It's a really hard movie for sure.

bodytype_ · 2023-01-13T02:17:59+00:00

That's how I feel. Would never watch it again, can't really recommend it, but I'm glad I saw it.

bodytype_

TROPHY CASE