What It Feels Like To Be A Woman And Hear The Word "Exercise" | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Health and Wellness

What It Feels Like To Be A Woman And Hear The Word "Exercise"

What does it mean to be a woman who exercises, or who doesn't exercise?

18
What It Feels Like To Be A Woman And Hear The Word "Exercise"
Diary of a Fit Mommy

Yes, this will be another one of those “to exercise or not to exercise” articles. Will you read it? Not necessarily. Will you skim through looking for the words of advice you want to hear? Most likely. It’s okay—we all do. It can’t be helped. But really, why do we choose to exercise? It’s torture, honestly. You bend and break your muscles to your will, day in and day out. All for what? Have you truly thought about why you choose to work out? Or not to work out? Do you like the body you have now? Do you think about the way it will change, especially if you are a woman? Maybe I think too much.

I do feel the need to jump on the bandwagon of “writing an article about exercising” because all too often I step into the gym and within the first 15 minutes’ multiple girls have stepped on and off the scale before, during, and after their workouts. I am not making this up, nor am I exaggerating and quite frankly, it makes me sad. Am I passing judgement? In a certain way, yes I am. We all pass judgement, whether it is a good judgement or a bad judgement. We all come at something with a certain bias that is written into our thoughts before we even think them. But that is a whole other soapbox.

I want to focus on the idea of the scale and what it means, especially to women, because most of my thoughts about myself and my body have revolved around the scale in one way or another, and I get the funny feeling that I am not alone. However, I want to go back to thinking about what it means to worship the scale because I want to tell them, “don’t listen to that hunk of metal! It lies! How you feel is what really should concern you!”

I really wanted to add my voice to the growing numbers of women who are saying, “me too!” when it comes to the struggle of exercising and body image acceptance. I am thankful that in the 21st century, and in recent decades, bodies of all types have become much more accepted and acknowledged on screen and in print. One thing is certain—your own body is not something to be ashamed of. Your will should be the only thing that determines the changes that you choose to pursue, or whether you even want to pursue changing at all. As always, what you are on the outside does not determine who you are on the inside. And all the rest of those cheesy inspirational quotes.

But a few things I have found on my journey from being very athletic as a youngster to much less athletic as a 20-something college student have helped me to stay real and steady on the course to taking care of myself both on the outside and on the inside. As a college student, we have tons of extra stresses that don’t need to be compounded with the added stress of worrying about what we look like. Yes, our bodies change as we age, it is a simple conclusion that we all must learn to work with. But, learning to love ourselves means constantly reminding ourselves of what we love about ourselves (am I right?).

Loving yourself means exercising to the extent that you are comfortable with, however many days a week you want to or can fit into your already busy schedule and pushing yourself when you are ready. Exercising also has many added benefits that can improve other areas of your life (there are science-y articles for that). Exercising is important no matter what size you are. You can be a size 0 or a size 22 and still reap the benefits of exercising. Again, it isn’t about what size you are but what makes you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside and like a badass on the outside.

Just because you choose to exercise doesn’t necessarily mean you must change your diet, or go on a crazy fad diet. Eating healthier is better for you because your body will be able to recover quickly and you will generally feel better if you eat more vegetables, fruits, and get lean proteins in your diet. But honestly, as a college student you won’t always have access to these healthier options all the time, although you should check out your colleges financial aid and the local farmers markets, and this doesn’t mean you must cut bad food entirely from your diet. It is about maintaining a balance that is comfortable for you. You can still have cheat days, just like you can take days off from exercising if you don’t feel up to it. In the end, it’s about doing what you want and being happy with yourself. The scale won’t tell you how you are feeling that day. It doesn’t even know how you are feeling. But you do. Be comfortable with who you are because in the end we all go out looking the same way we came into this world anyway.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
I'm serious

There are tons of unisex names that are popular: Taylor, Alex, Bailey, etc. There are also numerous names that are used for both sexes, but they’re not seen as “unisex” yet. People are slowly becoming accustomed to the dual use of these names, but for the most part, in their minds they associate certain names with certain sexes. And that leaves those of us with these names in many awkward situations.

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

16 Secrets Anthropology Majors Never Admit To

You know that all of these things apply to you. You'll just never tell.

5814
cave
CSU

I'm an anthropology major, and I love every minute of it. I couldn't tell you why, but I guess there's just something about studying different lifestyles that absolutely fascinates me. But anthropology majors definitely have our weird sides, especially when you go to a school that is filled with mostly Business and Bio majors. But us weirdos definitely have a lot in common, specifically these 16 things.

Keep Reading...Show less
pale girl

Everyone has insecurities, that's just a fact. You didn't ask to be born this way. You didn't ask to inherit the one trait no one else in your family has. And you definitely didn't ask to be this ghostly white. But as soon as you've learned to live with it for a while (less wrinkles later on in life, right? right???) someone has to ruin it for you. They have to flaunt they're perfectly tanned body from Spring Break and hold their sun-kissed skin against yours. But I've had enough... here are the things that perpetually pale individuals are tired of hearing.

Keep Reading...Show less
music sheet

Being a music major is not all kicks and giggles. In fact, there are days when I question my sanity and doubt myself as a musician. I know I am not the only one going through the struggle, and so here are 13 GIFs that I know my fellow music majors can relate to...

Keep Reading...Show less
Bob's Burgers
Flickr

1. The witty burger names.

Blue is the warmest cheese burger

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments