Just here to say: there are toilet seats that are slow-closing! You put the seat or lid down and they slowly lower and quietly stop. No banging! We have them on all our toilets, and have to remember when we go to other people's homes to change our closing habits, lol.
Ha ha, we had these but our kids broke them. Which means the slamming was extra bad because they were not at all used to having to close the lid carefully!
I just had my toilet replaced- and the contractor basically gave me no choice- he put in a comfort height- lol. A little taller than usual, but not like super tall. Also a PLUS is the large flap for flushing FAST!, and the slow close toilet seat- which is SUPERB. I love it. Haha. Crazy to have so many opinions about toilets
Yes yes yes! There are so many kinds of great core work that can help improve function and reduce risk of injury. Love seeing the emphasis on spine and core health instead of looks. People with six packs can have poorly supported spines and people with soft bellies can have strong cores!
I’m trying not to worry about it too much but the third grade boys have been weirdly talking about one of their friends having an 8 pack and I’m just baffled by it! And 6 yo asked me about his abs the other day too. I had a muscle spasm in my back this week after returning to my normal school year workouts and wondered if it was a lack of core workouts recently. I think I had missed this episode so I appreciate it today!
We are still very much in swimsuit season and I regret to report I still have far more feelings than I want about my round stomach compared to all the other flat stomach women at our pool and in the Heydary side of the family.
Highly recommend Oona Hanson and Zoë Bisbing on kids and body image! Oona had a great post about boys recently, and I just interviewed Zoë and we talked about it too.
Thanks I will look them up! My kids participated in a study for a PhD student at our local university about the traits and skills that 5- to 9-year-old children associate with different body types, with a particular interest in their ideas about muscularity, which has become idealized for men and younger boys and boys reported wanting to be muscular. She presented the findings like 6 months ago, they did the study a year ago when they were 5 and 7. we had done a study with the lab before, they have trouble recruiting young boys.
I'm looking at the part where Anna says " if you’re looking to make gains in terms of muscle mass, bone density, cardiovascular health, it can be very helpful to get comfortable with discomfort. You are going to need to push yourself" and I'm wondering: how do I know if I need to make those kinds of gains, or if I'm able to just keep moving joyfully (or minimally or whatever)?
It’s totally about your choice and your priorities! As we age, loss of muscle mass and bone density is very normal, and functionally it is helpful to do what you can to maintain those things — but it’s by no means an obligation, and of course for some of us it’s not possible because of life circumstances, health conditions, etc. But if you have means and access, and want to feel as good as possible in your body over the long term, they’re goals worth looking at 😉
For me it's about doing enough strength training so that I don't get injured and can enjoy the physical activities of my choosing (dancing, nature walks etc). I know it's working when I miss a day and my knee starts acting up, for example.
interesting, interesting. I don't notice a difference when I don't do as much exercise as I usually do--I wonder if that's because I'm not doing enough exercise or because my body is still...not that bad?? (I'm 36???)
That’s totally fine! I really think it’s just down to what’s doable for you and important to you. I’m not one for making anyone feel guilty about what they’re not doing. Exercise can be magical — obviously I think so, my whole deal is trying to help more people do it in a way that supports their wellbeing — but it doesn’t HAVE to be some big deal. It’s one of the tools at our disposal to feel as good as possible for as long as possible (like nourishing ourselves with food, taking care of our mental health, building community with others, prioritizing rest) but exercise is not a requirement to be a good or happy person ❤️
It's funny because I feel like I've been pretty successful battling the food moralizing/guilt/etc., part of intuitive eating/anti-diet but I still get hung up on exercise and if I've done enough of it and comparing myself to other people. I don't know if that's a personal quirk or if it's something more universal.
I think it also depends if you have pre existing injuries you're trying to keep from worsening. That said I usually believe that the right amount of exercise is the amount that makes you happy and not miserable.
I’m tardy to this party, but I do want to say something about joyful movement. I did a course on joyful movement with a trainer, and I think there’s a lot of confusion about what it means, bc it absolutely doesn’t mean like only doing stuff that feels good or never like… pushing yourself? Like the trainer is a weightlifter, she’s not out here being like, never push, besties!
Most of what we worked on was changing our relationship to movement, so yes, some of it was finding ways of moving that felt good/joyful or at least not awful. Most of the people in the group had histories of eating disorders or using exercise as punishment, so it was also about respecting that and finding ways to make movement accessible and into something that builds us up rather than a tool for controlling our bodies, and learning how to take care of our bodies by listening to to them (difference between challenge and pain, giving ourselves permission to stop, etc). The joy could also be in feeling ourselves get stronger or noticing when activities outside of deliberate movement got easier, like carrying groceries or getting off the floor or whatever.
All of that is to say, I think there’s a lot of overlap in writing off core workouts as a scam and saying joyful movement isn’t realistic.
Also, re: kegels, as someone with a hypertonic pelvic floor, kegels definitely made that worse and contributed to the tension in my pelvic floor that created problems and back pain, so like… they are not necessarily a harmless thing to do.
I'm low-key trying to do a plank a day right now and it is making SUCH a difference in my back pain. So annoying that it works! I love plank story time!
My sister and I used to talk about our tv boyfriends in college- circa 2006-2008 it was Mekhi Phifer from ER for her and Jensen Ackles from Supernatural for me.
Same!! I got into Pilates to help build up my core because my physiatrist told me it would be the best to help my back. But this is an important reminder.
Just here to say: there are toilet seats that are slow-closing! You put the seat or lid down and they slowly lower and quietly stop. No banging! We have them on all our toilets, and have to remember when we go to other people's homes to change our closing habits, lol.
Ha ha, we had these but our kids broke them. Which means the slamming was extra bad because they were not at all used to having to close the lid carefully!
I just had my toilet replaced- and the contractor basically gave me no choice- he put in a comfort height- lol. A little taller than usual, but not like super tall. Also a PLUS is the large flap for flushing FAST!, and the slow close toilet seat- which is SUPERB. I love it. Haha. Crazy to have so many opinions about toilets
Yes yes yes! There are so many kinds of great core work that can help improve function and reduce risk of injury. Love seeing the emphasis on spine and core health instead of looks. People with six packs can have poorly supported spines and people with soft bellies can have strong cores!
I’m trying not to worry about it too much but the third grade boys have been weirdly talking about one of their friends having an 8 pack and I’m just baffled by it! And 6 yo asked me about his abs the other day too. I had a muscle spasm in my back this week after returning to my normal school year workouts and wondered if it was a lack of core workouts recently. I think I had missed this episode so I appreciate it today!
We are still very much in swimsuit season and I regret to report I still have far more feelings than I want about my round stomach compared to all the other flat stomach women at our pool and in the Heydary side of the family.
Highly recommend Oona Hanson and Zoë Bisbing on kids and body image! Oona had a great post about boys recently, and I just interviewed Zoë and we talked about it too.
Thanks I will look them up! My kids participated in a study for a PhD student at our local university about the traits and skills that 5- to 9-year-old children associate with different body types, with a particular interest in their ideas about muscularity, which has become idealized for men and younger boys and boys reported wanting to be muscular. She presented the findings like 6 months ago, they did the study a year ago when they were 5 and 7. we had done a study with the lab before, they have trouble recruiting young boys.
I'm looking at the part where Anna says " if you’re looking to make gains in terms of muscle mass, bone density, cardiovascular health, it can be very helpful to get comfortable with discomfort. You are going to need to push yourself" and I'm wondering: how do I know if I need to make those kinds of gains, or if I'm able to just keep moving joyfully (or minimally or whatever)?
It’s totally about your choice and your priorities! As we age, loss of muscle mass and bone density is very normal, and functionally it is helpful to do what you can to maintain those things — but it’s by no means an obligation, and of course for some of us it’s not possible because of life circumstances, health conditions, etc. But if you have means and access, and want to feel as good as possible in your body over the long term, they’re goals worth looking at 😉
For me it's about doing enough strength training so that I don't get injured and can enjoy the physical activities of my choosing (dancing, nature walks etc). I know it's working when I miss a day and my knee starts acting up, for example.
Yes yes yes!
interesting, interesting. I don't notice a difference when I don't do as much exercise as I usually do--I wonder if that's because I'm not doing enough exercise or because my body is still...not that bad?? (I'm 36???)
That’s totally fine! I really think it’s just down to what’s doable for you and important to you. I’m not one for making anyone feel guilty about what they’re not doing. Exercise can be magical — obviously I think so, my whole deal is trying to help more people do it in a way that supports their wellbeing — but it doesn’t HAVE to be some big deal. It’s one of the tools at our disposal to feel as good as possible for as long as possible (like nourishing ourselves with food, taking care of our mental health, building community with others, prioritizing rest) but exercise is not a requirement to be a good or happy person ❤️
It's funny because I feel like I've been pretty successful battling the food moralizing/guilt/etc., part of intuitive eating/anti-diet but I still get hung up on exercise and if I've done enough of it and comparing myself to other people. I don't know if that's a personal quirk or if it's something more universal.
Oh I’ve had a very similar journey out of diet culture - exercise has been far more fraught for me than food. I think there’s a lot here!
Baby girl! Check back when you’re over 40! 💜 (also all bodies are different etc etc ofc)
I think it also depends if you have pre existing injuries you're trying to keep from worsening. That said I usually believe that the right amount of exercise is the amount that makes you happy and not miserable.
💯
I’m tardy to this party, but I do want to say something about joyful movement. I did a course on joyful movement with a trainer, and I think there’s a lot of confusion about what it means, bc it absolutely doesn’t mean like only doing stuff that feels good or never like… pushing yourself? Like the trainer is a weightlifter, she’s not out here being like, never push, besties!
Most of what we worked on was changing our relationship to movement, so yes, some of it was finding ways of moving that felt good/joyful or at least not awful. Most of the people in the group had histories of eating disorders or using exercise as punishment, so it was also about respecting that and finding ways to make movement accessible and into something that builds us up rather than a tool for controlling our bodies, and learning how to take care of our bodies by listening to to them (difference between challenge and pain, giving ourselves permission to stop, etc). The joy could also be in feeling ourselves get stronger or noticing when activities outside of deliberate movement got easier, like carrying groceries or getting off the floor or whatever.
All of that is to say, I think there’s a lot of overlap in writing off core workouts as a scam and saying joyful movement isn’t realistic.
Also, re: kegels, as someone with a hypertonic pelvic floor, kegels definitely made that worse and contributed to the tension in my pelvic floor that created problems and back pain, so like… they are not necessarily a harmless thing to do.
https://open.substack.com/pub/howtomove/p/the-tyranny-and-utter-chaos-of-illegal?r=2jpcp&utm_medium=ios
Thank you so much for this helpful, nuanced take! Such important context.
And totally agree re kegels — I talk a lot about the harm of unsanctioned kegels. Grabbing a link and will reply to this comment with it!
I'm low-key trying to do a plank a day right now and it is making SUCH a difference in my back pain. So annoying that it works! I love plank story time!
My sister and I used to talk about our tv boyfriends in college- circa 2006-2008 it was Mekhi Phifer from ER for her and Jensen Ackles from Supernatural for me.
Omg great great plank topic, totally borrowing this
Same!! I got into Pilates to help build up my core because my physiatrist told me it would be the best to help my back. But this is an important reminder.
Aha I love this! Some of my training clients and I also do a plank story to make the time go by quicker!!