How do you make exercise not about weight loss?
- Thread starter uticus
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- female fitness
@olasunkanmi how big is your cat?!
olasunkanmi
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@olasunkanmi Super valid.
@olasunkanmi I have a similar starting point, I couldn’t carry my grocery bags - and I really don’t buy a whole lot.
nerissa1969
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@berny I've always had pretty decent baseline strength because I'm the kind of person who will load up everything for one trip. But one of the perks of weight training is now I'm practically a mule for groceries and furniture. If I can hook it onto my body somewhere I can trudge it up the stairs - although I just moved into a place with an elevator which is nice, last year I carried a 60 pound suitcase up and down 3 flights of stairs!
@olasunkanmi I feel this so hard
@olasunkanmi An older lady friend said this to a friend about her partner. She is really tiny and he is really tall, and the older woman warned her to stay in shape because they would need to be able to care for each other when they got really old, and that can be quite physical!
@olasunkanmi This made me smile
aussiealways
New member
@uticus I got off the scale completely. If I want to focus on numbers, I focus on how many miles a week I'm running or how much I'm lifting. I also focus on getting more protein every day and veggies. I'm focusing on numbers I want to increase rather than on the one number I was always trying to decrease in the past.
@aussiealways LOVE this! I definitely want to try that.
@uticus Lifting is amazing because it gives you other numbers to focus on. You can really see yourself lifting heavier by the month (at least in the beginning). I use an app to track how heavy I go for each exercise and it's incredibly motivating to see the numbers go up! Also on female lifting tiktok, there is a whole conversation about how you just have to eat more if you want to get stronger. You need to be at a (thoughtful) calorie surplus. This is such a refreshing message in contrast to the media which encourages us to eat less and take less space.
meesemouse
New member
@daisyjo This is the way. I never had particularly bad body image issues (like...low-to-normal raised-in-the-US-in-the-90s body image issues), but starting to lift weights and track how much I could lift completely turned my issues around and took my relationship with food to a new level.
It was a couple different things:
1. Not eating enough one morning and failing a weight that normally was easy for me, and suddenly feeling what food was doing for my body
2. Feeling strong & good about my body aesthetically, weighing myself after a while, and realizing I'd gained weight...and not caring
3. Realizing that the feeling of post-workout burn shifted my body awareness to the things I was proud of instead of the things I was self conscious of
Now when the little feeling-fat-demons rear themselves in the back of my head, I hustle off to the gym when I can, but because it immediately changes the way I feel about my body, not because I'm telling myself something about how it'll make me look or what I'll weigh. Which is a subtle sounding difference but it is night and day mental health-wise!
It was a couple different things:
1. Not eating enough one morning and failing a weight that normally was easy for me, and suddenly feeling what food was doing for my body
2. Feeling strong & good about my body aesthetically, weighing myself after a while, and realizing I'd gained weight...and not caring
3. Realizing that the feeling of post-workout burn shifted my body awareness to the things I was proud of instead of the things I was self conscious of
Now when the little feeling-fat-demons rear themselves in the back of my head, I hustle off to the gym when I can, but because it immediately changes the way I feel about my body, not because I'm telling myself something about how it'll make me look or what I'll weigh. Which is a subtle sounding difference but it is night and day mental health-wise!
chanticleera
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@aussiealways Same. Threw the scale out, now I totally focus on fitness/mental health goals. I know how much exercise I need to support those things, and I work hard to get it done each week. I feel amazing, and also, my clothing is a bit looser. Win win.
@aussiealways Yeah, I agree. Focusing on what I can do better now than I could before. Lifting more, rowing longer, hiking longer or a steeper hike. Dancing better! Practicing YouTube dance tutorials are so much fun and a lot of work. It's exciting to be like "I know this move now!"
catholics_r_christians
New member
@uticus For me, now that I'm older, I find that workouts help manage my perimenopause symptoms. And I also keep telling myself that I don't want to end up in a nursing home cause I'm to weak to walk, dress, and take care of myself.
I sleep better when I workout 4-5 times a week. I feel better. I have more energy. I can still lift up the 50lbs bag of horse feed with no problems.
I sleep better when I workout 4-5 times a week. I feel better. I have more energy. I can still lift up the 50lbs bag of horse feed with no problems.
matthew123
New member
@catholics_r_christians Same. I don’t want to be a 60 year old who struggles to bring in the groceries or shovel a light snow. I want my independent for as long as possible and exercise is key. Exercise also helps so much with stability. I’m already a huge klutz; a broken ankle at age 60 in a non-exerciser can result in mobility issues for life.
catholics_r_christians
New member
@matthew123 Add balance work to your routine. So many elderly fall cause they both have a loss of balance, and are to weak to catch themselves once they start to fall.
@uticus I only enjoy walking when it’s with someone (particularly my dog). At the gym I’m all about lifting weights because I feel good when I’m done. I also have adhd and have given myself permission to end my workout if I get bored. This means it’s not something I dread doing, ever, which is awesome. As for the not-weight-loss thing, I just keep my entire goal as “getting stronger.” It’s rewarding enough to see my lifts getting heavier. Ngl, seeing the phrase “muscle mommy” on social media was a turning point for me because I realized I didn’t have to care about losing weight, just grow muscle.