Calves anyone?

[RoadRaven]

Lyz... I have something for you to think about... a question if you will...

If your legs are doing a great job at the moment, and taking you the way you want them to on a bike, why do you want to change the muscles to do something else?

Shouldn't our bodies be about being fit? And doesn't "fit" come in all shapes and sizes?

Forgive me if I offend anyone... (points at low post count and recent joining date) but I really do believe women should be guided by how well their bodies work, not by how they look.

[doc]

Shouldn't our bodies be about being fit? And doesn't "fit" come in all shapes and sizes?

...I really do believe women should be guided by how well their bodies work, not by how they look.

[/COLOR][/QUOTE]

Hear Hear!! Yes it SHOULD be, but the reality is sadly quite different. I have 2 young daughters and I am always trying to make sure they know their worth is in their thoughts and actions not their bodies. If anyone knows a surefire way to make sure they believe it, I'm all ears.

[RoadRaven]

Hi Doc!!!
*waves and grins*
Here at the same time as another - super!


Women and their body perceptions - this is one thing I cover when teaching ... I always challenge the women in my classes to think about when they started having a "problem relationship" with food and almost inevitably it is about puberty when someone close to them (parent, sibling, grandparent etc) makes a throw-away comment about their weight.

Suddenly its time to stop eating and start believing that the models in the magazines look exactly as they are portrayed and got that way naturally and with healthy choices... therefore, if I eat less (or puke what I eat) or excercise like crazy... or whatever... I too can look like that.

And we do it to ourselves as adults, we have a baby and look at a celebrity who had a baby about the same time and we just don't recover like she does ... forgetting of course she has a nanny so she can work out with her personal trainer and eat the special diet designed by her nutritionist.

Having been victom to the puberty epiphany that I was grossly fat (thanks to my grandmother who suggested my thighs and upper arms were a bit chubby - so I stopped eating) I have been really concious that I give the right messages to my children, but most particulary my daughter...

So talk with your girls about air-brushed photos, nutritionists and personal trainers...
Talk about how Marilyn Monroe - still a part of mens fantaisies even though many are young enough to be her sons or grandsons - was a 14-16 - not a size 8...
Talk about healthy food choices and increasing physical excercise if they want to change shape, not reducing food intake...
Talk about how women put on weight around puberty (that dreadful phrase to young girls - puppy fat) but if they walk or bike and not drive everywhere, if they spend time being active rather than in front of TV or PC, then it will drop away as they near 16, 17, 18...
Treat food as normal and natural - as fuel and don't obsess about calorie counting, or fat intake - just provide the right stuff in your home...
Talk to them about how women have a higher fat to muscle ratio than men, and this is essential to their health, and that fat is an importtant parrt of their diet while they are growing...
And, once they like boys... tell them how most men prefer a woman with some curves... not a woman with no fat at all, cause a woman with a few curves is more comfy to cuddle...

Hopefully, if you keep giving these messages, they will get through being teenagers, and come out the end feeling ok with themselves.

They have you as a role model and that is a huge gift, to see mum keeping fit, and learning that food is an important parrt of fuelling the body. They are learning that exercise and nutrition are fitness... that being skinny and inactive does not equate to fitness

Good luck, Doc... western women of all ages fight a constant subliminal battle with the media images that surround us