Help please

[bubbles76]

What about Body Groove? Misty Tripoli is all about body positivity, and her workouts feature participants of all shapes, sizes, and abilities. No revealing clothing either.

[Gemini2874]

Thank you all for the suggestions and support. It really means a lot to me. Even though I had my active eating disorder decades ago, you never really get rid of it. So, I have to constantly fight against diet culture and the bombardment of media telling women they do not meet the “ideal”. I know how harmful this thinking truly can be. It’s odd because I have come so far and no longer believe that my worth is tied to my weight or that as a female I must be pretty or thin as the price I have to pay simply to exist with worth. But……..every now and then I still get triggered. It’s society’s fault for putting these heinous expectations on girls and women.

Anyways, I will fight through like I always do. I was just horrified though when I went through dozen after dozen of my exercise tapes and heard “burn calories, burn fat, change your body, lose weight, drop pounds, etc”. There are, shockingly, not a lot of workout DVDs that focus on just better health! I think you forum rock stars should make some!!! There is definitely a market. But, in all seriousness, who knew that workout videos could be detrimental to your health. I have been working out with them for awhile and could always block out the talk, clothes, bodies, etc. I guess this goes to show that one can always be triggered. I’m proud of myself for putting them away to refocus on my mental health. I’m going to look into the suggestions from you all. Thanks for caring. I don’t think people realize just how far kindness goes when someone is struggling with their mental health. Thanks again. {{big hugs of appreciation}}

[sherry7899]

Originally Posted by bubbles76

What about Body Groove? Misty Tripoli is all about body positivity, and her workouts feature participants of all shapes, sizes, and abilities. No revealing clothing either.

Perfect suggestion!

[ChelePA]

Gemini2874.. I hope some of the recommendations help and you feel the love. It’s very brave of you to be so honest. There is a crisis in this area. I think the statistic is 70 percent of high school and college kids have some form of an eating disorder. Covid and social media definitely didn’t help improve the situation. I see it daily with my daughter and her friends. It’s a real struggle.

[JackieB]

I'm sorry you are going through this. I can relate. I went through eating disorder counseling in college after years of gymnastics and cheerteam...and all the pressure with that.

I do think there are programs out there without the focus you find triggering. Of course I am going to suggest Essentrics/Classical Stretch. I love that there is none of the diet culture talk. It's a program about feeling good and strong for a better life.

I just did a short Jessica Smith video on YouTube and she also never mentions anything body, fat, diet, bikini. My other favorite instructor, Ellen Barrett, I think has a very healthy viewpoint on the body.

Hugs.

[Gemini2874]

JackieB and ChelePA- thank you for your kind and thoughtful words. {heart}

[bzar]

i find that doing traditional weight-lifting workouts, the focus is more on building strength. you get a "cardio effect" too because if you wear a HRM, you'll notice your HR increasing.

[Pam61]

I find VF is a very supportive community as well as a safe place for topics we might be dealing with. I don't know if you belong to a check-in here, but that might help you to connect with others. You can also PM those who have a history with eating disorders and keep the more personal conversations private, if you feel uncomfortable. But, you're so brave for what you've gone through and what you've shared in this thread.

I'm reminded of a hiking "friend" (with an eating disorder) I'd been previously hiking with in my regular active group. Though I didn't know her well, we lived in the same area and had chatted on our walks many times. About six months ago she just stopped coming to our regularly scheduled hikes. She has been on my mind a lot, because she just disappeared. I would just say to you please don't do that! We care and are concerned about your physical and emotional state. We'll help you with fitness advice (and other) if we can, because you've shown great courage and are obviously struggling.

A favorite practice of mine is Jane Adams' Lying practice from her Gentle Yoga DVD. I would incorporate calming and restorative yoga. I also love the way I feel after a good weight lifting session! So many positive instructors....Leslie Sansone, Jessica Smith, etc.

[bzar]

Originally Posted by Pam61

I'm reminded of a hiking "friend" (with an eating disorder) I'd been previously hiking with in my regular active group. Though I didn't know her well, we lived in the same area and had chatted on our walks many times. About six months ago she just stopped coming to our regularly scheduled hikes. She has been on my mind a lot, because she just disappeared. I would just say to you please don't do that! We care and are concerned about your physical and emotional state. We'll help you with fitness advice (and other) if we can, because you've shown great courage and are obviously struggling.

what beautiful words. i agree. please stay with us.

i know i may come across as "cold" in my recommendations, but when my child-self is hurting, lifting can be so empowering.

[hch]

Thank you for posting! I support you too. Althugh I don't share the same history, I've shared similar frustrations with fitness-flavored resources for years. I wish that I had more specfic fitneess resources to recommend: my criteria may be particularly stringent , but I agree that the general fitness world hasn't been very supportive in certain critical ways.

Even so, things have been changing (though not as soon, as quickly, as thoroughly, or as smoothly as I'd like).

A good example is the book Let's Get Physical, recently mentioned on VF--I still haven't read it, but the author's interviews show her awareness of such issues. For example, from an NPR interview titled "The complicated history of women's fitness":

Danielle Friedman: “The real shame is that we know now from research that movement and fitness can hold tremendous benefits for women, not only for our physical health, but for our mental health and our emotional health. But ... from the beginning of the industry, those benefits were tainted by feelings of guilt and shame and pressure. And you know, I think when you hold up Jane Fonda as an ideal, Jane Fonda's body was sort of unrealistic even for Jane Fonda.

"She has written about how she had to go to extreme measures to achieve that body. But what this has meant is that historically, so many women have felt uncomfortable in fitness environments and have felt turned away and have felt that their body needs to be a constant project. That we should always be working on our bodies to kind of meet this completely unrealistic ideal. And thankfully we are, I think, at the beginning of a shift where we're starting to change that narrative a bit.”

I appreciate your mentioning the term "diet culture." I felt a singular moment of intellectual validation a few years ago when I learned about the concept of diet culture--there was finally a name for what was bothering me all these years, and people were also opposing it. Even a few mainstream sources that I'd stopped following years ago, I was surprised and cautiously delighted to find, are now at least nominally opposing diet culture. VF itself has changed over the years, and I'm gradually losing my hesitance to discuss the subject more freely. If not for a number of problems, I probably would've started a VF thread about it already; I hope to have recovered from a number of problems in a few months and may consider starting one then.

Please feel welcome to post.