Exercise and body acceptance

I haven't been to the gym in awhile.  There for a little bit I was going 4-5 days a week.  No, before you ask - I'm not going exercise crazy...  some days I might do something like ride the stationary bike for 30 minutes or swim. So no worries -  I certainly don't have the "exercise" anorexia that I read about the other day.  (People who work out extensively in order to loose weight along with starvation dieting.) 

 To be honest much else at the gym (such as the elipticals and treadmills) hurts when my hips are off.  (Alright we're quickly venturing into more-than-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-me territory but I have scoliosis - which means in my case - one hip is higher than the other.   It isn't terrible, but certain things agrivate it like to motion needed to use the eliptical and arc trainers.)  And as far as the other equipment - I'm intimidated to ask how it works.   That's right....  I'm afriad that some hulk-like trainer will try to hard sell me on signing up for a personal trainer.  (I prefer to save some $ - and work out myself, thank you.)

So I guess what inspired this post was this picture that a friend on facebook posted.  (I don't know the original author of this photo - otherwise I'd credit) 


There's a lot of people running around my gym who look like atheletes - and then there's me lol.... but - yknow what?! ....  I paid my membership just like they do.  So what if they've been there for 4 hours working out and I'm enjoying my 30 minute exercise bike routine... it beats me sitting on the couch. I'm just saying - because it is surprising the people I know that don't work out because they're scared to go to the gym  because they don't look like fitness gurus ... because they don't work out...  (see the circular logic here?)  I say..... so what?   If anything, in my experience, people seem to mind their own business - 90% of the time and the other 10% people have been talkitive or friendly.  If there are people out there who do not like how I look or I aggitate by my presence then I *hope* I annoy them.  If I knew they were there, I might even go more.

Of course - I wasn't always like this.  I've been through hating myself for this, that or the other, wishing I could change an impossible amount of things about myself.  And right now - I'm pretty much alright with myself.  This doesn't mean that I'm not trying to improve myself - or there aren't still things I'm working on, but that I have much more realistic goals and that I have these goals (fitness and other) because *I* want them, not because the ad in the magazine says I have to be a size 2 to fit in.  And now there are aspects of myself that I love and wouldn't change one bit. 

There is a "size acceptance" movement out there - but what I like more than that is the idea of "body acceptance" - since not just overweight people struggle.  I know some women who have the Hollywood body and yet still aren't happy because of (whatever - insert complaint here). 

So I will step off of my acceptance soapbox for now - to say that the gym and exercise and everything else seems to be about making positive habits.  Once out of them, it's hard to start, but once started it's easy to follow.