Last month I found a pair of bike shorts when I ended my no buy odyssey of July 2022-June 2023. I got two pairs for $20 which I thought was a bargain. When I got home and put them, I realized it was more than a bargain, it was what a good friend calls “a find.”

These bike shorts are super comfy, do not get clammy, fit well under dresses and skirts as well as on their own, don’t roll down and start the horrifying slide to public indecency, and bonus on bonus, they wash easily.

Every time I wore them in the last three weeks, I immediately felt regret that I hadn’t bought two sets. However last night I dropped into my favourite outlet shop and was pleasantly surprised to find another set of two for the same price.

Cue the dancing people and confetti sprays.

It got me thinking though on why I have difficulty finding clothes that fit. And by fit, I don’t mean the size. I can find lots in my size, but not much that fits properly when it is affordable and attractive.

I encountered my first challenge after I had my child. Though I was the same size as before I got pregnant, I noticed the clothes felt and looked differently on my body compared to before. It didn’t matter the type of clothing; my entire wardrobe didn’t hang right. Some clothes felt like they were more constricted; others felt looser. Some clothes would poke out and others would cinch in.

Over time I replaced the clothes with others that fit better. Then menopause came, and now in my sixth decade, I’m realizing my shape has changed again. I used to be pear-shaped; now I’m an apple (Gala if you please!).

I compared my old ratty bike shorts I had been hanging onto from pre menopause times with my new bike shorts. I’d share a photo but they are both matt black and you can’t see the difference in cut and style the way I actually feel them. But there is a difference.

I think the messages we get from social media, advertising, fashion etc drive us to think there’s only one reason clothes don’t fit and it’s all to do with weight. However, many times, it has to do with cut and style instead of size.

I’ve also noticed how a shift in body shape influences my work in the gym. Some exercises I couldn’t do as well before menopause are now easier, while there are others that were fine before now require some adjustments and modifications for me to complete.

And that’s okay. Modifications in fitness shouldn’t be seen as something less than. There is no single path to wellness. Why should there be when it comes to clothing? I’m embracing the possibilities this insight will bring in the future, and not just to fitness and clothing.

MarthaFitat55 enjoys weightlifting, swimming and yoga.

We’ve seen them pop up all over the place. Memes are everywhere. Heck, I once downloaded a meme maker and a hysterical dog photo my friend posted so I could make a bunch of foolish memes that amused us all at a team-building event.

Some of the memes are spot on, but there are others that get the side-eye quite strongly. I’m talking about the fitness, aging and injury ones. Here’s a typical example:

Or how about this one:

Okay, let’s have one more:

I told a friend these memes fell into the Funny/Not Funny camp as they skate very close to the truth, especially the third meme. As a child, I never fell out of a tree, but I skinned my knee, scraped my face, fell off my bike loads of times, and got up the day after and did it all again. As a grown-up, all three have happened and it rots my socks.

It bothers me because I am careful when I move: I warm up in the gym, I make sure I have the right shoes, I pay attention to instructions, and I make sure I have a good shower after to coddle my muscles and offset the potential for delayed onset muscle aches. If I am stunned enough to sit too long, I will cop to the inevitable seizing I feel, but

So when sleeping wrong and sneezing too hard result in aches and stiffness, it’s hard not to feel resentful. I do laugh at the minion wanting WD40 for less resilient muscles and bones; I often joke that my supply of Voltaren is WD40 for humans.

But is aging synonymous with injury? Not necessarily. However the risk of serious injury and more significant consequences do increase because as we get older, we slow down, our reactions aren’t as swift, and our recovery may be hindered by other age-related factors.

Falling off a bike as a teen might break a bone but their risk of dying from more complicated breaks like hips or pelvises is quite low. Falls are actually the leading cause of death in people over 65.

And yet. Motion is lotion as my physio is fond of saying. Maintaining basic fitness through walking, swimming, and so on helps bones stay strong, your heart keeps beating, and helps you manage the activities of daily living with relative ease. If you engage in more challenging sports, your risk for injury may be higher depending on your skill; however, it will also strengthen the things that matter.

The memes might make me twitch on the odd occasion because the implication is older people do not engage in fitness and so their risk of injury comes from things like turning the wrong way in bed or falling asleep on the couch watching tv. Nonetheless, the clever ones make me laugh, and so far, the only thing laughing really hard has caused is the occasional bout of hiccups.

How about you? Do these memes bug you, make you think, or make you laugh? Tell us in the comments.

MarthaFitat55 feels she still has the sense of humour of a four-year-old.

Dear reader, I bought some new clothes last week.

I wasn’t planning to until after July 1, when my no-buy year would officially come to an end. However, two weeks before I left on a visit to see friends and family in Toronto, I noticed my nightdresses and a few of my shirts were fraying rapidly and in some cases, new holes were appearing daily.

Holey clothes may be fashionable but not for this gal. It was past time to assess needs and wants. Locally I don’t have a lot of choice when it comes to clothing and I did not want to rely on buying online in case stuff didn’t match the picture on screen, didn’t feel right, or was the wrong size.

I joined the challenge because it seemed like a good idea. I wanted to see if I could continue making mindful choices that were voluntary and not enforced through lockdown limitations. The pandemic had meant my “good” clothes got less wear so their lifespan was extended beyond normal. I tend to hang onto clothes for quite a while generally, while relying on accessories like shoes and purses/totes to extend the look.

And I did quite well, considering. I spent money three times on clothes, shoes, or accessories in the past year, each purchase occasioned by urgency, necessity, or opportunity.

Were there times I wanted to buy something simply because it was cute, or it appealed to my inner magpie? Yes, there was. Did I give in? No, I did not. Instead, I asked myself three questions based on the three criteria I had set for breaking my no-buy fast.

1. Would this purchase fix an urgent issue? My new walking shoes and workshop shoes mended the ankle injury.
2. Was this something I truly needed? New underthings qualified when the old ones did not meet the hospital test (could I wear them and still be decent?).
3. If the item was not urgent or necessary, was the opportunity something that was so awesome it would not likely be possible after the no-buy challenge ended? The tops I bought while travelling qualified as they fit well, they were a good price, and I had not seen anything similar at home. The dress I bought with birthday money was too good a deal to pass up for something well-made, Canadian, and spectacular.

I stole an idea from a friend of mine to help me be mindful and to remind me not to settle. Whenever she made a good choice or made a positive decision, she threw $20 in a jar. At the end of the year, she used the cash to buy herself a new piece of gym equipment or finance training, or other appropriate rewards.

I decided to track what I saved when I chose not to buy something I wanted. Rather than a flat rate per item or the full amount of the possible purchase, I decided to save 10% of the cost in my savings account. I ended up with an amount that made me really think hard about how consumerism and capitalism are both exerting significant pressure on our spending habits.

Given that I met all three criteria, I happily set a budget for my holiday. I also reminded myself to focus on what made me look and feel good. The end result: three tops, a pair of pants, three nightdresses, two pairs of bike shorts, a pair of flipflops with built-in supports, and the coolest hat ever. In fact, I refused to settle for just “fine” and only spent half of my planned budget.

What has all this got to do with fitness? A lot.

First, it’s about mental health and wellbeing. Some of us shop because it makes us feel good for a while. What else could give us that good feeling? What is it we are trying to fix with a splurge? Also, we all need to wear clothes. If you are plus size, as I am, it’s hard to find pretty things to wear. We all like to feel good and be happy, not just in our own skin, but in the clothes we wear. (Remember Roy Kent!)

Second, I have started using the same questions framed differently to think about my approach to fitness. (In fact, reframing is a technique I use quite often and will explore in another post. Stay tuned!). For me, urgency in fitness is about recovery and repair. Necessity is about building strength vs body modification. Opportunity is how can I move more often and not just in a gym.

Third, I used the lessons about tracking training sessions and personal bests to evaluate how I was doing. Outcomes and outputs matter.  I saved a lot of money this year. I donated a lot of clothes. I became more creative in my clothing choices. I also hauled out my box of sewing patterns and started thinking about what I could make or get made in the fall.

Even though the no-buy challenge was not entirely purchase-free, I am more than fine with my choices. Last week’s acquisitions make me feel great especially the completely frivolous hat, which I absolutely adore. More importantly, the no-buy challenge helped me focus on what mattered to me: changing habits that led to reducing my carbon footprint and dealing with issues head-on in response to shifting personal priorities.

MarthaFitat55 gets her fit on in multiple ways.

A few weeks my husband asked me if I would like garbage picker upper. He had bought one two years ago when he began walking to strengthen his leg after healing from a break. I thought it was a great idea and agreed. A week later it appeared and off we went.

I had written about plogging back in 2018 when a pandemic was something only epidemiologists and public health educators fretted about. Plogging technically means picking up garbage while jogging, but I’m not a fast runner at the best of times and my knees are creakier. These days I’m into plalking, or walking while garbage picking.

It’s an interesting exercise and also beneficial to the environment. In a scant 30 minutes, we filled a bag. We probably could have added more but I was just getting the hang of the plogger-stick as I now call it.

Plogging is fun exercise: you bend; you carry weight; you stretch. You also practice balance as you walk up and down on uneven ground. Different leg and arm muscles get a work out, You are out in the fresh air and can feel the wind on your face and in your hair.

As the weather gets nicer, we will walk further afield. If you are looking for something that offers physical activity with environmental stewardship, plogging may be the thing for you. As for me, I’m going to find a widget that can help me keep track of how many bags of waste we collect as I aim to increase my daily steps.

Have a safe and happy long weekend! Remember, if you are out in a boat, wear a life jacket (aka PFD). If you choose to drink alcohol or consume edibles, keep your car/boat/ATV keys in your pockets and park yourself in a lawn chair.

Heads up to all our readers who may be triggered by discussions of eating disorders, diet culture, and white beauty norms: Dove has released another entry in its self-esteem project. I won’t embed the video here in case it autoplays, but you can see it and read more about it here.

I do want to talk about the campaign as this short film is tied to an American legislative lobby to limit youth exposure to toxic beauty content. Dove’s parent company Unilever is partnering with Lizzo, a musician, undergarment clothing designer and body positive influencer.

I’ve written about Lizzo and her work to challenge white beauty standards. The film profiles a young white woman Mary and the influences on her self image. The end of the film features a number of youth and their mothers of different ethnicities and also different shapes and sizes.

Dove has not been without its detractors for its series of commercials focusing on self image. It’s always good to question the assumptions on which these are based. However, I did take a look through the resources Dove has pulled together to bolster their campaign for change and I was pleased to see how the campaigns have evolved including addressing non binary and androgynous representations of body image and beauty. You can find the resources here on the Dove site. They include resources for parents, teachers, and youth leaders/mentors.

Too often body image is inextricably linked with size and social expectations (largely unrealistic, and frequently white-dominant). Aiming to achieve these unrealistic goals is tied to limited and restrictive food consumption and exercise.

It’s disheartening to see how fitness is tied to a physical beauty standard throughout multiple social media networks/platforms. It is important to eat well to fuel our bodies, howsoever they present, and it is really important to enjoy moving our bodies as much as we are able to work our hearts, build our bones and muscles for long-term physical health and boost our mental health and wellbeing.

More media literacy in school curriculums, more attention paid to what teens are consuming, and more understanding of the risks and dangers idealized and manipulated imagery can pose to impressionable minds. I really like Dove’s link to community legislative action as it’s a shift away from the individualized focus where women once again hold responsibility for changing their responses rather than the sources of those negative and harmful ideals changing their approaches to weight, diet and exercise.

If we really want to help our youth grow and thrive physically and mentally, we need to build a culture of inclusive fitness based on diversity of experience, background and ability. We would love to hear your recommendations for resources parents, teachers and youth leaders can use. Share your favourites in the comments.

MarthaFitat55 enjoys powerlifting, swimming and yoga.

I’m two months and a week out from getting COVID. Recovery was slow but I’m glad I paced myself. 

I’ve done a lot of accessory work — rows, dumbbell squats, modified split squats and a few things I can’t remember the name of but they do wicked things for my core. 

I was glad I had done my research and learned what to do and what not to do. In my last training session I was back on chart to overtake my personal best in deadlifts — my current lift is 198 lbs or 90 kgs — and they feel really good. 

The place I’m noticing the change in fitness the most is in cardio. After being able to climb stairs with relative ease, it was a little dismaying to find myself having to take slightly longer breaks between sets to recover. That too is passing. 

So it is important to rest and not rush things. I have more energy these days, the episodes of brain fog are fewer, and I’m getting better sleep. Not going to lie: it’s been frustrating but I’m glad I went with the program. 

I’m looking forward to adding a daily walk in now that all the snow is melting. I’ll be reviewing my fitness plan for the year and modifying a few things to accommodate a slightly slower pace. But for now the fitness outlook is promising and I’m very happy with where I am. 

You can also read my earlier post about exercising after covid here.

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I am a list-maker at heart. I love making them and I enjoy checking things off. I also like reading lists, or listicles as they are sometimes called. It’s a handy thing to look at when you want some quick insights.

I decided to amuse myself one evening and check out lists of health and fitness tips. I quickly found more than 30 different kinds of tips. In reviewing them all, I saw I could group them into five broad categories:

1. Goals (setting goals, tracking goals, and evaluating goals)
2. Motivation (positive self talk, asking for help, having a health and fitness buddy, rewards)
3. Nutrition (what to eat, when to eat, what not to eat, how to eat, how to shop)
4. Drink (how much water to drink, switching from coffee to tea, soda to sparkling water, reduced to no alcohol)
5. Movement (when — every day!, outside, what kind — stretching, cardio, resistance, weights, yoga, rest/sleep/recovery).

If I tracked the frequency of certain suggestions, the number one types were:

1. Setting goals
2. Moving everyday
3. Getting enough sleep
4. Drinking water
5. Eating good food
6. Doing a variety of things
7. Staying motivated

Curiously, the most varied content came in the form of food tips. These included

• Eat good food every day
• Make healthy choices
• Eat your vegetables
• Track your calories
• Watch your portions
• Buy from the perimeter of the store
• Makes sure 80 percent of food choices are healthy
• Quit coffee
• Eat more protein
• Eat green
• Eat mindfully
• Don’t diet

Now, this isn’t a scientific meta-analysis of trends in fitness tips but I did find it interesting, especially the vast array of guidance relating to nutrition and fitness. My top five favorites of all the tips were:

1. Don’t diet.
2. Move every day.
3. Have fun.
4. Get good sleep.
5. Go outside

What would be in your top five?

MarthaFitat55 is w writer and listmaker who enjoys powerlifting, yoga, and swimming,

Just this week I learned about an American women’s soccer team ditching their white sports clothes for black gear. The rationale: many menstruating athletes are concerned and stressed about period staining. Non-white uniforms increase player confidence and comfort on the field and off. The Orlando Pride club isn’t the only sports team taking this on. Tennis is now allowing dark undershorts as well.

It makes sense to me. While white sports clothes look nifty, they get pretty ratty looking after a hard game with mud, grass, and sweat. Add blood to the mix and it’s a hefty laundry job to get everything looking pristine again.

There is also significant shame attached to periods and menstruation. Consider how period products are marketed. How many oceans of blue water have been poured over products to demonstrate absorbency?

A few years ago in 2017, Bodyform shocked people globally when it used red dye to show period blood and then Kotex did it again in 2020 when it also ditched the blue water used to show absorbency.

When I was in school, it was not unusual to see students get notes to excuse them from gym while having their period. Heaven forbid if you needed to get protection from the principal’s office because you ran out of tampons, or worse, flooded and then everyone would know.

There were still shock waves reverberating years after when broadcaster Gordon Sinclair asked Canadian Olympic swimmer Elaine Tanner in 1969 if menstruation was an issue for her training. It simply wasn’t done to talk about such things.

Luckily today, we are not only talking about it, we are also looking at what we can do to change policy and practice. Many countries are eliminating taxes on period products. Lots of places like bars and offices are offering period products for their guests and staff. Schools are providing period products for free to reduce absenteeism and better school performance. Even my own home province introduced such a program in fall 2021.

If you don’t have to worry about having enough period products to keep you covered, and you can wear clothes you don’t have to worry about staining and revealing your period status, I’d say your comfort and confidence quotients would likely go up more than a few points to give you the power to perform successfully at whatever sports you desired.

MarthaFitat55 is happy she no longer has to think about menstruation on or off the field.

Three weeks ago I got COVID and I was a miserable puppy. Truth be told, I was bitter as all get out after three years of steady masking, sanitizing, distancing, and limiting large group events on top of the vaccinations.

Once I began to feel better, I started looking at how I would resume training. Three years in, we have a fair bit of research and information on how to do this safely post COVID infection. This article provides an overview of the research and offers some guidelines on how to resume activity. The authors write:

Return to exercise guidelines post-COVID-19 need to consider an individual’s duration & severity of symptoms, the presence of co-existing medical conditions, pre-morbid fitness, and the intensity of intended post-infection exercise. Return to exercise should also aim to minimize the development of non-COVID-19 related complications (e.g. musculoskeletal injuries) that may be associated with sudden increases in training volume and intensity following a period of mandatory isolation & relative inactivity.

The Reader’s Digest version: be careful, don’t do too much at once, and if anything changes for the worst, see a doctor. Here’s a short list of what you can do about managing your return to exercise post COVID:

1. Make sure you have rested and are symptom-free. Even with mild cases, fatigue is a serious consideration.
2. Ease back into your fitness routine, regardless of your fitness level. This article recommends trying gentle activities and assessing how your body feels.
3. If your lungs were affected in a significant way, cardio type exercises should be avoided in the short term.
4. Watch your heart rate. If you feel light headed or your symptoms recoccur and/or get worse, get checked out.
5. Movement is important for recovery. As one Australian publication put it: “… think of any movement as a form of “exercise”. This could be getting up and going to the toilet or any other basics of your day. Movement can help stimulate the immune system and help people in their recovery, however, it’s a fine balance. If you feel uncomfortable, that’s a sign to take a break.”

I also found this handy guide that describes five stages to recovery and what activity is appropriate, when and how it should affect you.

Based on my research, I’ll be taking it slow for the next month. Everyone’s experience of COVID is different. While enforced idleness and isolation aren’t really what I wanted to be doing when my to-do list was a mile long, getting better and staying that way just got pinned to the top of that list.

— MarthaFitat55 is looking forward to getting her fit on.

Early in January, blog co founder Tracy Isaacs pulled together a group blog post on our words of the year, those words or phrases which will anchor us in our daily practice. I chose imagine for 2023. I wrote:

for awhile I have felt I’m on the cusp of something. While I’m not sure what it is, I’m letting myself imagine all kinds of possibilities. The questions that guide me are “what if?” and “why not?” I don’t know where this word imagine will take me; however, I believe it will be risky, freeing, exciting, and maybe a little wondrous.

In that vein, when a friend sent round a note suggesting we give Lindy Hop a whirl, I thought why not? Even though I have two left feet, I enjoy dancing. Despite some disastrous events with low-impact aerobics, Zumba, jazzercise, and ballet, I have persisted in exploring choreographed movement that does not involve bathing suits, weights, running, or cycling. And I love swing music so there I went.

Lindy Hop has its origins in Black Harlem beginning in the 1920s. One of the four dances of swing (the others being the Balboa, the Collegiate shag, and the Charleston) the Lindy Hop is all about social connection and consent. If you want to dance, you ask. Once consent is given, you dance.

Lindy Hop has leaders and followers. The follower mirrors the leader’s direction and steps. I definitely fall into the follower camp. I also count and talk to myself while dancing so I can keep my left and right feet moving as they should, which to be honest, they frequently do not.

My first class was this week. It was fun and a wee bit intimidating (remember I have two left feet plus I am right-left dyslexic). Mirroring is a challenge. Lindy hop was also a surprisingly effective workout. I got my steps in, my heart rate up, and I met some lovely new people.

No fancy gear is required. Loose comfortable clothing is recommended along with court shoes. A bottle of water is advisable. With COVID still prevalent, we all wore masks which may have contributed to some of the warmth we felt. The organizers also had lots of hand sanitizer available for when we switched partners. From what I could tell, we were at all levels of experience and ages.

My biggest takeaway was that fitness once again doesn’t have to be about sports. I have written about housework, gardening, and even snow shoveling as fitness activities, but while gardening can be very therapeutic, I can’t say housework or shoveling qualify as fun, which in my opinion Lindy Hop definitely does.

Here’s to more fun in fitness and enjoying all the ways my body can move.

MarthaFitat55