Category: blogging

blog · blogging · fitness

Blogging through the years, in numbers

Sam B

We’ve been here on WordPress for 8 years and a bit. In that time we’ve had 4598 posts! And 2,747,658 views of posts. Our busiest day ever on the blog was July 24, 2014.

21,032 people follow us on WordPress. We just celebrated 21k followers last week which is what started me down this rabbithole of numbers.

Also, 16,026 people follow us on Facebook. We’re also on Instagram with just 1336 followers and Twitter with 1745 followers. Follow us if that’s your thing.

But it’s not all about followers. There are other numbers too. From followers I started tracking what people liked and shared this list of our most liked blog posts of all time.

In 2012 our posts averaged 580 words but in the 2013 they’d grown to 690 words on average. Post length seems pretty consistent through the years though. Last year, in 2020, it was 681 words on average.

Weirdly, post likes have varied quite a bit. Posts got an average of 2.4 likes in 2012. In 2014 they got an avereage of 21 likes, and last year in 2020, 13.3 likes.

Comments also vary through the years. We hit a high in 2013, 9.1 comments per post on average and just 2.9 in 2020.

Where are all the people from? By and far, most of the blog’s readers through the years are in the United States (1.3 million), next is Canada (584k) and then the UK (225k), Australia (120k), Germany (41k), India (35k), New Zealand (22k), France (21k), Netherlands (18k), Sweden (17k) and Ireland (16k).

After that it’s Phillipines, South Africa, Finland, Singapore, Spain, Italy, Norway, Belgium, Brazil, Switzerland, Japan, Malaysia, Denmark, Mexico….and lots more.

Oh, and the blog is busiest, in terms of views, either Monday morning at 9 am or Wednesday afternoon at 2 pm.

Just a couple of more sets of numbers.

Our total word count in 2013 was 293,809

And in 2020, with a lot more bloggets, it had grown to 448,250

Finally, let’s look at the number of posts through the years.

In 2013, 426 posts.

2015, 587

2018, 616

2020, 658

Moving beyond numbers, I also sometimes track search terms that bring people to the blog. This week’s include ‘workout feminist beginner’ and ‘how does renpho calculate metabolic age’ and ‘fit feminist hiit’ and ‘biggest loser new season 2021’ and ‘is it normal to have a period at 53’ and ‘you are not your biological destiny women.’

All the statistics and data aside, we love your engagement. Bloggers at Fit is a Feminist Issue like your comments and your feedback. You might even consider writing a guest post. Drop us a line some time soon!

advice · blogging · fitness

What will you START/STOP/CONTINUE in 2021? Part 2

Sam B2 Comments

Bettina

Stop: like Susan, I don’t really have anything I want to stop

Start: hopefully baby swimming classes with the little person… I just need the pools to re-open.

Continue: doing something physical almost every day even once I return to work in February. It’s going to be tricky because I’ll be busy and tired. Let’s see how it goes, I also don’t want it to become One More Thing I Have To Do (there are plenty of those already).

Bettina running down a city street

Bettina started blogging at Fit is a Feminist Issue in 2018. One of her first posts was Competitive Streak.

Mina

START. A new writing project, even if it’s picking back up an old one I abandoned for a while. And I have to add, that I thought of this answer yesterday and woke up this am thinking of how I wanted to revise my approach to a long-standing, never finished, project. As if just setting this intention in my mind, manifested a creative idea! Now to start. For real.

STOP. The negative self talk that can be like a ball and chain, preventing me from moving forward. Okay, if I’m honest, this is really just a “reduce”.

CONTINUE. The COVID habit my partner and I have developed of taking walks end of day or in the evening. It’s such a super treat to amble, something I’ve never been good at, because I’m either “working out” or “on my way somewhere”.

Mina – FIT IS A FEMINIST ISSUE
Mina and her Montreal rental bike

Mina joined us in 2018. Her first post was Riding over rocks and an appeal.

Martha

START incorporating a ten minute activity three times a day.


STOP allowing distractions to derail my work schedule.


CONTINUE my mindfulness practice at the end of every day.

Martha has been blogging here since 2015 and her first post was Getting my fit on my way.

Cate

START: going outside every single day for at least a 30 minute walk (I find myself doing way too much inside time during lockdown because now I have all the exercise equipment inside). Getting enough sleep. Eating more mindfully in the evenings.

STOP: ordering takeout that ends up with delivery costs that double the price of the food. Staying up too late.

CONTINUE: the writing project I started working on in the summer and lost track of during a super busy fall.

ALSO I am going to continue my quest to do every single Zwift route. That satisfies my unruly completist side lol. I have currently done 37 of the 76 available routes.

Cate, selfie, sunshine and water, with bike helmet

Cate, also known as fieldpoppy, has been blogging here since 2015. One of her first posts was The Lithe Old Lady Inside Me.

Christine

Start: My project for this year, in every area of my life, is to commit to working WITH my ADHD instead of trying to fight it. I’m tweaking everything, especially exercise plans, to make it easier to be consistent.

Stop: I’m stopping ‘exercise shopping’ – I save all these interesting-looking workouts in my bookmarks and in my FB saves but I don’t go back to them. If I am not planning to try them at a specific time, I refuse to continue to build up a ‘should’ file.

Continue: I will continue to take my dog, Khalee, out for a 20-30 minute walk each afternoon, no matter what the weather brings.

Christine started blogging here in 2017 and her first post was Training To Be Seen.

2020’s Top Posts
blogging · Happy New Year! · top ten

2020’s Top Posts

Sam B

These are most read posts in 2020 that were also written in 2020. Tomorrow I’ll share a list of most read posts in 2020, regardless of when they were written.

1. COVID-19 and the gym, guest bloggers and building engineers Cara and Sarah weigh in.

2. JLo and Shakira are very fit older babes. They performed at a football game, controversy ensued, and Sam blogged about it here.

3. Sam watched Brittany Runs a Marathon so you didn’t have to.

4. Catherine had things to say about the NYT six minutes workout.

Ernie and Bert and the number 6

5. Tracy blogged about the covid 19 and how she thinks it’s fat phobic.

6. Catherine on yoga posts she cant do and what she does instead.

7. What is really okay for exercising outside, in Covid times, by Cate.

8. Catherine writes that women with jobs occasionally also wear bathing suits.

9. Burpees are bad for you? Sam is surprised

10. Here’s a great thing about zoom yoga, by Catherine.

blog · blogging · fitness · schedule

Turning over a new leaf! The blog has a new schedule

Sam B

What are the changes that prompted the new schedule? Kim is stepping away from a regular blog commitment but will post as/when inspired. Bettina is back from parental leave but is re-joining gradually with one post a month. Mina, Susan, and Nat are also posting once a month. Some of the blog regulars are moving to have a consistent day–I’m Mondays, Cate is Thursdays, and Catherine is Sundays. Others are keeping a regular day but writing every other week. That’s Martha, Christine, Marjorie, and Nicole.

Thing were getting messy and it was starting to be harder than usual to keep track of who was supposed to be posting and when. We’re hoping this makes it easier.

See the guest spots? That’s where you can come and join us if you like. Read about how to do that here.

Week 1

Monday: Sam

Tuesday: Christine

Wednesday: Mina

Thursday: Cate

Friday: Martha

Saturday: Nat

Sunday: Catherine

Week 2

Monday: Sam

Tuesday: Marjorie

Wednesday: Nicole

Thursday: Cate

Friday: Guest

Saturday: Bettina

Sunday: Catherine

Week 3

Monday: Sam

Tuesday: Christine

Wednesday: Catherine

Thursday: Cate

Friday: Martha

Saturday: Guest

Sunday: Catherine

Week 4

Monday: Sam

Tuesday: Marjorie

Wednesday: Nicole

Thursday: Cate

Friday, Susan

Saturday: Guest

Sunday: Catherine

Hanging fall leaves.
Photo by DESIGNECOLOGIST on Unsplash
blogging

Our top ten posts in July, #icymi

Sam B1 Comment

1 Cate is still menstruating.

2. Guests Sarah and Cara explain why working out indoors might not be the best idea in the time of covid-19.

3. Tracy explains why she doesn’t want to be a Precision Nutrition repeat customer.

4. Sam wonders where the words are to describe large muscular women.

5. Nicole asks good questions about a study about women and working out in revealing clothing.

6. Catherine gives advice and shares her experience about kayak shopping while fat

7 Tracy asks what we’d change about the fitness industry if we could.

8. And what about the NYT 6 minute workout? Catherine has things to say

9. Catherine blogs about things that make her feel good in her body, the pandemic edition.

10. Dad bods are in the news again and Sam blogged about them again.

Image: A large spaceship landing hovering over New York City

blogging · family

Bettina goes on maternity leave

bettinathenomad9 Comments

My maternity leave from work officially begins on Monday, so it’s only fitting that I also start maternity leave from the blog now. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve started to understand why mat leave is a thing, and I feel incredibly fortunate to have a fairly generous policy at work: things do get exhausting as you grow bigger, especially now that it’s also hot. I also find it harder to focus, and pregnancy forgetfulness is definitely real for me.

Taking a break now feels right. I’m not due for another few weeks, but I’m going to start focussing on getting everything ready for our new arrival.

I won’t return to work until February next year, but I hope to be back to blogging earlier than that! I’ll definitely keep you posted on how things go once I can go back to exercising after the birth.

Thanks for reading along, and “see” you soon!

blog · blogging

Top ten posts in June, #icymi

Sam B
Pretty pink blossoms on a tree.

The most read post this month was the same as the most read post last month: COVID-19 and the Gym: Building Engineers Weigh In (Guest Post) Thanks Sarah and Cara for laying it out so clearly.

In second spot is Cate’s much loved still menstruating post.

Catherine asks, When is it okay to say “good job” to a woman while she’s in the middle of physical activity. That’s the third most read post of the month.

Fourth is Marjorie’s post Systemic racism looks like the death of George Floyd, denying the science of masks, and our perspectives on dietary privilege.

Fifth is another post by Marjorie, Women are ‘Someone,’ Too.

Catherine’s post Exercising while black: a few women’s stories was the sixth most read post in June.

The seventh most read post was Christine’s post on tricking yourself into getting started.

Everyone is looking for at home workouts. This barely pre-pandemic post on the NYT 6 minute workout is often in our top 10 during these pandemic months. It’s appreciated, Catherine! I think you knew something was coming. This month it was number 8.

Martha’s post on weight stigma and COVID-19 was the ninth most read post in June. It’s a concern here at the blog. Tracy also wrote about weight stigma and fat shaming jokes in the context of 2019.

And the tenth most read post in June was Mary’s guest post on her calm and humorous take on the big race that wasn’t. Love your attitude Mary!

June was a strange month. Bad enough that it’s been memed. Here’s hoping for a better July.

aging · blogging

Silver Sam

Sam B1 Comment

Tracy and I often joke about all the things we have in common. We’re both immigrants to Canada who came here with our parents when we were young. We’re very close to the same age. We both have American PhDs. We wrote disserations in ethics. We started our careers in the Philosophy Department at Western in the early 90s. And we’ve had a multi-decade friendship and conversation about body image and physical fitness in our lives and the lives of women more generally. Then there’s the “fittest by fifty challenge,” this blog, and our book.

“[Fit at Mid-Life] reinforces the message that fitness can and should be for everyone, no matter their age, size, gender, or ability.” ––SELF

What if you could be fitter now than you were in your twenties? And what if you could achieve it while feeling more comfortable and confident in your body? 

Here’s what we looked like when our book was published. Promotional photos are from the Amazon site. Thanks Ruth! (Ruthless Images)

Tracy and Sam as blondes

Now we’re aging and going grey together. Tracy first! See Tracy enters the grey zone. Tracy’s move to grey/silver was deliberate and planned and involved hair salons. Mine was accidental and a result of COVID-19.

I love Tracy’s silver hair and think it looks beautiful. I confess that silver envy is part of my motivation but I am not sure mine will look as good.

Luckily Sarah owns clippers and has been tidying up my undercut as it grows. Here’s my latest bikes and boats haircut. Gradually there’s less and less blonde and more and more of my hair’s natural colour.

But the thing is I never was someone who coloured her hair to cover grey. Here’s 80s me with a similar haircut and colour scheme. In wilder times it was also pink and purple. I’ve also never coloured the undercut bits and hiding my age was never part of my intention. I’ve always thought of hair colour as fun. I like tattoos rather than jewelry because they can’t get lost. And hair colour rather than make up because you don’t have to put it on and take it off each day.

And yet.

Here am in, in my 50s, in an administrative role as an academic, frequently sitting around tables with men in suits and women in dresses, almost of the women my age with blonde streaked hair. It’s ubiquitous.

I know why we do it. It’s easy. Highlights aren’t that expensive. The blonde is easier on your complexion. It’s closer to the lighter colour your hair is naturally turning. It’s forgiving in terms of growing in. It’s flattering.

But what if it no longer feels fun? It looks (except for my secret graying undercut) mainstream. What if it starts to feel mandatory?

Blondness is also complicated.

Apparently just 2 percent of adult white women in North America are blonde naturally. You wouldn’t guess that looking around campus or at the mall.

I hadn’t thought of blondness as connected to normative identities and whiteness until I read this article, The Pursuit of Blondness.

“Blondness, then, exists as a complicated form of self-expression. It can signal youth, beauty, privilege, and conformity. But it can also represent rebellion, independence, and the demand to be looked at and respected. It’s a choice that’s both distinctly personal and deeply intertwined with what society has taught people to value. Rankine and Lucas have a term for that: complicit freedom.“

Anyway, I’m growing it out because of #PandemicHair. Maybe I’ll keep it its natural colour. Maybe I’ll revert to blonde. It’s easy to do. It’s shockingly more dark than I remembered!

Cheddar, by the way, is a completely natural blonde.

Sam and her yoga dog

What are you doing with your hair colour during the pandemic? Any post pandemic hair colour plans?

blog · blogging

Top Ten Posts in May, #ICYMI

Sam B
  1. COVID-19 and the Gym: Building Engineers Weigh In (Guest Post)

“As mechanical engineers who consult on heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, we’ve been closely following the evolving body of knowledge about how the SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus (the virus which causes COVID-19) spreads through the air. We thought some folks might be interested to know some of what we’ve learned, and how that’s affecting our thoughts on returning to the gym.”

Cara and Sarah are guest bloggers, fit feminists, and mechanical engineers thinking about when it’s safe to go back to the gym. This was the most read post of the month by a long shot.

2. What really is okay for exercising outside?

Cate interviews Dr. Michael Gardam, an infectious disease specialist and Chief of Staff at Humber River Hospital in Toronto, and a frequent voice on CBC and Global TV to make sense of some of the tangled messaging about COVID-19 and outdoor exercise.

3. I’m 53 and a half and I’m still menstruating: is this a good thing?

Cate is also still menstruating and this post about that continues to be in the top 10 every month!

4. When will you feel okay about going back to the gym?

Cate puts on her social scientist hat and listens to the bloggers talk about going back to the gym.

“In most of Canada, gyms aren’t open yet, but clearly, they have their feet in the blocks waiting for the starter pistol. It’s understandable — fitness studios depend on class and member revenue to survive, and most have hefty investments in space and equipment. We had an animated conversation about this among the bloggers about our own comfort, and realized that most gym managers/ owners are not likely to err on the side of caution — they want to open, and as soon as they are permitted, they will be looking to their members to tell them what will work for them. So what DO we feel safe doing? I captured the key themes from a few of our bloggers.”

5. It’s Okay, You Weren’t Built for This

Susan reminds us that it’s okay not to be okay with all of this.

“You weren’t built for this and you don’t have to say it’s okay, or good enough, or the same, or tolerable. Day after day, your nervous system seeks and searches and wonders when it can dare to be soothed, when it is allowed to declare a need to just be with, without being accused of. . .something. . .bad. It doesn’t understand and that’s okay, you weren’t built for this.”

6. Women can wear dresses and bike to work. Lots of us do. Get over it!

Ottawa Centre MP Catherine McKenna biked to work in a dress, posted a pic on Twitter for Bike to Work Day, lots of people hated it, but feminists and cyclists of Twitter came to the rescue. Sam chimed in and also blogged about it.

7. #justiceforahmaud

Cate is on a roll this month. Sadly it’s still so very timely.

“I’m a white woman, and I’m a feminist. This story breaks my heart, and it makes me so angry. I’m an ally, and #justiceforahmaud has to be my fight too.

Ahmaud was murdered on 2 – 23 – 30. He was supposed to turn 26 today. Run 2.23 miles today with thousands of others, in solidarity.”

8. Still menstruating at 55 1/4 — and still learning new things!

Cate updated her still menstruating at 53 1/2 post to let us know it’s still going on at 55 1/4.

9. Wrong! Sam says that there aren’t just two types of people in quarantine

Memes are sometimes funny but they can also flatten our experiences. Sam says that she’s both the person baking and eating desserts in quarantine and the person exercising lots.

10. Another older post was read lots this month. Here’s Catherine on sleep as a feminist issue.

In case you missed it
blog · blogging · fitness · top ten

Top ten posts in April, #ICYMI

Sam B

Okay, it’s no shock, but almost all of the top posts for April 2020 are pandemic related. If you’re wanting to escape covid-19 related material, look away.

Look away gif

I like it when Tracy comes back to the blog. We miss her voice around here. Her post, The “covid 19” isn’t funny, it’s fat shaming and fat phobic, was the most read post by a long shot. More than 1200 people read her post.

One exception to the “all Covid-19 all the time” theme in our top ten list is of course Cate’s post on still menstruating at 53 and 1/2. That was the second most read post of the month!

Martha’s post on mental health and self care was our third most read post of the month.

Our fourth most read post was Marjorie Rose asking if Covid-19 could be the end of Keto and diet extremism.

Bread! Photo by Andrew Wong on Unsplash

We’re full of questions around here and sometimes there just aren’t clear answers. Catherine’s post asking if Covid-19 cared what you weigh was our fifth most read post.

The sixth most read blog post was by Nicole who blogged about her experiences with running in these strange times and feeling like a devious runner.

A woman running, with blurry orange shoes. Photo by Filip Mroz on Unsplash.

Catherine’s older post on the 6 minute workout was number 7. Home workouts are popular right now!

We’re all indoor cats now, says Cate. Her part 1 of that post was number 8.

A cat looking at a dripping tap. Photo by Kazuky Akayashi on Unsplash

We’re also all (fake) epidemiologists now too, says Cate. That post was number 9.

I love it when guest posts get a lot of reads. Thanks Mary for sharing your story What does retirement, Covid19, an orange cast and a cancelled race, have in common?  with our readers. That post was the 10th most read post of April 2020.