Category: blogging

blog · blogging · fitness · ICYMI

Top Ten Posts in July 2021, #ICYMI

Sam B
  1. Cate on On “cancelling” Canada Day

2. At 53 1/2 Cate was still menstruating and her post about it is always on our top ten list.

3. Catherine asks What’s wrong with “Rearranging your Post-Pandemic ‘Friendscape’

4. Styling your hair while fat advice from Catherine

5. Serena speaks up: “It’s never been easy…but I think of the next girl” Tracy’s older post

6. Catherine also hopes that The Biggest Loser won’t be renewed for another season.

7. When a Long Hike Becomes an Ultra Hike: How Fear and Strength Make Friends, writes Mina

8. Crotch shots, upskirts, sports reporting, and the objectification of female athletes’ bodies, Sam’s older post

9. All people vary in size? Really? Shocking!, Sam’s newer post

10. Structural racism in sport: the 2021 edition, writes Martha

The word “JULY” in white on a black background. Photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash.
Top Ten Posts in February 2021, #ICYMI
blog · blogging · fitness

Top Ten Posts in February 2021, #ICYMI

Sam B
  1. Catherine hopes that The Biggest Loser won’t be renewed.

It’s over

2. At 53 1/2 Cate was still menstruating and her post about it is always on our top ten list.

3. Nike designs easy to put on running shoes, the internet makes ableist comments about it, and Sam blogged about the dust up.

4. Sam also blogged about Under Armour’s new inclusive ad.

5. If you’re looking for a good beginners’ race on Zwift, Sam has advice.

Penny Farthing bike race

6. Love it when a guest post makes the top 10 list. Michele wrote about Hit Play, Not Pause, a podcast about active living and menopause.

7. Nicole is shocked at her scale’s idea of her metabolic age.

8. Crotch shots, upskirts and sports reporting. An older post of Sam’s with all the right words for the search engines. But remember they have to click on a blog post with the word “feminist” in the title before we hear about it. So there’s that.

9. Sam’s Lent isn’t a 40 day diet challenge post is always a hit at this time of year.

10. Cate wrote about catching lotuses with her vagina and recently reblogged that post and here it is.

blog · blogging · feminism · fitness

Why we can’t promise a feminist space will be a safe space (#reblog #bloglove)

Tracy I1 Comment

The blog has been going for over eight years now and on Sam’s prompt, we are reblogging some favourite posts. I don’t have one favourite post among the more than 700 of mine that I have to choose from. But I chose to reblog this one because even though it’s a bit “meta,” and not about fitness, it’s a meaningful (to me) reflection on what we are trying to do here and the limits of what we can control. It was also a real turning point for me because it required an awareness and admission of my own bad behaviour, calling myself out for having conducted myself in a way that was decidedly NOT conducive to “what we are trying to achieve.”
Thanks for your continued support of the blog!
Tracy

Top ten posts in January 2021
blog · blogging · fitness

Top ten posts in January 2021

Sam B
  1. I’m 53 and a half and I’m still menstruating: is this a good thing? (Cate)
  2. On Not Erasing Blackness in gymnastics (and everywhere else) (Cate)

3. Kicking off 221 workouts in 2021 with 30 days of Yoga with Adriene. Join us! (Sam)

4. “Your bad habits can kill you,” Lebowitz says, “but your good habits won’t save you.” (Nicole)

5. The benefits of exercise are many, but long term weight loss isn’t (necessarily) one of them (Sam)

6. Crotch shots, upskirts, sports reporting, and the objectification of female athletes’ bodies (Sam)

7. Cate asks, Why do movement if we don’t “enjoy” it? (Cate)

8. Coming back to fitness (Guest post–Shannon)

9. Nat’s 2021 Stop Doing List (Nat)

10. Looking for a good group ride on Zwift? Here’s some places to start (Sam)

Chicks who ride bikes

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!