August 25, 2010

“I feel fat.” “Do I look fat in this?” “I’m having a fat day/week/month/year.” “I wish my body looked like (insert name here).” I can’t tell you how many times those words crossed my lips throughout my life.

Like many other women, I struggled with body image issues for years. Through my teens and into university, my relationship with my body was not a healthy one. I desperately wanted to be confident in my body, in the way I looked, but reconciling who I felt on the inside with what I thought I looked like on the outside seemed impossible. I wore extra baggy clothes all through high school (it was the 80s, so not really a stretch) and the idea of being in a bathing suit in front of anyone outside of my family terrified me. My body image issues affected my relationships with boyfriends, my interactions with friends, and ultimately the way I perceived myself.

Then, in my early twenties I fell in love. Not with a guy, but with yoga. And that marked the beginning of a new relationship with my body. It certainly didn’t happen overnight, but I began to appreciate my body in a different way. I studied as a yoga teacher, and became fascinated by the physiology and anatomy of the body. I trained for marathons and half-marathons. And I started to recognize and be thankful for all the incredible things my body can do.

Instead of expending energy hating my body and thinking or speaking negatively about it, I learned to celebrate it. To celebrate my legs for carrying me across the finish line of my running races. To celebrate my arms for holding me up in countless downward dogs. To celebrate my hands for the ability to write out my thoughts. To celebrate my eyes, ears and lips for being the conduits through which I fell in love with my husband.

When I turned 30, I remember thinking how crazy it was that I felt so much more confident and at home in my body then than I had at age 20. I felt like I was finally, and fully, me, inside and out. But despite overcoming all of these body issues, I’d still occasionally utter the words, “I feel fat today” or some such comment.

And then I delivered my first child. My daughter. My beautiful, healthy, energetic daughter. And I made a vow. A vow that I would no longer say a negative word about my body. This body carried and birthed a beautiful child, and I needed to honour both my body and her.

I have given birth to a son since then, and my daughter is now four years old. She is still beautiful, healthy and energetic. She runs everywhere, she dives into things with reckless abandon, she has boundless energy. And she, like most kids at that age, is confident in her body. She is my Lizzie, inside and out. I want her to continue to be this comfortable and self-assured.

I know, that as the years go by, there will be countless things beyond my control that influence how she views herself and her relationship with her body. But I believe that as her mom, her primary female role model, I can help her build a strong foundation. Of course there are days when I don’t feel “all that” and when I’m PMSing or bloated, but I am determined to show her by my own words and actions how important it is to love your body. To celebrate it, be proud of it, and all the amazing things it can do.

 

Labels/Tags: Annabel Fitzsimmons, MeditatingMummy, body image, confidence, I feel fat, healthy, yoga, running, role model

Posted by AnnabelF at 15:36:33 View Comments | Click Here to Comment

August 18, 2010

Last week, the oh-so-fabulous PartyMummy started a Get-to-Know-Other-Bloggers meme, and I’ve loved reading more about my online cohorts. This week, I’m joining in the fun. So, if you want to know a little bit more about MeditatingMummy, read on. If not, skip down to the bottom and find out how you can participate yourself!  

“That’s How SHE Blogs”

1.    Did you attend Blogher10?

No. I was traveling so much through June and July, that another trip might just have sent my family over the edge;)

2.    Are you attending BlissdomCanada this fall?

I’m hoping to – scheduling and finances allowing.

3.    When are you at your blogging best – a.m. or p.m.?

I write best in the morning when my head is clear, but I have my best ideas at random times during the day/night (in the bathroom, in traffic, you know how it is...). I usually jot down my ideas/thoughts throughout the day, and then write my blogs in the morning.


4.    How many blogs do you have? (Include the links)

YummyMummyClub
ClearSpace blog
WonderMoms – The ClearSpace Corner

5.    What technical skill would you like to learn to improve your blog?

Oh, so many…but more video/photo skills would probably be top of my list.

6.    Do you prefer the sound of silence or does action abound while you blog?

Either complete silence or the background chatter of a coffee shop. Starbucks is my second office.

7.    Do you include the names of your family in your blog?

Yes.

8.    Do you post pictures or videos of your children?

Sometimes.

9.    What’s the grossest thing you’ve spilled on your keyboard? 

Well, it’s not really gross, but I’ve spilled water on it.

10.    Ever posted something you wrote while intoxicated?

Nope. My first rule of blogging – if it sounds good when I’m drinking, it’s probably absolute crap.

11.    Do you go back and edit old posts just because you can?

No. The only exception would be if I found out important information that needed to be updated/changed.

12.    Have you ever suspected somebody took something you wrote and pawned it off as their own? 

Yes. But it’s so hard to prove. And then there’s the notion that, “there are no original ideas”.


13.    Does your spouse read your blog? What do they say about it? 

Yes, my husband is my editor (before @SharonDv gets hold of it...). He’s completely honest about what I write – what’s good, what’s shite – and I really respect his opinion. Since he was a magazine writer/editor in NYC for years, I kind of have to trust his judgment!

14.    What’s something cool/positive/unexpected for you, that has resulted directly from blogging?

I have become in-real-life friends with people I met online (which years ago I would NEVER have thought would happen); I’ve connected with people all over the world; and I’ve been asked to review books and theatre pieces.

15.    Link to a post (or two) which demonstrate your writing style:

ClearSpace Blog
MeditatingMummy Blog


16.  Name a blog(s) that makes you exclaim, "Damn! I wish I'd written that!"

There are so many, but three that come immediately to mind today are:

Nummies Under There by @nummiesbras

Little Miss Mocha - sweet cravings, salty language and chocolate by @littlemissmocha

EarnestGirl: West Coast Chronicles by @earnestgirl

Thanks for reading! And if you want to participate and post on your blog, here’s what to do:

a) Cut and paste the quiz onto your blog.
b) Delete my answers (after carefully studying and committing each to memory. What?).
c) Answer the questions (feel free to embellish and totally make stuff up. I do it all the time).
d) Tweet a few of the bloggers you’d love to get to know better and invite them to play along.
e) In the comment section below, leave a link to your blog where you've answered the quiz questions.

 

Labels/Tags: Annabel Fitzsimmons, MeditatingMummy, ClearSpace Online, PartyMummy, blissdomcanada, how I blog

Posted by AnnabelF at 15:41:20 View Comments | Click Here to Comment

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