bluesrat:

Okay! Well, I got lots of interest with that last post (and a book rec from Roane: The Unapologetic Fat Girl’s Guide to Exercise (And Other Incendiary Acts), by Hanne Blank, who wrote a book because she also felt somebody needed to talk about getting fit when you aren’t). So I…

One thing I would like most to see in these sorts of discussions is the separation of the concepts of health and body size/shape. Decide before writing: does “fit” mean “the ability to move without pain”/“low cholesterol”/“strength”/“balance and grace” or does it mean “being slim and toned”/“having visible muscle definition”/“looking a certain way that is acceptable to popular culture”? They are two separate things, and conflating is not only occasionally confusing, but often offensive. Hanne Blank’s book is not about starting a fitness journey when overweight and then getting thinner and healthier; it’s about facing the challenges of society’s view of fat people as lazy, greedy, immoral, and unworthy. As one can work out and be fat at the same time – and continue to be fat even while gaining beneifts of exercise like strength, agility, confidence, flexibility, and better health (as measured by a number of factors), although many people refuse to believe that – keeping the definition of “fitness” clear in one’s mind and in one’s communication is very important. I would also recommend Health at Every Size as 101-level reading.

(via professorfangirl)