i don’t know about you guys, but this time of year is kinda awful. not only do we all have to go back to work (sigh) but some of us have probably gained a few kilos over the festive season (i read this post yesterday which made me feel a lot better about that fact) and the media enjoy drumming it into our brains that we must now shed this holiday weight and become our optimal physical selves in 2014. when i think about making new years resolutions to lose weight or get fit my eyeballs roll so hard into the back of my head that i can almost see into the past when i made that resolution exactly a year ago.
as a non-sporty girl, someone who is so hopeless at team sports it’s just laughable, i quickly began to hate physical exercise as soon as i was forced to partake in throwing a ball at school. consequently i never learned to love running around and reaping the benefits thereof. as an adult i realised hey, shit, i actually have to do this otherwise i might die – so i dabbled in the occasional running program and exercise video and pilates class. and i do enjoy it once i get into it, i really do, but it’s the staying in it that’s the hard part for me. forming new, good, habits is not easy when you’re simultaneously attempting to bat away the bad ones (and kind of really actually enjoying the bad ones).
so i’m trying to motivate myself to get into it, and keep at it. part of that is downloading a lot of excellent workout music (more on that later), bookmarking a shit ton of healthy recipes via that healthy recipe treasure trove that is Pinterest and… looking at fitspo tumblr blogs? erm, no. that stuff is so insane. don’t even get me started. rather, i’m going to look to the past for visual exercise inspiration. before we were tainted by pics of thigh gaps and motivational quotes.
pics via this great post on ilPost, and the LIFE photo archives.
These photos are so fun! I have always semi-loathed exercise but started doing ballet last year and find dancing is about the only thing that keeps so consistently active.
I prefer the old version of fit anyway! More lithe & lovely than lean & mean.
I love those old TIME photographs. I always thought I was the only one who reminisced my old ballet moves whilst making the bed. But it seems that it’s a ‘thing’ :) Good luck with your ‘healthy’ 2014. It’s much more fun when you focus on the enjoyable aspects rather than stupid body trends. (I found out about ‘thut’ problems the other day and it broke my brain)
I love the idea of looking back into the past for fitness inspiration — these ladies look great and like they’re seriously having fun! Good luck on finding a routine that works for you — and I’d definitely like to hear your recs for some exercise music!
Love it!
Have you tried yoga? :) btw, i think that fitblogs are actually a great motivation!