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Amanda with Ming-Na Wen Hello my name is Amanda and I am 25 years old and I live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. I live with mild right side spastic cerebral palsy. I also have a learning disability called Non Verbal Learning Disorder as well as living with ADHD. On top of having special needs myself...
I have killed a fair number of houseplants in my life. And for some reason the “so easy to keep alive” air plants are at the top of that list. What gives? However, lately I’ve been doing a lot better and I can report for a while now I’ve kept a fair number of houseplants...
We got back from a lovely spring break and Disney cruise a week ago and have been trying to get back into the swing of things ever since. We were making progress too until daylight savings rained down a terror of disorientation and lateness yesterday morning aaaaaaand now we’re back to square one. Piles of...
Hi! So excited to be featured over at She Percolates today! You can listen to the entire interview here (I’m listening to it right now…so weird to hear your own voice!). This is my first podcast interview and it was so much fun! Danielle and Jen interview women from all over the globe about their how...
photo by Momoko Fritz Hello. We’re just getting back into the swing of things from our Disney Cruise last week. It was a great break and we had so much fun. I’m debating whether to do a cruise post or not right now, but I may throw something together in the next couple of days....
Hey, I'm Amy!
I'm an author, artist, and disability advocate. I live with my handsome husband and three beautiful daughters in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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This *so* speaks to me right now! I have 11 month old twins…a few months before I got pregnant, I ran a half marathon. Today, I struggled to run a mile. It's so discouraging to me. Plus, my husband and I always worked out together, but now, one of us always has to wrangle the kids. I look forward to the day that we can involve our kids in the workouts and do it as a family again! Best of luck to you…I think 10 pull ups is an awesome goal 🙂
I'm just getting back into exercising after a couple years of health issues, followed by a "routine" surgery that ended with me in ICU. Now that I'm feeling like myself again, I'm trying to be grateful to still be here, and that I'm getting stronger, rather than focusing on the baby weight that still isn't gone after two years. I'm trying to ingrain my new philosophy in my mind: Eat real food and be active. If I focus on that, I feel good physically and don't allow myself to feel shame for not being perfect.
I'd love to be able to do a few pull-ups! I think that is a fantastic goal. I also set running goals sometimes. I'm not interested in long distances but last year I wanted to run 365 miles in a year…sort of a 1 mile a day thing but not running everyday. I didn't make it because of an injury, but it kept me motivated.
I've done a few kickboxing youtube vids in my living room with my boys, but I prefer group workouts. If I don't have a set schedule and someone to encourage me, I get lazy.
I've been doing martial arts for 15 years and it keeps me sane–I love getting out of the house, group exercise, adult conversation, and that sense of satisfaction that comes with being really good at something. I go twice a week after boys are in bed. It makes such a difference in my mindset when I have martial arts in my life! I seriously think it was what helped me not have postpardum depression after my second baby. (I was on moderate bedrest with my first and unable to do martial arts.)
I'm also on week 4 of the couch to 5k program, which is only 30 mins 3 times per week. I just run in the neighborhood when my husband is home so it's not that much of a time suck. I already feel like I get less out of breath when sparring, so it must be doing something!
I like this post. I'm trying to get stronger without focusing too much on my own body image issues. I find it more motivating to think about having more energy and strength in the future. Thinking about how I really should look slimmer and firmer doesn't motivate me as much. Thanks for sharing your tips!
However, I am puzzled to read you have your own body image issues? At least these photos of you working out in your enviable basement exercise space show someone who looks the way I hope to look after getting back in shape. Did the back pain that plagued you chip away at your self-esteem where body image is concerned?
Anon–As I said, I know I'm not overweight. I'm thin even, by most standards.
BUT like a lot of girls in my generation I was raised by women who were told in no uncertain terms that their looks mattered greatly. And therefore that message was passed onto me at a very young age and I would say I have actively thought about my weight since I was in a single digit age bracket. I was in 3rd grade when I started consciously 'dieting." I distinctly remember being told by [a woman in my family] that if I ever gained too much weight she'd send me to a fat farm, I also remember another [woman in my family] grabbing my inner thigh when I was in a swimsuit once and saying, "What's this?" With a laugh. I was probably all of 9 years old and completely horrified. I was so consumed with this idea of weight that I was completely surprised to see a picture of myself from 8th grade recently and to my utter surprise I saw my tiny chicken legs and wondered how I still seemed to think I was never thin enough.
So yeah, I'm thin. But I'm not as thin as I used to be. Mostly I'm really OK with this and I would say I love and appreciate my body more than I used to. But I can't deny that I still fight this urge to be thin. It was a standard and desire that was deeply ingrained in me from a young age and that's hard to completely block out. I love to work out for the sake of taking care of my body–especially after all this stuff with my back–but I will probably always have that little voice in the back of my mind telling me I'm not thin enough. Luckily, it's not a loud voice, but its there. I hope that explains it. I actually wrote a longer post about it here if you're interested: http://www.thislittlemiggy.com/2014/09/body-image-and-gratitude.html
I am so glad I came across your list today! I’ll be having my first baby in September, and am DETERMINED to lose the baby weight as quickly as I can. Thank you for this list! I will be bookmarking it and referring back to it quite often!