Category: Body image
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5 things I learned while doing the Les Mills Stronger challenge
Adoring followers, world tours, huge arena venues, gobal fame, branded merch and a networth of $1 billion…No, I’m not talking about a music megastar. I’m talking about a family-owned fitness brand from New Zealand that started in the ’60s and has now reached almost cult-like levels of success thanks to its unique way of delivering […]
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New job and crop tops
Yesterday was my last day at a company I’ve worked for since I was 25. I’m 31 now. A lot has happened in those years, of course. Over half a decade of life. I got married. Bought a flat. Travelled to dozens of countries. Divorced. I grew as a person, as a writer, as a […]
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Every time I don’t like how I look, I strike a pose and take a photo
The embarrassed, self-deprecating Brit in me does not want to write this post. The woman who’s fed up with hating her own body because it doesn’t subscribe in every way to the standard model of beauty, does. I recently wrote about how I’m making a real effort to accept my body after a lifetime of […]
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How I’m learning to accept my body, flabby bits and all
Throughout this blog’s lifetime I’ve tried several different diets with a mission to excavate through my belly flab and unearth a long-hidden abdominal muscle or two. Why???? Because I’m vulnerable to the images of beauty that bombard women. As free-thinking, open-minded and decently-read as I like to think I am, I tapped into those insideous […]
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Established weight loss theory is a big fat lie – there’s actually a tiny receptionist called Linda in your brain who calls the shots
Everyone knows losing weight boils down to a very simple formula, which is this: Burn more calories than you consume + time = weight loss. Right? Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. It turns out there is no scientific formula for weight loss. It’s actually an entirely random process operated by a receptionist called Linda, who lives […]
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You need to do THIS one very important thing to actually benefit from a juice cleanse
Just when you thought I couldn’t possibly have anything more to say about juice cleanses, here I am again with my most click-baity blog title ever. But please bear with me…this piece of information could TOTALLY CHANGE YOUR LIFE*. *Warning: may not totally or in any way whatsoever change your life. It’s been 5 days […]
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I’m kickstarting spring with a Fuel Station 5-day juice fast
I was in two minds over whether to blog about my Fuel Station 5-day juice fast because, when I rebranded as Whalebeings at the beginning of 2021, I resolved not to perpetuate unhealthy ideas about body image – for my own sanity as much as for my readers’. Juice cleanses, or fasts, or detoxes, can […]
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How to heal a lifetime of self-image issues
Spoiler alert: I can’t answer this question. Emotional healing is a personal, complex, all-consuming and highly uncomfortable experience that’s unique to everyone. Healing sounds like it should be pleasant and soothing because it means getting better. It makes me think of soft pink lighting, panpipe music and someone in an apron dabbing me gently with […]
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If my body could talk
Mesolimbic dopamine system (the brain’s reward system): Hold on a second…isn’t it Friday? You know, it’s been a pretty tough week for her…there’s been lots of change, a fair amount of anxiety regarding the future and a general undercurrent of sadness. She could really do with something sweet and chocolatey tonight as a little booster, […]
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O pasta, pasta, where for art thou pasta?
Deny thy carbohydrate and refuse thy gluten contentOr if thou wilt not, be but sworn my loveAnd I’ll no longer be on the keto diet. As I enter week 3 of my vegetarian ketogenic ‘journey’ (as everyone seems to be calling it, rather than ‘diet’, because it’s supposed to be a long-term lifestyle change rather […]
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