Saturday Reading #9
Yet another exciting round up of wonderful links for all my readers!
1. The Science of Salad by Sayward Rebhal at Bonzai Aphrodite
So. Salad. Once, I was listening to a No Meat Athlete podcast, and the host (Matt Frazier) said that he does his best to eat a smoothie for one meal and a salad for another on a daily basis. His third meal tends to be a wild card, but he feels that no matter what, with that template, his day is at least 2/3 healthy and super nutrient dense. During the winter, that doesn’t really work for me, but Summer comes early in California and that has pretty much been my jam for the last few months. It feels good!
Despite knowing that salads can totally be entire meals before, I am JUST now figuring out how to execute these entrees with confidence. This guide to salad makin’ takes all the guess work out of the process and it is a perfect how-to for meal salad newbies. Check it out!
There is a woman at my gym who is a very sweet human being, but every time I see her she talks about my body. “You look thinner every time I see you!” she says, glowing with a deep pride in my “accomplishment”. Holy SHIT does it skeeve me out. I am in no way trying to lose weight. I tell her this every time and she says “NO way! I see you working your ass off in here.”
What comes over me in this moment is distinctly shame. Because I am horrified to think that someone would watch me work my ass off in the gym, and assume it was to grow smaller. I am horrified that this woman would consider my “before” body unacceptable, and my “new” body more palatable. I feel shame knowing that in this process of “complimenting” me, she is also subtly putting herself down, as I’ve heard her discuss her own struggles with weight. I think of the way that she must have been shamed about her body, and how the experience has the potential to pass through her and transfer on to me and then I say (to myself) “WOAH WOAH WOAH. Not into that shit.” I smile and say “I work out to be a bad ass, not to be small” and then I move on. Don’t got time for that body shame.
(This sort of instance is actually not on this list! But many other sorts of things are. READ EVERY ONE OF THESE and for goodness sakes, don’t get caught accidentally body shaming. You’re good, you mean well, this article will help you.)
3. Sized Up by Anna Mollow for Bitch Magazine
Wow. This article is pret-ty incredible. It intersects queerness and queer acceptance to fatness and fat acceptance. It made me think a lot about liberation in general, how far we have come, how far there is to go, how much I still have to learn. I can’t say I necessarily agreed with the blanketed way some of the theses were stated, but I at least considered them heavily. This article made me think deeply about health and who defines it and what it means. Worth a look!
Gena Hamshaw is a hero of mine. Her blog, Choosing Raw, provides simple and beautiful recipes that are easy enough to make on a regular basis. She has a wonderful blogger voice, and I relate to her experience with her eating disorder, her body image, and her recovery SO MUCH. This link is not to Choosing Raw, but instead to a podcast that Gena was a guest on. In the interview she discusses having a type A personality, the beauty and seduction of raw food, perfectionism, and so much more. I like her even more hearing her speak! This is an extremely worthwhile listen for a little enthusiasm bump.
5. Art by Joanna S. Quigley
Joanna Quigley is one of my very favorite artists. Her work is quirky, adorable, happy, and just straight up FUN. She recently opened up an Etsy shop, where her prints are available for a ridiculously low price. Jump on it!
As A bonus:
My good friend Josey (former guest poster!) is conducting a short survey for a research project she is doing. The project is called “Intimate Partner Violence and Empowerment: The Mediating Effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Severity and Embodiment”.
She is interested in learning about the relationship between different kinds of exercise (aerobic exercise like jogging or cycling vs. empowerment-oriented exercise like strength-training and martial arts), women’s sense of connectedness with their bodies, their sense of being empowered and their mental health. She wants to explore the answers to these questions with groups of women who have previously experienced partner abuse or dating violence.
Please consider participating in this brief survey if:
- You identify as a woman
- You are 18 years of age or older
- You live in Canada or the United States
- At some point in your life you have experienced partner abuse or dating violence
Click on this link to take part in this short survey:
AND ONE MORE THING:
I just made a new . If you feel so inclined, please go and like it! It would make my day.
Have a lovely weekend!
Another super rad list. And I just want to reiterate Josey’s idea to sell shirts with “I work out to be a badass, not to be small.” Do it do it!
I now can’t stop thinking about this idea. Maybe tote bags? HMMMMMM.