EXPOSED! Reflections on a movement.

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It has been about eleven months since I wrote my initial EXPOSED post and a year since Mishe started the Exposed movement.

When she emailed & asked if Id blog about my thoughts/experiences since I first being EXPOSED I knew immediately what I’d write.

*immediately*

It’s amazing to me what a difference eleven months can make.

I yammered then about how grateful I was for my health and my body.

I shouted out to my eyes and my strength.

I appreciated my body for all that it did for me & somewhat pridefully shared that Id made it to 40 without any major aches and pains.

And then 41 hit.

And then, as Ive shared, I became a right angle.

Im still a 90-degree’er and struggling to figure out what’s wrong.

The whole experience, however, has been a gift.

It’s given me even more appreciation for a body I thought I was pretty damn appreciative of already.

Ive ratcheted way back on the exercise and learned, again, that not only am I *not* exercise-obsessed but that Look!At!Me!I!Workout! isnt really even a huge component of my self-definition.

That said, what Ive missed in this time of giving my body rest is the ability to hoist the Tornado when she shouts UPPIE MAMA!!

What Ive been saddened by is not the fact there’s a good chance I wont be running in Las Vegas but the fact Ive noticed the Tornado murmuring to herself: owie my back hurts.

After almost a year since my last EXPOSED post Ive learned no matter how much we love and appreciate something (someONE?) theres always that little bit MORE appreciation we dont have until it’s gone.

Take a moment today and really STOP & thank your body for all it does for you.

I know that I will.

Rightanglenessment and all.

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Comments

  1. Fantastic post, Miz. You are always so graceful and thoughtful when life throws a challenge your way. Be sure to keep looking after yourself and remember the oxygen mask and the Sharpie boundaries you talk about in the Right Angle post. You give so much to other people, but you gotta be kind to you 🙂

  3. I always sing the (is it Joni Mitchell?) song you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.
    So true isn’t it even when we think we know.

  4. Powerful posts both!

    You should have reposted the first one here too 🙂
    I was almost too lazy to go back and read it and I’m so glad that I did.

    What a difference a year can make.

  6. One of my favorite things about you is your perspective. You are my Silver Lining inspiration. Seriously. The best part about it is that it’s genuine. You don’t say these things to fill a silence, or to have something to post, or to generate hits. You? Are just positive. And that is unique.

  7. It is SO easy to take fore granted all that our bodies do for us. A great reminder that we should appreciate more. Feel better over there! I’m still thinking on the guest post 🙂

  9. Definitely gives perspective. Why can’t we appreciate what we have when we have it? Thx for posting. I hope you get your 90 degrees back soon.

  10. I really like that butcher paper exercise you mentioned in your first post.

    I am trying that today.

  11. I’ve battled injuries that left me sidelined for days, weeks, or 6+ months (2 yrs ago i got a DVT on my 41st birthday while flying to Australia for work- happy birthday to me). When I am “healthy” and people ask me why I run, I think “because I can” and realize that I may not be able to tomorrow, let alone forever. Maybe there is something to this “getting older and wiser” thing.

  12. I’m dealing with a “womanly” problem in my uterus, and it’s funny how much I’d like to avoid saying uterus because it’s somehow embarrassing and exposing something that’s really quietly hidden from view, but damn, I’m proud of it for having 3 babies over the years, and for being a trooper while I ignored it’s problem for too long. And I’m proud of the rest of my body for plodding along and adapting and doing its best during this saga. Now I will fix it. I can almost hear my body saying, “thanks, and goodness, it’s about time!”

  13. Thank you, firstly for doing this. Secondly I appreciate your honesty about this, but also the positive reflection that you’ve given this. many people would just throw up their arms and stop. quit. give up..and you haven’t.

    Can’t wait to hug your right angle in Vegas.

  16. Oh Miz I feel you. You never know how good it is until your body stops working right. And I totally get the whole thing with the Tornado. The hardest thing about my burning feet/knee problems is that I can’t have kids like this. Hang in there, though, you’ll get past it!

  17. What I recall from last year most powerfully is that you were apprehensive to post because you feared people would judge you because you were already fit.

    From you I’ve learned not to snap judge.

  19. Beautifully written! I love how positive and calm you have stayed through this whole back-pain thing. I hope you’ll be back to “uppie”ing the Tornado in no time!

  20. Miz, you look amazing! BUT I do understand what you are saying & OH SO TRUE! The older I get & I do realize that the bod can only do so much with age, I do appreciate what I can do now & hope as things change, I can handle it OK. You are right – appreciate it now….

  21. This post also reminded me not to judge a FITbook by its cover.

    I didn’t realize you were injured and can imagine the longing to grab and swing your girl.

    Take care of you.

  22. Honey, every single time my back goes wonky, I think these very thoughts.

    Also whenever I start getting a shinsplit or some other funky runnying thing.

    Also if I get a really bad toothache, cause the pain is all right up in the head, you know?

    Hope you’re feeling better very, very soon.

  23. Being healthy, it’s just so surprising when our bodies go wonky. If I were you, I’d be pissed (at first, anyway) – you have a super-strong core, which is supposed to keep back problems at bay! What is up with that?!? File under NOT FAIR…and yes, I am stamping my feet and pouting for you!

  24. The missing the ability to pick up the Tornado more than the exercise is reason 747 why I want to be you when I grow up.

  25. Ahhh…what we don’t appreciate until it’s gone. I was out “wrestling” with my son over the weekend. Yesterday…my body hurt! The little (or..not so little anymore) guy – he runs around yesterday like normal. It’s all good, though – having the time together is all worth it. As I know you too, can relate to, Carla.

    Loved your reflection…and how it’s making me think today…

  26. Dear MizFit,

    Wow, that is an amazing exposed image! Obviously you’re in amazing shape and an inspiration to so many women, including myself. One thought though, do you stretch? Perhaps that will help make you from a right angle to a straight(er) line.

    Even a mizfit straighter line.

  27. I guess not enough (stretching) given the amount I sit (who knew that was a lot?) with all the writing Im doing.
    Im currently rolllling around on a tennis ball and wincing in pain and praying it helps.

    THANK YOU.

  29. Oh, Miz. I’ve been there with the back pain thing, and it suckity-suck-suck sucks. Sucks!!! I hope it dewonkifies soon and lets you pick up the Tornado again. (((hug)))

    The point you made about wondering if you would fit in with the intention of the “exposed” movement because you are fit is poignant, because it has become increasingly clear to me that body shame is not dictated by body shape. (Maybe you felt awkward more because you feel comfortable in your skin already?) I sometimes wonder, as I wander through the gym, how many of people who look lovely and healthy and young to me are carrying that kind of pain, or go to extreme lengths to literally run away from it?

  30. Isn’t that something how when we can’t do what we normally would do, we realize that the forbidden activity may not have defined us as much as we thought?! LOVE THAT LINE. I faced the same thing when I knew I wouldn’t be running for a good year at least, maybe never again. Then someone magically invented biking and heaven came down again!

    While I do NOT foresee posting exposed pictures of myself, I will join the cause in spirit and thank my body, thank my God for giving me this body that does so very much.

    Thanks for the great reminder.

  31. I can’t think of anything more to say other than that this is SO true. Cliches are cliches for a reason, and the one that comes to mind is “you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.” Of course, you DID know what you had (a healthy, fit body) and that makes you miss the pain-free-healthy-non-right-angle-ness-ment (did I get that right?) all the more.

    Hope the tennis ball and stretches and all else you’re trying will work for you!

  35. I LOVE that you say the experience was a gift…so appropriate, since we were all inspired to expose ourselves by a JOURNEY.

  36. Ooh I like. Thank you. I spent much of the day thinking, “BLAH why isn’t my body what I want it to be?” …and yet my body took me through a 50-minute HITT workout and walked for 2.5 hours today. Who am I kidding? This body freakin’ rocks!

    Right now I’m SO GRATEFUL that my legs are my mode of transportation. They saved me from spending several dollars worth of bus tickets today going to and from different work locations. It might not look quite as I’d like it to, but my body sure can move. Am glad you’re here to remind us of that sort of thing, Miz.

  37. If I had known what I know now at 16 years…I would have taken on the fitness world with such gusto….also would have been almost naked the whole time doing it…PS-you look awesome!

  38. Your perpective is refreshing and your honesty is inspiring. Thank you for sharing this with everyone and being a part of the movement. As someone who’s battling with some body pains recently I can appreciate your perpective and the message you shared. Your awesome!

  40. You are just as awesome and courageous as I thought you were when you posted this a year ago. I hope you become a bendy straw again. 🙂 Just a suggestion (which I’m sure you’ve tried or dismissed but Imma say it anyway)… chiropractor? Back cracking? I had some major back issues years ago and they really helped me out. Haven’t been in a while but if I started getting regular pain I’d be back in an instant.

  41. Hey babycakes…
    First – thank you for commenting on my blog. It means a lot to me.
    Second – today I had a convo with your online BFF – the big MF – and if you could have read what she wrote about you….well it made ME cry. She loves you – and though you know that – I wanted you to hear someone else confirm it. She really loves you – like the kind that lasts a lifetime. And man that makes me happy for you two.
    Third – I want to say thank and let you know that she is paying forward what you gave to her…with me. While undeserving at best – she has me under her wing – and is teaching me and mentoring me – and she says she does it because YOU taught her. Sooooo my dear – what you are doing matters – in a big way – to people who are just peons in this big ol world. You have given without even knowing it….through MF.
    Thank you sweets!

  42. Thank you again, Miz, for this wonderful perspective on life. I wish so much that there were something I could do to ‘make it all better’ for you.

  46. Beyond being physically fit is being mentally fit. That is one of the things I like about you. A person can have an incredible body but not be quite mentally in the same arena. You are a total package and I think people enjoy when you let some vulnerability show. It’s a tough world out there yet you continue to keep embracing change. Love it.

  48. Friend, you only have to fight against it and worry in people that we can still deliver helps achieve succeed, this is a struggle constantly we shall win if everyone we agree that health care is paramount.

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  49. wonderfully done! where did your back pain come from? I’ve got a few bulging discs myself and there’s nothing anyone can seem to do with it. living with the pain is terribly, especially when there is nothing anybody can do about it.

    • Hi I was going to say it was an excellent post but someone replied using my name? I’ve had a couple of friends wondering what was wrong with my back. It wasn’t me!
      I am grateful every single morning for my freedom from obesity (and back pain very much in the past).
      Yvonne (Bariatric Girl)

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