How I love thee, Godard. However, I also love my curves. I'd hate to surrender the hour-glass to the PCP. Please don't turn me into a V.
Last night I saw a friend who commented that I was loosing some of my lady lumps. That was on the heels of someone else telling me that I was "turning into a boy." Yet another friend said, "You don't want arms like Madonna, do you?"
And what if I do?
These remarks got me thinking about our exercises. I'm glad we're building strength in our shoulders, chest, and back, but do I want rippling deltoids (are we doing anything to build rippling deltoids)? Because while my bras fit more snugly around my chest, the cups droop sadly like emptied pockets.
Is there a reason men and women on this program perform the same exercises? And if we're skeptical about the omission of Olivia Newton John-type calisthenics or Windsor Pilates from our exercise sheets, does that mean we've been incorrectly trained to think that there are "feminine" strengthening moves, and consequently, exercises a woman should avoid to maintain a physique that is curvier, smaller, slimmer, and softer than a man's?
Women of the PCP - are you experiencing similar physical changes and questions?
I try not to see the world through this gender binary too much. Maybe I'm obsessed with shape since it took me about 20 years to appreciate my "pear" one. When I was younger and growing up in Hawai'i, it seemed that body beauty standards for girls enforced straighter, boyish figures. Preferably petite. Among my circle of friends, I was taller, heavier in the legs, and my derriere was, well, globular. It's only as an adult that I began to see a well-endowed bottom as an asset (thank you, J. Lo).
And it's not that I think there's anything wrong with having a gymnast's body (represented above by the beloved rectangle). Who doesn't appreciate those compact powerhouses? Still, admittedly, the last thing I want to become is "masculine."
What does that mean anyway? Standards and boxes and types and charts that tell us what we're supposed to look like are stupid right? Am I just holding myself back in an antiquated, un-feminist way, by wanting to hold onto this padding in my hips?
I'm evidently not a woman, but I wonder if you have competing desires in your mind; one that wants to be thin, lean and cut, and another than wants to revel in her curves.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure you can have both at the same time, so you may have to choose which one means more to you; and that decision can be only yours!
Yes, breasts and bootys are made of fat, and when you lose fat you lose curves!
ReplyDeleteHowever, you're not going to get HUGE muscles when you work within your own body weight like we do, you're just going to be very functionally strong, meaning you can handle any everyday action with ease and grace. So that's worth something.
You'll bounce back a bit naturally after the project ends, and your padding will fill out. The good news is that your hard won muscle will also stick around, so you'll have a bit of both worlds!
Revisit this topic in the future, as it's an interesting one!
When I do manage to drop a few pounds, to correlating inches lost always appear first in my chest. Which is exactly where I have nothing to spare! My legs have always tended to "bulk up" very quickly, so when I'm training hard, I usually wind up with a smaller chest and larger thighs. Not exactly the feminine ideal.
ReplyDeleteI have been curious about the across-the-board exercises too--why everyone does the same, regardless of gender or fitness/training level, but I haven't ever asked. It hadn't occurred to me until I read your post that maybe I wonder about that only because I'm trained to believe that there should be some difference.
I don't think it's antiquated or un-feminist to value your curves, though. And there are fit women out there who have gorgeous curves (at the time that photo of J. Lo you posted was taken, I remember reading that she was doing multiple hours each day in the gym with a trainer to sculpt & shape her body!), so I don't believe that being fit and being curvy *have* to be mutually exclusive... though I also think some of that has to do with your genetics & where your body tends to hold weight and put on muscle.
Clearly, I don't have any good answers for you, but I am appreciating the questions you raise & wanted to throw out there that I don't think you're being old-minded or un-feminist. :)
I like Patrick's idea of letting some of the curves go for now as you build the muscle that will become the buttress to your booming re-built booty later. I just hope it happens that way - the world misses your globular glutes!
ReplyDeleteShivani, from what I see on your photos you look like a very attractive woman. Still curvy an at the same time strong enough but not too much. You also have a small and pretty waist.
ReplyDeleteIve been told I have lovely man-lady lumps but im loosing that cute white-boy butt I once had. O well....we will all look bomb out by the pool come summertime :) You look amazing and keep it up!!
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