The Unseen Problem with Fitness Jokes and Body Image - Ep 94

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What if the very fitness activities you love are subtly promoting a harmful mindset about food? What if the jokes you hear about 'earning' meals and 'burning off' indulgences aren't as harmless as they seem? Join me, Christine, in this solo episode where we talk about the intertwined issues of food, fitness, and body image.

This episode isn't about pointing fingers, instead, it’s about fostering understanding and promoting change. We'll explore how seemingly innocent jokes can trigger feelings of guilt, shame, and judgment in those battling with body image and weight struggles. We'll also delve into how we can break this harmful connection and cultivate healthier and more positive mindsets in our fitness routines and daily lives. This is an essential listen for fitness instructors, fitness enthusiasts, and anyone seeking to foster a healthier relationship with food and their body. Pack your preconceived notions at the door; it's time to break body bias.
(Recorded December 2023)

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to episode 94 of the Breaking Body Bias'
podcast.
Christine, here your host.
It is the holiday season, so Iwanted to bring you another
episode talking about separatingfood from fitness, because I
know a lot of people have a lotof feelings on this topic and I

(00:24):
think that there is thissentiment that we can be overly
sensitive in this area and thatwe're being politically correct
or soft.
But I want to help point out adifferent perspective when it
comes to talking about food andfitness together.

(00:47):
You know we've all heard jokesmaybe we've even been one to
joke about burning off ourcalories that we ate.
You had a really indulgentevening and then you go to bed
and say, ah, I've got to burnoff all these calories.
Or you've gone into a situationwhere you're having dinner and

(01:09):
you're like, oh, I've got toearn this, so that morning I'm
going to do a double workout.
Or I'm not going to eatanything all day to save up
calories for that meal.
I mean, there's so manydifferent ways to put that
together, but the main idea isthat we joke around about how

(01:29):
we've overindulged, so we've gotto burn it off.
And while some people may thinkit's just a joke and it's funny
.
You might even have heard manyfitness instructors say that
from the front of the class andfor a lot of people it has
absolutely no effect, nothing atall, like it doesn't bother

(01:51):
them.
They hear it, they might laugh.
They probably don't have anyfeelings about it, but I would
bet that those people that ithas no effect on then they think
it's like oh it's funny.
Ha, they probably have neverstruggled.
They probably have neverstruggled with their body, with
their body image, with weight,with any of that.

(02:13):
And that's what makes itchallenging, because you don't
know when you're teaching aclass or if you're in a fitness
class like you don't look aroundthe room, you don't really know
who has struggled, becausesomeone could be struggling with
their body image and look likewhat you think is an ideal body

(02:35):
type.
And there are people that havenot the ideal body type, that
aren't struggling becausethey've put in the work in order
to feel loving to their bodiesand acceptance and some
neutrality.
In some way.
All those things help with bodyimage.

(02:56):
So we don't have any idea justby looking at someone if they've
struggled, if they'veexperienced trauma, if they've
experienced any kind of weightstigma, if they've experienced
shame or judgment or guilt, andwe don't really know at all.
So, in this regard, breakingthat connection will help make

(03:20):
sure that no one is harmed.
And while making a joke may makea handful of people laugh, what
it might also do is cause aperson or several people in your
class to a not come back toyour class again because they
felt triggered or they feltashamed of themselves or they

(03:40):
felt bad about the decisionsthat they've made, or they feel
bad.
Same is true with someoneteaching a class and saying this
is what you should be doing,and if you're not doing that,
you feel less that right.
So this is what can happen infitness when we're not careful

(04:01):
about the words that we use orthe coaching that we put out
there, or even the movementpatterns.
Even the actual programmingthat we provide for people can
be harmful.
So what can we do?
We can break that connection.
We can remove the jokes,because again it perpetuates

(04:23):
this idea that the knowledge ofI think the truth is driving us
to end the.
We're all trying to shrink ourbodies or we're all trying to
look a certain way, or to bethinner or be smaller, and it's
a very toxic message.
It's very toxic.
So what can we do to eliminatethat?

(04:44):
In fitness and in our own lives, we can promote a positive
mindset, and it all starts withourselves, like if we can get to
a place where we can be lessjudgmental and offer ourselves
more compassion, that's a goodstart.

(05:04):
That's a good start, and can wetake an approach to fitness
that fitness is going to help usbe stronger.
Fitness is going to help us bebetter people.
Fitness is going to help us behappier, be better parents, be

(05:25):
better friends, be better kids,be better employees and just be
better humans.
When we're able to have thatkind of mindset around movement
and not trading our food forfuel in order to work out, or
we're trading our calories incalories out, so that way we

(05:47):
don't gain weight, we live infear of gaining weight, all
those things.
When we can take this approach,we have a much better
relationship with food, with ourbody, with movement and with
people around us, and I thinkthe key to doing this is
providing or creating asupportive community.

(06:09):
So right here on the BreakingBody Bias podcast, we have a
very supportive community.
We have a community on Facebookthat encourages each other,
that challenges each other andthat leads with inclusivity and
neutrality when it comes to ourweight, and encouraging joyful

(06:30):
movement, encouraging intuitiveeating.
All these things you can findwith our community, and if you
want to create your own, Iencourage you to do that.
I encourage you to surroundyourself with people that are
supporting you in your journey.
Surround yourself with familyand friends and maybe

(06:50):
encouraging more people aroundyou.
Maybe you are going to be thecommunity leader in this area.
Maybe you are going to be theone in your family to help shed
some light on this topic andhelp more people, maybe around
the holidays, talk less aboutother people's bodies.
Maybe, if you are looking atsome of the younger people in

(07:10):
your family and you're seeinghow they're being affected by
conversations around food andexercise and our bodies around
the holidays, maybe you can bethat support and that's what I
encourage you to do to reallychallenge the societal norms
when it comes to burning offyour calories and instead start

(07:34):
taking a neutral approach toyour workout.
Think about all the benefits offitness beyond the exterior and
uncouple your food from yourfitness and see how things start
to shift.
Are you able to enjoy the foodsthat you eat?

(07:55):
Because, let's face it, food isway more than fuel, especially
around the holidays.
Food is family, food istradition, it's your culture,
it's delicious and it should beenjoyed and it should be
something that you don't feelbad about no shame, no guilt, no

(08:19):
judgment.
And when you go and do aworkout, enjoy it.
I mean you may not be smilingthe whole time.
Workouts can be challenging.
I recently did a pump class andI don't think I was smiling
ever in that class, but I feltthe music and I felt like I was
getting stronger and I felt sosuccessful at the end of every

(08:42):
single song and then I felt somesoreness the next day, which
was a good feeling.
But I encourage you to take thisapproach this holiday season
and beyond, because as we getinto the throws of the holiday
season, the messaging aroundshame and guilt is going to get
louder and louder and louderuntil it's at a decibel that we

(09:08):
can barely even tune out byJanuary.
That messaging in January isgoing to drive a lot of people
back into fitness spaces.
But is it going to drive themback for good reasons?
Is it going to really drivethem back for for any length of
time?
Because typically what happensin the fitness industry is that

(09:31):
January is crowded, there's noequipment, classes are full and
gyms are hopping Two weeks intothe new year, not so much.
People fall by the wayside.
They have lost their willpoweror their determination and they,

(09:54):
they stop coming and for many,when leaving, they leave with
trauma, they leave with feelingworse than when they came in.
So I don't want you to feelthat way.
I want you to go into Januaryfeeling confident, feeling like
you don't have to get yourselfback in shape.

(10:15):
You can just move and you canfeel good about your body and
feel good about your body inDecember and January and
February and beyond.
So please take this messageuncouple your food from your
workouts and, if you're enjoyingyour life, take out all the
shame, judgment and lead withlove.

(10:42):
I hope you like this episode andyou're able to tune in next
week for a brand new episode ofthe Breaking Body Biases Podcast
.
If you know someone that wouldbe a great guest, be sure to
direct them tobreakingbodybiasescom, always
looking for guests to sharetheir story, to share their
experiences, to share whatthey're doing, to help change

(11:05):
the narrative and change thistoxicity that is in fitness that
we see today.
So if you know someone, directthem my way and, of course, go
back to the website, check outthe show notes with links to all
the things we talk about on theshow, to my on demand workouts,
which will always lead withlove, and lead with joy Versus

(11:28):
shame and judgment.
For right now, you can enjoyall of our on demand workouts
and some new live workouts.
Check out the show notes forall the links and I'll see you
next week with a brand newepisode.