Friend Friday: Fitness and Fashion

I love reading the responses to the FBFF topics and so I'm joining the cool kids today. This is the perfect week to join in as fitness is a subject that I am very passionate about.

1.  Do you keep some kind of fitness routine? Why?
I try to. However, without fail, every winter I fall off the exercise bandwagon and for several months work out once, maybe twice a week. For the rest of the year I try to do something active at least 4 times a week. Besides my years at University of Oregon, I've never belonged to a gym so my workouts are typically a couple mile jog one day, yoga the next and 30 Day Shred the next. Every Spring I find myself drawn back to Bikram yoga (90 minutes in a 100+ degree room) and just last week I bought a groupon for 20 Bikram classes, so that will be my fitness routine for the next couple months.
I work out for many reasons: 1. I have always struggled with body image and staying active helps 2. A doctor once "prescribed" running to help with anxiety 3. Fitness is the closest thing to the fountain of youth. 4. I feel 10x happier and healthier post-workout.

2. Has working out, maybe training for a marathon or something of that
nature, helped with your own perception of body image?
When I am dedicated to running or Bikram yoga and workout hard several times a week I don't lose weight; however, my whole perception of my body and my self drastically improves. One would think that this would encourage me to always be so active, but the mind is an interesting thing and as so many of us know, staying motivated is usually the biggest challenge.

workin' it with my best friend

3. When you are hitting the gym or just going out for a long walk what
do you wear? Is it about functionality or fashion?
Functionality, without a doubt. I like to be comfortable and not worried about skin jiggling about and making me self conscious. During the winter runs my outfit is laughably horrible, I remember walking out and telling my boyfriend, "take a long look, this is all yours" and him laughing hysterically.

A more mild outfit at Yosemite

4. Do you feel there is a cultural perception of what you ‘should’ be
doing for your own physical fitness?
I do. I think in general there is endless pressure on women to stay healthy (typically meaning thin). Unfortunately, many are focused on working out to lose weight and while a healthy weight is a great goal to work towards, in a perfect world, girls and women wouldn't face social pressures to be thin from a very young age and instead encouraged to be active and healthy for their body. There is such a strange message to women that says, "love who you are! be healthy!" but also, "thin is beauty! fat is ugly!".

5.  Dream big… what would be your ultimate fitness goal.
Before I turn 30 it is my absolute goal to run a half marathon. I have wanted to do this for years and always seem to hit a block halfway through the training. If there's any Portlanders who like to jog (slowly), let me know, I'd love training buddies!