Filters & Fat Shaming: Ahimsa and the Relief of Body Acceptance

Ahimsa and the Relief of Body Acceptance

As we head into winter, it is never the most opportune moment to be accepting of our bodies, is it? Colder weather means weightier nourishing food, warmer and more comforting meals to stave off the chill and keep our personal physical machines functioning as successfully as they would in warmer months. Extra layers of clothing mean neither we nor strangers have to be visually aware of any added rolls (some yet remnant from the first lockdown). But practicality aside, if – say – one were to be considering a winter sun break (Covid variants and travel restrictions permitting), would we even want to, knowing that such would entail a bikini or at the very least a swimsuit reveal, everything on display?

What is wrong with the opening paragraph is the entire mental dialogue it presents. Why does weight mean so much to most of us? Apart from valid health concerns, what matter a few extra pounds here or there? Why do we care about the shape of others, or about what they eat in a day (we’re looking at you, social media)? Why does the mirror – and the gaze of others – hold such fear?

While many happily follow #WhatIEatInADay, joining 6.9 billion others watching a looped video on Tik Tok, one wonders how dieting has become the focus it has today, so long after the first regimen was set out by Luigi Cornaro in 1558 and Lord Byron recorded his efforts to stay trim (as according to Louise Foxcroft in Calories and Corsets: A history of dieting over two thousand years). Psychologists have been concerned for years, and duly so: who can forget the “heroine chic” of models at the end of the 20th Century or the celebrity “lollypop” ladies of the early noughties, size zero taken to the extreme and heads on toothpick thin bodies strangely alien? And that all predated the magic of the photo filter. Face looking a little craggy? Dark circles a giveaway that you’ve been burning the candle at both ends? Have you tried Amaro? Or perhaps Gingham is more your bag? Whichever filter it is you find yourself applying when posting to social media, truth is that image is no longer you. But once the brain has processed the ameliorated digital version of the self, it insatiably craves more such fakery. Who is that lesser being, the light too dull, the skin imperfect? Who could possibly ever find that attractive? So the destructive thoughts whirl through impressionable minds; too frequently the still developing minds of young girls and boys.

Granted, there are divergent uses of #WhatIEatInADay: some use it to chart recovery from anorexia nervosa and bulimia; others use it to record a wilful disregard of moderation or restriction. Nonetheless, the voyeurism remains: what business is it of ours?

When we eventually come to a state of self-acceptance, one of the first sensations is a sense of calm relief; almost an exhaled sigh physicalised. The role of diet in that journey is one of “intuitive eating”, a notion proposed frequently and which sits well in union with selfawareness, while also promoting self-empowerment: you have the willpower, you are in control, you know yourself.

Nonetheless, as self-awoken as one might be, it always helps to have a little help with these things (especially when the ups and downs of life and different waves of emotions are taken into consideration). To this end, there is – happily – some guidance available for eating intuitively:

1

Reject the notion of “dieting”

2

Consciously listen to hunger

3 4 5

Learn to love food again

There is no guilt to eating

There is pleasure in healthy eating

6 7

Be aware of fulness

Deal kindly with negative emotions

8 9 10

Respect the body you’re in

Move freely, move kindly

Key up on nutrition

Research conducted by UCL last year found that the youth of today are even more fixated on weight loss than before.

Shockingly, the study found that 42% of teenagers in 2015 (from a survey of 22,503 adolescents) were trying to lose weight, as opposed to 28.6% a decade before.

There is the other side of the coin to the hashtag, of course: just like – ahem – cleaning videos posted by, low and behold, cleanfluencers, there is inspiration to be gleaned, too. Many people are keen to learn some new recipes, for example. Nevertheless, the competitive nature of healthy living and clean eating certainly transfers from out of the digital space and from off the plate and into the exercise domain. Whether your environment be the gym or the yoga mat, photographs and videos of the pursuit of physical perfection are nothing compared to the reality of watching and being involved in the process of that sculpting in real life.

To a certain extent, our diet has become a matter of keeping up with The Joneses. From tabloid obsession with celebrity diets to influencers promoting raw vegan pdf “cookbooks” – the public wants to emulate those who seem to have everything sorted, whose bodies are photographed in a state of perpetually honed and toned and flawless conditioning. If the body is in perfect outline, then the rest of one’s life will follow suit, won’t it?

The first backlash to YouTubers spooling out nutrition advice with very few credentials came in 2017 – sadly, to not much effect, given #WhatIEatInADay has garnered a total of around 73.3 million views up to the present day. However, there has recently been a movement begun on Instagram by model Sasha Pollari, #filterdrop calling for users to post original photographs alongside filtered images, so that Generation Z can understand it’s all illusion. West African Spicefruit: A Metabolic Miracle? A couple of years ago, West for its weight-loss benefits. African foods were the A Cameroonian study exotic new thing. Offering conducted over 8 weeks with an adventurous sensory participants of a BMI between journey of texture and 25 and 30 taking 300mg per flavour, the West African diet day of standardized extract is plentiful in grains and a were found to lose on average rainbow of vegetables and just under 20lbs (with a body legumes (as well as animal fat reduction of 5.3%) and products, but that’s not our exhibited lower levels of bad point here). However, one cholesterol, as well. such plant-based treasure It is thought this is to come from that coast is because West African the West African Spicefruit, Spicefruit speeds up used in a range of savoury metabolic function. There dishes. was apparently no change to

As a supplement, participants’ diet or exercise Spicefruit is being lauded regimes.

Yoga Journal recently covered the prevalence of fat shaming in the profession and among its adherents, how the perception of “thin, white, able-bodied” people dominates the scene. Become a “cultural commodity”, now perceived merely as “a 60-minute fitness class”, the distance created between yoga’s spiritual foundations and what it has morphed into in the 21st Century goes hand-in-hand with the Western dieting industry. And, by and large, the media is to blame.

Body positivism has been around for nearly as long as diet culture, yet in yoga it was only a decade ago that inclusivity was more deeply considered. Dianne Bondy, a pioneer of Yoga for All in 2011, experienced first-hand “fat shaming, toxic dieting, and inaccessible beauty standards”. Far from benefitting from the essential purpose of yoga – asanas to prepare the body to sit and still the mind in meditation; self-awareness and acceptance; a self-directed ahimsa (non-violence) – instead Bondy found yoga classes driven by capitalism and flooded with hyperflexible acrobatwannabes. Shockingly, some of the “yoga teachers” she came across actually promoted weekly water fasting and passive-aggressively chided those who weren’t fully vegan. Yoga is not about striving to attain the unattainable, though: it is about practising acceptance of the present, satisfaction and appreciation of the self in today. It is listening to one’s body in stillness and being guided thus.

One way to avoid falling into the trap of body-comparison is to choose an appropriate class for your level of fitness. If you’re relatively new to yoga, don’t waltz into a Power Yoga class – you’ll just become frustrated and go against the concept of ahimsa and hurt yourself in the struggle to keep up; so too an Astanga class. Progress gradually: from Hatha, progress to prop-aided Iyengar or long-held yet slow Yin perhaps, and then to a warm and fluid Vinyasa class. It is about finding the right “school” for you, not your friend and certainly not strangers.

“Yoga”, of course, is about mindfulness and mindfulness can be practiced off the mat as well. Whether it’s walking in the countryside, preparing a meal from scratch (ingredients gathered from local, independent producers), or sitting snugly with tea looking at the garden – one can internalise yoga’s eventual meditative purpose. Just remember the breath.

Aside from doubling your risk of obesity, according to the WHO (World Health Organization), and besides the connected increased risk of illnesses from that (diabetes Type-II, respiratory problems, heart disease, insomnia, sleep apnea, etc.), doing no exercise at all means you have a higher risk of developing very painful gallstones, as well. Not only that, but without weightbearing exercise, our bones and muscles start to lose mass and weaken, our blood pushes more strongly against our artery walls and causes hypertension (raising the risk of kidney disease and stroke), and the likelihood of developing cancers increases, especially colon and breast (exercise moves waste matter through our intestines and helps regulate hormones in the body). You’ll feel fatigued, depressed, sluggish; your metabolism will be slower and your immune system will be compromised. In short, not exercising is the last thing you want to be doing when we’re still emerging from a pandemic – no matter rain or sleet or even snow outside.

Self-Practice From Pandemic Lockdowns to Post-New Normal Days

We were so good, weren’t we? Walking or cycling once a day, following the movements on screen of Joe Wicks and other fitness personalities, determined not to turn into couch potatoes as first one lockdown and then another (and, for some, another) lengthened out through the months, the year… Now that a semblance of normalcy is returning, though, now that restrictions are loosening, what on earth has happened to our routine, to our willpower?

Perhaps you overdid it during those peculiar pandemic days, maybe you’re recovering from an injury your physio hasn’t really managed to sort out (not to write from experience or anything), but whatever the reason for that slow easing of the derrière into the back of the sofa, stop now. This is not about aesthetics and #WhatIEatInADay themes: your health depends on it.

However, “exercise” doesn’t have to mean a gym membership or Pilates studio or a Spin class or a HIIT session: it can simply be moving out of doors in the fresh air. As long as your limbs are in action, as long as you are working to the point that it is cardiovascularly beneficial (and you’re ideally breaking into at least a sheen of sweat) – then that is exercise enough. Even simple gardening will do. But if you’re still stuck for

motivation, here are some other ideas:

Rowing, Kayaking, and Canoeing

Perfect for back and abdominal muscle strengthening, you can either opt for the gym land-bound version or splash into the wild with an actual vessel.

Swimming

A good choice if you are recovering from an injury; a great option for cardio, too. Harvard Health Publishing found that swimming one mile burns the same calories as running four miles.

Tai Chi

Slow and gentle, if you need easing back in, Tai Chi works on flexibility and balance in a fashion that works well with ongoing injury. An exercise for the mind as much as the body, practitioners finish sessions in meditative Qigong.

Rollerblading

Not just for kids, rollerblading is fantastic cardio and if you squat you’ll build leg and core muscle strength, as well. Always wear a helmet and other protective equipment.

Hiking

Free and fabulous, all you need are appropriate footwear, a water bottle and a bag for carrying that and energy-boosting snacks (depending on how far you’re trekking). Hiking improves balance, works the heart, and tones the core muscles, as well as providing a psychological boost. Hill walking will work the lungs even harder, too.

Dance

Have you got rhythm in your veins? From salsa to ballroom, from belly dancing to tap – all forms of dance offer amazing aerobic opportunities and are recommended by the NHS. Advanced ballet and breakdancing obviously come with risks, but few of us are going to be quick-stepping into those from the beginner stage.

The 5 Signs of Carb Overload

If you are trying to stay slim in the run up to Christmas and the (for some reason) culturally acceptable overindulgence that annually seems to entail, you don’t have to go full Keto. However, it’s worth keeping an eye on your overall health: if you’ve some of the following symptoms, it might very well be, particularly if you’re plant-based, that you’re eating a few too many carbohydrates (whether complex or simple):

1

Frequent bloating

Sometimes, the sugar from carbohydrates can reduce the diversity of bacteria in the gut microbiome. Mainly occurring when we eat too many refined carbs, this slows down the digestive process of fermentation of fibre, starches, and some sugars in the colon and gases amass, according to The Canadian Society of Intestinal Research.

2

Weight gain

Excess carbohydrates mean excess calories, mainly because the carbs glutted on are of the sweet kind (think cake, think biscuits). However, especially in rather chilly Britain, even healthy potatoes and the like are made more calorific with the sauces we elect to cover them in: shun the butter and opt for boiling them with mint. Mmm…

3

Bad skin

When not related to hormone issues or the specificity of our genes, breakouts occurring in one’s 30s, 40s, and beyond most often mean an imbalance in the diet. Sugary carbs promote the production of androgens, which are linked to acne that crops up along the lower third of the face. High-GI (Glycaemic Index) foods such as refined carbohydrates and melon should be replaced with low-GI foods such as wholegrains and apples and oranges.

4

Sleep troubles

Nighttime snacking is no good for the waistline and it is no good for slumber. Further, high-GI foods (refined carbohydrates and high-fructose fruits) require the body to go into work mode to process the sugars. Stop eating by at least three hours before bedtime.

5

Constant tiredness

Unending lethargy and brain fog got you puzzled? You might have overdosed on carbs. Carbohydrates should always be combined with protein and fats in meals: glucose is fast-burning and we slump when the sugars are processed; protein and fats slow digestion down for longer benefit of the nutrients from our food.

Winter Wild Swimming and the Nordic Hamstring Curl: as Cool as Ice

We might not have mentioned it enough this issue, but it’s nearly Christmas: time to get oh-so-cool with our exercise. That doesn’t mean channelling Wim Hof and barefoot running a half marathon in the Arctic Circle, as fascinating as his method for exploring hormesis is (researching how moving the body out of its natural environment and comfort levels can force physical change).

Some of us, however, might very well consider his advocation of cold swimming: 4.2 million Brits apparently undertake this pursuit these days. The power of Nature to heal is boundless and is felt no more so than when in wild waters. Swimming in natural bodies of water (wild swimming) is free from the chemical-deluge of manmade and maintained chlorinated pools. Instead, ponds and lakes and rivers and the sea benefit swimmers’ mental health as much as that of their body.

When temperatures are low, though, wetsuits stop the heart going into shock, as well as protect against the cold and infections. You’ll need goggles and earplugs, too. If you notice your skin going white or blue, or if you start to shiver or feel tired, you need to exit the water straight away and dress in dry clothes, as well as have a hot drink and move about to warm up and prevent hypothermia.

For those who aren’t confident at swimming, do be aware of the depth of the water you choose to dip a toe in, staying near the bank or shore. Whichever natural waters you find yourself breast-stroking/back-stroking/front-crawling like a machine through, remember to wash thoroughly afterwards, as well. The world is wild and it is dirty, but, oh, is it gloriously liberating.

Nonetheless, if unsold on the idea of fully embracing the Wim Hof Method – cold showers or swims or baths every day for vascular stimulation, together with control of breath and mind – there is another way. The Nordic hamstring curl can be done indoors (hurrah!) and seeks to correct muscular imbalance and inadequacy. Perfects for runners – no bitterly icy terrain necessary – it targets the “negative portion” of exercise, i.e. the muscles lengthened under tension. “Eccentric training” such as the Nordic hamstring curl produces speed and reduces risk of injury in runners. But how to do it? Just follow the simple steps below:

Step 1

Kneel down and place the balls of your feet against a wall, looking into the middle of the room, and press firmly into the wall throughout the following steps.

Step 2

Activate your core and avoid arching the lower back. The hip flexors should feel engaged, also.

Step 3

Bend your elbows and place your palms open by your chest, fingertips to the ceiling.

Step 4

position. Slowly and in a controlled fashion, drop forward into a half plank

Step 5

Lower fully to the floor, curl back up into a kneeling position, as in Step 1 and repeat up to eight times.

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