All tagged body positivity

If You're Tired of Feeling Confused, Beaten Down, Powerless, and Stressed About Fitness...

If You're Tired of Feeling Confused, Beaten Down, Powerless, and Stressed About Fitness...

Stephanie Ondrusek
body image, Bold Body Initiative, coaching, FAQs + hacks, offers

Body image work is life-changing, truly transformative work.

But why is a positive body image so important, though?

Staying preoccupied with thoughts about your body is a distraction. 

It keeps you from showing up in the world, constantly telling you you’re not enough, at least not until you lose that weight or fit back into that old pair of jeans.

It’s keeping you from sharing YOUR unique magic with the world, and that’s something we’d all be lucky to see.

It's also creating a world that further marginalizes those in larger bodies, or disabled bodies, or bodies that don't conform to an ever-shrinking standard. It's confining to all of us, keeping all of us from being fully ourselves without apology (and without the room to even exhale fully, letting our hair down and our bodies loose).

Having a positive body image is about SO much more than thinking your body looks good.

What Is Weight Stigma? (And What Can You Do About It?)

What Is Weight Stigma? (And What Can You Do About It?)

Stephanie Ondrusek
feminism, body image, mindset

It’s important, here, to acknowledge weight stigma harms all of us, and it harms the most marginalized among us (e.g., womxn of color who are fat, of lower socioeconomic status, and/or trans) most of all.

While it may seem a far-fetched conclusion if you’ve never experienced it firsthand, the effects of weight stigma are very real, and often show up in pronounced ways in healthcare and medical settings (which is why it has a place here, in fitness—the “average” sized womxn IS “plus size,” and part of helping someone with their health is treating them with compassion and respect, in my book). We often hear rhetoric about , “glorifying ob*sity,” and being a burden on the healthcare system, but the reality is most folks are simply trying to live and navigate an environment and a culture actively opposed to their existence (see: Today’s Dietitian for a thorough article on the prevalence of weight stigma, internalized vs experienced stigma, the health effects of weight stigma (especially in healthcare — a 2017 study found that doctors are the #1 most common source of weight-based stigma!), social media, and more).

Why I Don't Believe in the, "No Excuses" Movement

Why I Don't Believe in the, "No Excuses" Movement

Stephanie Ondrusek
coaching, feminism, body image

When I decided to become a coach, I realized, first and foremost, this sort of trust was vital to the success of everyone involved: if I can't humble myself enough to listen—deeply and fully—or to understand that at any given moment you may be having an entirely different experience and perception of our interaction and/or environment than I do (and believe you about your experience), then am I really being of service?

Am I really helping you along with your goals?
Does this change when your goals are different from my goals?
Or when they're different from the goals other people have, or have had in the past?

Seems quite basic, when you put it that way, but I haven't always hit the mark, and I find time and again, as I both get to know coaches further and have hired some myself, we could all use work, here. Not being understood seems to be a common experience of the human condition, especially in fitness.

If You're Tired of Trying to, "Love Your Flaws," You're Not Alone. There's More to This.

If You're Tired of Trying to, "Love Your Flaws," You're Not Alone. There's More to This.

Stephanie Ondrusek
body image, feminism, mindset

We won't be talking about, "loving your flaws," here, for quite a few reasons, but perhaps the most universal one?

I don't think that's a goal you really have, when we get down to it.

I don't think it would make you feel good to pick on some body part you've been told needs to be fixed, agonize in the mirror over it every morning to keep it top of mind all the time, only buy clothes that cover it up, and somehow be totally hype about it anyway.

It doesn't make sense.
Marketing to you that way is dishonest, IMO.

I Ripped My Pants: 3 Tips to Deal with Clothes that Don't Fit

I Ripped My Pants: 3 Tips to Deal with Clothes that Don't Fit

Stephanie Ondrusek
body image, Bold Body Initiative, FAQs + hacks, feminism, mindset

Earlier this month, I met with a CPA.

As though taxes weren’t enough bossy boss lady fun, I made the executive decision to put on pants. If you work from home or from a gym, you know how rare an event this is.

I went to put on my favorite pair of jeans,—soft, well-worn-rarely-washed denim, the kind that fit just Goldilocks-level right—and as I realized they’d been folded in a drawer for 6 months, I squatted down, and, riiiiip.

Why You Haven't Tried that Fun New Movement

Why You Haven't Tried that Fun New Movement

Stephanie Ondrusek
body image, mindset

I spent a long time wrapped in the coiling tendrils of perfectionism, that Devil's Snare tightening its grip the harder I tried to escape it.

I've forced myself into countless situations (friendships, relationships, jobs, even a college major!) that weren't really for me, or even things I wanted. My intuition was screaming at me to get out--you know the feeling when, deep in your gut, you feel clenching, writhing, twisting, and a bit of nausea? I was a pro at ignoring it. Through lots of trial and error, I've learned to let go... slowly but surely.

One of the places this has been most prevalent in my life has been in my fitness endeavors (and, I suspect, many of yours, because I've had some version of this conversation with almost every client I've ever trained longer than a few weeks).

Tired of Constantly Trying to Lose Weight?

Tired of Constantly Trying to Lose Weight?

Stephanie Ondrusek
coaching, mindset, offers


The day I realized that I could use exercise for something other than losing weight, my world changed.

I’ve told the story before, but the Cliff’s Notes version: I was sick as hell (strep throat, no insurance, riding it out with some Popsicles and a blankie), no one by my side (I was deep in the swill with the most familiar of swine, to quote @hozier), and I just wanted to feel capable of one motherfucking glob-damn thing, so I picked up a barbell and saw what happened.

You Don't Have to "Earn" Your Body (Fitness is Not a Punishment)

You Don't Have to "Earn" Your Body (Fitness is Not a Punishment)

Stephanie Ondrusek
body image, coaching, offers, mindset

Ready for some unconventional holiday season advice?

You don't have to "earn" your body (or mashed potatoes).

It's the language of the season, the undercurrent of every holiday-themed meal, but I don't find it productive. In fact, it often does more harm than good.

I think it's terribly destructive to use this language, not only because it sets us up on a food-as-reward-fitness-as-punishment cycle, but also because it reinforces an idea I am vehemently against.

The Time I Trained for a Bodybuilding Show

The Time I Trained for a Bodybuilding Show

Stephanie Ondrusek
Bold Body Initiative, body image, coaching, offers

Once upon a time, someone asked me if I would join them in training for a bodybuilding show.

It sounded like a good idea at the time: I’d have a group of women that would hold me accountable; I had a deadline that included me being on a stage in a tiny sparkly bikini; I had a meal plan perfectly laid out for me.

All I had to do was follow it.

Any guesses on how long that lasted for me?