Being Geek Chic is a blog for stylish geeks, sophisticated nerds and people who enjoy the musings of a complete dork. Join us as we dream of driving the TARDIS, cuddle with our eBooks and test out an iPad sleeve. It's written by Elizabeth Giorgi and a team of brilliant lady nerds. Meet the team.
Women should be nicer to themselves. There’s enough shitty shit said about our half of the population for us to be dumping on ourselves too. I was going to write a fashion post and then I just thought, screw it. I NEED a reminder. We all NEED a reminder of just how awesome our bodies are. So enough of this:
And more of this:
You are a human. Do you know what a god damn miracle that is? Hundreds, thousands, perhaps millions of sperm worked really hard to reach the glorious egg that became you.
You are a MIRACLE OF HUMAN EVOLUTION.
Don’t hate on that. It’s awesome. You’re awesome. Feet? Those make it possible for you to move through space and time without even having to think about it! Skin? Totally protects you from all the insides falling out. Your insides? Work like a fucking clock. LIKE A FUCKING MACHINE. Better than a machine, actually - BECAUSE IT HEALS ITSELF. With a few vitamins and creams - it heals faster. Your face? That’s a freaking treat. We evolved to be more beautiful than those monkeys, that’s for sure. Just adorable.
So go feel good. Life’s too short not to.
For the last 3 years, I have been afraid of a number. Three digits. I have been terrified of facing 167.
One hundred and sixty seven pounds is the most I have ever weighed in my life. And it was my weight for the last three years. A 5 foot 5 inch woman is considered “overweight” at 167 pounds. And this girl considered herself a failure for ever getting there.
The truth is that getting there was easy. Owning it was hard. And so I misdirected my mind. I told myself a series of alternate truths in order to conceal and protect myself from the reality that made me feel worthless.
I am smart. I am talented. I am great at my job. I have great friends. I have an incredible boyfriend. I have great hair. And great legs.
These statements are true. But these were things that I told myself on a weekly basis because I didn’t want to admit that I felt badly about my weight. See, if I never “looked” at 167 - it might not exist. If I didn’t acknowledge it, I could focus on liking myself anyway.
I know this theory has been disproven time and time again. And yet, Republicans still employ it when asked about global warming - so why couldn’t I use it when dealing with the details of my body mass?
And as long as I’m being honest, let me tell you another truth. There were certain things I stopped doing because I would have to be reminded of that ugly number. I skipped doctor’s appointments, because I knew I would be weighed. I held off on getting a new driver’s license when I moved, because I didn’t want to report my weight. I avoided getting my picture taken, because I didn’t want unflattering photos ending up on Facebook.
If you know me in living, breathing, non-internet form, you know that I pride myself on being honest. I try hard not to be harsh or brash - but I’ll always tell you the truth. Why? Because I firmly believe that we only reach our fullest potential and develop meaningful relationships when our lives and friendships are built on a foundation of truth. And yet one of the cornerstones of my life, my health, was essentially built on a foundation of sand that I kept telling myself was concrete. I was ignoring the truth - because it was inconvenient. And I was the only one responsible for it.
Plus, it’s just goddamn embarrassing. When you parade through life with such earnest intentions, you start developing a narrative of who you are. I was a “strong” person who wasn’t affected by trivial details, like pounds. In fact, I developed an entire series of mantras to deal with my inconvenient truth:
"It doesn’t matter that I’ve gained 3 pounds a year for the last five years - because I’m still a great writer."
"It doesn’t matter that my size 6 and 8 clothing don’t fit anymore - because it’s shallow to care about trivial things like sizes anyway."
"It doesn’t matter that I don’t like the way I look - because no one is hiring me for my appearance."
These truths were no foundation to stand on. They were bullshit. And deep down, I knew it. But if I ignored it - it wasn’t a lie - it was just ignorance.
Something changed this summer. After a 3 hour hike with my boyfriend, brother and mother, TJ and I were dipping our feet in a nearby lake to cool off. My mom snapped a picture of us to commemorate the successful day. I was afraid of what that picture looked like. My fears were affirmed when I saw it later that day. TJ looked triumphant and handsome. Sweaty, but proud. I looked miserable. I wasn’t miserable because I had just manhandled mother nature’s stairways - no, I was miserable, because I didn’t want my picture taken.
What a ridiculous way to live my life. It’s a short ride, my friends. Even shorter when you consider the limitations on one’s body as we age. And I couldn’t even muster a big smile after successfully putting my glutes to the test, because deep down I knew that 15 of those 167 pounds were resting unattractively over my midsection.
That weekend, I decided to turn it around.
It’s been almost 8 weeks and I’m happy to report that I left 167 in my past. Pretty soon, 150 will be there too. And hopefully, I’ll be back at a healthy, jubilant weight soon.
You know what I learned in all of this? (Besides the fact that egg white omelets can actually be delicious.)
Your body is a math equation. You add calories to it. You subtract calories from it. At the end of the day, if you can do simple math, you can stop hiding from the truth of your health and solve the problem.
Even bigger than that: you are a beautiful person at 167 or 154 or 142. BUT, you are more beautiful when you are happy. When you pound the gravel for hours and then take a picture with your boyfriend - you should be proud of what you just accomplished. And being proud means you smile EVEN when your hair is in a crazy bun and when your pit stains are showing.
Sadness? That is for when people die. Or when you’re sick. Or when you break up with someone. Or when you’re struggling with your job. Or when your favorite show is cancelled. Sadness is not an emotion you should equate with looking in the mirror.
That means that you’re going to have to stop hiding your personal “ugly” truths behind the logical ones.
That means you’re going to have to start being honest with yourself about what being happy means. If you can’t be happy at 158 - then do the math. And solve the problem.
I’m trying a new experiment this week: the standing desk!
Why don’t you try it with me?
My island in my kitchen in a common place for me to work at night so I can stop and visit with my BF and have a cup of coffee or tea. Turns out that putting on 10 inch high box on my island is the perfect height for typing with my laptop! You could also stack books or boxes until you get the right height.
After doing this all day, I only had to take one break for 20 minutes, when I was reading something.
The benefits so far?
I’ve had better posture.
I haven’t needed that second cup of coffee around 3:30 PM when I start to get a little dozy.
My typing is just as good! I’m shocked!
You burn 1.5 times more calories when you are standing versus sitting.
The downsides?
I find myself looking down at the screen. I think it might be better if you had the screen mounted on a wall in front of you or something so you could get an additional 10-12 inches to be closer to eye level.
I need to wear shoes. My wood floors made it hard for me to just stand here and not get a foot and back ache.
So, I know this isn’t inherently tied to anything explicitly geeky, but it’s in the spirit of being a real nerd that I would figure out how to configure random furniture and what-nots to be able to use my computer in the kitchen.
Has anyone else ever tried this?
Geek culture can sometimes promote the most unhealthy habits from the time we are very, very young. I remember being a wee kindergartner when a new round of transformers were making the rounds in happy meals at every fast food stop on the block and my brother and I begging mom and dad to snap those meals up. As an adult, one of my favorite things to do on the weekends is to hit up the movie theater. However, you know I’m not going to skip the popcorn and Icee option.
I’m not saying geek-dom and unhealthy habits are synonymous, but sometimes it can be difficult to make the right choices. So how can we eat right when eating has become intertwined with so many of our favorite things?
1. Training our tummies. You can train yourself to desire healthier foods. It’s true. Research now proves that fast food has addictive qualities much like drugs and alcohol can have on our bodies. Plan to slowly change your diet by making small switches. Instead of chips, have pretzels. Instead of fruit snacks, have grapes. Instead of chicken nuggets, have an un-breaded chicken breast. Slow changes and slow evolution can train your tummy to crave the healthy stuff instead.
2. Planning for pitfalls. I know the movie theater is going to be ground zero for destroying my healthy eating habits. As a result, I never show up to the movie theater hungry. I also mentally prepare myself for ordering the kiddie size popcorn with no butter in advance. That way when I get there, I won’t talk myself into a larger size.
3. Stock up on Halloween sweets. My love of peanut M and M’s will never go away. I just know it. That’s why I buy the mini bags en masse during the Halloween candy shopping season. Those small little bags give me just a taste of one of my favorite things, but lets me skip over the extra calories.
Need inspiration for something? Send us your biggest inspiration pitfalls to [email protected] and we’ll try to help.
Believe it or not, I used to be a workout nut. These days, not so much. Hours and hours of sewing, playing video games, pouring over books and re-watching my favorite movies have taken the place of good old-fashioned calorie burning. That’s why it hit me so hard at my most recent doctor’s appointment when the nurse told me I had gained 10 pounds in the last year.
The fact is that VERY FEW people actually enjoy working out and I am most definitely not one of them. That’s why I thought it might be useful to think of inspiring ways to encourage myself to move my booty as opposed to the normal self-deprecating choices, such as constant weighing, criticism and the eventual gorge into the ice cream pint.
1. Do double duty. Read while you sweat on the elliptical, catch up on podcasts while you run, watch your favorite TV show while you lift weights. In a world where we all have less time, we need to multi-task. Nothing makes a work out session go by faster than pairing it up with something that you don’t want to end.
2. Talk about it. The internet is full of people who share your problems/frustrations/goals/dreams. Think of these people as your inspiration focus group. The internet gives us the anonymity to be a real jerk, but in this case, you can use that nameless-ness to find likeness and support.
3. Reward good behavior. When I finally reach that 10 pound weight loss goal, I’m buying a new TV. I know, that’s a HUGE present. However, I remember that when I was in elementary school my mom told me that if my brother and I both got straight A’s, we would be able to get the new Super Nintendo. Nothing motivated me to study and do my homework like the promise of more Mario games.
I wish I could give you this awesome chick’s name. But several google searches later, I have come up completely short. Regardless, I thought her story was worthy of sharing.
She started her site, geekgirlgetsfit.com to chronicle her efforts to follow the Hacker’s diet as she attempted to lose 30 pounds. She shared all her great tips and tricks along the way and is now at her goal weight. The best part? Her geeky references throughout her journey!
It wasn’t easy (One does not simply walk into Mordor, right?) I started by learning to eat less food then I burned in a day with the help of the Hacker’s Diet. While trying to adjust to a lower calorie existence I found out what a great diet food Chipotle makes.
That statement sort of sums up her overall experience and the Mordor reference is just so charming. Need further proof that this fit geek has serious nerd cred? Check out this photo from her blog:
If anyone knows this lovely lady, we’d love to give you her real name so we can give her proper credit for her awesome accomplishment and inspiring website. In the meantime, you can become a fan of the site on Facebook.
Want more information about the Hacker’s diet? You can check all that out here.
