Friend Friday: Want Fitness, Need Chips

Once again, In Professorial Fashion is participating in Katy of Modly Chic‘s thought-provoking “Friend Friday” discussion. This week, we’re discussing fitness and exercise. (Gah.) As usual, Katy’s questions are in bold below with my answers in (mostly) regular type directly after.

1. When you hear the word Fitness what do you think?

I think about how I want to be fit. And then I think of a list of guilt-inducing shoulds and wants: I should go to the gym more (or at all), I should not eat the crack chips. I want rock-hard abs, buns of steel, and non-jiggly arms; I want a personal trainer who drags me out of bed each morning and pushes me out for a run (gah. I hate running. Now I’m having a horrible running flashback, even though it’s an efficient and cheap way to burn calories).

What I really want, however, is to not talk about this anymore and go eat crack chips while sitting under a massive white sunshade here:

(This image is from Jeanne-Aelia’s lovely post earlier this month

entitled “T.G.I.F.: Pools With a Sea View” over at Through the French Eye of Design)

2. Do you have a workout routine? What’s your favorite way to workout?

This way:

(Check out Rinty the Crusher and I engaging in the sport of cottage-bobbing two short weeks ago.)

Just kidding. My real answers to the questions are “Yes.” and “Yoga” (the fast kind).

But my routine needs to be stepped up. I once said this to a friend whose job is helping companies and people work more efficiently. He said, “You schedule what you care about.” Obviously, I need to care more about yoga. It would be easier to do so in my fantasy alterna-life (a life that would also enable me to pay the hundreds of dollars Fotosearch wanted for an unmarked version of this image):

(Alterna-A-Dubs – minus her mane of hair – making yoga a priority.)

3. To you, what is the purpose of exercise?

Probably I answered this question more thoughtfully here (see point #5). Today, all I can think is “firm buns, abs of steel, non-jiggly arms.” Thanks to Sheila of Ephemera‘s workout tips, I have a workout strategy for achieving the latter of these goals, a strategy I have already employed once today and that I will just take a short break, now, to employ, again. . . . Ok. I’m back.

4. Do you think it is possible to be feminine and still workout?

Uh, yes! For example:

But maybe that depends how we’re defining feminine. Some of us talked about it a bit here (see the comments section, too).

Or maybe Feminist Hulk should (not) do this for us. (I must credit – and thank – the “Thursday Links” by the Interrobangs Anonymous posse for turning us on to the Ms. Interview with Feminist Hulk!)

5. What do you think about the people who are workout obsessed? (You know, those women at the gym who spend 4 hours working out and have more muscles than some men.)

I think if you’ve got the time, it turns you on, and it’s not connected to an eating disorder or any other debilitating conditions or practices, go to it. But if that’s your obsession, we’re probably not going to be best friends. Not because I judge you, but because I don’t want to give you opportunities to judge me.

And in case you’re judging me already, here is a calming sunset image taken by the A-Dubs-Hubs from our balcony last week.

**Special Message for Style Underdog during this, your el crappo week:

Big luv to you, SU. Escape to us here in the blogoverse whenever you can. Until then, take good care.**