Mum-of-four Peta Todd on exercise and promoting a healthy body image
Busy mum Peta admits she rarely eats one slice of cake — as she opts for FIVE
I HAVE recently posted a little bit more on my social media about being back in training.
I’d taken a step back due to being poorly from an allergic reaction to the coil.
But since feeling a lot better, I have returned to reformer Pilates – and I’m even squeezing in a bit of training at home when the kids sleep. I mentioned that in one of my posts.
I said how I was feeling much better in myself for being back in my routine of working out.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not on a “regime” – and I’m not posting online every five minutes with hints and tips.
Generally, I was met with lots of messages from people commenting that I looked good and they were glad I was feeling better. But I was surprised to get a spattering of messages from people saying I was being irresponsible by posting, as I was already “skinny” and it wasn’t healthy to promote getting skinnier.
I found this really alarming. It made me stop and question whether I was promoting something unhealthy, which is the last thing I’d ever want to do. I definitely wasn’t.
Do you have to fit a certain look, size or lifestyle to share these kinds of pictures without people thinking you are selling an unrealistic ideal?
I look at other people’s photos regularly and sometimes they make me feel motivated to get back into training. Sometimes they make me wish I was Kendall Jenner.
Either way, I know this is just a snapshot of their lives.
I even posted a picture of some crackers with avocado, cream cheese and red onion that I made as a 10pm snack... and received DMs telling me to “be careful” and that I’m “lovely how I am” so I should “eat a slice of cake”.
Come on. I wrote back saying it was just a snack and not my dinner.
I had no need to justify what I eat
Peta Todd
I’m annoyed I even replied, to be honest, as I had no need to justify what I eat while watching Law & Order for the 200th time.
At no point was I promoting or even partaking in dieting. I wasn’t training to lose weight.
I was training to be fit, to be stronger and because I find it benefits my mental health hugely. It’s “me time”.
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Of course influencers and celebrities need to be responsible for what they promote. For example, skinny coffee or weight-loss tea should not be aimed at impressionable young people.
But can’t I post a picture that shows my body shape or lifestyle for fear of upsetting someone?
Sure, I tend to put up photos I’m happy with. But I’m not Photoshopping them. I’m not saying: “I’m so fat, I need to lose weight.” I’m just saying: “This is what I’m doing, I enjoy it and it makes me feel good.”
That’s probably not at a time when I’m sweating like a hog.
And to the person worried that I never eat a slice of cake... well, it’s true. I rarely eat a slice. I eat FIVE.