Oh, yeah! Chic cycling options from Terry

So it's me, a cocktail concocted by Hot Husband and the Terry catalog tonight. I'm completely impressed by the cycling fashion world and their willingness to ditch the padded shorts and throw themselves into the glamorous side of biking. Hooray!

Here's my wish list. I only wish I was giving you reviews about this stuff. A girl can dream . . .

First off, these cycling pumps (I know!) are nothing short of hot. And completely built for pedaling. Bless you, Merrell.

Bike-friendly dresses from Patagonia! I would live in these all summer. One in each color, please.

Ah, the T-shirts (here and here).  I need another one like I need a Krispy Kreme, but I could be tempted with these.

Most jackets can only earn points for their functional, technical details, like well-placed pockets. The Chrysalis dress is versatile and sends my heart racing. Applause for Nau design!

One piece that I've been pining for is last year's mesh short-sleeved jersey that I saw last year in a couple of catalogs. The new colorways leave me cold. Can someone please make something similar, but not in pink or purple? Pretty please?

I've made it to the bottom of my cocktail, so I guess that means it's time for goodnight. A happy weekend, everyone!

Nitty-gritty bike date (why I need fenders)

me, pre-ride

me, post-ride

It's the season of slush, and I am obviously unprepared.

My old, dutiful Jamis mountain bike was completely equipped with fenders, a bike rack and studded tires for snow and ice. I had places to stash stuff and my clothes stayed neat and clean. I rode it in rain, snow, ice and sun with practically zero splashes, and that was that.

I've gotten lazy with the new bike. I had visions of doing it up to be my all-purpose commuter bike. I've dreamed of shiny fenders -- or maybe hand-painted ones -- a basket, panniers, and oh, upright handlebars!

Instead, the bike sat in the garage while the holidays came and went, and so did the budget to get bike pretties. Other things just seemed more important, and the lack of snow meant the streets were pretty dry.

I didn't think anything of it when Hot Husband and I pedaled off on another bike date over the weekend. And then I hit asphalt on a day when melting snow was running in the gutters. Without fenders, grit splashed everywhere. I'll admit that I was pretty uptight for the first ten minutes or so, especially since Hot Husband had been raising an eyebrow over my choice of a skirt, dressier coat and my everyday boots.

Him: "I just don't see why you need to dress up for a bike ride."

me: "So you don't want me to look nice on a date with you?"

Him:  (silence)

 The good news is that all of my stuff rinsed out or washed off easily when we got home. Man, I love wool and leather. And I have a feeling the old fenders are going on the new bike tonight.

Coated from head . . .

 . . . to toe

Hot Husband, the more practical half of our union

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!

Forgive the bad punctuation.

Here's to having a sense of humor about our bodies! Thanks for stopping by and reading! Mmmwah!

Fitness Heresy #1: You don't need to lose weight

Let the heresy begin.

Starting right here, right now, I'm opening up a space where we can take a look at some of the current assumptions about exercise and ask the most basic question of all: "How's this working for me?"

We'll take a look at what's true, what's not, and find a way to make up our own minds about the idea, free from shoulds, musts and fear. Maybe you'll end up agreeing with the party line, which is great. Or maybe you'll take a look at the rules and realize that they don't fit. It's possible that those rules might even be standing between you and your chance to take pleasure in the power of your body.

This trip down Heresy Lane is going to offer you a fistful of permission slips, so be warned. If you're used to doing everything by the book, this could get uncomfortable. I'm just reminding you that it's possible to step back from the pressure to do all the right things and start considering your right thing.

So let's get this party started with the most basic fitness assumption of all.

You don't need to lose weight. Really.

Bet that set the internal critics howling. Mine, too. If you have a minute, write down a few of the things they're yelling. Let them have their voice. Show them that you're paying attention to what they think, and let them rail against this nutty woman in Montana with her destructive ideas.

It's okay. I can take it. Because if they're yelling at me, they're not yelling at you.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess what they're saying.

How dare she even breathe the idea that you don't need to lose weight! You've been too heavy since high school! Or since the babies were born!

If you don't keep up the pressure, you'll blow up like a balloon and you'll end up looking like Aunt Mabel. Or Uncle Ernie.

Nononono! You really do need to lose weight NOW! It's what we've always thought!

With all of the obesity problems in this country, how can anyone propose this uneducated idea?!

Reassure those critics that yes, I'm looney. And you're going to listen in just to confirm how right they are and how batshit crazy I am.

So take a breath an consider this. Have you ever looked at exercise as anything but a tool to lose weight? Have you ever gone for a walk or a run without mentally adding up the calories burned? When was the last time you went to the gym for the joy of it?

I haven't been able to separate weight loss from exercise since high school, when they taught us how to take our pulse and calculate how many calories were burned per hour. Those teachers' hearts were in the right place. They were doing their best to logically reinforce that exercise equaled health, and they hoped that would set up a lifelong pattern of daily exercise.

For some, it worked. For many of us, it backfired. Exercise was now removed from that place of sunshine, freedom, running barefoot through grass and spending time with friends. It became a place of performance and judgement. Another place for us to analyze and compare. It literally became a place to set ourselves on the scale to determine our worthiness.

It's completely understandable that many of us in our busy, stressful lives backed away from exercise because it became yet another area where we felt judged or we were afraid to fail. Big hugs and a fist bump to that part of you that does its best to protect you from pain and shame.

This week, let's give it some love. Start thinking about what kind of exercise makes you feel great. Do you love a walk through your neighborhood or local park? Would a mild winter let you take the bike for an easy spin? What's the schedule for that dance class you've been quietly yearning to try?

Think fun. Think outside the usual routine.

I was finally able to break the chains between exercise and weight loss when I hopped on a bike. I didn't check my watch or think about calories neutralized. It wasn't about having the best technique or the fastest time. I could fly. What's not to love about that?

Here's your permission slip. Forget about stepping on the scale, getting in the zone, putting in 30 minutes or doing a prescribed number of reps on the weight machine. Don't should on yourself. Don't musterbate. Just choose something for the love of it.

If your gallery of internal critics starts a ruckus, just tell them it's okay. Look, you're exercising, right? Y'all can have a conference about the weight thing another time. This week, you're enjoying where your body takes you.

If you need some inspiration, you can check out some of my previous permission slips. They were kinda heretical, too.

• Ditch the scale
• New numbers
• 10 minutes is good enough

Why you don't exercise

Don't blame exercise. It didn't mean to look like this.

Exercise needs a new PR person. Pronto.

We're hip deep in research and inspiration. Our access to information has never been easier. Our culture has never been more desperate to get thin and be healthy. And yet, exercise is the first thing that falls off the list.

I know all the reasons because I've used them.

• There's no time.
• Going to the gym is a drag. And expensive.
• I'm exhausted already.
• I'm not an athlete.
• I'm too old to start now.
• Who am I kidding? I'm not coordinated. I'll look like a fool.
• Using machines makes me feel like a hamster in a wheel.
• The weather's too unpredictable to exercise outside.
• My schedule changes. I can never get into a routine.
• I've never found an activity that excites me.

These are all perfectly legitimate reasons, but they're smokescreen, and our minds know it.

All the campaigns to encourage exercise have actually backfired because they haven't challenged one core belief: that exercise is a chore. We have fast-paced lives with pressure and information coming at us from every direction. We have to do more with less, think faster, compete to keep our jobs or find another one, make our relationships meaningful and have more fun, dammit!

It's all work, work, work from every direction.

Exercise is just another source of anxiety. We should lose weight, get stronger, lose more weight, fit into smaller jeans, look younger, run faster, and look great doing it.

It's no wonder we're rebelling. And I have to admit, I have a lot of respect for that part of ourselves that says, "Screw this!" and scarfs ice cream in front of the TV. It can sniff out disrespect in a second. With all the other stress it's handling, why should it take on a challenge that sneers, "You're not good enough"?

Why should any of us take that crap?

At this point, many exercise experts use discipline and willpower as a fallback, suggesting that you need to do battle with this slacker part of yourself. Force yourself, see some results, and that will carry you through! That can work for a while, but life inevitably throws us some curve. Or we get sick of fighting. Pretty soon we're fed up and back to our doubting, couch-loving habits.

There is another, radical way. But it requires a bit of mindbending.

In fact, it's about getting out of your head altogether.

After I lost my almost 20 pounds in 2009, I looked around and asked, "Now what?" The goal was attained. The work was done. What was the reason for exercising? There had to be more than beating back the fat barbarians from my backside.

It took me a few months, but I slowly realized that I liked to exercise. I needed to exercise. I'm no PollyAnna, but even I had to admit that I even really enjoyed it. I was pretty stunned.

Even though exercise had given me a strong body, let me explore the world in a new way, and even allowed me to ditch my thyroid medication, I was still at a loss. Why had I gone from hating exercise to craving it?

Exercise had become a place beyond performance, achievement and results. Miraculously, it became a place where I could do two essential things: get outside my problems and integrate them. And come back for more.

 No fighting. No willpower. No guilt.

No tips, tricks or secrets, either. I want to help you find that place too, but I'm not selling a magic exercise plan that will peel away pounds and inches. I just have my earnest, sassy self, willing to create a space to honor your body and your life.

In the coming weeks, I'll be taking down established fitness advice in a series I'm calling Fitness Heresy. Think of it as sweet revenge for the hours spent in gym class.

I'm making no promises about ripped abs or 30 pounds in 30 days, but you'll probably get your sanity back.

This is what it's all about.