Elizabeth Carmen, MHC

This article nails it. See comments for rest of article. It started within minutes of Boris Johnsons’ announcement last week in which he shared a roadmap for easing out of lockdown. People on Twitter, memes on Instagram and WhatsApp group chats were all alight with the news: there were four months to get ready to exit lockdown. 
I don’t mean biologically ready, with a flurry of people attempting to book in their vaccines so they could mingle non-contagiously. I don’t even mean mentally ready, to prepare for the anxiety of dealing with being in public again, touching friends you had been too scared to even brush shoulders with over a year. I mean physically ready, with people discussing the fact that they needed to unveil a post-lockdown body that they can be ‘proud’ of. 

“My predictions about this were correct,” sighs Tally Rye, a fitness trainer focusing on health first and intuitive exercise from the Strong Women Collective. “There’s going to be a huge pressure starting from now on people to get their ‘pre-pandemic body back’.” 
Of course, the ‘summer body’ narrative is not new. But this year the pressure feels more extreme, perhaps because people are conscious of the fact that they’ve been moving less than in previous years, or because it’s been so long since people saw what we looked like. That combination has made many feel unnecessarily guilty about how they’ve acted or how their bodies have changed this year. It’s almost as though we’ve forgotten that we’ve been living through a pandemic. 
“I think there’s an awful lot of fear and shame being felt by people who haven’t seen their family and friends in the past year, but whose bodies may have changed. They’re terrified of seeing people who they think may make comments or judge them in some way,” says Tally. 
Memes about only eating ice for breakfast, lunch and dinner until June have been doing the rounds. People have been thanking the government for the extended notice so they have time to get ‘hot’ before lift starts again. Maybe it’s intended as a joke, but “during this past year we’ve seen a rise in more disordered eating behaviours, which makes people extra vulnerable to these things,” reminds Tally.

When your friends visit London ❤️ &b @ London, United Kingdom

When your friends visit you in London ❤️❤️❤️ @ London, United Kingdom

Yes!!

When NY in the summer is the most beautiful place ever

Definitely related to me- we have the same coffee face 😂😂
Goodbye israel 😭😭, it’s been real!

So excited and thankful I got to do my run tonight in Yerushalayim!!!

Thank you to everyone who has sponsored up til now!!! BH raised more than 80% in less than 3 weeks for Chai Lifeline marathon!

To donate, please visit https://www.teamlifeline.org/team-lifeline-miami/Elizabethcarmen

Tizku L’Mitzvos!!! ❤️

Thank you so much to everyone who’s donated so far for the marathon!

BH up to $2500 in 2 weeks- let’s see what we can do the next two! Click below to donate to Team Lifeline, in memory of Hillel Carmen and Reuven Kirshner ZL

If anyone’s interested, please consider donating to chai lifeline, I’ve been involved with them for many years and they do incredible work! https://www.teamlifeline.org/team-lifeline-miami/Elizabethcarmen

Please donate today to support me running for chai lifeline & help them continue their amazing work!! https://www.teamlifeline.org/team-lifeline-miami/Elizabethcarmen?tab=MyPage

https://www.teamlifeline.org/team-lifeline-miami/Elizabethcarmen?tab=MyPage super pumped to be training for this years chai lifeline marathon in memory of my father!! Please help me raise memory for this incredible organization!!