Global awareness about an increase of chronic diseases and premature mortality due to ‘unhealthy eating’ and ‘sedentary lifestyles’ is embedded in various discourses shaped by relationships and power. In this article, I investigate the role of physical activity in the lives of middle-aged women in Australia and how their experiences with exercise influence the way they position themselves within the context of inter-discursivity regarding fitness and ‘healthy ageing’. Results reveal how ‘knowledge’ about ‘healthy lifestyles’ is created and accessed, and how women make sense of the healthism discourse, the obesity crisis, and discourses around menopause and ageing. The participants for this study are nine women in their forties to sixties who volunteered to participate in semi-structured interviews after completing an online survey about physical activity that was part of a larger project. Their accounts of health and fitness, healthy eating, weight management, mental wellbeing and ageing are categorised and interpreted in a post-structuralist framework through the lens of feminist relational discourse analysis. Results show that all women are influenced by healthism discourses as well as being affected by assumptions and recommendations for ageing, menopausal women. They shape female identity by adopting, but also by resisting, discourses around their bodies and minds.

全球对因“不健康饮食”和“久坐不动的生活方式”导致慢性病和过早死亡增加的认识嵌入在由关系和权力塑造的各种话语中。在这篇文章中，我调查了身体活动在澳大利亚中年女性生活中的作用，以及她们的锻炼经历如何影响她们在关于健身和“健康老龄化”的跨话语背景下定位自己的方式。结果揭示了关于“健康生活方式”的“知识”是如何被创造和获取的，以及女性如何理解健康主义话语、肥胖危机以及关于更年期和衰老的话语。这项研究的参与者是 9 名年龄在 40 到 60 岁之间的女性，她们在完成一项关于身体活动的在线调查后自愿参加半结构化访谈，该调查是一个较大项目的一部分。他们对健康和健身、健康饮食、体重管理、心理健康和衰老的描述通过女权主义关系话语分析的视角在后结构主义框架中进行分类和解释。结果表明，所有女性都受到健康主义话语的影响，并受到针对衰老、更年期女性的假设和建议的影响。她们通过采用但也通过抵制围绕她们身体和思想的话语来塑造女性身份。通过女性主义关系话语分析的视角，在后结构主义框架中对心理健康和衰老进行分类和解释。结果表明，所有女性都受到健康主义话语的影响，并受到针对衰老、更年期女性的假设和建议的影响。她们通过采用但也通过抵制围绕她们身体和思想的话语来塑造女性身份。通过女性主义关系话语分析的视角，在后结构主义框架中对心理健康和衰老进行分类和解释。结果表明，所有女性都受到健康主义话语的影响，并受到针对衰老、更年期女性的假设和建议的影响。她们通过采用但也通过抵制围绕她们身体和思想的话语来塑造女性身份。