I read a great article in Runners World today (of course, because I now own like 30 of them)
The title of this blog entry may seem like a no-brainer, yet I'm sure a lot of us have found ourselves questioning it a time or two. I have lots of skinny friends who can eat whatever they want and never exercise, and can still fit into a size 4 jeans. Can we say, "Thou shalt not covet?" grr..
I remember it all so clearly. I was about half way through my 5K when i encountered another girl with a bright pink shirt like mine. When I saw her (and admired her shirt) I figured I would be passing her any minute and I would compliment her on the shirt. The thing is, I'll be honest, the only reason I thought I would be passing her is because I estimated her to be at least 50 pounds heavier than me. rude. I know. Anyway, you can guess what happened...I never did catch up with her or pass her. She stayed consistently about 200 feet in front of me (better yet, I stayed 200 feet behind her...trying to keep up with her faster pace). Finally, after crossing the finish line I caught up with her and got to compliment her shirt. But lesson be told-- "fitness can trump fatness." (RW July 2007 pg 67).
I was chubby from jr high through college, and worried about it every single day. Re-reading my journal entries at that time in life is pathetic. I was never obese, but someone who never saw a picture of me and read my journal would think I was at least 150 lbs overweight. Exercise has always been a part of my life, not just out of necessity...but because I always had so much fun!! I started with softball, cheerleading, swimming, rollerblading, and then when I was about 14 I started getting gym memberships and did aerobics. Then there was soccer, track & field, and field hockey. I'm not sure if I'm leaving anything out. Anyway, I am confident to say that I have always been fat and fit. Granted "lean and fit will always trump fat and fit" (RW July 2007 pg 68)
I am happy to know that I am doing my little piece of making my body healthier one step at a time. I might not ever make it into the "lean and fit" category, but that's okay. I definitely don't dwell on it like I did years ago. Thank heavens!
That is a great perspective Christine. I was skinny (not fit) my whole life until I hit about 25, then it started to catch up with me. Having babies was always a good excuse to be carrying around an extra few (or more) pounds. I started exercising (but not running!) when I was 30 more for sanity than for fitness, and never very hard. Somewhere in there I got interested in nutrition, which always made me feel like it was "okay" if I didn't like exercise because I was being "good."
ReplyDeleteJust a few months ago (which is pretty embarrassing to admit that it took me so long) I realized on a BMI chart how close I was to the overweight line--only 5 pounds away. That surprised me. Then I realized that the BMI chart isn't really accurate, it is just averages of people's heights and weights. Since I've always had the skinny/unfit body type, I probably have a much bigger fat to muscle ratio, so my BMI very well could be higher than "average." It was a wake-up call. I've stepped up my exercise the last two months and it has made a big difference. Not much difference on the scale yet, but getting some muscles which is lowering my BMI. I've also reduced how much meat I eat which I think is helping a lot.