.jpg)
Friday, November 10, 2006
assumptions and observations
As I mentioned, I have turned into a gym rat and go to the Y at least 5 or more times per week. As I started jogging and doing yoga I noticed a young hard bodied lady who seems real fit. I see her jogging effortlessly, doing yoga like a pretzel and see her quite often at the gym. I assumed she was young and single and has all the time in the world to keep her hard body. I assumed wrong when I went I saw her get her 6-7 yr old daughter out of the daycare and think I saw her with a school aged son the other day too. Why do I assumed that someone doesn't have kids cause they have a fit body? I tell myself that I shouldn't make assumptions about people but we all seem too. Why do I think that when some people have kids (like myself) that it is the beginning of at least 20lb extra on your body that is hard to be rid of? At the gym, I see a lot of mom's that are either a little overweight or look pretty darn good! Some of my friends who are mommies are in that category, they have an extra 20 lbs or they are fit and looking good. Why did I fall into that thinking like 'I used to be fit, when I was young and before kids'. I'm not buying it anymore! We all can have a fitter and thinner version of ourselves if we put in the hard work and change our eating habits for good. That's my plan anyway! (I can't seem to make this blog do paragraphs, help anyone?) On another note, my ww leader confessed that when she is at a party or out and about, she will mentally look around the room or area and figure out the percentage of overweight people! I was like, arrrggghhh! She said it is from being in the wt loss profession. Usually she will see a great many overweight people, say 60% or more. At a recent ww leaders meeting she went to of 400 or more people, there was only like 4 that had a little weight on them. It makes sense, they have to look good and fit to lead meetings. We need an incentive that they can be successful in their wt loss and maintain it. I was reading another blogger site, 'half my size' a while back where she says that she will compare herself to others and think 'am I fatter or skinnier than that person'. I was like, I try not to do that! But I think we all do to some degree. I do it more like this. I will see a person jogging around the indoor track and I'm like, 'she's a good runner, why can't I be then?' Or 'she looks damn good for her age, why can't I to?' Or if you see a really heavy person, you think, I never want to be like that. I can't let my weight affect my mobility as I get older. I don't want to slow down like I have been for a long time. I want to be active and a part of everything in life again. Not be on the sidelines watching. What are your thoughts out there on these topics? Hope everyone is having a good week!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
.JPG)
9 comments:
You press enter a couple of times and usually you get a couple of spaces and that becomes a new paragraph. I don't think indentation works, but then blogger has many quirks that I have not wanted to learn about.
As far as gyms go, there are often tons of people that look better than I do. The guys can be nice in terms of helping out others. Some are very arrogant, and sometimes I would not mind if a truck sped by and hit some of them as they leave the gym.
Yes, it is frustrating when you have several layers of flab covering your wonderfully fit body and nobody sees the real you.
I sometimes fall back into the trap of comparing myself to others, but I feel much better if I compare myself to my OLD self of 10 years ago. There aren't that many of us who can say that we look better today than we did 10 years ago!
You asked a question on my blog about breast reduction surgery. It took me 20 years to get up the courage to finally do it, but in the end it was worth it and my only regret is that I didn't do it sooner (that said, I wasn't ready to do it any sooner). Recovery was about 2 weeks until I could go back to work (mostly because of general fatigue, not incision-related). No blood transfusion necessary. I had the surgery at 8:30AM and was home by 6PM. Went back the next day for drainage tubes to be removed. Lots of bruising for the first month or so (my first reaction when I saw myself was, OMG, what have I done???). But it really does fade over time and my scars are barely noticeable now (6.5 years later). It also made running more comfortable and easier to find bras in my size.
I have to say that i just assume a young, fit woman is single too. Or an older fit woman is a single business woman. I never thought about it untill you posted this entry.
I think for myself, maybe i associate fit and healthy with my own youth. But you are right about stereo typing and i'm going to try to stop.
I don't walk in a room and check out everyones weight, but i'll tell you a little shameful secret of mine. When there are people in the room larger than me, they make me feel good, and more confident about myself. It's not an obvious thing to anyone else, and i certainly don't look down at fatter people. I sorta get this attitude like, "Yay, i'm not the fattest person here for once!"
I don't know if that's naughty, but i feel a but naughty about it.
I have found myself checking people out at the gym or around and I usually think positively. I see an overweight person at the gym, and I think "good for them" or if I see a girl really sweating it out I think " hell ya sistah". If I see someone better shape then me I don't usually get down, but usually I end up staring at them and admiring the dedication, and how I need to try to be like that. The thing with a lot of thin people is that they work so hard to keep that body, and I think it's kinda unfair for people that hate them because they are thin or in shape. As we all try to lose we know just how hard it is to stay on track, and thin people do it too. You think thin people don't have problems with it too? BTW I am not talking about you, I am just talking in general. Now ofcourse when I see someone really over weight I will think that I can't let myself get like that, but don't we all kind of do that in a way.And I'm talking REALLY overweight.
Interesting and funny that most people do check-out others in public. I agree with cactusfreek that usually I look to see if there is anyone fatter than me. As the years have passed, I usually win the contest and retain the title of fattest person in the room. Therefore, since I've gotten bigger over years, I too associate age and children with weight. That is false assumption, but we can become victims of that way of thinking. Another really humourous thing is that when I'm dieting hard, as I am now, I tend to stare at attractive women and wonder how much they weight. You have to wonder how many people thought I was "attracted" to them. If they only knew that I only wanted their scale number, not phone number!
..by the way thanks for the words of encouragement on my blog the other day...you're an inspiration.
Hi! I'm a new reader of your blog and I just wanted to say that I admire your dedication to going to the gym 5 days a week! I wish I could do that...keep up the good work!
It's funny you'd say that about kids, because I always figured it was the people who don't have to work who can manage all of that wonderful self care there's no time for in the 50-60 hour a week rat race.
But that's another lie I tell myself to avoid changing. I've laid off at the gym now for over a month ~ too busy, of course. But the real deal is that going makes me feel more energetic, more empowered, more focused.
I know for myself that I gravitate toward a state of inertia. I'll probably have to fight that my entire life. So be it.
Run on, Angel!! Sounds like you're doing GREAT!!!
< p > ~ without the spaces; works for me for paragraphs
Thanks for all the comments everyone! It's nice to know someone out there is reading my observations and sometimes drivel! I like visiting your web sites too! It helps a lot in this weight loss journey and self evaluation and improvement.
Post a Comment