More thoughts on Weight

I don't know why this blog has had so many entries thus far dedicated to exercise/weight/health, but that's just what's on my mind, as well I'm seeing a lot of posts about it on the internet lately.

I think it's pretty safe to say that our culture is quite obsessed with body image.  We tell people that being "thin" is beautiful, yet if someone is too thin they we assume they have a disorder.  Even if someone is a healthy thin they are scrutinized (oftentimes out of envy, frankly).  On the flipside, women who aren't thinny thin are pegged "real women," "plus sized," "fat," "unhealthy," "obese," etc.  Point being that regardless of what type of body a woman has she cannot win!  Want to know how many conversations I've had, texts I've gotten, that were about a woman's body? A lot.  You know, "oh my god, she got HUGE," or "oh my god she got so skinny she looks like a skeleton." 

I absolutely think we need to learn to be respectful to all types of bodies.  HOWEVER, what we really need to do is embrace health.  While we shouldn't shame people for being over/underweight, we need to encourage healthiness.  Now, I don't think we should all run around telling people who are obese to work out.  It's really not my business what people do with their bodies and how they eat (or don't).  I do think our media could change with this one, and start promoting healthiness, regardless of size, to the public.  Take an actress like Jennifer Lawrence.  She is, in my opinion, a THIN girl. I remember being very disturbed when George on The Fashion Police described her as "bigger" than other actresses during an episode.  Seriously, you've got to be kidding me.  To me, Jennifer Lawrence looks like a healthy woman.  She's not emaciated by any means, but she's skinny by my own standards.

People should be encouraged to want to love their bodies and take good care of them, and you can weigh quite a few weights in order to do that.  The better care you take, the better you feel, and it's also just freaking good for your health.  Who wouldn't want to live longer? I think it would kind of suck to die prematurely because I didn't take care of myself. I also just feel better if I try to eat healthy and care for myself.  If I spend all day being inactive and eating potato chips, I don't feel as well.  However, if I exercise a little, and eat decently, I am much more comfortable.

This is complicated to write about because I don't think it's fair to shame or disgrace anyone for their body.  I think we do need to encourage healthy living though, regardless of what weight that puts you at.  It is much easier said than done, I know this from firsthand experience.  When you hate how you look you aren't going to feel motivated to eat better or take a little walk.

Weighty Dialogue.

Whenever I tell people that I used to be 30-40lbs heavier, they tend not to believe me.  And people who knew me wonder how I did it. I've ALWAYS struggled with weight and acceptance of my appearance.  I remember being ten, looking at my stomach in the mirror, and making it go in and out.  I wasn't an overweight child, but of course, I thought I was fat.  I started working out when I was thirteen, and I was very healthy about it.  I started with a few minutes on an elliptical a day, and gradually building up.  Eventually, I took it out of control around age fifteen-sixteen.  I'd work out too much, not eat enough or over eat. As I mentioned, at one point I lost my period because I wasn't very healthy about the way I tried to lose.  Depression set in, as well as anxiety, and I began to gain a lot of weight.  When I began 10th grade, I was in the 120s, when I ended it I was around the 160s.  By the time I was eighteen, I got into the 170s (sidenote: I'm not offering these numbers as a way to shame any weight, but rather so you can see the drastic change in size I went through).

Here's a picture of me in 2007, followed by 2008:

(I tried to crop people of images because I don't want to post other people's faces without consent. I know, I'm making a distorted face in the second, it was the picture I could find)

 

And here's me in Fall 2013:

 

In this picture, I am roughly 135lbs.  I lost weight my final semester at school from walking everywhere, eating healthy(ish), and stress unfortunately. Spring 2013 was a little rough patch, and I got into the habit of sometimes not eating.

 

 

One question I get often is how I did it. Truthfully, I barely tried.  Even when I was bigger, I exercised, and I lost at least ten pounds during the summer after I graduated high school, and began community college. Working in retail means you'll be standing up all day, and I've done shifts anything from 3-8 hours of standing and walking around the store all day.  I give a lot of credit to the jobs I kept, and adopting this nugget in February 2009:

 

(This is my Toby as a wee lad)

 

I would walk him a lot.  Anything from 1-3x a day. He has tons of energy to this day, and those walks did him a lot of favors.  So if you have a dog, or your neighbor, mother, cousin, whomever, walk them! It's a nice break from the tedium of exercise machines, and I hate the process of exercising a lot less.  I like to run on the treadmill, but there are days when I really freaking hate it because it's boring, I can't get into my music, or nothings on TV, etc. However, I always feel better after doing it.  I'm not saying everyone should run out and get a retail job to help lose weight, or adopt a dog, but that's what helped me at lot at first.  I now try to run at least three times a week, and I go by the calorie. 

 

As far as food goes, I don't believe in "diets." I think they are rubbish, and they set you up to fail because OH MY GOD IF YOU EAT BREAD! Diet over.  I think Dr. Phil is obnoxious, but he talks about losing weight and keeping it off as a lifestyle change, and I couldn't agree more.  If you like pizza and soda it's not realistic to say you'll never have either of those things again, but it is realistic to limit how often you do.  Diet Soda is bad for you anyway (it's worse than regular soda), and I love regular, all calories in Coca-Cola. Delicious.  I'm not a calorie counter, but I try to keep in mind the calorie count of the food and drink I have a lot of.  I'm also a big fan of tea (without the corn syrup) and the flavor packs you can add to water.  I drink the lower calorie Gatorade as well.  I'm a fiend for RedBull which I really should completely cut out of my diet, but I get it sugar free.

 

At university, I probably had salad almost every day, but if I wanted pizza I had my pizza!  If I wanted nachos, I had them. I tried not to keep a lot of junk food in my apartment because I'd eat it all in one weekend if I did. I'm also a big fan of eating the healthy cereal.  That's right guys, get rid of the kind that comes with a toy or marsh mellows. When my mom makes dinner she always has salad or some vegetable, and I'll take one or both (usually).  I eat fast food, but I don't do it a lot because not only does the price for all of those little meals add up, but it is terrible for you (even the salads are bad).  When I do get it, or go to the movies and get snacks, I don't feel guilty because I don't eat that way all the time.  That's really the trick, guys. For me at least.

 

I don't read diet books, but now and then I will scan health websites for ideas and tips.  Do that, and find things that work for you.  Find foods you might like, exercises, etc.  Don't get obsessed because you'll become crazy and intolerable to everyone because no one gives a shit about your bunny food diet. 

 

I would also suggest taking your time, and trying not to set obnoxious goals like, "I won't drink Mountain Dew for a year," or "I'm going to lose ten pounds a month."  Relax.  I think I lost the weight I did because I didn't set out to lose it.  Plus, it's proven that if you lose it gradually, you will be more likely to keep it off.  Also think of it as just trying to be healthy.  Exercise is a necessary evil because our bodies need it to be healthy, and if you really need to eat at 2AM, think about it...would an apple or potato chips be better?  I personally have this problem because I love eating horrible things late at night, and it sits on the pooch of my stomach in a really awesome way when I wake up the next day.

 

So there it is.  I'm not a healthcare professional, but this is what works for me. I'm not a skinny Minnie with boney hips and flat stomach, but I really cannot complain too much considering how much I've lost in the last few years.