We all look into the mirror at least once a day right? I do, probably more than that and I don't have a free minute in the day to gaze upon my reflection. So how can I look in the mirror all the time and never see a "fat" person? Overweight, obese, whatever you want to call it, it wasn't me. How am I that clueless you may ask...well Ill tell you. I never saw an overweight/fat person because I saw no evidence of it. I always wore the same size jeans, I didn't gain weight all the time requiring me to buy new clothes. No one called me names and my hubby likes me for me so I didn't feel ignored by members of the opposite sex. My cholesterol is great, no diabetes, and my blood pressure is so low the doctor always pokes me to see if I'm awake when they are taking it. But really the reason I never saw myself as overweight was/is because I never act like it.
In October, at 200 pounds, seven months after having a baby, and with exercise induced asthma, I RAN a half marathon. I didn't walk, not even once. An overweight person is not supposed to be able to do this, right? Today in yoga I bent and flexed and posed my way into pretzel like shapes that overweight people cannot get into. So I must not be overweight, right? In my mind I was the same as everyone else.
I met with a personal trainer last week and all he said was "wow, I didn't expect you to be this strong." My response was polite but in my head I thought "why not, because I'm a girl?" It never dawned on me that his surprise was probably due to my size, an overweight person is not SUPPOSED to be able to do most of the physical activities that I do. Then I remembered when I finished my half-marathon hyped up on adrenaline that a woman asked me if I had walked the race that her thin daughters had just ran. I was confused at first and corrected her with the details of my run and then returned to my family hurt that she didn't think I could run like thin people.
Well to the trainer and to the stranger and to everyone else that puts doubt on overweight people, screw you. We can do things, a lot of things. I can run and I can jump. I can climb and throw punches. I'll beat you at most sports and in a fight I would kick your ass, so watch your back because I'm coming for you. I'm only going to get stronger every day that goes by.
PS...tomorrow marks the end of week one so I'm not going to be keeping track of days anymore. It will be too hard to count back, and I'm just plain too tired for math.
Awesome. And I had the same issue with the trainer I had last summer, in the beginning he said that, and I corrected him that day, not so politely. But it was cool, we got along well. Good luck to you and you are awesome and you're better at most things that other people because you put your whole heart into everything you do. When people just do something because they can, it's never going to be their best, unlike you. I love you hon and miss you tons! One of these days I'm going to get over there and hug you, whether you like it or not. :)
ReplyDeleteyou are my hero!! REALLY!!!
ReplyDelete-the extra fat girl who walked a half marathon and didn't die!
The people you describe reveal a lot about themselves. They stereotype. They make assumptions. They judge people based on appearance. As soon as they open they're mouths, their ignorance shows. The opinions of people like this are not valuable. Ignore their expectations and set your own expectations for yourself. If proving people wrong motivates you, then maybe keep this in the back of your mind. But really, they're just dorks, and you are the strong one, and I don't just mean physically!
ReplyDelete