Saturday Morning Thoughts...

I just finished one of the yummiest breakfasts I've had in a while [enter picture here]


That is a 3 egg omelet (yes, I'll admit, it should have been a 2 egg but I figured, eh, what the heck?) with sauteed onions and bell peppers on the inside. And yes, that is ketchup on top...don't judge me....I like ketchup on my eggs. lol But, this breakfast is not the topic of this blog entry.

Yesterday I watched a video someone posted on FB. I can't remember who posted it and I don't have the link to it but I'll try and describe the video to you the best I can. In the video it showed a series of clips of a large woman who was talking about being Fat. She made some very good points-like the fact that many 'trendy' clothing stores don't carry sizes big enough to fit the average American woman (which if you didn't know, the national average size of an American woman is 12-14)- and its facts like that which I completely agreed with. But then there was a portion of this video that I couldn't help but completely disagree with. The woman went on to say that the only way to be thin and STAY thin was essentially to have good genes (she made reference to having thin parents and ideally 4 thin grandparents). To me, this is a cop-out. My family history has "large" women up and down the family line. Just because my family history is of large women, doesn't mean that I have to simply "accept" the fact that I'm fat and that I most likely won't be able to change that. To me, thats not a "truth" at all.

The woman in the video goes on to state a very true statistic that 95-98% of people that lose 75lbs or more, eventually go on to gain every single pound back within 3 years, most of them gain it back within one year. As I said, this statistic is absolutely true and I don't refute it one bit. But here's the thing, those people? The ones that gain the weight back so quickly? The reason why they gain the weight back - in my humble opinion - is because they didn't go about losing the weight in the right way in the first place. I've pretty much preached this since I can remember, but losing weight FOR GOOD is not just about diet and exercise, its about changing the way yo think, react and regard food in general. Its about transforming yourself into a completely different person. Its more about the MENTAL PROCESS of losing weight than it is about the physical one.

Think about it. The mental battle of weight loss is MUCH more difficult than the physical one. I mean, is it hard to run 3 miles? Yes, and thats certainly a struggle for many people. But is it harder to resist certain bad habits, like over-eating, or sweet cravings, etc etc etc? Yes. The answer is Yes. It is tremendously more difficult to transform our brains and the way we think about things, than it is to physically do certain things. Therefore, it stands to reason that if you go about losing weight the wrong way- i.e. rapid weight loss fads, diet pills, starving yourself, dieting fads, etc - you will eventually get to your goal, sure! But once you get there, you will have taught yourself nothing. You will have learned no new skills with which to help you MAINTAIN the weight loss you have accomplished. And if anybody reading this disagrees with that, then you better not read any more of my blog, because we will likely not see eye-to-eye on many things.

Back to the video, it was really odd for me. I mean, the woman's message in the video was to stop making excuses. In her opinion many "Fat" people use their fat as an excuse. Like, "Oh I'll go on that vacation when I look good in a bikini" or "I'll go on that trip when I lose 30lbs" etc. And the woman in this video was saying that those were excuses to stop living. Well, I agree. But rather than "owning your fat-ness" as the woman in the video was encouraging, I say, why not CHANGE YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES????? I'm not someone sitting here on a high horse and preaching that we should all be size 2's or else we're not beautiful, or worthy of living life. I'm NOT saying that AT ALL. I'm simply making a point that if you feel your weight is holding you back from doing the things that you really want to do, THEN MAKE THE DECISION TO FIX IT ONCE AND FOR ALL!

I'm all for people being happy and confident in the skin they're in. I'm a happy and healthy size 10 at the moment and I couldn't be happier about that. I'm what most people would categorize as "curvy", or in my husband's own words, "thick". And guess what? I like that! Now, am I still interested in losing weight? Yes.

'Well why would you want to lose weight, Julie, if you claim to be happy?"

Why? Well, there are quite a few reasons. #1 - I'm pretty much addicted to fitness and exercise. It has become more than a hobby, it has become my life. So being as active as I am, I can logically assume that losing more weight will happen almost automatically. Healthy weight loss is almost synonymous with an active lifestyle. #2 - I've also created a love for running within myself. And I know that losing a little bit more weight will make running longer distances easier on my body (specifically my knees and other joints that take a beating with running in general). Its a goal of mine to someday run a full marathon, I'm running a half marathon (13.1 miles) this April, so training for that and hopefully shedding a few pounds beforehand will likely make it much easier for me! #3- Although I'm happy with the way I look and how I feel at this weight, according to my doctors, I'm still not at a "healthy/normal" weight for my height. I'm still a good 15-20lbs overweight. Its my goal to be in a healthy or normal weight category according to my doctor's charts. And I think thats okay. I'm not interested in losing my curves or becoming as skinny as one of those anorexic-looking runway models, mostly because I think they are not beautiful at all. I'm just interested in being healthy. And no matter what ANYONE says, being obese or simply overweight as I am now, is not healthy for your body in the long run.

So there you have it. Thats what I've been thinking about this morning. I know there are going to be some people out there that disagree with me, or have seen this video and think this woman was completely right, and hey! Thats fine! To each his own. However, this is my take on things.