First off, I don't consider myself skinny. I'm petite and curvy, voluptuous, etc. I'm thin, granted, but you won't see any of my bones. I also have a weight range that I'm comfortable with and if I begin to grow past that range, I nip it in the bud and do what I need to to get back down to my comfort range.But anytime I tell someone, I'm trying to lose weight, cutting back on sugar/calories or watching what I'm eating, I get the usual 'you don't need to lose weight', 'you look fine', 'weight, what weight?' Basically, whatever weight I may be trying to lose, since they don't see it, it must not exist, therefore, its a non-issue and I'm being silly. Why would I need to lose any weight, right?
Let me enlighten you.
Just because a person, fully clothed, doesn't appear any different, does not mean, they haven't put on weight and enough weight to make them uncomfortable. And as long as they are uncomfortable, its an issue for them. And even a slight weight gain for a slim person, say 5-10 pounds, can easily cause clothes to fit much tighter and less comfortable and I'm sure I'm not the only on who has experienced a waistband so tight after eating a meal, the the top button had to be removed to commence with breathing.
I'm also a person that likes to handle situations while they are small before they balloon into bigger ones, ie, I'd rather work on losing 5 pounds then 10, 15 or 20, cause it would seem to me to be that much harder. Nip it in the bud, I say. Its just a matter of maintenance. If I enjoy having a slimmer build, sometimes that comes with work. There will be times when I'll let it go, such as during the holidays and others when its time to tighter up, such as my impending trip to Rio De Janeiro.
And yeah, some would say, well just don't people you're trying to lose weight. But it always seems to come up, either you're being offered food, asked about your food/cooking/eating habits or people are noticing you walk away from the free donuts or ordering the smallest thing on the menu. Food happens. All the time. But is obviously a sensitive subject for all, the fat and skinny. And not so skinny.
So to conclude, as a not-so-fat, but not-so-skinny chick, I can decide that the extra 5-10 pounds I've gained outside my comfort range is too much and must go. Immediately! Call me vain, but feeling good to me, is looking good and looking good to me is looking the mirror and absolutely loving what I see. It's just that simple.
Some people are just more sensitive about physical changes than others, and this holiday weight is gonna be gone like a freight train!
15 comments:
I was watching this show last night about morbidly obese people. People who have to lose 100s of pounds. I cannot imagine getting that big. Losing 100 or more pounds is certainly much more difficult than losing 5. Like you say, one has to maintain. Like many problems, if you just ignore it, it just gets to be a bigger problem. The extra weight didn't get there by itself, it ain't going to lose itself.
Erika- Girl, I think I saw the same program on Discovery Health. But my whole thing is you know how you've run into someone you haven't seen in a long while and you noticed they've changed, let themselves go a bit, though they don't seem to have noticed much? Sometimes changes are subtle we don't always know until it is really noticable. They you're wondering why didn't I start working on this sooner.
Just like those programs where people have tumors big as people. I wonder why didn't they get that nubbed off when it was still small, and they could have a normal life. Why do they wait until its ginormous?
I hear you. Being small is truly subjective. I tell people I want to lose 10-15 more pounds (cause I've already lost 10 yeah baby), they look at me like I said i want to do crack while other's may look at me like, go for it girl! Ultimately, it's all about finding your "happy wieght" as Marie Claire magazine termed it. I'm just trying to be able to look in the mirror (before a gut bloating meal that is) and be like "What, what, what!" as I spin around and strike a pose. So till then (and especially till the Rio trip) I'm working on me and blocking out the outside commentary!
Do what makes you happy. There's always going to be someone who thinks you're too fat or too thin but as long as you're healthy do you.
Y'all are speaking the truth, for real. Nothing wrong with wanting to maintain your physique. In fact, short of developing a hyperactive thyroid or reverting to child-like metabolic rates, one must usually exercise regularly and/or eat properly in order to maintain one's physique -- preferably both. I may be a guy, but I remember when I hit my growth spurt toward the end of high school (so what, I was a late bloomer!) and had to buy new clothes... and I remember how not-fun that was.
Besides, beer belly isn't the new cleavage -- very few women will cream their pants at the sight of the airplane hangar now resting comfortably over your favorite belt. Unless you can pass for Snoop's stunt double, you will probably need to start working out or eating right at some point in the near future.
I'm going to go do some push-ups now.
Average Male- "cream their pants"?
Nice!
;)
Average Male- And good point about buying new clothes.
I have invested much green on my current wardrobe and I'm not about to go out and even try to find what I already have but in a bigger size. No! I'm not doing it. Everything I have, I intend to wear for at least the next few year, pending it doesn't get too badly stained or worn so I best to keep my best in shape enough to get in them.
Allow me to put a different spin on this series of comments. Candi and I talk about this often at home.
Why does the pressure to maintain a healthy physique fall all too often at the feet of the female?
How often have you seen the stereotypical Fat Guy/Fit Wife combination in the media and in real life? King of Queens, Family Guy (I know they're animated), and any of the Italian mobster movies come to mind.
I do my best to keep myself healthy. I eat properly, take vitamins, drink plently or water, and exercise. Could I exercise more? Sure, and I'm working my way into a better exercise routine now that I'm stable. But I refuse to allow myself to morph into some slovely blob. Just b/c I'm a guy doesn't mean that I'm entitled to be overweight. Why do you think more men die each year from preventable medical conditions than women?
Candi, I've said this before and I'll say it again. If I somehow lose my mind and allow myself to slip to the point where I'm some overweight beast, either handcuff me to a treadmill in a cold room or euthanize me altogether.
It’s your life blog lady and you can do whatever you want, dag gummit. Tell all these people who are against you to lick my …oh, never mind. I suggest that you start telling people that you are simply being healthy and trying to firm up or getting your bikini buff on. The “losing weight” saying is so overused it’s not even funny. It’s a misnomer, as well. I mean, if you want to lose weight, then hell cut off your leg, you’ll weigh less. You don’t want to lose weight; I thinking you want to be healthy and feel good. The fact dat u gots to explain that to people says a little something about a society that’s saturated w/ cheeseburgers, large asses, and mediocrity. Or… I could be wrong and all these people you’re talking to are hitting on you by telling you can drink whole milk instead of 1% or skim, a la Napoleon Dynamite. That’s food for thought… eat it up.
SKINNY? YOU? YEAH RIGHT? Lol.
No no no. As soon as we start considering curvy chicks like you "skinny," I'm gonna get pushed into the anorexic category and WE CAN'T HAVE THAT!!
It's really all about making yourself feel good. People always look at me crazy when I say I'd like to PUT ON a few pounds. Granted I don't have any major complaints about the way that I look, I just feel I'd look better with more booty and thighs! Lol. So if you feel the need to drop 5-10 pounds, do it for yourself.
you've been tagged... check out the wretched of the earth to find out what you have to do!
i don't see too many people from murdaland on here
i hate that name by the way
i went to northwestern on park heights
oh and vanity can be a good thing because it forces you to do the things you might not normally do
but don't let it get too far
I have been losing wait for the past month trying to get in shape for my hawaii trip in feb... and I am losing it in all the wrong places.. I wish we could compartmentalize where we lose it... I so agree with you that looking good to youself in the mirror is the most important... I'm trying to lose belly fat so I look hella fierce in my bikini and I am losing the little bit of booty that I had... so I dont know what the heck to do.
My advice would be to surround yourself with white folks. They will be supportive of your efforts toward emaciation. Black people, particularly black men, are never going to agree with your perception that you need to lose weight. Truth be told, as a black man who doesn't know you from a can of paint but has seen your picture, I can't help finding the idea that your body-type isn't damn near the apex of feminine pulchritude a little offensive. My god, I hope that I don't live long enough to see black women fully embracing the white feminine beauty ideal, and starving themselves into a semblance of the flat-butt-prepubescent-boy-bodies so common among white female "beauty" icons, i.e. actresses, models etc.
Hoops-
Never fear. My issue is not butt, but gut. Something I will only tolerate so much of. Luckily, in eating better and working out regularly, that is being worked on.
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