Date Written: April 22nd, 2008
This blog started as a result of a “comment war” that I just read (you know what they are; someone makes a comment on an online article which causes other people to post conflicting and/or “attacking” comments and then that original commenter gets ticked off and writes back and the “comment war” ensues.)
The whole “war” started about a recent US Magazine issue about Mariah Carey. Apparently Mariah dropped from a size 8 to a size 0 or 2, which (personally) I think is a bit extreme for someone her height (5′9″). Anyhow, that’s what the debate was about; someone thought an 8 was “big” and that a size 0-2 was fine; and other people disagreed with her…a bit strongly.
As of the date listed above, I am a size 8. I don’t think it’s “BIG” as this one particular posted insisted, but I don’t think it’s small either. It’s about average…for me. I’m not going to speak for anyone else’s body shape or size right now.
I’m 5′2″ and 144 pounds; I’m about 20 pounds above my goal weight, and heavier than I’ve ever been in most of my life, with exception of last year when I allowed my weight to creep up to 155. (Not suprisingly, during that time, I was also more down on myself than I ever was in my whole life.) HOWEVER, I am at 24% body fat; which isn’t “wonderful” but it’s in the range that I should be in. I’m incredibly strong – and that’s according to my personal trainer, not my own opinion.
All of this mumbo-jumbo is my way of getting around to the point of my blog. I had originally started a “Skinny Jean Dreams” blog late in 2007, but abandoned it after awhile. The goal of getting back in to my “skinny jeans” is a good one, but after all the recent comments in the media about celebrity weight, the “comment war” I spoke about above, and a few articles I read in the fitness magazines I subscribe to, I’m SICK AND TIRED of aiming for the single-minded “skinny” goal. Frankly, that’s NOT my goal. My goal is to be fit and healthy. So what if my body isn’t made to fit in to a size 0-2 pant? So what if I’m not some blond, svelte, hardbody? So what if I don’t ever “get my teenage body back” (which is apparently what Mariah did)? If I’m fit, and happy with my body, that’s all I need to be, and, in my opinion, that’s a healthier way to go than to be solely focused on a pant size.
I’m tired of feeling bad about the fact that I wear a size 8 jean. That my strong, muscular legs aren’t the skinny ones that the airbrushed models in the magazines have. I’m sick of being self-conscious that even though I’m fit and healthy, I don’t measure up to society’s definition of “healthy” by way of being thin.
I want to start a fit movement; women who are happy with their bodies (ME being happy with MY body) even if they have a little bit of meat on them, or even <gasp> if they have some cellulite. A fit movement, celebrating women who find a way to stay healthy despite their hectic schedules, who battle the daily assault of “thin” images on the TV and in magazines and stores. It’s time for a change in thinking.
Being “thin” is out. Being FIT is in.
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