Who's Your Audience

We all know them. Those girls who drink Coca-Cola and eat donuts for breakfast, take a cigarette break at 10:00 in the morning, eat a value meal from McDonald's for lunch, head out for another smoke break post lunch, then tell you about the pan of brownies they consumed the night before...and yet, they're SKINNY! But are they healthy? More than likely not. The explanations for this skinny fat girl phenomenon are endless. Perhaps they are feeding their metabolism by constantly consuming sugar and high fat foods. Perhaps they are really bulimic and you just don't see them vomit up those brownies into a bowl they keep under their bed. What you do see, though, is that they never go on that walk with you during lunch, they couldn't walk up a hill if they were paid a carton of Marlboro red cigarettes, and their complexion keeps Proactiv in business!

Unhealthy living breeds life-threatening diseases such as osteoporosis, diabetes, and heart disease. It doesn't matter if you're skinny. What does matter is whether you are healthy! Granted, I could lose a few pounds (okay, 20 pounds) on my 5'1" frame. But, on most days of the week, I find some type of cardiovascular or muscle-building activity to stimulate healthy living...I run a mile on the treadmill and then do free weights and I take a pilates class on Wednesdays (soon to be Monday and Friday) during lunch. I also try to eat as healthy as I can. This morning I ate Smart Balance Peanut Butter and Smucker's Sugar Free Rasberry Jam on Whole Wheat Toast.

If you've read this blog at all (or my older blog), you know that my obsession with weight loss has been rather UNhealthy for most of my life. Recently, though, I had an epiphany. All of these women that I have envied because they weight 110 pounds on a 5'5" frame are really less healthy than me! I'm starting to really take a realistic look at myself and those around me...and it's allowing me to not be so hard on myself! Am I a victim of the image of women as portrayed by the media? Of course I am! But I've noticed that lately there are women on television and magazines that don't have the waify Kate Moss sickness. She obviously keeps her shape with the white powdery stuff. Evangeline Lilly, for example, has an incredible figure. And I'm sure with her tan, muscular build, and healthy complexion that she's not snorting her nutrition through a rolled up $100 bill.

So I'm trying to be realistic. In fact, skinny doesn't always mean healthy. And skinny isn't always attractive. I've said it before (thanks to a blog I used to read). Focus on what your body can do, not what it looks like. I'll never get those years of skin elasticity back. But I'm in the best shape of my life. I'm not skinny...but I sure am healthy!!