It's Okay To Be Fat
Those of you may or may not know that I used to have a personal blog. It lasted about...hmm...three months. And then I was struck with the idea for Mystique Magazine. And everything that I did for that blog I really wanted it to reflect in our magazine. I am still going to continue my personal blog, but it will mostly be personal short stories and memoirs. Be sure to read my hilarious rendition of giving birth! It's a series guys! But one of my posts that I really enjoyed writing about was about my weight. My weight has always been a very personal issue. And I try very hard to not care about my appearance, I still struggle with accepting my body as it is and being positive about it. This blog post was written back in March, and I'm very proud of my positive attitude that I had to share it with you all through Mystique! So without much further ado, I give you "It's Okay to Be Fat" by Bootylicious Babycakes.
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Okay, speaking as my college alter ego, Bootylicous Babycakes, being fat doesn't have to be a bad thing. I've always been big. I've never been thin, not even as a little girl. I remember in 5th grade when I hit over 100 lbs and I was absolutely ashamed. Why? How old are we when we're in 5th grade? 10? 11? A little girl of that age should not be freaking out about her weight. Actually, let me take that back. A girl of any age should not be freaking out about her weight. We should be focusing on our health. We should be focused on living our lives as happily as we can and as healthy as we can. But there we go, starting diets once we start middle school. Not fully understanding the value food has. Not understanding portion control. Not understanding anything really. Just going with the mentality, "Foods that taste good, like chocolate, fries, and candy, are bad for me and I have to stay the hell away from them. I need to gorge on celery and carrots." When we start to build up our food habits, this is the worst possible thing to do. Eventually what ends up happening when girls start dieting at young ages, myself included, we yo-yo. We lose weight, we gain it. We lose 10 lbs we gain 20. We starve ourselves. We binge. And all the while, we still don't understand the value of food.
Seriously though, food is wonderful. ALL FOODS! It brings families together. We bond over food. My husband and I literally connect with food! (and beer.....and wine.....and more beer.....and FOOD!)
But here's the problem. I was told all my life that food is the enemy! I was never told that food is a wonderful thing. So I sometimes get terrifed of food....all the while not really being told to exercise. All the while not being told that maybe I might just be a hefty person naturally. In fact, I'm still being told that.
A few years ago, I started an intense exercise regime. It went as follows:
Mondays: Circuit Training, Conditioning, & Boxing (1 hour)
Tuesdays: Kickboxing (1 hour); Morning Conditioning (1 hour)
Wednesdays: Circuit Training, Conditioning, & Boxing (1 hour)
Thursdays: Kickboxing (1 hour); Morning Conditioning (1 hour)
Fridays: Stadium (45 mins)
Saturdays: Stadium (45 mins); Circuit Training & Conditioning (1 hour)
Sundays: 1.5 mile jog/run
Yes, everyday.
I never got within my BMI. I exercised like this for a good year and a half. And then I met my husband. And he told me he loved to eat too! And then we got engaged. And then we got pregnant. And then we got married. And then reality. The point I'm trying to make, when I was sticking with that exercise routine, I had a lot of time and I still did not fit the perfect body type. How the hell are we supposed to fit the perfect body type when we don't have the time! I couldn't even do it when I did have the time. Keep in mind, in between these workouts, every now and then I'd throw in another stadium or jog. Alot of advice was given about weight training and blah blah blah. I restricted my eating habits for a while, but it wasn't fun. It was just unnatural. Speaking of BMI, can I just say it's absolute bullshit! I'm so sick of doctors telling me my weight is really dangerous and I am MORBIDLY OBESE. Yes. Morbidly Obese. Laci Green sums it up for me pretty well:
I love how recently, pop culture has begun to embrace fat women. Tess Holliday is amazing and she's voluptuously fat! It's fantastic! And if you don't follow her on Instagram, you need to get on that right now, because she is an inspiration to ALL women.
She is officially the biggest plus size model with a modeling contract. She also started this awesome movement called #EffYourBeautyStandards, in which it encourages EVERYBODY, women, men, trans, gay, lesbian, queer, skinny, fat, white, black, brown, whoever, to embrace their body. Pretty awesome!
I want to make a vow that I will do my best to get healthy in as naturally and happily as I possibly can. I'm going to make my workout routines fit my schedule and my lifestyle. I don't care if I don't lose weight! I don't care if I stay fat. Fat is sexy too, you know! Every week, I'll look up videos and try different things. Set various goals, and I'll see if it works out for me. If it's not fun, I'm not going to do it. If I get bored, I'm not gonna do it. I'll share as I go along. And I'm excited to start! I'll be starting tomorrow!
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Sadly I gotta say I was never able to keep up with an exercise routine. But, that brings me to one last point I want to add to this post.
Our society here in the US makes it impossible to live a healthy lifestyle. Yes, it is possible to stay in shape and to eat healthy, but with the workload that is expected of us, it's nearly impossible. I do believe in a healthy diet and exercise routine. I believe that we shouldn't obsess about our weight but obsess about what we put in our bodies and how we are using them. But I have to confess that with everything that is expected of me, as a mother, a wife, an educator, a high school newspaper advisor, a Girls Club sponsor, a UIL coach, a writer, a woman, and now an editor, it's damn near impossible. My health was one of the first reasons I decided it was time for me to re-think my career as an educator. I have plenty to say about our education system in the US, but as of right now, I do believe teachers hardly have the time to live healthy lifestyles, at least those who put in as many hours as I do, and I guarantee you, it's most of them!
My average day goes something like this:
6:00 AM--Get my kids up and ready for school
7:00 AM--Get myself ready for work
8:15-4:15--Standard school day
4:15-5:30--After school work day (UIL practice, newspaper deadline, grading papers)
6:00--Cook dinner or serve dinner (my husband is often awesome enough to prepare dinner before he heads to work)
7:00--Get my kids ready for bed
7:45--Clean up after my kids
8:00--Work on the magazine
9:15--Pass out from exhaustion/Maybe shower (jk, I totally shower!)
Please tell me where I'm supposed to find the time to fit in a meal planning schedule. Where am I supposed to schedule a "quick" 30 minute workout. I am so wiped by the time 9:00 comes around that there is absolutely no energy left in me. And this is not including the times when I have to bring my work home with me.
It's nearly impossible to stay healthy in this country. This country that says "Work overtime!" "Work hard!" "No time for play!" "Be Beautiful!" "You're failing our country if you're fat!" It's incredibly frustrating, especially when the majority of the population has a similar schedule to mine!
Yes, I've heard the success stories. Yes, I know there are SOME people who are doing this, but it's not okay to expect all of us to live that lifestyle. It's time we rethink what is more important. The hours we put in at work or our health.
