I Feel Fit???

I would like to weigh-in (pun intended?) on the new discussion on weight that we seem to be having in the world these days. I was thrilled to hear that some people want to tear down the ideas of 'perfect body' image that society has long held. However some of the ideas that are floating around I am really unsure of. If you were not aware I am not a skinny person, I am in the 300 lb region most of the time on my 6'2" frame, so I am bigger then average. I do occasionally workout and my work keeps me on my feet most of the day so I never felt like I was out of shape.

Until one day a few weeks ago when I was running very late to my early morning Business Management class. The class is on the third floor and I always take the stairs, but never at a dead sprint to make a class in five minutes (the teacher locks the door when class starts) By the time I ht the third floor landing I was pretty sure I was gong to die (aren't we all?) I was sucking oxygen hard and it was not fun.

It was about the same time that I was reading up on this idea of redefining beauty and I got to thinking about my experience on the stairs. I am not in shape and that is not okay with me. I have always hated my doctor telling me to lose weight considering he is my size or bigger. But the truth is I think that he was right all along. I have heard in the past that no one understands healthy fully so you can be healthy even if your doctor doesn't think so and I still believe that our understanding of health is subjective. But if your life depended on running up three flights of stairs, could you?

So where am I going with this? Big is beautiful and I think that is cool but I think maybe it should be handled on a case to case basis. I do not feel healthy and I am going to do something about it. Not because I feel pressured to by society or some standards of beauty, but because I freaking want to. A popular zombie movie told us how important cardio is to survival.

Losing weight is hard but so is almost everything else in this world worth doing. You will have to want to do it for yourself, the odds of failure are higher if you are doing this for the wrong reasons. If you have been putting this off for awhile DON'T! You can do it and I believe in you. I will be putting in the work and you can to.

It is okay to not like something, just don't be a jerk about it.

-Ben