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I had two questions in my Inbox yesterday that I wanted to address to all of my readers:
Why are you exercising if you’re already thin?
The answer is simple. I’m not exercising to be thin. I’m exercising to be healthy. Health isn’t the number on the tag in your dress. I’ve been every size from an 18 down to a 0 and now I’m back up to a size 6, and I wasn’t what anyone would call healthy during many of those smaller sizes. Frankly, I don’t care if I wind up being an 8 or a 10 if I feel healthy. I want to be able to go out and keep pace with my kids. I want to be able to do all of my housework and then mop my all hardwood floor house without wearing out. Until I can do that without being too tired, I’m not healthy. I do hope to gain muscle during this process and muscle weighs more than fat, so I do expect to gain weight. And I do hope that I can loose a little fat in some trouble areas to become more proportional. But I’m not after a dress size or a specific waist measurement. I want to feel good.
Yes, saying you’re a size 6 has a positive association with it in our culture. But I’m a small-built woman and it’s easy for someone built like me to be a smaller size. I’m 5’4″ with a small frame. If you’re taller or have bigger bones, a size 6 would look sick on you. Better to be healthy and have the energy you need to lead the lifestyle you want than to be a number in your tag and unhealthy at the same time.
Are you changing anything about the way that you eat? What do your meals look like?
No, I’m staying on a traditional foods diet and eating to fullness as usual. Since my goal is not weight loss but instead to gain strength and endurance, I won’t be surprised if I end up eating more in the long-run than I do when I don’t exercise. Building muscle takes quality food.
Yesterday, I had waffles and yogurt for breakfast, a huge salad with grilled chicken and homemade ranch for lunch and baked chicken in a BBQ-ish sauce, rice and green beans for dinner. Afternoon snack was a homemade Lara bar and I had about 1/3 cup of homemade coconut milk ice cream after dinner. I try not to eat anything after 7pm so I sleep well.
I drug myself out of bed this morning and did Basic Workout Plus again. My shoulders and outer thighs are really feeling it. Tomorrow should be the worst of it, then I’ll start to improve. Everyone says day three is the worst, and that has been my experience in the past. Once again, I had to slow down and do fewer reps to make sure I’m getting the right form, but it’s better to do four in the right form than to do eight in the wrong form. Correct form is what makes these exercises work, not getting it done just to have it over with. Because I am a short-torso, I have to work harder to make sure my lower body stays in proper alignment.
Jeff had to make an early breakfast meeting this morning, so he got up and did the Rehabilitative Workout and left the house before the time we’d normally even get out of bed. He said that the Rehab workout was much easier on his knees. I think he’ll stick to that for a while, loose some weight and gain some strength before he tries to go back to BWO+.
Tomorrow, we’ll do Rehab together then I’ll do BWO+ once he is done.
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Amen! (and thanks for this post!)
Ugh, I need to exercise. (And people call me skinny–and I think it’s funny how size 8-10 is now considered skinny.)
Anyway, hi. I’m new here, trying to connect with people who eat traditional/nourishing foods. I think it’s sad people don’t realize exercise is for health, not for losing weight (even though it can help with weight-loss). I don’t exercise much, but my nephrologist (kidney dr) assumed that since I was thin, that exercising wouldn’t lower my blood pressure. ?? How does being thin automatically mean there is no room for improvement in one’s health? So I went to see a naturopath, and she said my kidneys will work better if I exercise (of course, ALL our organs work better if we exercise). Anyway, it’s just too bad that this common-sense knowledge so easily escapes people when they are so focused on weight.
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