I am in the midst of working on my assignments and doing some prep for interviews I have tomorrow. One of them is going to tackle the idea that you can be “fit and fat”—I don’t necessarily like using the term “fat” so perhaps “fit regardless of your weight” might be better—and I plan on talking to a kin prof I had who lectured on the topic and to Julie, the registered dietitian who came in to Brescia a few weeks ago and talked about Health at Every Size. I think the article’s angle is going to be to focus on getting physically active for the sake of moving your body—and all the benefits that come along with that for your mind and your body—and about leaving expectations about losing weight out of things because maybe the weight loss isn’t the important part after all. It’s a big topic to tackle, but I’m looking forward to it!
Anyways, in my research, I came across this awesome post about Health at every size, exercise, and eating disorder recovery from PsychCentral (get ready to get sucked into a bunch of post reading—fair warning!). Points like:
- “…the ED is an attempt to protect oneself from experiences that threaten emotional overwhelm. The person flips into ED behavior (including dieting) automatically to avoid the overwhelm. The opposite of automatic behavior is awareness…”
- “Thanks to shows like The Biggest Loser and various magazines regularly advocating rigorous, almost-daily exercise, it’s tough to know what’s healthy and what’s unhealthy exercise. There seems to be this great pressure to exercise all the time, which in my humble opinion can breed an all-or-nothing attitude toward physical activity and muddle up our motives…”
- [some tips for healthy exercising]:
- “Exercise because you want to – not because you feel that you have to.
- Do exercise activities that you enjoy – not exercises that you dislike.
- Include a variety of exercise activities – don’t get in the rut of doing only one or two things.
- Stop if it hurts! Do not exercise when your body is in pain, or when fatigued.
- Never exercise with an injury.
- When your body is telling you something – listen!”
reminded me that looking at exercise and why we do it is key. Recall yesterday’s insight into my injury and my newfound craving instead of compulsion to start training again? I am so glad I had that epiphany…exercise is supposed to make you healthier, which means it should make you feel good!
Check out that post—I think it’s a good intro to a touchy subject that I know I struggled with a lot. Compulsive exercise is just another form of purging behaviour, and that’s hard to admit and since people tend to reward those who are dedicated to training or working out, the line between what’s healthy and what’s not so healthy can get blurred. While ditto goes for people who are “good” eaters, I think it’s even harder to realize when you’ve crossed the line with exercise. Keep in mind that depending on the person and on the day, week, month, etc. that line might be different! It’s about constantly checking in with your motives and remembering that you should eat foods that fuel you and keep you energized, exercise to feel strong, fit, and better in general. I’m not trying to boss you around, but if you do that—listen to yourself and respect what you need in any given day in terms of food and exercise—I really think your weight will take care of itself and land at “ideal”, whatever that means for your body.
Do you care about the number on the scale? Why or why not?
What do you think about the HAES movement?
What are your thoughts on being fit and fat?
I completely 100% agree. It’s like you said before, weight is a byproduct, not a result. I personally don’t weigh myself that often – In the past, I’d randomly weigh myself and see, for example, that I’d be on the high-end of my weight range even though I felt slim and lean and fantastic/energetic, and another time I’d be on the low end despite feeling gross. Numbers are stupid! It doesn’t reflect muscle mass, or water weight – I know I can gain like 5-6 pounds of water during THAT fun time of the month. I rather go by how my clothes fit, how “toned” I look (which def changes with the water weight/bloating too!), how much energy I have and how I’m performing. For me it goes both ways – I perform poorly when my weight’s too low AND when it’s a little too high. And if you want to consider yourself an athlete, you can’t work out for the sole purpose of weight control. Yeah its a nice byproduct, but aren’t race times what you’re ultimately working toward? That sometimes means pushing through a workout when you’re just not feelin it, but it never means training through pain or ignoring warning signs! Weight should never be the goal of working out (I guess unless you’re at risk of other health problems due to obesity) – race times, PR’s, and your mental health and happiness should be the goals!
Thank you for this post! I am guilty of reading the calories burnt on the treadmill, researching the best fat burning free-wight exercises and of course, weighing myself on the scale. I must say though, things have GREATLY improved since months ago where I would weigh myself nearly 4 times a day, where now I do maybe once or twice every few weeks
I need to find the exercises I enjoy but one thing I know is I LOVE LIFTING WEIGHTS AND STRENGTH TRAINING. Can’t get enough. <3 Love you.
I wish people weren’t so scale dependent. In a lot of cases it can be detrimental, even if just to the way we feel about ourselves! I also wish people would exercise in a way that makes them happy, not just because they have to. I wish I didn’t force myself to exercise when I was in pain! I hate how twisted it has become!
I definitely agree that you can be fit but not necessarily within the normal BMI range. We talked about it in one of my classes and studies have even shown that people may have a BMI above 25, but their blood lipids, blood pressure, etc are all completely healthy, And if that’s the case, who are we as dietitians/society/etc to tell them to lose weight?
Hi Cheryl! Thanks so much for linking to my post.
You can absolutely be fat and fit, just like you can be thin and unhealthy. You can rarely judge a person’s health by their appearance.
I LOVE Health At Every Size because it encourages everyone to love their bodies and take good care of themselves. And it focuses on what really matters: nourishing yourself, having fun with physical activities and engaging in other healthy habits — not focusing on some random number on the scale.
Thank you for writing about this. Excellent post!
Of course! I loved the post.
Thanks for the support on the Fit vs. Fat debate. It’s not much of a debate in my mind any more!
I know from personal experience that HEALTH is better than aiming for a certain body ideal (be it “strong” or “toned” or “skinny” or “fit” or whatever). Actions and behaviours matter more than outcomes—they’ll take care of themselves!
Thanks for stopping by!