Yesterday, a fitness account that I follow on Twitter posted this picture and I had retweeted it. I've seen this picture a few times before and I really didn't think too much of it until I noticed today that a friend of mine had commented on it. Her reply was "Nice use of shaming. I give it an A plus in ignorance. Working out does not always equal being fit and vice versa." Based on this comment, I started a couple heated discussion in regards to this picture and the message that it is suggesting. To me, this picture says “ if you aren’t willing to put in the effort, then you don’t deserve the results” (which I believe to be 100% true), but to others it seems to have a much more negative message.
Now, at first, I will admit that I rolled my eyes at her comment. My initial thought was "how is this fat shaming? It's the truth", but after initiating this as a conversation with several of my internet friends today, I found that everyone seems to have a different take on it. From "Well, that's rather blunt and rude" to "How true is that?"
The more I thought about it, the more I concerned myself with what society perceives to be as "fit". Does being thin or skinny make one fit? Maybe, but what if that person can't walk for 30 minutes straight or hold a plank for a minute? You can have your muscles pop, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you can do a push up or climb a rock wall. Yes, you can look "fit" and not be able to make it through a work out video. It just means you're on drugs, dehydrated, or gifted with some weird genetics.
Now what about the girls that have jiggly thighs and love handles? The girls that think they have 10 or 15 pounds to lose? Are they not fit? Some of them, maybe not, but what about the girl that totally kicked my ass and ran a half marathon in under 2 hours? Or the girl that makes it through an entire derby bout with very little breaks? What about the girl that's competing in numerous Tae Kwon Do tournaments?
Being fit is not about what you look like, but what your body is capable of doing. Being fit is knowing that you can shovel hundreds of pounds of dirt into a unnecessarily large garden bed, run a 5km race with no training, or randomly pull into a road stop and finding yourself on a 2 hour hike and enjoying it.
"If you can't make yourself workout, then you don't deserve to be fit"
If you can make yourself workout, then you totally deserve to be fit!
Be positive, people!!
I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Please comment!
Thank you to The Capillary, The Bewitchin Kitchen, A Fit Mess and my awesome friend, Judy, for all the help with this post!
Thank you to The Capillary, The Bewitchin Kitchen, A Fit Mess and my awesome friend, Judy, for all the help with this post!
I love the new quote. That's the mantra to follow!
ReplyDeleteHello all, I'm the person that made the Drunk Runner roll her eyes and I was actually hoping to get a reaction from the account that posted the picture originally but it's better to have discourse amongst friends. As you can tell I found the wording of the quote off putting, and had a different perspective from it.
ReplyDeleteWould anyone in their right mind tell someone, "If you can't make yourself smile then you don't deserve to be happy"? By telling someone they don't deserve to be fit because they don't work out belittles any type of positive change they have made in their life to better it. Sometimes all a person can do is park farther from the grocery store entrance, or take the stairs rather then the elevator, or sit on an exercise ball instead of a chair to make a difference. Not everyone has time or the support to go to the gym, or for a run, or attend a sport practice. Maybe they attempt better lifestyle choices where they can in other ways that's not classified as working out and it works for them and makes them feel better about themselves. A quote like that just tells them everything they do is not good enough *ever* because it's not in a compartmentalized box conveniently sold at a gym.
I don't think the picture is saying "If you don't work out you don't deserve to be healthy", it's saying "If you don't put in the work don't expect to achieve your goal", whatever you goal happens to be.
ReplyDeleteI do like the new positive twist on the saying, but I always prefer positive reinforcement to negative. And must mornings I just can't seem to find the motivation to get up and exercise, but I do my best to make up for it during the rest of the day.
ReplyDeleteI do put in the effort because I am at a place in my journey where I won't be fit unless I do. I didn't start in that place. I started with the small changes aquaticbat mentioned. Back then, the original saying might have made me feel guilty about not doing more, but I wasn't ready then. And feeling guilty about how i was starting with small changes might have caused me to sabotage my journey by attempting to do more than I was ready for and setting myself up for failure.
Although, I do agree with The Capillary about what the roots of the message really mean. You don't get the results if you don't put in the effort. Just perhaps the way the original quote it's written isn't the best way to get the message across to everyone.
You are one of the most optimistic and motivating people that I know. DON'T EVER CHANGE!!!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Capillary. I myself am not a size 4 by any means but I can do 150 box jumps on a 24 inch box, or 150 squats while tossing a 20lb medicine ball in the air, and running a 5km in less then 30 mins. It has taken a lot of effort to be able to achieve these things. I may still have chunk, but I am damn proud of how strong my body has gotten, and its only because I have busted my ass 4 days a week trying to do so. I agree with your quote that its not about how your body looks but what it's capable of, but it takes effort to do so. I personally don't think there's anything wrong with the original quote, you can't be fit if you don't workout. It's that simple.
ReplyDelete