What Does Fit Mean to Me
Recently an article was brought to my attention in regards to dysfunctional eating. The article discussed the issue of abundance without discernment in regards to the eating habits of people in this century. In all honesty I am not sure how I felt after reading the article. There were some aspects that I agreed with, as I am a firm believer in living a life that allows for you to feel complete and healthy. Yet throughout the whole article I got the feeling that despite arguing that the author was specifically not telling people how they should look it was also trashing those who choose to live a life in which results in them looking a certain way.
Mostly, however, the article got me thinking as to what being fit meant to me. I choose to live a life of exercise and clean eating and I have chosen to live a life where I work very hard to look the way that I do, yet I took a second to ask myself what does being fit mean to me.
I would agree that a stigma about being fit has been established that must mean you either have a lot of muscles, or be super toned and lean. However, while that can be some of the benefits of living a fit life it is not the basis of it. A couple of years ago I probably would have agreed with the concept that being fit meant that you were super buff or extraordinarily lean, yet now as I sit here and think about it I realize that being fit is more about confidence and strength.
Not the kinda strength that comes from having muscles but the kind that gets you through a day, brings you up when you are feeling down, helps you walk with you head held high, and most importantly lets you smile when you look at yourself in the mirror. Not everyone has the same build so the idea of comparing oneself to the person next to you counteracts the idea of feeling healthy and fit because you cannot be exactly like that person; some people have learner, toner muscles and some are more curvy it is these differences that make the human race unique and beautiful.
As an athlete being fit and healthy has become about what I can do to improve my performance but it did not start out that way. Living this lifestyle came from needing a change and needing a way to bring back my self-confidence, to feel good in my skin and have the strength to believe in myself. Choosing this change has been one of the greatest things that I ever did not only because of the bodily benefits but because of the mental and emotional strength I have acquired from it. Living this life has given me another family to be a part of, I've met so many wonderful people because of this choice.
There is an unbalance in society with how images have become the standard of whom you are supposed to be. Yet that imbalance doesn't necessarily strive from food rather the lack of understanding of what living a fit and healthy life can bring to you. For me it brought strength, belief, community, and pride in myself and that trumps anything else it could have brought me.
What does being fit mean to you?