skinny people have feelings, too.

Here's your warning: this is a bit of a rant, but it will be an informative one.

I have been relatively thin my whole life. I wasn't blessed with boobs or an ass. I still have acne well into my adult life. I have chicken legs. I have been teased for everything mentioned here for as long as I can remember. In high school and college, I had man shoulders due to a ridiculous amount of time spent swimming and lifting weights. I was teased for that. Nobody seems to care though, because I was being teased for a "good problem."

This "positive teasing" has flowed into my adult life. I am one of those "bitches" who bounce back after pregnancy very quickly. I am one of those "bitches" who doesn't gain a ridiculous amount of weight while pregnant. I am one of those "bitches" who paid attention to my diet, didn't use pregnancy as an excuse to shovel a ton of shit food into my mouth all day long and who continued to exercise moderately throughout pregnancy. I worked hard to maintain a healthy lifestyle while safely cultivating a new life inside of me. Yet, I am a bitch because of it. I am "lucky." It must be my good genes. It must have absolutely nothing to do with hard work and healthy choices. Therefore, I am fair game to make fun of, ridicule, and have some pretty nasty things said.

While pregnant, I had several people say things to me along the lines of, "wow. maybe you should eat so that baby can grow." These types of comments were always masked with a smile or a bullshit chuckle at the end, but I knew that these people were not joking. Once my babies came and my body went back into decent shape, it was open season for strangers to make comments about how starving myself isn't going to help my milk supply. How me choosing to put an emphasis on body image and working out is going to severely damage my young daughter. I am here to tell these people to kick rocks. You suck, people. I am not damaging my young daughter by demonstrating a healthy lifestyle. We don't discuss body shapes, sizes, and feelings of fatness. She is two. She is amazing. And she is not on the growth curve for her age. She is tiny. She is already set up to have a life of being on the skinny side and inevitable ridicule for it. But there is nothing she can do about it. Teachers won't care. They'll say that it's a good thing. If she were ever to fire back to an insult of "do you ever eat?" with "do you ever stop eating?" to a chubby classmate, I'm sure I would get a call home.

This culture of "big is beautiful" and "real women have curves" has gotten out of control. It is now making it so being clinically overweight is normal and acceptable. People should be heavier, skinny is gross. Well, folks, that just doesn't seem right. I am not talking about clinically underweight, airbrushed model skinny. I'm talking a healthy BMI (weight to height ratio) versus an unhealthy one. In either direction.

This country is so damn concerned with not hurting people's feelings, and making sure everyone is comfortable in their own skin. Well, there is a huge effing problem with obesity. Our children will not outlive us because they are set up to be overweight and be OK with it. Love your body. Love your rolls. What is wrong with this? Being overweight is clinically liked to major health problems. Heart disease, diabetes, joint issues, loss of bone mass, etc. Why do we want to cultivate this?

I just saw a news story that a woman at a Planet Fitness in the east bay was told to change her her clothes while working out because her "toned arms were intimidating other patrons." WTF. She was walking on a treadmill and had a tank top on. I highly doubt if a "toned" person approached a staff member to complain about an overweight person's revealing outfit, it would not be handled the same way.

Both are wrong. We shouldn't care about what other people are wearing while working out. Focus on yourself. Focus on what you need to do. Who cares. Does my wearing a tank top make you feel badly about yourself because I have toned arms? DO SOMETHING. I bust my ass running. I lift weights. I like doing yoga. I like testing my physical limits. You don't? That's fine. It doesn't concern me. I love the adrenaline rush after running ten miles. I love the feeling of lifting more than I have. I love that my chest can now touch my thighs while doing a forward bend. I love seeing physical improvement. It moves me. It motivates me. It is a huge part of my life. Stop calling me a bitch for being thin and in shape. Stop offering to make me a sandwich. Stop with the anorexic jokes. It's not funny. It's hurtful. It's mean.

I can handle myself. I can handle the jokes and the comments. I'm used to it. What I can't handle, is the comments already starting with my daughter. She is small. She is thin. My son is shaping up to be the same way. I want them both to love their bodies. I don't want them feeling bad about themselves because they're small and their classmates are average or overweight. Body image issues go both ways.

Think about what you're about to say before you make fun of a skinny person next. Or a fit person. I welcome all people to come do a workout with me, then you can make fun of me. I work hard, I like it. I don't wear revealing clothing. I don't focus on my small size. You do. You make it an issue for yourself. Get over it.