Is What You See Really What You Get? The paradox of your reality versus actuality and being a ‘skinny’ runnerchick

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12 Replies to “Is What You See Really What You Get? The paradox of your reality versus actuality and being a ‘skinny’ runnerchick”

  1. I love this! I’m definitely not the smallest in the runner crowd, but the fact that people think it’s okay to harass skinny people makes me furious. I absolutely hate it when people use the term “anorexic” like it’s not a serious issue and anyone who is skinny can be labeled that way. Seriously though, a praying mantis?! That’s gotta be the weirdest thing I’ve heard!!

    Being athletic has completely changed my life – running > antidepressants, let’s just put it that way!

  2. Fear not, those cat-calls gone bad happen to everyone. I’m not super skinny and I’ve dealt with eating disorders, sort of still do. But I’ve had a lot of weird things yelled at me. For example “that is the biggest a$$ I’ve EVER seen on a little white girl!” thank you, gentleman at the Jiffy Lube. But I’m glad you fired back and have a healthy perspective. I love the idea of athletics helping you be proud of your body as a vessel. Great message. What can my body do?! Beauty, as much as it sounds like a pat answer really is so different for each person. okay, strength – discipline and determination. I am anything but lazy; weakness- self doubt which annoyingly leads to indecision way too often

    • great point about beauty being different for everyone! okay, and seriously, i hope u clocked the A-hole at jiffy lube…tho he and his pot-belly prolly meant it as a compliment. and do i find it incredibly easy to believe you are anything but lazy?? 😉

  3. I love this post!!! so true, seriously. I think people have a skewed view of what a “normal” size is in this country. I’m fairly small, but I don’t think anyone would ever say that I looked “too thin”. Blog pictures can be a little misleading, so for comparison, I’m the exact same size as Desiree Davila but maybe 3 pounds more. For me, I can’t be as thin as possible AND be a good runner – everyone’s different, but when my weight dips under 100 pounds, so does my energy levels and performance – lowering your weight doesn’t always equal speed gains. It took a lot of time for me to come to terms with that, but once I started to care about my running performance, I realized that my weight/size was a byproduct of my training, and that I should care more what my body can DO than what it looks like. It’s all relative though, when non-runners see me, they’re like “you’re sooooooo tiny!!” and then are floored when they see me eat haha.I think being an athlete has DEFINITELY helped me do a 180 with my body image. Right now, with the time off, I’m not at my smallest. But I’m oddly okay with that, because I know that my body reflects my training, and I know that I’m doing the best I can – and that if I’m smart and conservative now, like i have to be in order to get back on track, my body will be ready to adapt to hard work all the sooner. A year ago, I would’ve been incredibly upset about it and would probably still be exercising myself into the ground!

    • skewed is an understatement, honestly i think if most runnerchicks gained even 30lbs they would STILL get called skinny…lol. but on a more serious note, being thin doesn’t equate to being fast it’s just a by-product and where one person’s body is healthiest/fastest is different for everyone. running and weight is a tricky thing but like u, wat’s helped me really is realizing that performance should come first…wat good is being a ‘skinny’ runner if u can’t run the workouts! lol.

  4. I see myself as a very smooth runner 😛 Haha and I know it’s not true based on pictures my mom takes of me during my races.
    I define myself a a runner/athlete. I frankly just wrote a paper on it. Without running in my life I honestly don’t know if I’d be the person that I am today.
    I usually don’t care what other people think. If they think I’m cray cray for running so many miles at 6 in the morning or some random stuff who cares? But I do care how people see my body. Most of the time I’m pretty confident but there are those days where I think I have a tummy, or my flat chest is embarrassing or my lack of a ‘donk. But I just remember I’m built this way because I can run.
    Strength: motivated, driven (sometimes the point of worrying my mom)
    weakness: don’t know when to stop

    • i’m sure that was a rocking paper. and i’m the exact same way, my running has helped shape my life in ways i prolly don’t even recognized. in traits, learning lessons, meeting people, and well…like u said…i wouldn’t be the same person without it…haha.

  5. Yelling at someone for how they look is just NOT. OKAY. No matter what they look like.

    That guy’s a jerk. I wish you really could have had a pop tart victory over him 🙂

  6. Pingback: Runner ‘Tells’ and What Warrants Bragging Rights? |

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