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Author's note: There is no Athlete Profile today. I apologize, I am in the process of arranging something very special for athlete profiles and it should go into effect next week. Stay tuned! When it comes to describing bodies, I hate the word "thick". It's awful. Everything about it. The way it sounds. The way it rolls off the tongue. Even the way the consonants come together with the vowels to make the sound of the word sounds derogatory. THICK. EW. When I gained weight, my friends and I used the description "thick" as an excuse. I'd put on 10 lbs., look in the mirror, make a comment about my weight gain and my friends, not wanting to make me feel badly, my friends would say, "oh no, girl, you're just thick." And I would feel better. As if being "thick" was some kind of compliment. Gained a little more weight. There were more "girl, you're thick." And a little more weight. See where this is going? But I didn't see anything wrong with it. Because I was "thick". I couldn't run 400 meters, squat to full depth, do a push up, walk up stairs, or wear shorts without chafing. And to me-and my friends-it was okay because I was "thick". I had not so good blood pressure, I was exhausted all the time, and my body fat percentage was…uh…not ideal. But that was totally cool, because I was THICK and THICK is a good thing. Right? Wrong. What no one had the nerve to tell me was, being "thick" is, in actuality, 3 double cheeseburgers away from morbidly obese.
Yall have seen the pictures. 180 lbs on a 5' frame? Not okay. At all. If you haven't seen the pictures, you can see them here. I was using the description as an excuse to be unhealthy and lazy. And I see/hear other people do this everyday. I am IN NO WAY saying that people are all meant to weigh 3 lbs. I sure as heck don't weigh anywhere close to 3 lbs. What I am saying is that we-as humans-have GOT to stop making excuses for being unhealthy. I am still technically what is considered "thick". I've got big legs, big hips, a butt, and boobs. Let's all be honest. What's different? I'm fit. I have worked really hard to make sure that what makes me "thick" is muscle and not fat. Now, I can run a few flights of stairs. I can do a lot of pushups (kind of. I guess it depends on your definition of a lot). I can drop it like a squaaaat (in my Snoop Dogg Lion voice). And run a mile in under 10 minutes (this is a big deal, I'm not a good runner…at all!). I am not skinny. I'm probably not even anyone's definition of thin. I'm just fit. My body's no longer a hanger for large clothes. Now, I can do stuff with it. I can lift and hang and push and produce power. And that shiz is cool. Never again do I want to be referred to as "thick". I do not want to be associated with a former me that was too lazy to take good care of her body (after all, it's the only place I have to live). I'd rather be someone who has big legs, hips, a butt, back and shoulders because it'd be impossible to contain so much power in any smaller of a container. Hey, Fitness. Nice to meet you.
