Don't Call Me Skinny.

I am really beginning to detest the word 'skinny,' particularly when it's said in reference to me or to a goal that someone has--as in to 'get skinny.'  Why do I have such a problem with the word??  Because to me, skinny implies weakness.  It implies deprivation.  (When you look at images of malnourished humans in third-world countries or images of people whose bodies are ravaged by disease, do you see skinny as a good thing??  A powerful thing?? A desirable state of being??)  Skinny implies denial and punishment of one's self, not empowerment.  It implies changing one's body to meet someone else's standards, expectations, approval.  Skinny implies taking something away from one's self, minimizing one's self.

Example at Left:  Skinny.  Achieved through not eating, smoking cigarettes, and doing cocaine.  So she can look pretty to other people.

The amazing and STRONG ladies of USAG Ansbach's 2012 Push Up Contest.  Strong in spirit, in their ability to persist, to rise up to meet a challenge and then overcome it.

I am not skinny I am STRONG.  

Too many girls and women have been sold a bill of goods that skinniness is desirable.  Skinniness gives you peace of mind.  Social acceptance.  Better clothes. A better life.  Such TOTAL BS.  Ladies, it's time to shed that mindset that 'skinny' is good.  Skinny is unhealthy.  Skinny is weak.  Skinny is changing yourself for the perceived approval of others, giving away who you really are for a 'pat on the head' from someone else.  And 'skinny' won't last.

Strong needs to become the new skinny.  Strong is purposeful.  Strong comes from within.  Strong empowers you, enables you to do things you thought were out of your reach.  Strong gives you the power to thrive.  The power to walk into a room full of people and know that the only person whose approval you really need is your own--and that you've already got it.  Strong is knowing that you have a body and spirit capable of taking on challenges and meeting them head on.  Strong is enduring hardships, injuries, and rising up from a fall again and again.  Skinny can't do that.  Skinny crumbles under the pressure of difficulty.  And whether you're strong or skinny is all in your mind, in the message you tell or sell yourself.

So the next time you head out for a run, into the weight room, or walk into a class remember why you're there.  Are you there to get skinny--become less of yourself in fact--or are you there to get Strong? Are you there to become bigger and better than you've ever been before--maybe bigger and better than you ever dared to dream you thought you could be???

I know what I'm after each time I go for a run, or step into the weight room, or hook up the TRX on my back porch.  And it sure as hell ain't to get skinny.  Skinny can't do the things that I do.

STRONG IS THE NEW SKINNY.