2 December 2009
Reader Mail: “Are you naturally thin?”
Reader Amy says: “I really love all your advice and meals you eat (I’m highly jealous of most of your meals). Are you a small, thin person naturally or do you have to work at it to keep your body how you want it to be? Have you had body issues before? What made you so interested in food and nutrition?”
I actually get her last question a lot. Since my job has nothing to do with food or nutrition, people wonder how I got so interested in it. I suppose it’s just something I’ve always been naturally drawn to. I remember being fascinated by health and fitness magazines in high school and college (not to say all advice dispensed in those magazines is so great!).
I think I’m mostly interested in nutrition because of all the misinformation out there. How do we define what’s “good” for us? A food that’s good for us calorically speaking may be horrible for us environmentally or nutritionally speaking (think of one of those 100-calorie packs, for instance).
I have no formal education in nutrition, though I don’t necessarily think all formal nutrition education is a good thing (many RD programs are not quite as progressive and up-to-date as you’d think). All my knowledge is based on my own research, meaning it’s totally fallible. But most likely, I’ve double- or triple-checked my info (and have sources to back it up!)
Anyway, on to the first few of Amy’s questions.
I’m absolutely NOT a naturally thin person! I come from a family of foodies and big eaters. Naturally, I think my body likes to be fairly curvy. I tend to fluctuate between a size 6 and a size 10, depending on how much I’m eating and working out. To be a size 6, I have to cut back significantly on treats and work out really consistently. Sometimes it feels worth it and sometimes it doesn’t. And then I go through periods where I reject my size 10 self and get really frustrated by it. But as my boyfriend can attest, I also often admire my muscles in the mirror (I tend to build muscle and tone pretty quickly, so a few weeks in the gym makes a big difference on me!). He makes fun of me because I try to give him tickets to the gun show wayyyyy too often. :)
I think what really makes me love my body is seeing what it’s capable of. Having never played a single sport in my life, I was so proud of being able to train for and run a half marathon. And every time I’m able to lift just a little bit more weight, I get so excited. The human body is an amazing specimen! Just last night on The Biggest Loser, contestants that couldn’t run a single mile five months ago ran a full marathon. That, my friends, is pretty outstanding.
If you don’t always love your body for how it looks, at least love it for what it can do for you. Be thankful if your body efficiently turns food into energy, carries you from place to place, allows you to perform all kinds of activities, from standing at a podium to holding hands to driving a car. Some people’s bodies don’t do those things. And trust me, I realize how cheesy that sounds, but sometimes you just gotta go there.
