Body Image and other Random Thoughts

[Veronica]

It's so easy to judge other people by how they look. You keep fooling them BikerHen and slow weight loss really is better. If you keep biking and eating well, the weight will come off. And even if it doesn't get where you hope, you'll be SO much healthier.

V.

[nuthatch]

Well said, BikerHen!!!

[CorsairMac]

each day I come here I read yet another motivational, positive reinforcement post! You go kick their lean lil hinneys Banty Hen! I'll ride with you Any day over them "others"!

[bikerHen]

Yeah, I know slow is better, but still, slow can be SO slow sometimes. It never seems to take as long to gain the weight. I know it WILL happen, and I'm also realistic enough to know I will never be thin, but dropping 80 pounds will certainly put me in a much happier place. And I'm sure the hills will be a whole lot easier! My current goal is to be able to wear, in public, the XXL club cut jersey for the LRRH Ride in June. BikerHen

[Trekhawk]

Yeah, I know slow is better, but still, slow can be SO slow sometimes. It never seems to take as long to gain the weight. I know it WILL happen, and I'm also realistic enough to know I will never be thin, but dropping 80 pounds will certainly put me in a much happier place. And I'm sure the hills will be a whole lot easier! My current goal is to be able to wear, in public, the XXL club cut jersey for the LRRH Ride in June. BikerHen

I continue to be inspired in riding and life by you wonderful ladies. Wow and havent any of those ride clubs learnt yet that sometimes big legs etc means a big powerhouse. I never judge any athlete by how they look it can be so deceptive. Looking forward to seeing you at LRRH and maybe riding some or all of the hundred with you.

[bikerHen]

Dirt Girl - Thanks for the offer to ride, even in the cold! I so want to do a 50 mile ride for my B-day. My day is filling up on Friday so I might try for Sunday! I have the route figure out, but will have to use my mtb. I'm not sure if I want to go 50 miles on the mtb.

TrekHawk - I'll be more than happy to hang with you at LRRH as long as I can. BikerHen

[Melody]

I've been meaning to post to one of the last few threads over the past few days but just haven't had the time but now I do.

I have pretty poor self-esteem alot of it stemming from when I was growing up. I'm 5'10.5 (so pretty tall) and when I graduated high school I was just shy of 300 pounds. I've been overweight for as long as I remember but I'm healthier today than I have ever been. I'm now 33, weigh in at 220 and have unfortunately plateaued in my weight loss but I'm persevering.

Losing the weight was not easy but it was something that I really had to do. In college I was diagnosed being diabetic (580 blood sugar) and had been for years. The diabetes had done severe harm to kidneys, livers, heart, etc. I was also diagnosed, at the time, with a condition called nephrotic syndrome where the kidneys no longer function as a filter correctly. At the time we had 3 different doctors estimate that if my lifestyle, diabetes and weight didn't change I wouldn't live to see 25.

Strangely, until this point I had been fairly active and never could understand why I didn't lose weight. I played tennis since I was in 6th grade on nearly a daily basis and later got involved in Amtgard (medieval recreation/Live Action Role Playing [LARP]). I'd go out in 40 degree weather to "hit a few balls" and be out all afternoon on the courts.

When I've gotten my sugars and hypertension under (relatively) good control the weight finally started coming off. Unfortunately for a few years I kind of went through a depressed phase which had me more sedentary but had a huge wakeup call just before my 28th birthday -- I had a stroke. Due to that I started really working on control of my health issues and exercising. I have to be careful since those same health issues can be exacerbated by exercise. An enlarged heart and severe hypertension (at time of stroke 253/163) are some of those. :/

These days I'm still not really happy about how I look but I am happier now about it than ever before. I'm still working on the weight loss and working on becoming a stronger cyclist. I miss playing tennis but just haven't had the same motivation as I did when I was younger to play but I may be able to convince my sister to join me. She was really into it also.

Rambling Mel

[spazzdog]

Hey Mel, I'll play tennis with you... haven't swung a racket in years (wondering if mine will still work?) but I'm game. A few times meeting up to knock them around then before you know it we'll be able to have 'matches'.

As to body image... I don't know. I never got sucked into the whole "gotta look this way" hyped by magazines. I never learned to apply makeup... if I had to go to a fancy thing I'd have someone do it for me. My weight if I'm not smoking is abt 145 lbs... I'm 5'7". But since I smoke my norm is abt 124.

In my current state, (to quote Million Dollar Baby) I'm trapped somewhere between nowhere and goodbye, thusly the depression has stripped me down to abt 110. Normally mirrors don't affect me... these days I avoid them if I'm nekkid... I look too much like the skeleton hanging at the doc's office. It will get better once I'm away from here.

All I can say this; I've been involved with thin, lithe athletes and I've been involved with full-bodied, curvy, soft, round women. They were all beautiful in their own unique ways. You should all know that you are beautiful as you are and while you worry or obsess abt a part or parts you don't like, there's someone standing across the way thinking you're the most beautiful woman they've ever seen.