by Teri LaFaye

I feel compelled to write this not only as a release for my frustration, but for the mere fact that there are many people with an unrealistic body image who could benefit from knowing that there’s no one way to be at your fittest.

I’m four years into my fitness journey. I tend to be hardest on myself, which leads me to the topic of ‘image.’  If you look around in the media, fitness sites, televisions, billboards, and tabloids, you’ll find yourself surrounded with the world’s view of what being fit really is.

But what is fit for some may not be at all ‘fit’ for someone else!

The Secret

I belong to several websites, all of which contribute to their idea of what nutrition and exercise is. However, in the months I’ve been planning my workouts and transforming myself, I’ve come to the conclusion that no one person knows exactly what has to be done, and the majority of people out there are trying to sell youthfulness to the hopeful, and are not selling the true essence of a better healthier lifestyle.

The saddest thing is that the people who really need to live healthier lifestyles are buying into the propaganda of the latest sales pitch for being fit. They buy the products, get the equipment, and then, when they do not get instant results, bitch and moan for their money back. Through all of this, these same people buying into the saga overlook the most important ingredient to any recipe: hands on work!

No two people have the same body, and while some give up because of their specific definitions of what fitness should be, and end up with an unrealistic body image, the drama alone steers people away from the realness sought in a plastic world.

The Truth

There is no secret! There’s no substitute for plain old hard work and loving the skin you’re in!

I’ve never wanted to be so thin that every vein and tendon was screaming from my body. I personally think it looks unhealthy and plastic. When I got down to 126, I felt too thin. I see teenagers and adult women dieting and binging their way to the ideal weight (whatever number that is for them). The distorted view of what cannot be maintained year-round and still be considered healthy is, for some reason, what some people want.

At my present weight of 135, I’ve noticed that my mid back has increased, therefore my waist size has increased. And I could diet my way into oblivion and still have thighs and bubble butt! But hey, there are certainly worse things –at least I have a butt that’s not sagging to my knees and not as wide as a tractor trailer bumper!

I certainly will not claim to be a know-it-all when it comes to staying fit. I’m not a bodybuilder, even though I am building a body every day. What I will say is, I tend to think some people teeter back and forth between the need for approval and the want for something they will never obtain, because it either does not exist, or the person would not be satisfied with it even if they got it. Talk about an unrealistic body image!

Fountain of Youth

There isn’t one. It doesn’t exist!

What does exist is the idea that a person of any age can change their lifestyles to be in the best shape of her life.

I’m eight months away from turning 50 years old. I would not trade my present life with any 25 year old. I’m not trying to be 25, nor would I want to be. What I envision is a healthy, longer life created better from being fit and loving the skin I’m in. There are many things a person cannot change — age takes a toll on a body. Skin loses its elasticity. Hair thins and grays, and when everything is said and done, you just get older.

This doesn’t mean you throw your hands up and give in. On the contrary, it means you change the things you can and accept the things you can’t change. Sure, you can go get injected with Botox, cut, sucked, lifted, and implanted, but no matter what you do cosmetically, you will still be the age you were before steering from nature. Good nutrition and exercising takes care of yourself, slowing the process of aging down, and for me, that’s enough.

I’m not saying that everyone is shooting for plasticity, which would be like shooting for the moon and missing the stars. I am saying that for the average person out there, fitness is not skin and bones!

Not everyone wants or needs to be a fitness model or compete in a competition. That is not the only reason for being fit. In fact, it sends the wrong message to some people with eating disorders tending to focus in on the image in the mirror or the number on the scales.

Who cares if I do not have washboard abs or that I’m not ripped to threads, how much I bench press, or how many calories I ingest. Who cares if I’m not 110 pounds or a size 2? What difference does it make if my butt and thighs aren’t in ‘stick’ proportion, or my BMI is 18 percent and not 10 percent?

I’m almost 50 years old and I am in the best shape of my life. I neither have anything to prove, or anything to gain by not admitting my imperfections. I am just happy to love the skin I am in.

About Teri

Teri LaFaye is a teacher, a mentor, a writer, and an inspiration. She’s also the author of a published children’s book, written in a humorous rhyme theme that’s perfect for the child in your life — or the child in you! Please contact Teri at sassyonyx@yahoo.com.