I Don’t Want To Run My Butt Off
Running shouldn't cost us any body parts.
Like most people, my email inbox gets very full. And most of the emails are not notes from friends that I actually want to read. Most of it is advertising.
I know that I’m an easy target because I have a known addiction: I am a magazine whore.
I have three or four different magazine subscriptions going at a time. When they come up for their yearly renewal, I’ll switch it up and try different ones. I’ve even tried to stop subscribing a few times, but it never lasts.
So, it’s no surprise that I get ads and offers from magazines all the time.
But I got one the other day that made me really mad.
It was from Runner’s World or Runner’s Times, or some other running magazine. No, I don’t run anymore, but my name probably stayed on their list.
They were offering a subscription for people who hadn’t run in a while. Giant white letters across the top of the magazine and the email said: Run Your Butt Off.
My first thought was, “F*#! You, Runner’s World!” I may have actually flipped off my computer screen.
After I pushed the delete button, hard, I realized why I was so upset.
I am tired of the assumption that all women want to be thinner. As if we can’t be ok with ourselves as we are now. As if we can’t workout to be healthy and fit. It always has to be about getting skinny.
Well, skinny is not my goal.
It has taken me awhile, but now I not only accept my body as it is, but I actually appreciate my curves. And I am not going back.
When I first started running in college, it was about getting skinny. It became an addiction. I wanted to see how thin I could get and how small my clothes could become.
But my body is meant to have curves and no matter how much I ran, I couldn’t loose my booty.
I used to fantasize that while I ran my butt would fall off. I would go fast enough, and the cheeks would just plop right off and land on the sidewalk. In my mind I would see them there, jiggling on the cement. And I’d run off and leave them behind.
It never happened.
And now I’m glad.
I like my body the way it is.
I don’t want to be skinny and I don’t really care what size of pants I wear. And I’m not the only one.
Yes, I workout. I want to be strong and healthy. And fit. I do want to see more definition in my muscles and I want to be able to do real push-ups.
But I don’t want to lose my butt.
I’m getting tired of all forms of the media who are trying to make us hate ourselves so that we will want to change ourselves, using their products of course.
Wouldn’t they be able to make just as much money by saying, “Hey come and get fit and healthy with us”?
Maybe if we all focus on loving and accepting ourselves as we are, we won’t buy their fear tactics. And when none of us are buying, they’ll have to change what they sell.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about being healthy. But thick thighs and a muscular booty are a part of healthy. We don’t have to be skinny to be fit.
The funny thing is, I’m actually thinking about running again. But I won’t be buying those magazines. Because I don’t want to run my butt off.
I love my butt just where it is.
Do you feel pressure to lose weight? How do you feel about your body? Is exercise about health or getting thin?
In case your interested, my favorite fitness magazine is Oxygen. It is not about getting thin. The models are muscular, not skinny, and they have exercises for building up your butt. That’s my kind of magazine!
Right on, Sister! My favorite new tank top is one that written across the butt is the saying, “Do these squats make my butt look big?”
I work HARD for my rear.
You go, girl!
Oh wow! I want that tank top! I knew I was not alone in not wanting to be skinny.
http://liftbigeatbig.spreadshirt.com/do-these-squats-make-my-butt-look-big-A9911571
Thanks! I’m going to check it out!
Hi Emma, I will confess that, for the many years I was a competitor I was driven. However, now that I’ve been away from it for a while I have noticed something interesting. I’m still the same weight, just with a lot less muscle, and nobody at all has ever really seemed to care if I was a hardened athlete or a soft cuddle specialist. It is me, the person, they like or don’t.
Isn’t that the truth! It is always what’s on the inside that matters. I just wish that we would stop being bombarded with messages to hate ourselves into being thin. It’s enough already. Did you feel any better about yourself when you were in tip-top shape? That whole lie about how life will be easier and people will love us when we are skinny is just wrong. And then, at least in my experience, we can never get skinny enough. There is always more weight to lose and more miles to run. It seems you have it figured out. Cuddle specialist sounds like a good role to me!
Like you, I used to run. I did it as part of a weight loss thing. In my early 20s, I got on birth control pills. That combined with poor eating and inactivity helped me balloon to 200 lbs. My doctor swore it wasn’t the birth control pills. I disagree because, once I got off them, I found it a *lot* easier to lose weight and keep it off. In fact, I have NEVER gotten that chubby again.
Anyway, part of my weight loss regimen was running 6 days a week. I HATED it. Every step was pure misery. The Texas heat and humidity contributed some, but I just didn’t like the pounding and the extreme exertion. Despite that, I ran for about five years. One day, I said, “no more.”
These days, I’m not running unless something is chasing me. And, if I thought I stood a chance in a fair fight, I’d put up my fists before I ran. LOL
Now, that is not to say I don’t need to exercise. I am not overweight, but I could stand to be more toned and fit. The thing is, exercise was such a negative for me that I don’t want to get started again. But I need to.
I am so sorry that running made you hate exercise. I think that we shouldn’t have to do something we hate. There are way too many types of exercise to choose from to pick something we don’t like. The truth is EVERYBODY needs to exercise. It’s about health, physical and mental. Our hearts and lungs need us to exercise. When we make it all about weight loss and getting into skinny jeans, it does make us hate exercise because we are hating ourselves in the process. For me, it felt like the exercise was the way I punished myself for not being good enough. Once I felt that I was good enough, I didn’t need to exercise in the same way. It sounds like that is where you are now. The next step is to exercise for fun and for your heart. But you need to find something you love doing, so it doesn’t even seem like exercise. I love going for long walks with friends. That doesn’t seem like exercise, but it is. I also recently discovered CrossFit, and I am now in love with working out. I can even feel my body wanting to run again. But this time it’s because it feels good to move my body outside. It’s not because there is something wrong with me. So forgive yourself for the self imposed torture (running) and find a way that you like to move your body. No self punishment allowed!
I run, but for me it’s about health. I know most people want to get skinny, and that’s all right too. But people should stop and think if they’re doing it for themselves, or for what other people think.
Exercising should be fun
Yeah, we all probably need to work on caring less about what others think. I wonder, too, if men have the same pressures that we do. But, I would think it would be to be buff and muscular, not thin. Or maybe your pressure is on being financially fit?
Good for you Emma! I think for me exercise is about feeling happy and energetic, I feel better after a walk or activities. I am not at the gym yet but I walk every other day around my neighborhood with my baby and it feels good. I will get into a better shape next year and I will use the gym but right now I’m doing what I can and I don’t wanna feel guilty about it or as uf I’m not doing enough. I don’t wanna be skinny I wanna be comfortable in my own skin or rather clothes.
You definitely have the right attitude, Karla! Exercise for health and happiness, not to look like a runway model. It took me a while to get to that place. Now I want to be strong and fit, not thin. I can’t wait for the day when I can do a real pull-up! That will be a big day for me. You, keep walking with your baby. What a great way to teach your kids that exercise is fun.
I’m with you, Emma! I used to be skinny and competitive. I ran, but never liked it. These days, exercise needs to have a “feel good” element for me to do it — rollerskating, bike riding (actually any of those childhood pursuits). Great post!
You are right! Those things we used to love to do as kids are great ways to exercise now. It should be fun, not a punishment.
I think this will be a lifelong struggle for me. Right now, I know I’m holding a few extra pounds (in part because of the birth control pills I’m on), but I also know my healthy weight, and my hope is that when I get back down to it, I will be able to be satisfied with being healthy rather than skinny. I’m also built with muscular thighs and a big booty. Even when I was what I would call “skinny,” I still couldn’t get rid of my butt. What I’ve learned is not to necessarily judge myself by whether or not the latest fashion looks good on me. Some of them won’t, but that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with my body.
It seems like you’ve learned the big lesson. It is so true that not everything looks good on everyone. And plenty of skinny girls are trying to gain weight and create curves. Because curves are attractive. It is hard to remember that when you don’t feel at your best. For me, I always find that once I am exercising regularly, I start to feel so much better about myself no matter what my weight is. The action of putting my health first just makes me feel better all around. It’s such a good goal to be heathy and fit, rather than trying to be skinny.
Huge kudos for loving and respecting your body the way it is, Emma. Diet and exercise are both ways I nurture and nourish my self physically and emotionally now. It took years to get there, but it’s such an empowering place to be. The funny thing is, when we accept ourselves and grow comfy in our own skin, we tend to feel and appear thinner and more attractive to ourselves and others. Confidence is pretty magical.
Yeah, confidence is huge! And for me exercising has a big part to do with feeling confident. But it has to be something I want to do, not something I force myself to do even though I hate it.
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Good for you, Emma! We women need to start burning magazines that encourage us to do whatever it takes to wear a size 0.
I used to long to wear single digit sizes, but finally realized it was never going to happen. Even when I was in dance and gymnastics classes, riding my bike MILES and MILES most days, and walking a lot, I couldn’t get smaller than a 12. If you’re curvy, you’re curvy and you just can’t change that. That’s not to say I wouldn’t like to be rid of some extra, thyroid related pounds, but I’ve even stopped worrying about that. My focus is on eating more foods that are good for me, and working out at a reasonable pace.
Yes, it really does take awhile to come to come to terms with that, doesn’t it. Hopefully, most of us get beyond that to the stage where we appreciate our bodies for our curves. I’m happy to say that is where I’m at now. Yes, I want to be healthy, strong, and fit. And I’d like some muscles, but I don’t want to lose my curves. I think focusing on health is the right thing to do.