What does a real Athlete look like???

[windwalker]

According to the height weight charts:

http://www.healthchecksystems.com/heightweightchart.htm

I'm pretty overweight. Hummmm, I'm 5' 9.5" tall and weigh 172 lbs. I'm a small frame. So I guess I'm a pudgeball.

Well screw the darn charts and grafts and ideals of what is fat and what is fit

Wanna see what an athlete looks like, look in the mirror! We have all gone the distance and got the T-Shirt and the medal, that makes us the real deal!

Am I wrong, should we bow our heads in shame since we don't fit the mold of a "real athlete".

Or should we hold our heads high and say "Heck Yea I'm a real athlete".

If you are currently suffering through an injury, your still an athlete, you will be back.

You have to believe in you before you can become what you can be.

Connie, Kathy, Stacey, Wendy, Jeanne, Nancy, Cindy, Robert, Linda, Bill, Steve,John, Mike, Judy, Denise, Miranda, Krista, Pat, Craig, Howard, Cam, Maria, Jen, Kelley, SWDave, Mel, Lily, Diane, and everyone, heck yes you guys are athletes.

You guys ready to strut our stuff at the Tower of Terror? It's less than a month away!!!

Dave

 

[DianeL]

Dave you've gotta stay outta my head! I've definitely had a problem this week with the image in the mirror vs a distance athlete. Just completed out SHORT saturday at 16 miles (susan tossed in an extra mile on me this week) And yet when I walked into the gym this week each time I felt horrible. Funny thing Susan was also struggling this week.

The Penguin's article in the Oct Runner's World kinda touches on this I really really liked his line about the difference between a runner and jogger is the signature on the race application (actually i think he was quoting someone).

We are all putting ourselves out there, putting in the steps, pushing thru cardio classes, doing those sit up (think it's Cam that has the count going on ) and on numerous race dates through the year we push ourselves beyond what any of us thought we'd ever be able to do. We are definitely athletes, all our applications have signatures on them (ok, mine is digital since i signed up online but still LOL)

Dave!!!

I hope that if anyone else was struggling with the vision of the inner athlete this week that the new week brings a clearer view

 

[Duanerice]

OK, call me chubby too. At 6' I weigh 178 which puts me 8 lbs over the top of a medium frame. I will never be back to 170 lbs, it just won't happen. But I can go run 10 miles tomorrow and will eventually be up to 26.2!

I ran yesterday with a guy that at first glance you would never have thought he be an endurance athlete. A little pudgy with a bit of a belly. But, he was just warming up for a 20K race today and he out ran me. I had to slow him down so I didn't burn out. Come to find out he runs at least 1 full triathlon each year as well as numerous marathons and half marathons each year. I know when didn't fit any of the profiles listed on that page

A year or so ago I signed up for weight watchers at work. Well if you want to be a lifetime member you need to set a goal for a weight that at least puts you at the top of a "normal" BMI. Crap, I had to lose 30 lbs just to get to the top of the chart (I was a bit overweight at the time). I am still below the BMI threshold, but I'll never be much lower than a 23 or 24 on the BMI chart, if that low.

But, our WW meeting leader did make some good observations. When you were 20 - 25, what did you weigh? What changed. I probably weighed 165 tops back then. I haven't grown since then, at least upward that is. My theory is that since I am carrying so much more muscle now than I did back then, that makes up for it. My muscle mass weighs more than my non muscle mass weighed. Yea, that's it. That's my story.....

One week from right now I will have completed my first Disney race, the RFTT.

enjoy,
Duane

 

[Steffwalks]

I weigh more than the charts allow me too....quite a bit more. I have more muscle than a 50 year old woman has a right to. My doctor has never told me I need to lose weight. I have remarkable bloood pressure, pretty normal cholesteral, a low resting heart rate, and take no meds. Most people would never dream that I weigh what I do. I actually overheard the girls in my docs office "talking" amongst themselves trying to guess what I weigh, they were all wrong. And yet, I would still like to be 20 lbs less! Generally though, I am pretty happy with me. And I am proud to say that my 31 year old daughter doesn't have body image issues. Now, if she could just teach me that!

 

[ultramickeymouse]

I would agree that Paris Hilton would fit on these charts but probably couldn't do a 1/2 miler if her life(or fortune) depended on it.

We all get a little soft in the middle but we all work from becoming soft all over the rest of our bodies. We don't sit on our couches and watch tv 24/7.

Press on all and continue our journey to fitness. Forget what certain charts say!

 

[nepatsfan73]

Thanks for the inspiration Dave. Based on the charts, my goal for ToT, in addition to finishing, is also going to be trying to get my weight down to 2X the maximum for my height (under large frame, eventhough I am at least a 3XL frame, plus I think I am a carrier of that weight gain virus thing too). I don't see a category for BGMs though (Big Green Men), think that would give me a couple more pounds to work with? Can I add the inch for shoes, but still weigh myself without 5 lbs of clothes if its close?

 

[jeanneg]

I weigh more than the charts allow me too....quite a bit more. I have more muscle than a 50 year old woman has a right to. My doctor has never told me I need to lose weight. I have remarkable bloood pressure, pretty normal cholesteral, a low resting heart rate, and take no meds. Most people would never dream that I weigh what I do. I actually overheard the girls in my docs office "talking" amongst themselves trying to guess what I weigh, they were all wrong. And yet, I would still like to be 20 lbs less! Generally though, I am pretty happy with me. And I am proud to say that my 31 year old daughter doesn't have body image issues. Now, if she could just teach me that!

Steff: Those statements could have been written by me. In fact, I'm having a beef right now over the BMI charts. Accordingly to them, I am not merely overweight, but clinically obese.....and not marginally so either. I accept the fact that I am overweight, but I do not feel obese. God made me a big girl with big bones and lots of muscle. Granted, there is a bit of extra fluff and I would love to drop some weight but it just doesn't come off. People who have lived with me, who know how much I exercise and how releatively little I eat, all agree that something is wrong. But I've been to doctors and no one has any answers and quite frankly I'm tired of people looking at me like I'm lying to them. Like you, my vitals are excellent, so I am obviously healthy. I resent the fact that based on the coordinates on a chart, I have to pay more for things like life insurance, than an unfit person who weighs less would have to pay. It's just not right. Kudos to your daughter for not having body issues. Two of my own children came perilously close to having severe eating disorders because "mom" was always agonizing about her weight. Luckily, they had good pediatricians who were able to recognize the symptoms very early and intervened successfully, but how's that for a guilt trip. No one would ever even remotely mistake me for an athelete.....that's why completing these events is so very important to me.

 

[windwalker]

Fit and healthy Rocks guys!!!

Being beautiful outside doesn't mean happiness.

Being beautiful inside makes you a good friend and companion.

When we go toe to toe with the baddest distance we are gonna beat it then we are gonna celabrate.

It would be a boring world if we all looked alike, then how could we identify each other.

Dave

 

[katwalks]

Like the rest of you, I weigh more than the charts say I should weigh. Even if I could lose this silly 10 pounds that I want to lose, I'd still weigh more than "they" say I should weigh. Not a lot, but still outside the range what they say is "normal". I know my body and know me. IF I could get down to that weight, I know I couldn't maintain it. And what, really, would be the point? Like Connie and Jeanne, my vitals are good and I take no meds. The doc who performed my surgery in August said he could tell that I take good care of myself because there aren't lots of 50-year-olds out there who aren't on some kind of medication. I refuse to worry about what "they" say. I know what feels good to me! (And I hate to admit it, but 10 pounds less than where I am is what feels good to me!) It will come off, but it's not going to happen overnight and I'm going to eat some stuff "they" say I shouldn't along the way and it will all be fine!

I don't know exactly who "they" are, and I'm darned sure "they" don't know me!

We're all doing good things for ourselves, and one of the most important is feeling good about ourselves and what we're doing. Let's not let "them" make us sweat the small stuff!

Kathy

 

[princessrunner]

I have to put my 2 cents in here. Always, always, always remember that public figures are images that are unattainable in the real world where our lives are not our bodies or our looks. We do not hire personal trainers specifically to keep us in shape. We rely on ourselves, our motivation and live within the time restraints our lives allow.

Before I had children, I was a bodybuilder well on my way at 112 pounds and 8% body fat. I wore a size 1 at 5'5". Needless to say, even though I was in the extreme of fitness on the outside what it did to me mentally was horrific. I had a terrible body image even at that size. In so much as money does not make you happy, neither does being the ultimate size or the perfect pretty.

We are all athletes, we are all beautiful and heck, we are all perfect. If you try, you are already a success. Never judge yourself based on others. Judge yourself on how you feel about yourself. Inside counts, outside is, well, just for looks.

My daughter is 13, weighs 115 pounds and is 5'4" tall. If you went by charts, she is overweight. She is a solid pack of 10% body fat muscular frame. Never once has the doctor said she is overweight. She is beautiful.

My point is that charts are just numbers and if you feel good about yourself you are a winner. Self esteem ranks higher than BMI scales. Never look around and feel inferior. If you are at the gym, you are just as good as anyone in there and better than those who are not. If you are at the back of the pack in a race, you are still out there doing it which, once again, makes you a winner.

 

[windwalker]

PrincessRunner, you have the WISH spirit.

Dave

 

[princessrunner]

Thanks again. I just really dislike thinking anyone has a bad body image. I struggled with it for so many years. Anyone who belives that people like Paris Hilton are happy because they are thin should really step back and look at the issues that surround being "perfect". No one is and we all know it. If you feel good inside you look good outside no matter what your scale or the charts say. I lost my dad to cancer almost 5 years ago and finally lost my mindset of exercising to stay thin. I now exercise just to stay healthy and to set a good example for my children.

 

[princessrunner]

Okay, just for **! and giggles, I just did the BMI calculator. I am 5'4" and weigh 134 pounds. My BMI calculates out to 22.5 which is pretty darned close to the 24.9 high end. I also calculated out my ideal weight and it is 117 to 131. Guess I am overweight too. Any athlete knows that muscle weighs more than fat and, therefore, I just do not find these charts to be something you should rely on. Coincidentally, with the new and improved clothes sizing, I wear a size 4. How many people who wear a size 4 are overweight?

Lets face it, an athlete is someone who puts it all out there every time they compete. The only numbers we should go by is the one they pin on our backs!!

 

[windwalker]

Lets face it, an athlete is someone who puts it all out there every time they compete. The only numbers we should go by is the one they pin on our backs!!

Just keep that thought Darlin, we may just be a candle in the darkness, preaching body and self exceptance, but even the smallest light is visable in the darkness.

Dave

 

[princessrunner]

We are what we are today and we can only work toward what will make us happy in life. Truly happy, not superficially happy. I live with a daughter who struggles with the fact that she is 115 pounds of muscle bulk while her BFs are all in the 80-90 pound range and "normal". She has the 6-pack (not the 12-pack like the rest of us!!), she has beautiful shoulder definition and she is able to do anything that she wants any time. But, she is not "normal".

Me, I am just happy that I can go out and run, walk, yoga, etcetera when I get a chance!! I think that is pretty normal.

 

[princessrunner]

Oh, and the light, that is inside all of us. We just have to let it shine!!

 

[windwalker]

We are what we are today and we can only work toward what will make us happy in life. Truly happy, not superficially happy. I live with a daughter who struggles with the fact that she is 115 pounds of muscle bulk while her BFs are all in the 80-90 pound range and "normal". She has the 6-pack (not the 12-pack like the rest of us!!), she has beautiful shoulder definition and she is able to do anything that she wants any time. But, she is not "normal".

Me, I am just happy that I can go out and run, walk, yoga, etcetera when I get a chance!! I think that is pretty normal.

I'm 56 today and have to say that my 50s have been my happiest years as an athlete. I started walking because I had a achillies tear that left me unable to run distance without pain. I started walking instead and discoverd a whole new world of fitness and competiton. I even had the honor of being a member of the Ky team that went to the Senior Olympics. We had never had a Ky racewalker place in the top 10, this year we had three. In 4 years I'm planning on winning a slot on the team again and going to Huston, then Europe for the world games.

I've had people who were in their 40s tell me that they were afraid of turning 50 till they met me. So I must be getting my message out.

Erica and I were invited over to the WISH site and found a wonderful caring group of people who shared our ideas. We were long time posters on a running forum and had met a lot of good people at races, even some best friends. But the WISH is far and away the best group we have found, we will call it our home forum as long as they will have us.

Dave

 

[princessrunner]

OMG Best wishes on a GREAT one.

50 does not worry me, 40s are awesome. Even though I am 20 pounds heavier and definitely not as buff, I am in better shape mentally and physically than I was in my 20s. I feel good, I think I look good and that is what matters most.

All the WISHers have been so welcoming and just seem like the most awesome group that I could have stumbled upon in my quest to find my way to the ToT run. This is my first WDW race...but definitely not my last.

Also, high congrats on all your accomplishments. Walk, run or crawl, anyway you get there, it is the best reward if you are proud of yourself in the end. My first 5K was last year (memorial run for my DH grandmother) and my goal was to run the whole way and finish. I was sooooo proud of myself for meeting that goal. This year, I was to finish in the middle of the pack. My goal for ToT, meet some great friends and have a great time on my birthday!!

 

[windwalker]

Lisa make sure you make some of the meetings so you can meet these wonderful WISH folks.

I'm sending you Erica's cell # in case you can't find anyone.

Dave

 

[princessrunner]

Lisa make sure you make some of the meetings so you can meet these wonderful WISH folks.

I'm sending you Erica's cell # in case you can't find anyone.

Dave

I got it and you are awesome. We don't arrive until Thursday p.m. and are headed for NSSHP that night assuming my DF comes off her motion sickness meds. Friday is touring like mad people until the FWF and then toddling the world. Saturday my DF and I are lounging and sightseeing while the boys do Richard Petty ride along. We will be at mini golf if they are back, definitely ESPN before the run for early dinner. See you there!!