This is how you do it.
 

Here's something I'm sure has occurred to many of you - I've noticed as I go to the gym more and more frequently that I see the same trim, fit people there every day. Trim and fit people for the most part are not trim and fit by luck, but rather because they put in the time and effort to keep themselves that way. That's a good thing for me to keep in mind when I'm feeling sorry for myself because losing weight is haaaaaaard (hear that in a whiny tone).

Anyway, my gym is at my workplace, and so those same people I see there every day, I sometimes see them elsewhere around the company grounds. This evening I went to the office kitchen to cut up the orange I usually eat before I head down to the gym, and I ran into one of those people there. Though I don't know this fellow, I like him; he always has a friendly smile on his face at the gym. He's very fit, built somewhat like a gymnast, compact and strong.

He was also preparing his pre-gym snack: on a plate he had half a bell pepper, a handful of baby carrots, a cup of yogurt. He was standing over the sink peeling a kiwi.

It was rather like a tiny lightbulb clicking on in my mind. Here is a fellow whose physique and dedication I have admired as long as I've been working out in the company gym. And watching him prepare his snack - whole, colorful foods packed with vitamins and nutrients - just made me feel better about all the work I have to do to get as trim and strong as I want to be.

That's how you do it. I'm on the right track. And now, I'm off to the gym!

Awesome post! Good for you :D :hug:

I agree...this is absolutley true. Great post!

Great post! Love it!

Thank you!

Barb

You know what's double-awesome about your post? You keep running into these same fit folks--and that means you're at the gym a lot too. Nice work! :)

I work out 6 days a week and I am seeing results. Can't wait until I am in the category of a fit and trim person!

I like this post, too! Sometimes I read where someone is discouraged because so and so can eat whatever they want, and it's not fair they're still skinny. But fueling one's body properly and working it, that's something to aspire to!

Great post! Like Shannon says, we hear/write/think a lot about those skinny people who can "eat whatever they want" and "never exercise." Well, the reality is that those people are few and far between. Most thin, fit, healthy people are eating sensibly and working out regularly. Carter, way to be one of 'em!

You're absolutely right!! The trim and fit people are the ones who are at my gym every single day. And...so am I! I'm imitating just what they do. And I will be just as fit and trim as they are.

A lot of the not-so trim and fit folks just don't stick it out. That's always sad. I'd say my dear friend and I are the only two who started out not-so trim and fit and yet still put in the time every single day.

Ummm, yeah, that's basically it!!!

It is nice though to see affirmation of it.

I can not say that I was ever one of those who thought that people were slim by accident, or because of genetics and their metabolisms and all. I pretty much knew that anyone who was slim was there because they worked for it. I guess I was just not willing to put forth the effort. Not sure why.

I knew it looked like a great life to be slim. But it did seem to entail "all that work". Upon fearing for my life and realizing I had no choice but to put forth that effort, I quickly came to realize that all that "work" was 10000% worth it. It's like I was let into the club.. It was a big secret. All that work and discipline came with over the top rewards and those *sacrifices* are negligible compared to what you get back and don't seem like sacrifices at all. :)

Great post!

Have you ever watched Gilmore Girls and see the amounts of food Laurali & Rory supposedly eat? When you look at them though you realize there is no way they eat like that in real life because they are so fit and trim. I'm sure they work really hard to keep those trim figures.

There are several shows like this. They love to make the skinny girl eat. And they start them young! "Sam" on "iCarly" will eat anything and loves fried chicken. "Kenzie" on NCIS LA was compared to a goat on the last episode I watched

In defense of thin people, there are thin people who love to eat rich fattening foods - I hope I can manage to be one of them - they just do what we here are learning to do, plan for it, adjust for it, do it once in a while, enjoy smaller portions of it, etc.

As for the gym, I don't manage to go every day. I aim for 5 days a week (as I mentioned it's at my workplace), and most weeks I go 4 days. Every once in a while I hit all 5 days.

I'm happy with that for now because I used to aim for 3 days a week and only manage two. ;) Anyhow I'm okay with having room for improvement, because it gives me somewhere to go when/if the weight loss slows down more than I'd like.

Glad you all enjoyed the post!

I love this post. Just makes you think that all bodies are basically created equal and the same things apply to us all. Less calories into the body and burn off more calories than you eat. Simple math, right!?!

Well done!!

I'm glad somebody else posted what I've been saying. I know you need to watch "calories" but I swear, so far just going back to the gym has lost me 30 lbs., exercise makes all the difference in the world.

It is so true, we think thin people eat whatever they want all day because we see them eat something unhealthy once in a while. So not true. Most if not all people work at it. It's just such an unconscious part of thier life for so long they aren't talking about it all the time.

Reminds me of a very slim fit late 40's gentleman I know complaining about people who spent all of thanksgiving dinner talking about what they couldn't eat or how many calories were in desert. His answer? why not pay attention to the crap you are eating the rest of the year so you can enjoy those rare special occasions that revolve around food.

Oh and I took it as just the opposite. Funny.

I took it that it was his dedication to preparing his food, not merely the gym alone, that was responsible for his fit body.

Emphasis on Most. I have definitely known thin people who really DO eat ridiculous quantities of food (I stayed with my step-FIL for 2 weeks as part of a business trip - yoga once or twice a week, not even a particularly large amount of NEAT movement, ridiculous quantities of food, huge breakfast, huge lunch, gigantic dinner, 300 calorie "snacks" 2-3 times per day, etc...and he's small. Really small. My FIL isn't so lucky, so they'll cook Weight Watchers meals to eat for dinner...he'll have 1 serving and go to the gym to maintain his weight, and his partner will eat the other 3 servings and stay small). Still I believe that for every person like that, there are two or more slim people who definitely DO work to maintain that slimness.

Yes, I meant something more like this. Seeing this fit guy at the gym is one thing - you sort of expect to see buff, fit people at the gym. But I saw him prepare a healthy snack that he'd obviously put so much thought into - bringing several different fruits and vegetables from home, putting them in the office refrigerator, standing there slicing and peeling them. All the same time-consuming attention and planning that for so long I didn't make time to do, and that (I reluctantly admit) I still sometimes resent having to do.

It's a little hard to articulate, but it was just nice to see someone like that doing things I associate so strongly with trying to lose weight. It helps me associate them with being that fit strong person I want to be. Let me put it this way - I have never been fit or trim. For me, vegetables and yogurt are the snacks of a fat woman on a diet, because every time I have eaten them that is what I have been.

My experience yesterday evening drove home the point that these are not just the snacks of a fat woman on a diet. They are the snacks of the trim, fit, strong person I want to be.

Does that make sense?

that makes total sense

great realizations!

I'm glad you saw it, because I had a light bulb moment that was similar too. All my friends are thin, and even though I had a friend who I knew was constantly dieting (she did the Jenny Craig thing all the time), I had made the assumption my other friends were "naturally" thin.

They weren't. I started to REALLY SEE what they were eating and the exercise they did and I realized that they aren't eating Kit Kats and McD's every day and sitting on the couch watching TV.

They can have high calorie meals, but they are planned in advance and they go right back to healthy eating and exercising. They don't binge and they do make hard choices between eating this thing today versus something tomorrow.

I realized that I had to be careful about what I was putting in my body too. I couldn't stay mad at my body for being fat or having PCOS. I had to take responsibility for having gained the weight and to accept that I had make similar healthy choices if I wanted to have a healthy body.