Category: Uncategorized

The Tall and Short of It: An Epiphany

When it comes to body image, my weight is/was only one part of my issue with my size.

Not only did a spend a majority of my life overweight, but I’ve always been “the tall girl.” I was one of a few girls that shot up in 5th-6th grade and had to wait until high school for guys to catch up…and in many cases I’m still waiting on them to catch up.

I’ve lost nearly 50 pounds, but regardless of how much weight I lose I will always be big at 5 foot 9.5 inches tall. 

Being big has always been a hang up for me when it comes to dating. 

Last weekend I went out with a guy who was 6’2 – it was amazing how little and confident I felt. Yesterday I went out with a guy who was like 5’10. In fact my roommate texted me to ask how tall he was while I was out because in less than 3 months of being my roommate she knows how height is such an issue for me. I just have a hard time feeling attractive around guys who are close in height to me and in turn being attracted to them.

As I was talking to my roommate about this after the date and IT HIT ME. Since the average american man is 5’10 and woman is 5’4 if I date guys who are an average height I’m considered/perceived as the BIG one – the weirdo. I then think of my roommate who is 5’4 and her ex boyfriend was like 5’8 and he was considered the LITTLE one – the weirdo.

I can’t win unless I date a guy who is above average in height. My big issue is being the “stand out” or weirdo. 

I want a big tall guy, but they are so far and few in between. My self confidence is always SO different in the presence of other tall people (even other tall woman), because it makes me feel less like a weird giant. 

I’m way above average in terms of height and the only way to not feel big is to be around other above average height people, and this is especially true when it comes to romantic relationships.

I hate that I write people off for not being tall enough, but my self image is so closely connected to the sense of feeling like a big giant and feeling like not the big one is something really important to me right now. I’ve put in too much damn work to not be perceived as BIG.

Volleyball

My roommate and I joined a summer co-ed rec volleyball league that starts tomorrow. We are on a team of a bunch of free agents and our team name is Set to Kill. I played volleyball from junior high through college, but it’s been a while. I hope I don’t embarrass myself!

NYC Fitblr Fun!

Wanted to give a shout out to Ellen (94Monkeys) and Jocelyn (RunningBeautiful) for swimming through unbearable NYC humidity to meet up for drinks and dinner on Monday.

It was great catching up with these ladies and they have given me some extra motivation to MAKE time for tumblr. 

Extra points to Ellen for THROWING ‘BOWS to keep the Subway doors from closing so I could get on the train!

Jess and Carrie I look forward to you joining us in July/August 🙂

May Fitness

Despite feeling out of shape – when really I’m out of of marathon shape, but still am fit overall – I worked out 18 of 31 days in May. Not bad. My heel spur dampened my spirits, but I’ve come to realize it doesn’t feel any better when I’m not working out, so I might as well work out. 

I’m still gym hopping. My 2 week trial at Sport&Health ends on Monday. I think I may explore crossfit for at month or two as a body “tune up.” There is a Golds Gym I need to check out as well as a LA Fitness. I may join the campus gym in the interim since I don’t have to sign a contract and it’s cheap. 

All I know is that I am a happier girl when I’m working out. 

I am still “gym shopping” and have a 2 week trial membership at Sport & Health. I went to a spin, excuse me, cycling class there yesterday. The room was cool, dark with black lights and tv screens the played music videos of the songs we cycled to. However I was caught off guard by 2 things. 

1. The bikes. This Keiser bike freaked me out. It took a few adjustments throughout the class for me to find my “sweet spot” on the bike. I’m not sold on the set up of the bike yet, but I did like the screen that showed RPMs, calories, gear and MILEAGE. I did 20.5 miles yesterday in class and burned 440 calories!

2. The lack of interaction in the class THREW ME OFF. My old class that I loved had 2 high energy instructors who cheered us on and motivated throughout most of the class. Heck they’d even sing along or do dance moves at times. AND all as participants in the class we actively shouted, cheered, and sometimes even barked BACK at the instructors. This class was very quiet. The instructor didn’t talk a bunch and everyone in the class was silent. After the class I talked to instructor (who was subbing) and asked about if there are more interactive classes and he said not really. He said in DC people tend to me a bit uptight and aren’t into cheering, being vocal. 

I don’t know if Les Mills RPM is a different type of class than other spin/cycling classes, but all I know is I miss my RPM class with Mitch & Ria in good ol’ Alabama terribly!

CITY FOLKS: are “city” classes more uptight than “country” classes?