Be The Fat Girl of the Bunch

I hate to double-dip my blog day, but this is something I've had on my mind lately.

We often talk about "body image" these days. In reality, we just mean "self esteem" but since that is so directly tied to your figure in this culture, the two have unfortunately been meshed into one. Body fat percentage seems to directly correlate with self worth.

I've been trying hard this summer to get into shape. I do push-ups and pull-ups every day at work. I do dips every chance I get. I work out on the Bowflex at home and do P90-X with Jenny whenever I can muster the energy - though she is FAR more consistent than I am.

At my work, there is a steady barrage of crappy food. Every week someone brings in pastries or candy, and that is on the schedule. Aside from the Wednesday Treat Day, there are also constant pot lucks and company-wide "bonuses" like root beer floats, pizza, donuts... you name it. It is amazing that a company with the most sedentary employees would be so eager to pack them full of empty calories.

Not wanting to die of a heart attack by 40, or accidentally crush/disgust my wife with an obese and flabby figure, I almost always pass on these company treats. In fact, it has gotten to the point where my coworkers will actually make fun of me for not eating the ice cream bars they pass around. They have competitions to see who can down the most, and then tell me I'm being a "girl" because I won't have one. They laugh at me when I bring in a bunch of carrots for lunch.

The joke's on them though, because when my Wednesday rolls around and I have to bring treats, those bastards are stuck with eating fruit or nothing at all.

The other day our systems were down so the managers sent us to a movie. Before the movie started, there was some issue with the projector and one of the guys said, "have Dan go up there and knock some heads around!"

Then, when some teenage guys in front of us started to get rowdy, another one said, "maybe we can have Dan go over and beat them up!"

"Yeah, Dan, at least go scare them!"

"Scare them?" These same guys who give me crap for eating vegetables instead of twinkies treat me like some kind of mercenary. What is that?

I suppose it is "rare" for those in my office to hit the weights. Most cubicle drones succumb to the overwhelming lethargy and simply let go of themselves - chalking it all up to "the job" as if it is completely out of their control.

I'm not writing all of this because I feel like there is something exceptional about my attitude. I just think it is a strange phenomenon. It seems like we adjust our personal image for our setting. For example, while I might feel pretty good at my office just by being under 300 pounds, when I go work out on the Air Force base with Josh I feel like a weakling because I can't bench 400. Anything over about 5% body fat there is practically obese, considering the abundance of gymrats and muscleheads.

Anyway. Not exactly sure where I'm headed with this, but I guess what I'm realizing is that it is a bad idea to compare yourself to anyone if it is going to change your own body image - in a good or a bad way. Focus on your own progress and work on achieving your own personal goals. But, if the group you surround yourself with gives you the inclination to either keep pushing weights or keep slamming the nachos, the former is probably the healthier option.

Be the fatty of your group.