EmpowHER has always recognized women of all sizes and their different needs in terms of fitness, health and overall wellness. This is an introduction to a series that targets the needs of women of all sizes, with less emphasis on becoming slim and more focus on fitness and emotional well-being.
While weight loss is a necessary goal for many women, we will encompass all aspects of health, no matter the size.
There are many fallacies about fitness, health and size. Thin people are often considered automatically healthy whereas they may not be well at all, while heavier women could be enjoying great cardio fitness.
There are also some assumptions out there that thin women may be eating-disordered or deliberately, over-exercising when this is mostly not the case. Some women are naturally thin and don’t appreciate the “skinny bitch” tagline.
Not all heavier women spend their days eating. We’ll dispel these notions along with explaining the many reasons women are the sizes they are, without trying to ensure that we’re all “bikini-ready” in six weeks.
Women don’t need incessant count-downs to getting into those skinny jeans. They need patience, time and encouragement to be at their best in whatever clothes they like.
Another group vastly under-represented in the media are the ones I term the “in-betweeners”. These are women who, on average, wear sizes 10-16. These women are either told they are fat, or are consistently fed the notion that they can be a size 6 or 8 if they just try harder.
The fact is that the average woman in the United States is a size 14, give or take a few pounds.
For those who want to drop a size or two, we’ll explore that option and encourage proper diet and exercise to achieve this. And for those women who are perfectly happy being an-inbetweener, we’ll talk about fitness, diet and emotional well-being in order to rock those healthy curves.
Most of us have curves and that’s just fine. We’ll talk about making sure those curves are in the right places. We'll talk about not depending on food for comfort (nothing wrong with a nice slice of home-cooked pie, though) and how to love our bodies into health and fitness rather than focusing on the scales and a size 4 dress.
We’re not all meant to be a small size but a very large size can be detrimental to our health. There is a happy, healthy medium in there somewhere for most of us, and together we’ll find it.
Next time we’ll focus on those of us who are very large in size. We’ll talk about diet and nutrition, how to lose some pounds to take the pressure off our hearts and knees, and how to do a daily workout without damaging ourselves or getting discouraged.
Those of us who are in sizes 18-24 are wise to lose some weight – some more than others. But doing it slowly, realistically and not obsessing about wearing anything “skinny” will keep us emotionally sane. Some women were just built to be bigger than others – but can still enjoy a healthy heart, strong bones and muscles, good skin and nice wardrobe to boot.
Health and wellness must encompass all aspects of the body and mind in order to work long term. Long-term wellness is what we need to strive for, whether we’re a 4 or 14. This will be a fun, realistic and informative series for all!
Reviewed April 25, 2014
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith