When you are a fairly active person and you still are not a size 8, people automatically assume that it is your diet. Like everything in life…sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t. And as always people should just never assume.

Even at my fittest which I would put about 2015/2016, I was according to all medical and fitness charts overweight.

I would go in for yearly checkups and when the doctor would ask how active I was, I always felt like I got the side eye….. Yes, I am active. I do cross-training, I run all the time and even am training for a marathon. I actually changed doctors around this time because one told me that I should try having a protein shake for breakfast and a salad for lunch… blah..blah…blah.. She only looked at the numbers and not full picture. Luckily my current doctor is not tied to charts and scales. She takes into account all the other numbers which have always been good. Although I admit my cholesterol is starting to creep up (not to a point where I would need medication, but for me I see a pattern). That might just be genetics and age at this point too.

Anywho…… Here we are at a point where I am no longer at “my Peak” but I am still a fairly active person. I do have to remind myself that I do not to have to be as active as I used to be, but that I do need to keep moving which I have been (I will update on that another day).

So today, I was thinking about things as I was going about my workout. I am no longer a size 8 nor do I think it would be possible without changes I do not plan to implement because I do not find it necessary. Anyhow……. And maybe it’s just me and my insecurities…….. I sometimes feel like people don’t feel like you are really trying hard enough if your goal isn’t to “get in shape.” That you are eating nothing but chips, chocolate, and ice cream. They would be wrong.

Here is the thing….. I really am in shape. I’m a bigger shape maybe, but I am also a healthy shape. I also while I readily admit do treat myself, overall I eat a very healthy diet. I am a pescatarian, so I eat a lot of veggies. I eat a lot of healthy fish. Probably don’t drink as much water as I should but trying to get better. I realized this morning that I think I have been pescatarian now for about a year. There really was never a day where I threw down the gauntlet, but it was a gradual change that occurred during pandemic. The longer I ate this way, the more I enjoyed it. I can honestly say that I do not miss meat which my husband as he was grilling a porterhouse steak this past weekend could not understand how I was satisfied with my yummy grilled portabella mushrooms. I really was….100%.

So as I go about working on my fitness goals, I wish people would not assume that the reason I am doing what I am doing is because I feel that I need to fit a certain mold or size. And even though I might also admit that the extra weight might keep me from “peak performance” that is my weight to bear and not theirs.

So when you look at an athlete or ANYONE, we really should not make assumptions about them based on something that really is not anyone’s business. Believe me EVERY overweight person knows they are overweight but not every overweight person feels the same about it.

Lastly…… unless you are their doctor or trainer, it really isn’t your place to question it either.