Being skinny versus being fit

Like a lot of women, I spent a lot of years wanting to be skinny and wanting a certain number to appear on the scale. In my early 20s, the desired number was south of 130. By my 30s, when my metabolism started slowing down and I was truly stumped as to why I could no longer stuff myself with pizza anymore, I hoped for anything below 145. You get the picture.

I'm working on a cool freelance story now on being skinny versus being fat, which reminds me of the "old" Tammy and where I'm at now. I'm a runner and ran a marathon earlier this year, as well as a half marathon and some shorter races. I also do Ashtanga yoga once a week and try to squeeze in some kind of weight/cardio training in weekly as well. I'm 5'6" and my recent weight was 150, which I'm pretty OK with. Sure, there's the old voice that says that number is high, but I tell that voice to cram it. Don't laugh, you know you talk to yourself, too. After years of being obsessed with "skinny", I made the transition a few years ago to being fit, and I'm so much happier for it.

There are some interesting ideas on this blog I found. (Pardon the large buns photo on the lefthand side of the page). Also, Dr. Danielle Milano, who wrote "Skinny is Overrated: The Real Women's Guide to Health and Happiness at Any Size", apparently cites some research that as much as 70 percent of our weight is determined by genetic makeup. (Full disclosure: I just learned about this book yesterday and plan to pick it up soon, so I can't tell you much else about it).

What happened in the last couple of years that made me change the "skinny" mindset I had held most of my life? I'm still thinking about that. But I'm geeky excited to work on this story. Not obsessing about my weight and just being athletic has been liberating. I am excited to talk more about this topic.