Super-Sized Sistahs: What’s Eating YOU?
(BlackDoctor.org) -- I try not to stare, but I can’t help but notice. It’s not that I’m judging you, I just can’t help but wonder what is really going on. I see beautiful, smart, intelligent, young women with their hair laid and their nails polished to perfection. They are hard working, industrious, career minded women who seem to have it goin’ on. Then there’s the noticeable issue that I seem to observe most: how BIG so many young women are!
Now please don’t get me wrong. This is no indictment on the women in “The Big Girls Club”. As some people adamantly point out that this is their right and choice to be. Mo’Nique has set the stage for this mantra where women should feel good about their plus-sized stature, and she is right. Here’s the thing: Do you really feel good about chronic health issues like hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, and back aches? Do you feel good about stress, breast cancer, and early death? These illnesses are linked directly to diet and lifestyle, that we know we can change!
So to my “Super-Sized Sistahs,” I’m asking you with all the love in my heart and desire to share my passion for fitness with you: What is REALLY eating YOU?
Is it discipline? Do you simply lack discipline to control what, when, how, and where you eat? Are you always in a fast food line? Or is it sweets? One of my clients tells me she just has a thing for chocolates.
Is it frustration? Have you given up on the idea that you can be a normal weight?
Is it laziness? Are you just too fatigued after a long day to find the energy to exercise?
Why am I asking? I REALLY WANT TO HELP YOU! It pains me—and I do mean that it literally pains me—to see young women with turkey leg arms, a dimple for an elbow, thighs rubbing, and belly and booty overflowing. Ut doesn’t pain me because I have disdain for you; it pains me for just the opposite. I have nothing but love for you and want you to live your life to your fullest potential.
We have all heard the Prayers of Jabez that teach and remind us that we can be prosperous. Where’s the prayer for discipline, healthiness, right thinking, action and living? We also have all seen the women lined up one after the other in the beauty shop for touch ups, weaves, pony tails, nails, and eyelashes. Where’s the line in the grocery store for fresh fruits and vegetables? Why aren’t we lined up at the treadmill, in a park, pool, or playground with our children?
I don’t want you to explain to me what’s eating you. You don’t owe me the explanation. You owe it to yourself and to your children. We have come to a point in the road where we can no longer just say “Big is Beautiful” because being big is killing us.
Use the comment boxes below to write to me. I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU. We have a health crisis in our midst and it can be controlled by first examining the problem, then making a plan to change. I can help you with both.
But will you help me? And more importantly, are you willing to begin to do the work to save your own life? The life preserver has been thrown out to you today. Take hold of it. Let’s get to the root of this problem to find out what’s really eating you.
For more information on African American Health, visit www.BlackDoctor.org your trusted resource for healthier, happier living.
By Elana Fitch, BDO Fitness Expert
Elana Fitch is a certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor by the American Council on Exercise (ACE) and the Aerobic and Fitness Association of America (AFAA). She is a mom of four daughters ages 21, 18, 9, and 8 years old and knows firsthand of the struggles with body weight and image. This is Elana teaching at Chicago Moves Day in May 2007.
Now please don’t get me wrong. This is no indictment on the women in “The Big Girls Club”. As some people adamantly point out that this is their right and choice to be. Mo’Nique has set the stage for this mantra where women should feel good about their plus-sized stature, and she is right. Here’s the thing: Do you really feel good about chronic health issues like hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, and back aches? Do you feel good about stress, breast cancer, and early death? These illnesses are linked directly to diet and lifestyle, that we know we can change!
So to my “Super-Sized Sistahs,” I’m asking you with all the love in my heart and desire to share my passion for fitness with you: What is REALLY eating YOU?
Is it discipline? Do you simply lack discipline to control what, when, how, and where you eat? Are you always in a fast food line? Or is it sweets? One of my clients tells me she just has a thing for chocolates.
Is it frustration? Have you given up on the idea that you can be a normal weight?
Is it laziness? Are you just too fatigued after a long day to find the energy to exercise?
Why am I asking? I REALLY WANT TO HELP YOU! It pains me—and I do mean that it literally pains me—to see young women with turkey leg arms, a dimple for an elbow, thighs rubbing, and belly and booty overflowing. Ut doesn’t pain me because I have disdain for you; it pains me for just the opposite. I have nothing but love for you and want you to live your life to your fullest potential.
We have all heard the Prayers of Jabez that teach and remind us that we can be prosperous. Where’s the prayer for discipline, healthiness, right thinking, action and living? We also have all seen the women lined up one after the other in the beauty shop for touch ups, weaves, pony tails, nails, and eyelashes. Where’s the line in the grocery store for fresh fruits and vegetables? Why aren’t we lined up at the treadmill, in a park, pool, or playground with our children?
I don’t want you to explain to me what’s eating you. You don’t owe me the explanation. You owe it to yourself and to your children. We have come to a point in the road where we can no longer just say “Big is Beautiful” because being big is killing us.
Use the comment boxes below to write to me. I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU. We have a health crisis in our midst and it can be controlled by first examining the problem, then making a plan to change. I can help you with both.
But will you help me? And more importantly, are you willing to begin to do the work to save your own life? The life preserver has been thrown out to you today. Take hold of it. Let’s get to the root of this problem to find out what’s really eating you.
For more information on African American Health, visit www.BlackDoctor.org your trusted resource for healthier, happier living.
By Elana Fitch, BDO Fitness Expert
Elana Fitch is a certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor by the American Council on Exercise (ACE) and the Aerobic and Fitness Association of America (AFAA). She is a mom of four daughters ages 21, 18, 9, and 8 years old and knows firsthand of the struggles with body weight and image. This is Elana teaching at Chicago Moves Day in May 2007.
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