"If I can do it, anyone can" is BS

I guess I still see all of the above as , "If I can do it anyone can."

The reality however is the same as with most things, the majority of people will take the path of least resistance. 

CAN they do it? YES

WILL they do it? NO

my .02

So it's bad when I tell you "your right you are a loser and can't do it"

I used to say it all the time, too.  Then my husband asked me to stop saying it - he said I was belittling my accomplishments.  I think the above poster is accurate, anyone can do it but most won't.

I also don't say it anymore because I didn't like the response it solicited.  "Yeah, I guess I could do an ironman.  I know I could do the bike and run, the swim would be the hard part."  This from people who I'm pretty sure never biked over 10 miles or ran more than 3.  For most, the swim is the EASY part.  I got tired of listening to the rhetoric that would follow.

Also, being a woman - and an apparently very feminine looking one at that - I have a hard enough time being taken seriously.  EXAMPLE: I was standing in a line with my husband and wearing my IM finisher shirt (it had the distances and finisher on the back).  Now, at the time I was still in damn good shape.  This man behind me read my shirt, looked at my husband and said "wow, did you do that?" to my hubby.  F-U.  I get this kind of crap all the time, I don't need to bring it on myself!

Andi

EDIT: The shirt I was wearing was a small and fit perfectly - it was not oversized so as to be mistaken for me wearing my hubby's shirt.

I agree, I do not think just anyone can do it. Physically, maybe, but triathlons are just as much mental strength as anything else. I think Triathletes are very competetive and we are the ones that buck up when we are told we can't do something.

So I do think anyone could train enough to complete a race, but not everyone can compete in a race (and I do not mean podium compete, I mean compete against theirselves compete..you dig?)

Pictures are clearly called for....

I've lost a lot of weight and honestly do believe that If I can do it, anyone can.  It does take determination and mental toughness which we all have hidden inside of us, whether we know it or not.

 Just because people can do it, doesn't mean they will or realize that they can.  We all have the ability within us to do it though.

 I don't think it is belittling at all.  I would also disagree that not everyone can lose weight.  Everyone can lose weight.  Some people have medical issues that make it incredibly hard but that doesn't mean they can't.  There are also often medications for those with medical issues.  (I have a medical issue which makes it very difficult to lose weight myself)

 I've also seen/read stories of paraplegics doing triathlons.  Now that isn't to say  that everyone can do a triathlon. 

 I still hold that people can do things they don't think they can do, they just haven't found it within themselves to be able to do it. 

I believe it is true.  But there IS the big case of HTFU that has to take place.

As long as someone is physically able to do what they are out to pursue, it can be done.  The difference between those that do and those that don't becomes a mental struggle that is won or lost.

That is what BUDS and Ranger school are all about in the military.  HTFU or get out.

Disengenious?  Sure.  BS?  No way. 

I can, I did.  It was a choice for me. 

You can.  Whether you do is a choice for you. 

When I lost weight (35#) 4 years ago, I had a lot of people ask me how I did it.  I told them it was a secret plan "eat less, exercise more." 

You know I'm always amazed at the disappointed look people get when you tell them you improved your eating habits and exercised.   People seem to think its a big secret, but its not.  I wouldn't say its easy and there are a lot of mental struggles along with physical struggles.

As I was running along with my husband this morning, he told me he was proud of me because he remembered when hiking was difficult for me but here I am running.  I was easily the fattest kid in high school at 300 lbs.  I am pretty sure I was the fattest kid in college when I graduated at 330 lbs.  Of course after college, I started to pile on more weight and that didn't help.  I would've definitely been voted the least likely to start a running program with aspirations of eventually running a marathon.  I struggled with my weight from the age of 9 to 29.  Up, down, up, up, down, etc.  Now I weigh what I probably weighed in the 5th grade, maybe 4th but yet I'm still an obese adult.  I struggle with losing the next 50 lbs but I've lost nearly 200 so its ok.  I know given time, dedication, patience, hard work, etc I can do it because its not impossible and others have done it, so I know I can too.

I think it is arrogant to assume that anybody can.

Having a medical condition that makes weight loss and child conception damn near impossible, I can say that it is not easy nor always possible to lose weight.

That is why I run marathons and am looking to join my husband in triathlons. To manage my weight as best I can and make sure that everything else stays as healthy as possible.  I do watch what I eat and run 40 to 50 miles a week, but struggle to lose and keep weight off.  I think I am putting forth the effort and I resent the people that don't jog a tenth of a mile yet through the blessing of genetics look like a supermodel and look down their nose at me.

I truly believe in the old saying of walk a mile in my shoes before you judge me. 

I don't think anyone is judging you.  I would think saying 'no, you can't do it' would be more judging you.  I have PCOS, which sounds like it may be what you have or similar.  Makes weight loss difficult along with other things like having children. 

I think you can do it.  Doesn't mean its easy but you can.

Sometimes "If I can do it anyone can" is more of a response to the other person's comments/whining/complaints. I lost 50#. Yeah, it was hard, yeah, I made permanent changes in my diet and exercise routine, but it was never anything huge. I certainly didn't wake up one morning and cut every last "bad" food from my diet and instantly become a triathlete. It was all baby steps. Can anyone take baby steps to accomplish a goal? Ummmm..... yeah.

I get so tired of negative/jealous/passive-aggreassive people insisting that I'm somehow superhuman for losing the weight/doing a tri. It is a backhanded compliment at the same time as excusing themselves from even trying what they so clearly want to do. (Usually lose some weight) I'm not superhuman. It was hard work for a while. I gave up quite a number of things for a while, but for most folks without genuine medical issues it is doable. Maybe it takes a single parent of 5 longer than it took me who has more free time, but with focus and a goal and figuring out how to make it work, most people can accomplish what they really want to do.   Excluding the truly unreasonable - obviously no 78 yr old great-gramma is gonna get picked for the NBA draft no matter what her focus is.

OK - So "you've been there, done that and got the t-shirt to prove it" ... what I want to know is, how did your husband answer the question...

When the same hing happened to my wife, I quickly responded (before she got hold of his neck) with "why do you think I'm in line behind her... it's not me just being polite!" The whole line exploded with laughter>

A perfect time for hubby sass:  "The Ironman?  no.  The Ironwoman?  Oh yeah."