Fat triathlete???

Jayne--

Glad you liked the comments.  Your book is awesome, and an inspiration for ALL of us out there.  I've recommended it to several people, NONE of whom (myself included) would EVER have thought we could do this.

Your mom can relax; I just had a treadmill stress test (normal, by the way) which qualified me as "excellent cardiovascular status".  I'm SURE you fit that category, too, and can reassure your mom!

Julie 

For any of us who are ever last or nearly so, remember this....

What do they call the last person across the finish line?  A TRIATHLETE!

J. 

What great wisdom and thoughts of encouragement!! LOL....sometimes I wish my doc would tell me lose weight because of ABC; but all he says is that I am above average on physical fitness, all my tests come out average or above and that I am just about as healthy as it gets.  And that losing weight for me at this stage of the game is simply a personal comfort preference!!!  I guess that's good; but I am in the obese range with about 50 lbs. to lose (down from 75!) since giving birth to our son 4 years ago.

And I KNOW that "THAT HILL" will much easier sans 50 lbs.  so I will keep at it ~~~> with a new attitude at this point!

I think we need to look @ funks as part of the process. We all have times when motivation's missing, but need to learn not to flog ourselves for what we haven't done and just get on with it.

That being said, it helps to figure out if there's anything external driving it. Not doing better a year later is frustrating, but be honest (and forgiving!) with yourself when you start criticizing or feeling inadequate.

As hard as it is, if I haven't been consistent in my training I know I shouldn't expect to do any better (of course we want to anyway!). Just don't take that as a slam on your POTENTIAL to do better.

When I'm not motivated to train, I try to plan workouts I will ENJOY, rather than something I HAVE to do. That reminds me why I started doing this in the first place---'cause I loved it!

I have faith you can do it. Just gotta get back up on that horse!

Julie

I'm reminded of a quote by a fellow BT'er- I'm a "very fat fit person".   Pretty much says it all.

CV disease runs in my family.  In spite of all my exercise (well, not lately if you peek at my logs- I've been not feeling up to it the past few weeks) I still struggle to keep my LDL and HDL where they should be.  My cholesterol just got down to the borderline level this year.  I just turned 40, so it will probably be harder to control.    Everything else is in perfect range except for the fattie markers!

Yeah, I"m heavy.  I don't even own a scale.

what kinda doc are you?  I work in a clinical lab. 

I'm a hospitalist--an internal medicine doc who only takes care of inpatients.  My husband is a surgical ICU nurse; between the two of us we're constantly reminded how lucky we are to even be ABLE to physically do the things we can do, since it can change in a heartbeat.

We're so critical of ourselves (and frequently others); not that I'm excusing "whining", but sometimes ya just gotta appreciate what you DO, and lighten up on yourself for what you don't.  As a happier person, EVERYTHING's easier.

Julie - we definitely need more doctors like you!

Thanks for your encouraging words. I've done more than 20 triathlons - including 2 HIMs and am training for my first Ironman. All at 200+ pounds. It amazes me how incredibly critical I am of myself even though I have turned in some incredible times, went from not being able to run two minutes straight to running double-digit run races, and done some incredible feats of fitness that most "skinny people," wouldn't even dream of doing. Yet I can't give myself a break or a pat on the back for fear that I'll return to that unfit, fat person who watched T.V. all day and ate. It's unrelenting that mental demon in my mind and it's so HARD to drown out his voice of "You're fat..." especially when his voice has been made stronger by years of torment from my family, so-called firends and virtual strangers who think its fun to pick on others who weigh more than them.

But each time I cross a finish line - and more often in not I'm NOT DFL anymore - I smile because whatever any one says about me I know that I have accomplished fitness goals that 98 percent of the country have not even attempted. And there in lies a satisfaction that is permenant and never goes away - even if the scale doesn't move this week!

Very well said...

Hallelujiah! (sp?) Thanks for the compliment, but I think many docs think as I do...If you can get out there and do weight-bearing exercise, you're taking care of yourself.

It's great to see the motivation and perseverance we demonstrate, which is especially difficult given that it's hard on bigger bodies' joints to keep doing the things we do.

infosteward--I've read your race reports; you're amazing! (and an inspiration to all of us!) 

browncd--you go, girl! Way to go on slugging it out! I'm glad your tri-club was so supportive! (So many of us (me included) are too intimidated to even join clubs, as we're sure everyone else is faster!!!) It's so important to forgive yourself for lapses so you can get back to business, instead of flogging yourself and decimating your motivation further. Whenever I lapse, be it with training or weight loss issues, I tell myself "Well, THAT happened..." and just get back to work.

As someone who will NEVER be under 150 (and I'm only 5'7"!) and a doc, I'm much more impressed w/ those of us who don't let our weight be an excuse not to be healthy or active...And that's physically even better than some skinny thing who's sedentary!

Jayne, I so agree---it's important to facilitate our participation, rather than making us feel excluded or less than worth the others. (Though I wouldn't advocate pushing for availability of bigger sizes for the population in general---our nation's fat enough already!)

Being able to do triathlons makes the number on the scale worth less!

To all of us fat triathletes....You rock!

beagl - 2007-10-24 10:22 PM I really like a thought I read here that every time you cross the finish line you are faster than the 400 people at the end who are spectating, and 200 or so people along the race route who never got up the nerve to do what you are doing. I apply that to whatever I'm doing, on a daily basis if need be, when I'm feeling slow and fat. I'm racing on the ice next week for the first time in over a year and I'm fighting the thought that I shouldn't even be on the ice. I mean, I'm going to be going round and round and round the rink in a skin tight suit with hundreds of people watching flabby self. I'm going to be repeating in my mind that I'm the one out here doing this not in the stands wishing I could and, I'm having fun regardless of how fast I'm going. Jayne is right, sometimes it isn't about being faster, you CAN enjoy the sport at your current level of fitness, and really, people would be alot happier if they realized this.

What did someone tell me once? The fashion show ends when the gun goes off?! "...with hundreds of people watching my flabby self."--- Yeah, they're WISHING they had the physical and mental strength to be out there doing it themselves! It's inspring to see!

J

Unfortunately, as a Soldier, fat does matter for me.  I'm sweating a PT test because I am WAAAY over the weight for my height.  A 36-year-old, 73 in. tall man is supposed to weigh no more the 205; I'm 240ish.  I'll get "taped" and pass so it's not too much of an issue.  If I don't I get "flagged" because I'm overweight.

What I always enjoy is that, as an "overweight" Soldier, I'll run in the top-10 for our 2 mile event.  I have never been over 14:00 for two miles; usually I'm closer to 13:00.  I can run farther and faster than a lot of the young 20 y/o's who smoke a pack a day.  Yet, because they meet a certain criteria on a scale, I'm the one who's unhealthy, even tho I am running 15-20 miles and swimming 3000-4000m a week.  Freakin' unbelievable.

Sorry, just needed to rant a bit.

Sounds brutal, Hawkeye Soldier.  Height/weight charts are crap for taller/bigger guys and gals like you.   I wonder if they'll ever use a body fat % estimate instead.  Would you say that you're in a healthy range for that?  

Scales are a flawed device for determining fitness.  Always have been, always will be. 

YIKES.  Freakin' unbelievable is right. Gotta love systems that leave no room for common sense...

Crap! Are you really in IRAQ?  Be careful!!! (Duh...)