Vocabulary

I am pretty sure most of you readers know by now that I am a mom. What I am not sure of is if you all know I am a mom of two little (but very observant) girls. I also have one very cool (and total gift from God - another story that deserves its own blog at another time) son. Right now, let's focus on my girls. They are 5 and 3 years old. They love going to the gym with me. We call it "zumba" because that's what I went for all the time when I began my weight loss journey.

My 5 year old has been coming to the gym with me since she was about 6 months of age. She is very familiar with the employees, the equipment and how to navigate the area to get to the children's area. Now that I am home working out and going to the gym and openly talking about my journey with a lot of people, she has also picked up on some jargon.

Just as I have become more acutely aware of how big I had allowed myself to be, she also became aware of that. I was using words like "skinny" or "fat" instead of fit and healthy. Since I was so concerned with my weight, she was concerned with my weight - worse though, she was concerned with her own weight. She started asking if she was skinny or fat. My daughter also began looking at other kids as skinny or fat. I was very worried! (Still am a little bit)

I need my daughters to know that no matter how big or little they will ever be, their attitude is what makes you beautiful and that you should only worry about your weight to be healthy. Being 80 lbs over weight isn't what makes me unattractive - being a smart mouth and having a short temper makes me unattractive. (That's right people, those are two of my biggest flaws!) Being 80 lbs is what makes me unhealthy. My body is not meant to carry that. My Heart was not build to have to work harder to pump blood through all that fat and all that tissue. My lungs shouldn't have to breathe harder and my joints were not meant to hold up all that weight. That is what makes it unhealthy - not ugly.

So as I started to see what my little 5 year old was seeing, I started to change my way of thinking inside and to verbalize what really mattered, being fit. Now when we go to the gym, when my 3 year old says, "Mom, why are we going to zumba?" I do not reply with "Because I want to be skinny" I reply with "Because I want to get fit and healthy."

I don't ever want my daughters to feel like they have to be a weight or size to be pretty. I want them to KNOW its important for them to be fit and healthy because that is what is important. I want them to want to be active and not sit on the sidelines and an unhealthy body cannot do that. Furthering this a little bit down the road - I am making a lifestyle change and as my son begins to realize what is going on, I want him to value a girl who she is, not her size. A girl who is fit - healthy and active.

I know I will never be a size 2. I am okay with that. I have wider hips, a round butt and I like my curvy thighs - my husband likes them too! I just want a toned and healthier version of this. :) It is all about perspective - from your eyes and from your children's eyes. So for all of you who are in a child's life and who are on their own weight loss journey to a newer, more fit you - I encourage you to change your vocabulary like I am. It will trigger a new mindset for you  as well. I changed from wanting a size to a weight to just hitting goals that will SHOW me I am getting HEALTHIER.