Drink Gatorade, Not Haterade!
Have you ever had a run-in with a hater? I run into them sometimes, even when it comes to Fit Bottomed Girls. A couple weeks ago, a fellow from my day job hit me with the “best-friend nepotism” angle. You see, Jenn and I have been best friends ever since we were fourteen. She and Erin created this snazzy sight, and I applauded and supported from backstage. Then Los Angeles started getting on the FBG tip, and so Jenn asked if I’d like to do a guest post.
This was a big ask for Jenn. At that point in my life, I was just getting back into fitness. I was really active in high school and college—running every day and eating right. Then, girls from college did the worst thing we, as women, can do to each other: they teased me for working out. They called me anorexic and said I had issues. Even though I didn’t and was just health conscious, I submitted to the pressure and stopped it all cold turkey.
Then Jenn inspired me years later to start running again. She gave me a half marathon training schedule she was following, and I was actually enjoying the daily running. Because of that, I accepted her guest-post offer and wrote the Burn 60 piece. The rest is history. I became inspired, motivated and persistent. I shushed those mean girls’ opinions I had carried around with me for years (how crazy is it that they made me ashamed of being naturally thin?!) and started getting back to the girl who could run four miles a day like it was nothing. I even ran a marathon.
Working out and writing for this site has been one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. Yes, I am thankful and very aware that my best friend gave me an awesome writing opportunity. I’m also aware that I’m a darn tootin’ good fit for the site. I think Jenn and Erin are smart women with good hearts, and that pushes me to make them proud. I pull my weight. Not only do I work my butt in the gym, but I try to write my butt off, too.
What have I learned from all of this? Even those who drink the haterade can make us stronger. They can tell us all day long we won’t accomplish this or that, don’t deserve that and this, but in the end they’re just opinions. Opinions that can ignite fires under our butts and get us out there to prove them wrong!
I’ll keep sharing positive messages. I’ll definitely keep working out, all the while remaining humble and thankful that my best friend was the generous gal who opened the door. For the haters, I recommend focusing on the content and the FBG mission; not on the negative. After all, fit bottoms come in all shapes and sizes! And if you’re facing a hater in your life—whether it’s someone who sabotages your weight loss efforts or tells you that you can’t be a runner—don’t you dare let others’ negativity stop you!
We have to all remember to drink the Gatorade, not the haterade! Have you ever had someone dis on you because of your healthy lifestyle? —Tish
Comments
I get a lot of crap for eating so healthy and working out so much.
However, I am still visibly overweight, so people see me—they see me be so strict and stay so active—and at least they can make sense of it. (“oh, she’s just trying to lose weight”)
I feel nervous for when I am thinner and LOOK healthy. I imagine people are much more cruel to those who live such a clean lifestyle but don’t have weight to lose.
I think people just get uncomfortable, intimidated, and defensive about their own health, body, or lifestyle and it makes them judge us instead of themselves.
It’s strange how the hater’s mind workds…By definition healthy is healthy. It has absolutely nothing to do with being a size zero or fitting into skinny jeans. When people start up on me for going to the gym and ask me why I just shake my head. They just DON’T get it…what it’s all truly about and what it truly means to be healthy.
I think some people who don’t work out and eat right look at us like we’re punishing ourselves by spending time exercising. I look at it like, this is the way I WANT to spend my free time. Exercising makes me feel good, and I’m taking time for myself!
The worst haters are the ones your related too. They’re the ones that tell you you don’t have to run it today or work it out today or what? are you trying to make all the rest of us look fat?
I’ve had to remove negative Nanny’s from my life because I hate that they’re always trying to get in my way.
Hi everyone,
Tish, thanks for sharing your experience with us. I can totally relate to this and everyone else’s comments. I find that the subject of “health and fitness” can get everyone’s panties in a twist, mainly because it causes us to reflect upon our own habits, and I think other people tend feel judged somehow.
Many times, ordering a salad for lunch can warrant a defensive response from a peer. “A salad? Oh, I’d love to eat healthy, but I’m just too lazy to care.” I don’t think it’s always intentionally negative, but I do get the sense that other people feel guilted by the healthy decisions of others. Yes, there are those who hate unmistakably, but others, I believe, are just reacting on a whim to what they know they “should” be doing but don’t. It’s interesting!
Next time you go to lunch with a group of girls, listen in and see how many people off-handedly defend their choices. Just as I believe you shouldn’t have to defend healthy eating, I don’t think you necessarily need to “back up” your own reasons for choosing a slice of pizza for lunch. It’s really interesting how the mind and society works. 🙂
In terms of comments about exercise, I’ve heard a range of things, from the congratulatory to the perplexed. For me, the fear is to be perceived as “GTL” – gym, tan, and laundry, but I think people are going to make up their minds about you either way. Do you ever find you need to keep your exercise “under wraps?” I’m not sure why, but at times, I do. It’s almost as though sticking to healthy habits is synonymous with being a juice monkey.
Either way, I’ve learned pretty quickly who I can gab with on the subject of health and fitness. Some people just aren’t interested and don’t want to have to think about it. If someone asks about how much you work out or what you brought for lunch, then I think they’re inviting the conversation, or potentially the answers they “don’t want to hear.” Just a thought. 🙂
Best of luck with the haters, girls. Let’s keep the community strong!
Cheers,
Lee
AMEN!
I definitely feel like I’m not allowed to choose veggies as a snack, or talk about my workout after work with the majority of people. I am thin and work hard for the body I have, and I think that to everyone around me, they think that by choosing to eat carrots instead of a cookie means I’m obsessed with being skinny. Just because I want to be healthy and am interested in fitness and keeping a healthy lifestyle does not mean I am only doing it to be thin.
Yes I’ve been teased a lot by my co-workers. I struggle with my weight too, but I want to be a healthier, fitter individual. But it frustrates me that they tease me and don’t realize the damage they are doing to themselves through their poor choice.
At every kids birthday party and school event…i get the dirtiest looks when i say my kids ABSOLUTELY can not have soda or sugary beverages. I am a fitness trainer and we live a fit and healthy lifestyle. Now that doesn’t mean I don’t allow my kids to eat pizza and cake at these events. I believe in moderation. So they will have a salad later. But these other parents look at me like it is the strangest thing NOT to let my 5 year old drink Coke or Pepsi! It is wrong that I, a fit mom of 2, should feel uncomfortable being the only not-overweight or unfit person in the room. I love my body; i love fitness; i love feeling proud of what i have worked so hard for.
Comments are closed.