Keeping Score

In your pictures you don't seem to need a fat camp.  Being healthy is not about being thin, it's about being strong and alive.  Today I went to my gym and it was packed.  The new year always starts like this, but give it a month and the regulars and I will be aii alone again.

You're right, being healthy has nothing to do with being thin. That's kind of the point of my story.

I'm thin in the pictures because I used unhealthy dieting techniques to get that way. At the time of the pictures, I was "being good" by counting my calorie/fat intake and basically starving myself. I wasn't eating healthy, nourishing foods and I didn't have an active lifestyle.

The most recent photo in this collection is from summer 2007. In summer of 2010, I was about 40-50 lbs heavier. That's when I went to Green Mountain (not a fat camp, but a healthy lifestyle retreat) intending to get "back on the wagon" and commit to a diet. That's when I learned that being healthy is not about being thin. It's about enjoying life, enjoying the people in your life, enjoying nourishing food, and being active. I learned that "success" can't be measured in calories, fat grams, the number on the scale or pants size. I stopped dieting. I stopped keeping score.

Thanks, squat6, for the chance to clarify the message of my story. 

Health does not involve being skinny; as long as your in good health that’s all that matters. I had lost a lot of weight once and a lot of people said I looked sick; I was obsessed of not gaining weight. But, I realized that I had lost too much weight and gained some extra pounds. I'm healthy and happy with my body, I am not stressing about all my calories anymore and I feel great. As long as you’re happy with your body and satisfied on how you look, nothing else really matters because it’s your body and only you know yourself and know what makes you feel great.