Haters.
Ever met one? They are in every area of life and health is no different. You are gonna meet one soon if you haven’t already.
Haters say things like this:
♦ “Don’t you know running is bad for your body?”
♦ “That’s great that you are exercising so much, but I just don’t have the time.”
♦ “Oh sure. You’ll stick with this for a few months then be like the rest of us and quit.”
♦ “You must have nothing else to do if you are exercising that much.”
♦ “You’re too old to be worrying about how your body looks”
♦”It must be nice to have the time & money to spend on exercise.”
♥♥♥
Discouraging, isn’t it? I’ve had people say all these things. Its almost like their back-handed way to get at you. But the reality is, most of them are just jealous. They tear you down to make themselves feel better. In reality, it does nothing for either party. It’s a lose-lose situation.
I want you to remember this. You WILL encounter haters sometime or another. And when you do, I want you to use their comments to fuel your focus.
Be a role model. Change your life for the better. Show the haters who’s boss.
*sigh* There are those who know I don’t like the word “skinny” (I explained to said people that I associate skinny with being sickly or weak.) Big Mistake! Now every chance they get they like to point out that they think I’m skinny. (I’m not- I weigh about 140 muscular pounds.) They will joke and wrap an insult behind a compliment: “You look so good- you make me sick.”,”I bet all you eat is health food.” “You’re so LUCKY you’re built like that.” It hurts sometimes because I have incorporated exercise into my life consistently for years now and they have even seen how hard I’ve worked. It is kind of insulting. I have learned to ignore it because after trying to explain how I felt a few times over the years I realized they were doing it on purpose. :o/
Yes! Yes! yes! I get you, Jinka!
That also bothers me!!
Clare
Ohhh yessss….”I wish I could be a stay at home mom so I can hang out at the Y all morning” or “I give you a lot of credit” lol. I am baaack in the gym after 3 months!!! I am SO happy to be back at it. I worked out for 7 years in a row 4-5 days a week (other than the 6 weeks after the babies were all born) -and this Summer I crashed…it was nice sleeping in with the kids and going swimming, etc..but I missed the gym! Love ya!
Woo Hoo! You’re back!!!!!!!
I encountered this in the past year and a half. I lost 70 lbs and have been maintaining the last 4 months. During that time, I heard from several women that I wasn’t doing it right, I would never keep it off, or I was to worried about the way I looked. I started the weight loss journey for my health and for my kids. We are role models for our children and they learn by watching us. My son who is 15 has been my greatest supporter. When your teen looks at you and says, “Mom, I am proud of you!” I forget about all of the friends who criticized or who made negative comments about me behind my back.
It’s funny though, the same friends who said I wasn’t eating properly are doing the same program I was. Which was simply following a 1400 calorie a day diet filled with healthy food choices and regular exercise. I chose to ignore nasty or passive aggressive comments and remember that my body was a temple and should be treated properly.
This past year has been the best journey of my life. I am now a healthy 40 year old woman with a better physique than when I was 20. My spiritual life is stronger because when I felt defeated I hit my knees and prayed for strength and guidance. God will see us through every journey in our life and that includes weight loss.
I wanted to mention. I love your blog. I have shared it with many people including my boot camp instructor. I look forward to new move Monday.
Thank you for sharing yourself and God’s word with the rest of us.
Michelle
Michelle:
Thanks for your comments! You are a living, breathing example of what it’s like to press on when people are crushing in around you. I love what you said about your son! Love it!
Thanks for sharing my blog with others. That really means a lot!
(No hate here! LOL)
Clare
Interesting Post. Question for me: Am I a “Hater”??? I’d like to think NO WAY! But I’m not going to LIE. I WISH I had more time to Work Out. I feel Personally If I was a SAHM I could possibly have more time to schedule a work out session into my routine – maybe – I have never been a Full Time SAHM so I can not say for sure – which if someone has never been a working parent then you really really know what that is like either – can’t really judge until you have been in those shoes, right? When I Want or NEED to I Will make the time to focus on me and my needs. But in order to do that I must sacrifice something else in my life to make that time. Have I…YES…of course especially after I gave birth to those ginormous children. Also, If I get over my “normal” weight (yes I do look at that number on the scale), I WILL bust my butt for a few weeks and get back to my “normal” weight. I am who I am and I LOVE spending any extra time I have with my husband, kids and of course my family and friends. They are all very very important to me. I know I work A LOT more then “maybe” I need to but I strive on doing the BEST job I can at all my role, Wife, Mother and My Career. We only have 24 hours each day and I try and use them the best I can.
I also get the “back-handed” compliment in all area of life…work, kids, family, body everything, you name it I’m sure I have heard it. Some people have no cooth. I am thinking “Please don’t bother give me that compliment followed by your insult”…so irritating.
Sue: For the record…you aren’t a hater and I think I’d know if you were!
This has nothing to do with WHETHER you workout or not–it’s all about the motivation behind the words of the “haters”.
I get it:) Funny thing is I was JUST talking to Jason today about the back-handed compliment…my exact words…is was more work related but still…those kind of compliments always get under my skin regardless of of the content. Anywho- Great post, I did enjoy it.
I have to say the penguin picture made me smile really big!
I love this one! I can really relate to this post. I have lost 20 pounds in the last year. When I finally got back in my pre 20 pounds jeans, most of the women in my office made comments like, “I hate you”, or “ugh!”.
So weird?! I do work full time and manage to find time to run, walk, and do a bit of strength training and yoga. BUT, my question is, how can busy women with families afford not to take time to workout? It helps me so much emotionally. My walks turn into prayer walks, my runs turn into admiring God’s beautiful creation and praise.
Thanks for sharing this. I never know how to react to these “hater” comments!!
Wow, I can SO relate to this. Recently I was approached at work regarding several members of my staff and around the office feeling like I was sharing my own success with health and fitness too much – and that in one case someone thought I was telling them things to rub their noses in it.
You can imagine my pain.
That is one of the reasons I started my own page on FB so I could stop posting my health related stuff on my personal page – since it seemed to offend people. Funny thing is, they ask me about it all the time – “did you run this morning?” What did you do this weekend? Etc. Sorry so much of my life revolves around activity, right?
It was a hurtful realization but I came away having learned this: I have only been at this job for 6 months – they didn’t know me as “fat Clara” only the green smoothie drinking runner I am now. So its harder to be happy for me. Instead, they feel badly about their own physical state. But I’m like a bad train wreck I guess – they can’t look away. The week after that stuff came out at work one of them friended me on FB and the other one liked my health/wellness page!
I can’t win it seems!
But man, I feel better for getting that out. 🙂
Clara