Getting Serious On You

I know I don't usually touch on "serious issues", but I recently read a post by Sarah {The Student Knitter} about women and our weight issues, and it really hit home for me.  If you've been reading here for any length of time, I talk about working out and diets and my struggles occasionally, most recently, here.  Growing up, I was always the girl who could eat what I wanted and not worry about my weight.  I naturally had a fast metabolism, and just by luck, I had good genetics.  In the last year, it seems my metabolism slowed considerably, and I've put on 20 pounds. Yeah, I know, 20 pounds doesn't seem like much to a lot of people, but when you're only 5 foot tall, and take into account my prior weight, it's a 20% gain.  And it feels like a lot to me.  It probably shouldn't, but it does.  At first, when the weight started to creep on, it didn't bother me much, I joked about it.  But as it crept up to 20 pounds and stuck, and my clothes weren't fitting, it started to bother me more and more.  I would look in the mirror and really not like what I was seeing.  I would talk about dieting and working out, but, I'm not exactly known for my willpower, and the exercising would last maybe a couple of weeks, and the dieting, well, maybe a couple of days. 

It goes back to judging our worth or attractiveness by our pants size, or the number on the scale, and that sucks.  Why has it become more acceptable to complain about our weight and appearance than to be happy about it.  How many women do you know would say that they're fine with their appearance?  I don't think I know any.  What would you think if they did?  Would you be surprised?  Proud? Jealous? Think that they're lying? Or conceited?

Anyway, sorry to get all serious on you, but it just got me thinking.  Now I'm actually starting to enjoy working out, and I've stuck with it for almost 2 months now.  Even though I've only lost about a pound and a half, I feel better, stronger and healthier.  Maybe that number on the scale isn't so important.