A comment about Leisel Jones, Olympic athlete & media target

I hopped on the internet to check out the news coming from the London 2012 Olympics and I was delighted to read this follow-up story to the Leisel Jones "is she too fat to be in the Olympics" who-ha debate. I literally felt sick when I read that the Australian media began focusing on Leisel Jones body weight, including a poll to question whether or not if she is fit or not to swim.

For those of you who aren't watching the Olympics, Leisel Jones is a breaststroke specialist on the Australian Olympic Swim team. She has won eight Olympic medals and has set world records.

How demented are our expectations of body type that the media calls this high-performance Olympic athlete fat? In the end, it doesn't matter what her body looks like or how much she weighs, what matters is how fast she pull that body through the water and to the wall. Leisel's hard work, dedication, years of training, experience and let's not forget the fact that like everyone else (mostly everyone), she raced to earn her spot at the London 2012 Olympics by qualifying in a race.

Leisel is not fat and frankly, I don't even know why people call her chubby.This three-time Olympic gold medalist, is an elite athlete who is competing in her fourth Olympics. It really doesn't matter if she does or does not fit the media's ideal image of what an athlete should look like. The only thing that matters is how fast she can swim 100m.

Tonight Leisel Jones swam her 100m breastroke in 1:06.95 and a fifth place finish. One hundred meters in one minute and six seconds and fifth in the world. How many people in the world can do that?

An update after a year of no dieting

Hubby, little bears and I are now home from our summer jaunt to cottage country. It was a fun break: swimming with the kids, fishing, sandcastles,big family dinners, smores and scones from Don's Bakery in Bala; reading a book, playing euchre in the evening. Good times, good times.

I've been blogging about the weight loss phase of my journey for more than a year now. And I'm happy with the fact that I have lost 35 pounds without any diet, especially my former diet of choice Weight Watchers. I eat what I want, no matter the calorie count or fat content.

I crave healthier foods now, so it's easier to make healthy choices. And if I happen to have a craving for let's say cookies, chocolate or ice cream, sometimes I indulge, sometimes I don't. I don't feel guilty, I feel normal.

A 35 pound loss has meant smaller clothes, no more back aches in the morning and no more chafing.  Clothes feel much better, I think I look better, much less fluffy. However, wearing a swimsuit all week at the cottage was a reminder of how much farther I have to go. With a loss rate of 35 pounds a year, that means a couple of more years.

Two more years, yes that's slow, really slow. But, this is how it has to be for me.

Anyow, I'm falling asleep, so I better go to bed.

Way off topic, but are you as excited as I am for the start of the Olympics??

Ok, 'Im totally nodding off, so I better go.



 

My freakin' zipper is down again

A flash of red catches my eye as I ease into the driver's seat of my car.

Damn it. My freakin' zipper is down again.

I just dropped off the kids at daycare so thankfully my little bears didn't hear my curse.

This is the first time in months that I've left the house with my zipper down. I can't say that my zipper has been zipped for all these months, as I recall a few instances of flashing hubby and the bears while walking around the house.

Come to think of it, the last time this happened during a December 19th playdate in Hamilton. My friend Tracey pointed out my downed fly after emerging from the bathroom with the baby bear.

Apparently I risk public embarassment whenever my toddler decides to follow me into the facilities or wander into the bedroom as I pull on my pants.

As he did this morning.

Note to self: be extra vigilent to zip your zipper when the baby bear is in the same room while pulling up pants/capris/shorts.