Being Fit Doesn’t Mean You’re Thin

Everyone say hello to guest blogger Amy Kant from Losing It Without Losing Me!

This year I committed to living a healthier lifestyle. I haven’t been “fit” by conventional means for years. I’m fat. I weigh 265 pounds. I have health problems beyond belief. But I refuse to bow to the easy way out. I’m not giving up anymore. I’m taking charge of my life. I am FIT – Fabulous In Training. To me, being fit is more than just your outward appearance. It’s your actions. It’s taking charge.

If you’re overweight like me, you shouldn’t be afraid of exercising or eating better. We’re all going to slip and fall… but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pick yourself back up. Just stepping out of your comfort zone will get you on your way to being fit.

As you may recall, in January I joined Anne Munkwitz and Rochelle Van Hart for the Salus Corporate Treadmill challenge, a challenge to run or walk around Wisconsin (held at theRACC Multisport Expo). Earlier in the week I had seen the tweets and Facebook posts about the Salus challenge and was intrigued but sort of forgot about it. The day before the event I saw Anne and Rochelle tweeting away about the challenge. They had signed up to run on a treadmill for two hours straight.

Then something inside of me said, “just do it.” So I signed up to join the girls from 10am-noon on a treadmill. We’re talking no potty breaks, no stopping to catch your breath, no “I’m fat and can’t do this.”

I think God made me without certain “fear” receptors in the brain. Sometimes, I just don’t think about things before I do them. I am a li’l fearless like that. I’ve done some stupid things in my life and I’ve embarrassed myself more times than I’d care to admit. But that’s never stopped me from doing something stupid, or in this case, friggin’ awesome. To be honest with you, I’m a little mortified at what I did last weekend because:

1. I am fat
2. I am fat and I went to a FITNESS expo.
3. I am fat and I went to a FITNESS expo and walked on a treadmill.
4. I am fat and I went to a FITNESS expo and walked on a treadmill for two hours.
5. I am fat and I went to a FITNESS expo nd walked on a treadmill for two hours, walking a total of 5.6 miles.

What was I thinking? Seriously, what WAS I THINKING? I was on a treadmill facing the expo with people walking past me for two hours, seeing me – all 265 pounds – walking on a treadmill. Two hours. TWO FREAKING HOURS. AT A FITNESS EXPO.

You know what? I’m not ashamed. I’m proud of what I accomplished. I’m taking charge of my life and getting fit in the progress. I’ll be honest, there were times that I wanted to quit. If you follow my workouts on DailyMile, you know that I haven’t walked more than 2 miles since I started this whole thing. The fact that I walked 5.6 miles without a lot of training (and at a very consistent pace of 3.0-3.5 mph) is a huge deal. This alone is evidence to me that I have changed. Sure, there were a few times I wanted to stop, but then I looked to my left and saw Anne and Rochelle running away and I knew I couldn’t stop. In fact, at one point, I even contemplated running for a bit.

If I could do this challenge, there’s no stopping me from hitting all my goals: run a 5k, a half-marathon and maybe even a marathon or triathlon. In fact, I’ve just committed to doing a half-marathon in July. My plan is to walk it, unless my training goes better than expected. In that case, I’ll run it. I’m incredibly scared about doing this, but if I don’t have a goal to work up to, how will I ever succeed? I’m taking a chance, and I’ll be getting fit along the way… oh and of course, fabulous.