Standing on my Soap Box

Don’t – Judgement and an Update

  • Sheila Rempel, Author
  • Writer, Southeastern Manitoba

Apparently I am full of “Don’ts” lately. My most recent don’t is Don’t Judge Me!

Ok, maybe an exclamation point is a little over the top, but please hear me out. I have been looking at some new workout wear that my athletic therapist recommended I get. So I go into a sporting goods store, looking for athletic apparel… things like Dri Fit underwear, or more recently Core shorts that are supposed to support my lower back, tummy area. The first place they take me to??? The MEN’s section.

OF course, someone of my size would NOT be looking for athletic specific stuff like Dri fit underwear or Core shorts. That would mean that someone my size actually is taking care of them self, and we wouldn’t want to kill that stereotype, would we?

Imagine that someone my size runs long enough in one run, that their body burns more calories (2,133 calories) in that one run than a ‘stereotypical” fashion model eats in an entire day.

Another judgement that drives me crazy, is when you see someone my size eating a cheeseburger, and in your head you are wondering if I really should be eating that kind of food (greasy, junk food). Well, you are right, I shouldn’t be eating greasy junk food, but you shouldn’t be eating that stuff either. After all it is JUNK food. BUT, that lunch you saw me eat; that was after I did a 10 mile run in the morning, in which I burned off 1,641 calories.

On another note…

In my blog post entitled I can’t, I could never do that, I could never do that I mentioned that I would be doing a half Marathon in August. Well… I completed it! I ran 13.1 miles in 3:33:16. Not a great speed, but I did it. I raised $1,246 for team diabetes. My next events include a 10 mile run and another half marathon in October. I do have other plans in my head for what I will be doing after that, but nothing registered for yet.