Sweetness

Happy Monday, friends! I hope you all had fabulous, Hunger Games-filled weekends! I had intended to go see the movie again on Sunday, but ended up getting sick and bailed. I’m planning on seeing it this week though, kekeke.

While my Sunday ended being of the invariably lazy variety, my Saturday was chock-full of activity and social whatchamacallit. For lunch I had the pleasure of meeting up with a few local bloggers for lunch! The fantastic Lauren reached out to a few of us to see if we’d be up for a little group date. Initially we had settled on taking in the sights of the National Zoo, but the weather put a bit of a damper on that. So instead, we met up for lunch in Dupont Circle at one of my old faves, Sweetgreen!

Sarah, Jenny, Lauren, Ashley, and yours truly!

For once, I was the one who left her camera at home, so thanks in advance to Lauren for letting me snag these pics! It wasn’t until I saw these pictures of our little group that I realized I was the only brunette one there, haha. I guess we should have had this meetup back when I was still in my blonde phase, huh? Bahaha.

The group of us all got awesome salads (Lauren and I both got the Pickle Madness! Perfect for me, no?) followed by delicious froyo. We ended up chatting about life, weight loss, food, and The Hunger Games (what else?) for three hours! Time really does fly when you’re having fun!

Lauren & me – as you can see, I’m still inspired by Katniss to attempt to work braids into my hair, haha.

Jenny & me – Thanks for the pic, Jenny!

One of the really interesting (to me) topics that we ended up discussing was the concept of the subjectivity of one’s weight. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: weight is SO subjective. 150 pounds on one person can look a heck of a lot different than it does on the next. This is one of the main reasons that I disagree with the BMI table as a tool for determining a “healthy” weight. According to BMI, at 5’9″ I would be within a healthy weight range if I weighed between 128 and 169 pounds. Now, I can’t really speak for how I would look at 128 pounds (the word that comes to mind, however, is skeletal), but I know that at my goal weight of 165 I will probably look pretty dang slim. I don’t think there’s a chance in hell that I would be healthy if I weighed 128 pounds. I have a large frame, an hourglass figure, and I’m not trying to justify my weight but sometimes I feel like I need to. Like, if I say that I’m a weight loss blogger who weighs 189 pounds, it’s very easy to feel like that’s not good enough. Because to a lot of people, 189 lbs still seems like a lot. Even though for me, formerly 246+ pounds, it is nothing but health and progress.

I’m still working towards my weight loss goal, but I’ve mentioned before that the number itself isn’t something I’m dead set on. I want to feel healthy, slender, and strong but I am trying very, very hard to dissuade myself of the need to feel THIN. (It’s hard to do, believe me!) I want to be able to be in a place where even if my actual weight ends up at 160, 170 or 180 pounds, if I’m eating well and exercising regularly and able to MAINTAIN that without too much trouble… well, I want to be able to be happy there. And let’s be honest, when you get down to brass tacks, 5 or 10 lbs? It’s really not a lot for me. I can understand how those single pounds can really make a difference when you’re 5’2″ or what have you, but for me? I mean, I gain and lose five pounds between breakfast and bedtime every day. After all, a pound of feathers and a pound of gold weight the same, but you’d never know it from looking at ‘em, right?

What are your thoughts on BMI as a way to determine healthy weight? Or on the subjectivity of weight in general?