Thoughts to chew on

Recently I have been asked a few questions that I thought were very thought provoking. As a person who is concerned about my healthy and appearance it is interesting to really delve into these and think about my true answers. Feel free to share what your thoughts are too, I would love it!

First of all,
If you were a naturally "thin" person. Would you eat good, healthy food and exercise as much as you do now.
*I am not naturally a thin person, by the standard set by the media and other influences. Although according to the BMI chart, I am just barely squeezing into the healthy range. Which is interesting to me even there, that at (I am guessing) 14% body fat and 137 lbs (This morning) I am almost to the overweight catergory. Really? I don't know about that, the BMI chart is a whole other question for another day.
Anyway, according to what is on tv I am not a thin person -naturally so I have to religiously excercise good nutrition and exercise habits to maintain my frame, which I still religiously complain about. I do venture to think that if I were naturally skinny, I would eat worse than I do now, (I love me some processed junk food people) and I would exercise possibly half as much as I do now.

A friend of my dad's said "I remember seeing you all those times as your grew up and never once thought you were fat, though, I don't remember thinking you were skinny either. And not skinny is not the same as thin"
*This is very true. I do believe as an "average" girl I feel a little medioce. If that makes sense. Like, I am just a girl. Not "that skinny girl" or that "heavy girl." Maybe some would feel like that was a compliment, and while I know it was meant that way, it makes me feel mediocre in yet one other area of my life. If I could work a little harder, I could be that "skinny" girl.

Is the appreciation of your physique more important when coming from the same sex or the opposite?
*This was very provoking for me, an almost 26 year old wife and mom. I think both mean a lot to me. A guy turning to appreciate my look is a ego boost, as if "I am still pretty, or I am still more than "just" a mom or wife." But a females appreciation of my body is a big ego boost in another noncompetitive way. That we are on the same team, and she notices that I look good, even more appreciated when it is known how hard I work to look the way I do look.

Which brings me to the point that when or if anyone ever says "but it's easy for you" or that "if I only had as much time as you do"-- I get extremely annoyed. Being commited to showing up to the gym after you had to turn around and pick up your bag because you forgot it, or get up at 5 am because the kids are sick and daycare isn't an option, or going even when I feel sick is not ever easy-- but it is what one does when they are commited to exercise and giving themselves the time they deserve to improve their strength and condition. And being a stay at home mom would to some seem like I have loads of time on my hands, but I assure you between a husband, kids, preschool, church and all the responsibilities and jobs that come with those things, I do not ever have an excess of time on my hands. I learn to prioritze just like everyone else does.

In this world of beautiful, air brushed women on covers of every magazine and on every tv commercial it is interesting to me that we all are really truly striving to look that way, that we as a culture have accepted them to be the "normal" when in actuality the way they look isn't even the way they really look. It is infuriating in a lot of ways. Motivating to try to get there, to their amazing perfection-- but almost literally impossible. Even the thinnest, best looking, buffest person is almost always air brushed on an advertisement. And we as the real "normal" people of America are making ourselves sick over trying to achieve this "ideal." It is important to remember that mental health is as important is physical health and we must be very careful not to teeter too close to the edge of striving for unrealistic expectations for the "normal population" of people in the world.
(And we must also remember that most of the people we see on tv, in ads etc are making their livings looking the way they look. They pay their bills that way, we should not expect to look the way they look on the fact that we are not relying on our physiques or appearances to make or break our bank account for the month).