Unobtainable

Awhile back I was challenged by Mike (my previous trainer for any new readers) to make a list of healthier changes I could make that may impact my emotional development around all of this.  http://thefoodwar.blogspot.com/2013/09/healthy-habits.html.  One of the things I decided to do was let go of my obsession with trashy magazines.  Every Friday I would literally head to the grocery store and buy ALL of them and page through them.  I told myself it was just an escape into the drama of the celebrity world.  But who was I kidding that it did not seep into my self conscience that I didn't look like that.  I would NEVER look like that.  So I banned them and replaced them with only Fitness magazines.  Like....

Or

Wait.  Are you seeing what I'm seeing?  I'm not seeing fit.  I'm not seeing strong.  I'm seeing thin.  These women are beautiful, and insanely thin.  I'm not implying that they don't exercise or eat right.  Clearly they are adopting some healthy lifestyle habits.  But they also clearly have genetics on their side; and, as a friend pointed out, the luxury of some photo editing.  This wasn't apparent to me right away.  Because among these there are also covers like this:

My intent was to find strong, fit women who could inspire me.  I have made enough emotional progress that it's not just about being skinny anymore.  I want to be fit.  And strong.  I want to be bad ass.  I have always been an athlete and finally feel like one again.

Just when I thought I had, had enough with my fitness magazines urging me to "look gorgeous" and "drop 2 sizes in 2 weeks!"  SELF magazine made a MAJOR (in my humble opinion) fitness world faux pas.  https://shine.yahoo.com/love-sex/self-magazine-cancer-survivor-monika-allen-181452496.html.  They ended up publishing a picture of a cancer survivor running in her tutu during a race.  The section is called BS Meter.  WTF?!  They have since issued an apology and donated to cancer research, etc.  But what I can't let go of is that they seem sorry because she is a cancer survivor.  Not because they mocked someone for wearing a costume during a race.  Would it be ok if this girl was not a cancer survivor to be mocked in a national magazine?  The bigger problem I see is that people who are intimidated or worried about being made fun of probably feel justified in those feelings.  What kind of crap is it that you pretend to be about fitness and motivation when you are mocking anyone for how or what they wear while doing it?

So I'm done.  I'm done with all of them.  What is wrong with us as a society that we can't come up with a way to inspire and motivate people without shaming them if they don't look like this?  How many people actually look like this?  Instead of the story of the person who lost 120 pounds being on the inside, why not put them on the cover?  There are some great articles about weight loss and routines/exercises to try out, along with healthy recipes to try.  I love that part of it.  But until you can not mock anyone for their fitness attire or put someone other then this on the cover

I'm certain that having this on my coffee table is not a healthy habit.