I’m going to admit to something shocking. I look at other people’s bodies. Yes, I do. And what’s more, I compare my body to theirs and think about how closely my body resembles theirs. I do this a lot at the YMCA when I’m working out and some young cutie in a skin-tight pair of yoga pants is holding a pyramid pose in a perfectly straight line without a bead of sweat trickling down her cheek, and I’m hunched over, back rounded, knees slightly bent (okay, knees very bent), and I’m struggling not to wheeze audibly.
Lest you pretend to be outraged by my behavior, be honest with yourself and admit that you do it once in awhile, too. You look at someone in the mall who, judging from their vastly protruding belly, hasn’t eaten a healthy meal in years, and you vow to get back on that treadmill or stay away from dessert for awhile. Or you look at that person with the smooth waistline and tell yourself that you want that body and you’re determined to work at it to get there and nothing’s going to get in the way of you looking good in your swimsuit this summer. I told myself that yesterday morning at the gym. Then I went home and made oatmeal raisin cookies. A lot of them.
I have been trying, though. So much, in fact, that I’ve recently been featured in a health magazine. Eat your hearts out.
Coming East 
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Love your sense of humor! that photo is still crackin’ me up.
You’re laughing at my body, and you think I would be okay with that, Sally? I’m outraged!
If it’s on the internet, it must be true, right? Sadly, I’ve got a six-pack of flab. My holiday poundage didn’t go away, so I went back to Phase One of South Beach diet.
I know what you mean, Patti. Since November I haven’t been able to stay away from bread products. And now the cookies…I have an image of what I want to look like, but I’m not doing anything to get there. I think of St. Paul saying the things he should do, he doesn’t do, and the things he shouldn’t do, he does. I’m right there with him!
You look good, Susan! Love your sense of humor!
Only good, Jiawei? Don’t you mean I look great? 🙂
very cute!
Yes, I am, aren’t I? 🙂
yes, you are!!
We must not be doing the right exercises at the Y! I’ve been going regularly 5 days a week usually and not lost a pound. Maybe toned up a little bit. Do you think we should have a personal trainer work with us?
I hear you, Shofar! If I worked out at the Y and then came home to a VitaMix smoothie instead of a plate of oatmeal raisin cookies, I might see an improvement. Can a trainer keep me away from the cookies?
I love oatmeal raisin cookies, all kinds of breads, and pasta. My son, who is a vegan, has always said that diet is more important than our exercise regime. I tell my husband that I had 3 babies, so what’s his excuse?!
I think if we start seeing results with a personal trainer who costs us big bucks, we may be motivated to eat healthier. Maybe.
Sadly, I think your son is right. The only time I see my waistline shrink is when I stop eating the carbs, no matter how much exercise I do. I hate not having willpower to stay away from them.
Well, let’s be satisfied with a good sense of well being, feeling relatively healthy and not having physical limitations, as many do. Thank the Lord for our blessings, good friends, and oatmeal raisin cookies, too!
A double Amen to that, Shofar!
So funny, yet so true! I wanna some oatmeal raisin cookies. 🙂
They’re going fast, Amy. My husband loves them.
Oh Susan, I love your sense of humor! I MUST make more time in my day to get back to reading your blog every time you post. I’ve missed it!
Same here with you, Mama. I know how hard it is to keep up with everything. Glad you stopped by.
I have five sisters. We all compare like crazy. A husband threatened to line us all up and take a picture of our back sides, then see if we could pick our own out. I don’t wanna see that thing back there, I’d rather imagine what it looks like. Same must go for my sisters because somewhere along the line we stopped talking so much about the size of our hips, thighs, arms, etc.
As for George, that’s why God gave us aging eyes: We can’t see anything up close, so we all continue to look just as young as ever.
Love your comment, Adela, especially about the aging eyes. Five sisters! My, oh my!
Featured on the front page of such a well known and well regarded magazine. Wow – am I ever impressed Susan!
I’ve earned a place there, Judith, by all my hard work. 🙂
Look at other women’s bodies? Can’t relate. The only things I think about is what kind of person is she on the inside and what kind of intellectual pursuits she likes. I remember George saying the same thing once.
He only said it once, Al? I need to talk to him…
rut roh
😆 I always new you were worthy of your on magazine article. lol Cute.
You do speak the truth, it’s amazing the comparisons and scrutinizing we do even if we don’t realize it.
I don’t know why we do that to ourselves, E.C. I guess it could make us motivated…if it doesn’t make us depressed.
True, so true. There’s a fine line there sometimes.
And here when you said you looked at other peoples’ bodies you were going to talk about…. well, never mind. That’s a whole OTHER blog post 😉
LOL, Julia.
Susan, to answer the question you asked on my blog post today: yes, we did go up on the beach at Corolla last Saturday. We have a 4wd Jeep. Maybe we could take you and your hubby up there some time to see the horses. They’re definitely out and about more during the warmer months; I think we only saw 5 this trip. We have seen 50+ in one day!
Amazing! If we’re not out of your way, we’d love to tag along!
“out of our way”: you DO recall that my hubby just drove to Vermont last month….????? 😉
Ha-ha! Then it’s a deal!
Oh, yes, I think we all look other folks’ bodies! And that usually does involve vowing to eat better and exercise more!
Wish my vows actually had the power to move me in the right direction, Dianna.
Well, I DID get out for my 30 minute walk today. First time in several weeks. Wish I could order up temps like this from now til spring!
Good for you, Dianna! Yes, the temperature is amazingly warm, but the winds are already picking up here. The storm is approaching.
This is soooo true…including the cookie baking. You look fabulous! Haha
But man those cookies are good, LWTTD!
Funny- yes we all look and compare. Years ago my mother took me and my sister to Loehmanns and she’d point to other people and say, “She can where that because she’s tall.” Back when there were communal dressing rooms and you could ask complete strangers for fashion advice.
What kills me at the gym is seeing so many people who don’t need to be there!
I’d forgotten all about those communal dressing rooms, Grandma! As for gyms, they should have classes and rooms for those health magazine models and separate ones for the rest of us. Oh, wait…I’d have to be in with the supermodels. Ha-ha.