Skinny People Do

I grew up on sugar. Yes I mean “on sugar” since these days eating sugar has become as taboo as smoking cigarettes.

During my childhood, the kool-aid man was an icon in my parent’s house. Don’t judge! You don’t know him like I do.  LOL!  I can remember collecting kool-aid points and redeeming them for prizes.

On special occasions — Sundays and holidays — my siblings and I were allowed to drink sweet tea with our meals. On any given evening, you could find at least one 5 lb bag of sugar in the pantry.

Water was more of a last resort. Even during my athletic days, I relied on sport drinks to quench my thirst.

So you can understand my bewilderment over the discovery that skinny people drink water in mass amounts and love it! I couldn’t believe that they enjoy water so much that they buy bottles of it by the dozen.  Not only that, some people — for reasons that still elude me — invest in devices made for carrying insanely large amounts of it everywhere they go.

The skinny even order water with their meals. It really is their beverage of choice! I’m not going to delve into the different types of bottled water, filtering processes, or whether glacier water is better than Fugi.

But I will say that skinny people drink water so it must be right!

How much water should I drink?

Some doctors recommend the 8×8 rule. That is, drink an 8 ounce serving of water 8 times a day. you drink 8 or 9 cups of water a day.  Of course, everyone has a different need based on their health and how active they are.  Fortunately, there are calculators to help find the optimal water intake!

How do I know if I am drinking enough?

You shouldn’t feel thirsty during the day and your urine should be slightly yellow or colorless.

How many ounces of water do you drink a day?

The ultimate test of endurance for a skinny person is to complete a marathon. This can only be surpassed by completing a triathlon, duathlon, or some other form of multi-sport foolishness endurance race. I have been told that at first, most have a love/hate relationship with the sport. But in the end they actually crave it!

Now, I am not saying that you have to go so far as to run a marathon.  But I will say…

Skinny people run! I am currently trying it and look forward to letting you know how it goes. I truly believe that you can run being overweight out of your system. How? Well the key to this is to run on purpose, run at a good pace, run for a considerable amount of time, and run often.

I know what you’re thinking. No, running to the mailbox or from your neighbor’s crazy dog isn’t going to cut it.  Ladies, unfortunately that stroll with your girl friends around the park while you spill the latest gossip isn’t going to help shed major pounds either.

You have to get out there and RUN!

What’s a good pace? Well according to my research (link?) a 14 to 7 minute mile pace will do the trick. I know that seems like lighting speed to the recovering couch potato but YOU CAN DO IT!

How far should you run? Start with 1 mile and work your way up. Nobody is saying you have to run a marathon but you should push yourself to stay on pace and to be consistent. Take walk breaks if you must.

Also, you should make sure that you have proper running shoes. I wouldn’t want you to injure yourself. In southern California we have places like Top to Top and Roadrunner Sports that analyze your stride and feet before recommending a running shoe. Look for places like this in your area and GET RUNNING!

Have you started running? Are you training for a race? Already ran one? Tell us about it!

Being skinny takes commitment. You can’t take the easy way out even if it means braving  10 below weather or a monsoon. Skinny people have mystical powers which allows them to over come obstacles that daunt the overweight.

An example of this is their ability to keep that appointment they made with themselves for a daily workout. Breaking this appointment is not taken lightly. And some actually feel so bad that they eat less or workout more the next day to make up for it!

Here in the land of the “physically aware” —  also known as Southern California — I see examples of this everyday.

Now, I know the songs states “it never rains in southern California”, but yeah every now and then it does. You would think that this would be a welcomed change. A guilt-free opportunity to take a break from an early morning or lunch time run.

NO! To the skinny, this is an opportunity to push themselves out of their comfort zone, to push it to the LIMIT!

Of course I have  an example.

Recently during one of the rare occasions when Southern Cal gets its share of the wet stuff, I watched a man running across a crosswalk. He was dressed in shorts and a tank top as if he was participating in the LA Marathon. My first haterish thought was, “That guy is crazy!” but later I concluded, “That guy has commitment”.

He has made a decision to take his health seriously and he isn’t going to let a little spring shower stop him. This guy was serious! I felt a little ashamed knowing I once stood in the rain for 2 hours at a Luther Vandross concert, but I won’t even leave my house in the rain to go to the gym!?!

Hopefully this blog will help me be committed to my goal by making me accountable to each of you.

The next time it rains or you’re tired after work, I challenge you to keep that date with a “heart pounding” workout!

Besides weather, what obstacles do you let keep you from working out?

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