Fit versus Skinny: The truth unveiled

A fit person is not always skinny, and a skinny person is not always fit. Fitness is not measured by the size of a person’s body. It is a measure of a person’s health. Mentally, people have their own definition of what fitness is,a mental definition determines the physical perception of fitness.

A nice slender body is usually how magazines portray fitness in females. On rare occasions do magazines actually posts pictures of genuinely fit women.What magazines neglect to show their audiences is that skinny does NOT mean a person is fit.

There is no fault in saying that a fit body for some equates to a slender build. But a slender build also comes with firm muscles not skinny, lanky legs, and arms. Having muscles is a part of being fit. Fitness is healthy. Skinniness could be unhealthy. There is a predetermined scale to measure how healthy a person is. It is called BMI or body mass index.

The four levels in the BMI scale are underweight, normal, overweight, obese. The goal is to have a body weight that fits the normal categories. Normal is the same as being fit.

Underweight is generally where a lot of people clock in. Underweight is not healthy no matter how appealing it seems. Ms. Sidelinger provides some insight about the distorted body imagines saying that “a lot of girls have a misperception about their body images.” She continues on to say “that if they try to hold themselves up to what they see in People Magazine and that type of thing, then yes, they are setting themselves up to be unhappy in their own skins.”

Ultimately, media is a major factor in determining what the ideal body looks like. Most of the time, the ideal body image mirrors that of a slim rather than a toned female. In actuality, tone is better than slim especially if it means you are capable of long more demanding exercises.

When asked, several North Springs students concurred with the idea that fitness means healthiness. It deals with how healthy a person’s lifestyle is and their physical endurance. All might agree that it’s better to weigh 130 lbs and be able to run three miles, then weigh 100 lbs and only be able to run one mile.

Senior Tatiana Tally defines fitness as “looking healthy… when you feel like your optimum shape.” She goes on to say, “a person knows when they are in their best shape. [Fit] doesn’t have to do with body shape. Fit has to do within the body.”

Professional trainer Mr. Kenny puts the misperceptions to rest with his statement “you can still have a lean look…and not be fit.”

So fitness is definitely a personalized thing. One person’s level of fitness may not match another. However, fitness does not always mean having a slender body. Believe it or not, muscle mass is required. In the end, muscle looks better than skinny.

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