“Strong is the new sexy.” “Confidence is the new skinny.” We’ve all heard these mottos floating around, but do you ever feel like the “new” #goals are just as impossible to reach as the old ones?
Author, mother, model and fitness guru Gabrielle Reece took to her blog to share an important, and rather backward, conversation that took place between her and her daughter about this growing trend, and what it means for all women.
In her video post, Gabby openly shares her height (6’3) and weight (175) with viewers. She then goes on to talk about how she recently had knee surgery and as a result has lost 15 pounds because her lack of training ability has caused her to lose muscle.
Working up the motivation to actually get to the gym, let alone complete an effective workout is a daily struggle for me. So when I heard that Gabby lost 15 pounds without hardly exercising, I definitely felt a spark of jealousy. Losing weight without exercising could possibly be one of the greatest things on the planet. But Gabby reassures viewers that her weight loss is just the opposite.
She introduces her daughter, Reece, and together they have a conversation about their numbers. Where Gabby is 6’3 and weighs 160 pounds, her 12-year old daughter is 5’10 and weighs 162 pounds.
As they were talking about their weight, I immediately had flashbacks to the dozens of times I’ve been at the gym with friends, and we’ve gotten on the scale together. I think about the anxiety that I’ve experienced while the numbers flop around and start to land on a final answer. Then I think about the many times that I’ve been relieved when my scale number is smaller than the girl next to me.
But why? If I weigh 140 pounds and my friend weighs 155, what does that mean to me? To her? Yes, my number is lower, but what does a lower number equate to when it comes to me as a person? If we’re being honest, even if my weight turns out to be lower than the girl next to me, I don’t feel victorious, or even confident. I immediately jump to the number goal that I hope to be, or size up the body features that my friend has that I wish I could have.
Gabby and Reece go on to talk about how proud Reece is to weigh more than her mom, which is far from the reaction I was expecting.
