KRISTA TEN BRINKE IS OFFICIALLY THE 21ST PERSON TO SWIM ACROSS LAKE ERIE!!!!!
Praise God!!! And I mean that!!!
We didn't even have a boat right up until the evening before my swim. Of course Christine and my parents didn't let me know that! Thank goodness for Anita and her husband swooping in to save the day. Their boat wasn't as big as what was initially planned, but without it I couldn't have crossed.
On the morning of July 12th my alarm went off at 3:30am. I put on my bathing suit, and warm clothes and I grabbed the two jugs of my feed I had mixed up the night before. I had a smoothie and an egg, my typical pre-big swim meal. And my last meal until I got across. I wasn't going to try anything weird at this stage in the game. Mom was waiting to drive me to Fort Erie. Dad was up an hour earlier to head to the marina with the boat. My parents love me. I'm very luck to have had them through all this.
I arrived at the Crystal Beach Marina just before 5am and my whole crew was waiting for me, Dad, Paul, Christine, Trin, Dave, Miguel, Anita, and her husband. I can't even begin to express my gratitude for these people. We had to start so earlier because the forecast predicted the currents on Lake Erie will switch direction around noon and would be completely against. The goal was to be almost across before that happened. After my last on-land pee break and a last minute coating of anti-chaffing cream, we were almost ready to go. Something really important I wanted to do before we left was pray with everyone. So we got in a circle and did that, and then I prayed one more time with just mom and dad, cried exactly 3 tears, and then we piled into two boats and started across to Sturgeon Point on the american side of the lake.
Couple sketchy things to note. 1st: we did not have a navigator. Christine has sometimes done this job but because she'll be in the kayak she can't. So the navigator role fell to Dad, who is also in charge of driving the lead boat. The first task was actually finding Sturgeon Point. Since we have to cross into american waters we're not very keen to use the data on our phones in order to load maps etc. (Also since we're in american waters, we're all praying to not get stopped by US coast guard, especially when I jump out and climb onto their shoreline to mark the start of my swim.) We are driving in what we think is the right direction. We are exactly against the waves. This is good because that means they should be exactly behind me as I swim back in this direction. The problem was that we couldn't drive quickly, it was very bumpy. The funny part I found out afterwards is that everyone in the boats was worried about me, whether this was making me feel sick, whether seeing the waves and the immensity of the distance was making me nervous. Meanwhile, I wasn't in the slightest bit concerned about that! I was in the front of the boat, standing, absorbing the waves with my body the way I always do when boating on Lake O. I was worried about Mom and Paul and about whether THEY were feeling sick. But everyone was fine, even after pounding those waves for 45 minutes. At some point I decided that one of the blinking red lights in the distance was Sturgeon Point. I had no proof to back up that claim, Dad wasn't convinced that it coincided with the map, but we kept driving towards it because we didn't have a better plan. Turns out the blinking red light was just to the right of Sturgeon Point and once we could see land Christine could direct us in. That's all God.
The rest still feels pretty surreal to me. I jumped out of the boat once we were like 25m from shore and climbed onto the land. Christine and Dave got the kayak ready, Miguel held the stopwatch, and at exactly 6am said "Go!" From there I can only tell you my half of the story. I have no idea what conversations happened in the boats, I don't know what problems they encountered trying to keep me on track and keep me safe. All I know is that lake Erie was warm, a very comfortable 70 degrees and that the first 3 hours of my swim passed without incident.
Every 30 minutes a water-bottle attached to a rope was tossed in front of my path filled with my Carbo-Pro mixture and I could stop for a minute to drink that, and talk to the crew, or pee, or eat a couple cucumber slices thrown to me from Mom. The waves were big and the wind was strong up until this point, but it was all pushing me where I wanted to go, and I'm wasn't really bothered by them. Christine tells me that I just completed the first 10km of my swim in 3hour and 9 minutes, my fastest 10km yet! On the downside my shoulders felt tight, and I was pretty sick of my feed already. By the 4hr mark I asked for a tylenol and barely had any of my feed. There was never a point in my swim where I felt like giving up, or felt too exhausted to continue. Some people say that's good training, some people say that's God's grace, I say its both. But if I had to pick the moment that was the toughest, that was it, just over halfway, another marathon left to go and really uncomfortable pain. About a week ago I had asked my chiropractor and massage therapist whether they could foresee any problems occurring during my swim. Whether I should be aware of certain pains and know when to stop. They both assured me that I was going to be fine, and that anything that happened wasn't irreparable, we could rehab any injury, and that I shouldn't allow fear of a minor injury stop me from completing the crossing. That moment in the middle of the lake, I was really glad I had that conversation. So I continued and eventually the tylenol kicked in and the pain subsided. Christine wasn't happy about me neglecting to feed though, so just before the 5hr mark she had me take one of the caffeine gels that marathon runners use. "Gel" is a nice word, "thick gasoline" might be closer to the truth.
At exactly 5 hours, Dave hopped in and helped me pick up my stroke count. He swam next to me for almost an hour and when he hopped out just before noon I could see Crystal Beach. I was close. I was told I was only 1km offshore, 1.5km tops. Well great! That's 20-30 minutes! Unfortunately the pier we were aiming for was playing trick on my crew's eyes and we went a little bit off course, enough that 40 minutes came and went without me touching land. But I knew I was close, and that energy gel had kicked in, and I knew that I could swim another hour at least if I HAD to.
But I didn't have to, very soon after that I could see the bottom, the kayak I had been making eye contact with every 15 seconds was now in front of me taking over from the lead boat. I was allowed to sight forward, and I only had a few hundred metres left. I could hear the people before I could see them and I swam until I was in less than 3ft of water, I which point I stood up and stumbled/ran onto the beach. Miguel stopped the clock at 12:52, 6 hours and 52 minutes. Way faster than the 8 hour mark I had dared to hope for.
I would have loved to hug my parents first, but Christine was there in lieu and after that I was just hugging everybody. Mom swam in from where the boats were anchored and this time she cried. My friends had balloons and signs, and some beach strangers congratulated me, and it was everything I could have hoped for and more. We even picnicked on the beach afterwards and thanks to the disgusting caffeine gel, I had SO much energy for the rest of the afternoon.
Today I had another AM Radio follow up interview and the rest of today was spent doing things that didn't involve me lifting my arms above waist height.
I am exhausted, but not as exhausted as I would have predicated, and very very content. Not everyone gets one of these moments in their life, and its not like I didn't work hard for it. But I never could have had that "running up onto the beach moment" without the group of people who helped me all along the way, and I hope that one day I'll get to be part of someone else living out one of their dreams.
I'm excited to get back to a more relaxed-paced life. I'm excited to spend more time with family and friends and less time with my significant other(s): the pool/the canal. I have no intentions of tackling another Great Lake, just in case anyone is asking, Christine would like me to, but I think I'll chase after some other dreams now.
And so I think the moral of the story probably is: Be careful what you put on your Bucketlist.
Monday, July 13, 2015
Friday, July 10, 2015
Training Journal #26
I am so close. Christine is feeling good about Sunday. We may be having a really early start but I don't care. Let's do it. I haven't really allowed myself to think about what it will feel like if I don't make it, and I'm not about to start now. But there's a quote someone shared with me right at the beginning of my training that I just fell in love with and especially now that I'm 2 days out, it feels appropriate.
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - Theodore Roosevelt
No matter what happens I am thankful for this journey. I am thankful for the people I've met, trained beside and been inspired by. I'm thankful for the personal growth its caused in me. I'm thankful for the incredible support I've felt from my friends and family, even my family overseas. Whether or not I make it across, whether or not God and Lake Erie allow me to make it across, I still have all that, and that's fantastic.
That being said, I'd really like to make it across, and I'm going to give it my all.
K.
P.S. Did I mention I was on the radio today? :P
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - Theodore Roosevelt
No matter what happens I am thankful for this journey. I am thankful for the people I've met, trained beside and been inspired by. I'm thankful for the personal growth its caused in me. I'm thankful for the incredible support I've felt from my friends and family, even my family overseas. Whether or not I make it across, whether or not God and Lake Erie allow me to make it across, I still have all that, and that's fantastic.
That being said, I'd really like to make it across, and I'm going to give it my all.
K.
P.S. Did I mention I was on the radio today? :P
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Training Journal #25/ An Open Letter to Goodlife Fitness
Today was my last swim before the big day. Which is a little risky because if I don't swim Sunday or Monday then I'll have been out of the water for debatably too long. But let's be optimistic and say it'll be fine! Today's swim brings this week's mileage up to a whopping 10km. Okay body, time to go into charging mode, and save up all that energy!
I got my blood results back. Iron levels at 14! Spectacular! Christine hasn't even asked so I'm not even going to tell her. I'll be fine, even Taliano thinks I'll be okay. Some research says that women's iron levels can be in the normal range at as low as 12, so maybe that's me! Too late to turn back now.
I also switched gyms this week. I'll be 24 in the fall and my YMCA membership was going to go up in price. So I checked out Goodlife Fitness and made the switch. Perks include: a pool that is still unreasonably warm, but totally empty most of the day, AND open 24 hours. Also massage chairs. But man oh man Goodlife, even though I'm still convinced I made the right decision, you made me second guess myself today. So here is my open letter to Goodlife Fitness.
Dear Goodlife Fitness,
I recently switched over to your gym from the YMCA. I was greeted by friendly staff, given a great tour of the facility, received a free book AND a free duffel bag! In addition I noticed that the average age of members was well under that of the YMCA, and because I'm 23, I find this is quite nice... for so many reasons. Well done, good start!
Then, I sat down at one of your little discussion tables and was taken through your intro package with a personal trainer. You asked me about why I joined the gym, and what my fitness goals are, and what I'd like to see change in my body. This should have been my first indication that things were headed south. But instead I continued naively, answered all your questions, and even agreed to a follow-up session. This session would be with a different personal trainer who would do a workout with me, and a bunch of health assessments to give me my numbers (BMI, Weight, Body Fat% and composition etc). Well that sounded exciting! After selling out all my closest friends and family in order to get a free water bottle, I left the gym, looking forward to returning the next day for my personal training session.
So I arrived at the gym today and was greeted by a higher ranking personal trainer who took me through a workout which I actually found reasonably informative and challenging at certain parts. I had never used the squat bars before outside of a lifting class, and she corrected my technique in a few exercises. Over all, not a bad session! Next came the health assessment. We went back to the little discussion tables and got started.
Something you should know about me Goodlife -- I'm going to swim across Lake Erie in 4 days. Its approximately a 20km double marathon swim. I can't guarantee you that I will make it across, but the important thing to know is that I've trained for it. I've trained hard for it. For 7 months now I have been working out 8-9 times per week, for usually about 2 hours at a time. I am the fittest I have ever been. I am an athlete.
This was not kept a secret from the personal trainer I was working with. (Could you keep it a secret if you were swimming across a Great Lake in 4 days?!) I thought it was kind of odd that this personal trainer had almost no reaction to this piece of information, but I quickly took myself off of my high horse. I'm sure many more-impressive athletes than myself have walked through those doors, and I'm sure Goodlife has been the training ground for much more impressive athletic feats. So we plowed onwards as if I wasn't any different, which, I reasoned, was true. I was again asked questions about my fitness goals and what I would like to change. But we got really specific this time, and I felt myself start to get defensive. When I wasn't providing very detailed answers, (ex. I guess I'd like to continue to see more muscle tone), she tried to suggest some for me;
"Where would you like to see more muscle/less fat? What parts of your body do you feel uncomfortable with? Would you like to lose inches somewhere specific? Is there a dress size or pant size that you're aiming for?"
Now, I'm going to give my one-off personal trainer the benefit of the doubt. I'm sure these questions are scripted and its not her fault that they're terrible. I'm looking at you corporate Goodlife - those are NOT good questions!
I actually took a few moments and a couple breathes before I answered. I said, "You know what, I'm probably never going to be 100% satisfied all the time with how I look, or how I feel my body looks, and I think that's normal. But right now I just can't hate on my body. Right now that actually feels wrong! I have been pushing my body to its physical limits, I have being seeing tangible evidence of myself getting stronger, I've been asking for a lot, and my body has been doing absolutely everything I've asked it to! I'm very happy about that!" And then I asked if we could move on.
The next part of the health assessment was blood pressure. I know what my blood pressure should be. I used to take it all the time, ever since I was 12 in Shoppers Drug Mart. I have used my brother's cuff for at-home monitoring, and I have it taken every time I donate blood. You know what it says every.single.time? 110/70. OCCASIONALLY 120/80. Resting heart rate of 60bpm. Suffice it to say that my pulse and blood pressure are fine. Sometimes low, like so low that workout machines give me an error message because they can't find my pulse, but nevertheless, perfectly healthy and fine. This was not what the machine at Goodlife found. My numbers were through the roof! I was initially shocked and for a split second I was truly worried. I waited to see what the trainer would say, but she didn't react, just wrote the numbers down. I mentioned how odd that was, and what my normal range usually is, but she didn't seem to think it warranted a re-test, or that anything strange was afoot. Now I realize that my pressure and pulse were so high because my blood was already boiling at this point but I was bottling it all up inside of me! I had just had my healthy body- image assaulted and was forced to defend it, and now we're going to see what my heart is like in a calm, resting state?!
Next, I allowed the personal trainer to wrap a measuring tape around certain body parts and then I stepped onto a fancy scale that was going to tell me my weight, my body fat percentage, and the break down of my body composition (fat mass, bone mass, muscle mass etc.) For a moment before I stepped on the scale I was self-conscious. I knew what the scale was going to say, and I knew I wasn't going to be thrilled with the number. I knew I had gained over 10lbs since the beginning of my training and had never weighed this much before in my life. I also realistically had continued to tell myself that most of that weight had to be muscle, that I still fit into all of my clothes, some even better than before, and that no matter what the number is, I am not defined by it. So I stepped onto your scale, and was greeted by the expected number, and I came to terms with it. Then the scale gave my personal trainer a print-out and we went back to the table to enter the last numbers from my assessment into a computer and go over what it said.
It said that I am made up of 35% fat. To MY credit I didn't react to the number, "What do I know about body fat percentage, I'm sure its fine!" My personal trainer however, was more than happy to interpret the number for me. "35%, well that, along with your blood pressure results puts you in the very unhealthy zone." She then pointed to a column on the computer for me. I scored 62/100 on my health assessment and it was concluded that significant lifestyle changes needed to occur. In addition, 35% body fat puts me in the obese column of every body fat percentage chart. What?!
My personal trainer smiled at me, handed me the package of paperwork, detailing how unhealthy I am, and how I am at a high risk for heart attack and stroke, and then she tried to sell me 8 different personal training packages ranging from $1000-$6000, all of which I declined, before she said goodbye and left for her next appointment.
Goodlife, I am afraid. I am not afraid for me. I am not afraid that I'm going to die young from heart disease or stroke. I'm not even afraid of what 35% body fat means for me, my swim, or my overall health. What I AM afraid of is how your personal trainers are interpreting your health assessment results. If your employees can sit for an hour with me, do a workout with me, listen to the details of what my training has included over the past year, and at the end of that can point to a chart telling me I'm considered obese -- that's terrifying!! It's terrifying because I'm not obese! I'm not even close! And if you can look at a high performance athlete and ascribe that word to them without any qualms, I shudder to think what is being told to the men and women, especially young men and women who do not have the knowledge of how strong they are to fall back on. What about your clients who may not have my amazing support group and people in their life who consistently tell them they're beautiful and help build up their self-esteem?? What are you telling to the other people who look like me but might look in the mirror and actually think they are obese, and then you CONFIRM their deepest fear?! It's possible that 35% of my body is fat. I'm skeptical, but its possible. Even if that IS true, clearly in my case that number does equal an individual who is living an unhealthy lifestyle, clearly 35% does not always equal obesity.
Here's my point. I am not against your health assessment. I am not against your gym. I am actually very happy with almost everything I have experienced at Goodlife. What I AM against is the blanket, one size fits all, black and white way in which my health assessment was explained to me. Healthy doesn't always look like 18% body fat, 120lbs, and a size 2 waist. It certainly doesn't look like that for me. Healthy looks different for everyone, and that's why it's really difficult to make any kind of judgement calls based on a person's appearance. That's why fat-shaming is so problematic!
As an organization whose goal is to "give every Canadian the opportunity to live a fit and healthy good life", I'm asking you to please redefine the way you see people, and the way you're telling people to see themselves. Please stop telling healthy people that they're obese. Please stop forcing people to tell you all the things they hate about their bodies. Please stop viewing the numbers as absolute truth, to be weighted as worth more than the story of the person sitting across from you.
Sincerely,
Krista
Update: December 23rd 2015. I made it across Lake Erie! I am still a regular Goodlife Member. I am still 35% body fat. And that is still okay.
I got my blood results back. Iron levels at 14! Spectacular! Christine hasn't even asked so I'm not even going to tell her. I'll be fine, even Taliano thinks I'll be okay. Some research says that women's iron levels can be in the normal range at as low as 12, so maybe that's me! Too late to turn back now.
I also switched gyms this week. I'll be 24 in the fall and my YMCA membership was going to go up in price. So I checked out Goodlife Fitness and made the switch. Perks include: a pool that is still unreasonably warm, but totally empty most of the day, AND open 24 hours. Also massage chairs. But man oh man Goodlife, even though I'm still convinced I made the right decision, you made me second guess myself today. So here is my open letter to Goodlife Fitness.
Dear Goodlife Fitness,
I recently switched over to your gym from the YMCA. I was greeted by friendly staff, given a great tour of the facility, received a free book AND a free duffel bag! In addition I noticed that the average age of members was well under that of the YMCA, and because I'm 23, I find this is quite nice... for so many reasons. Well done, good start!
Then, I sat down at one of your little discussion tables and was taken through your intro package with a personal trainer. You asked me about why I joined the gym, and what my fitness goals are, and what I'd like to see change in my body. This should have been my first indication that things were headed south. But instead I continued naively, answered all your questions, and even agreed to a follow-up session. This session would be with a different personal trainer who would do a workout with me, and a bunch of health assessments to give me my numbers (BMI, Weight, Body Fat% and composition etc). Well that sounded exciting! After selling out all my closest friends and family in order to get a free water bottle, I left the gym, looking forward to returning the next day for my personal training session.
So I arrived at the gym today and was greeted by a higher ranking personal trainer who took me through a workout which I actually found reasonably informative and challenging at certain parts. I had never used the squat bars before outside of a lifting class, and she corrected my technique in a few exercises. Over all, not a bad session! Next came the health assessment. We went back to the little discussion tables and got started.
Something you should know about me Goodlife -- I'm going to swim across Lake Erie in 4 days. Its approximately a 20km double marathon swim. I can't guarantee you that I will make it across, but the important thing to know is that I've trained for it. I've trained hard for it. For 7 months now I have been working out 8-9 times per week, for usually about 2 hours at a time. I am the fittest I have ever been. I am an athlete.
This was not kept a secret from the personal trainer I was working with. (Could you keep it a secret if you were swimming across a Great Lake in 4 days?!) I thought it was kind of odd that this personal trainer had almost no reaction to this piece of information, but I quickly took myself off of my high horse. I'm sure many more-impressive athletes than myself have walked through those doors, and I'm sure Goodlife has been the training ground for much more impressive athletic feats. So we plowed onwards as if I wasn't any different, which, I reasoned, was true. I was again asked questions about my fitness goals and what I would like to change. But we got really specific this time, and I felt myself start to get defensive. When I wasn't providing very detailed answers, (ex. I guess I'd like to continue to see more muscle tone), she tried to suggest some for me;
"Where would you like to see more muscle/less fat? What parts of your body do you feel uncomfortable with? Would you like to lose inches somewhere specific? Is there a dress size or pant size that you're aiming for?"
Now, I'm going to give my one-off personal trainer the benefit of the doubt. I'm sure these questions are scripted and its not her fault that they're terrible. I'm looking at you corporate Goodlife - those are NOT good questions!
I actually took a few moments and a couple breathes before I answered. I said, "You know what, I'm probably never going to be 100% satisfied all the time with how I look, or how I feel my body looks, and I think that's normal. But right now I just can't hate on my body. Right now that actually feels wrong! I have been pushing my body to its physical limits, I have being seeing tangible evidence of myself getting stronger, I've been asking for a lot, and my body has been doing absolutely everything I've asked it to! I'm very happy about that!" And then I asked if we could move on.
The next part of the health assessment was blood pressure. I know what my blood pressure should be. I used to take it all the time, ever since I was 12 in Shoppers Drug Mart. I have used my brother's cuff for at-home monitoring, and I have it taken every time I donate blood. You know what it says every.single.time? 110/70. OCCASIONALLY 120/80. Resting heart rate of 60bpm. Suffice it to say that my pulse and blood pressure are fine. Sometimes low, like so low that workout machines give me an error message because they can't find my pulse, but nevertheless, perfectly healthy and fine. This was not what the machine at Goodlife found. My numbers were through the roof! I was initially shocked and for a split second I was truly worried. I waited to see what the trainer would say, but she didn't react, just wrote the numbers down. I mentioned how odd that was, and what my normal range usually is, but she didn't seem to think it warranted a re-test, or that anything strange was afoot. Now I realize that my pressure and pulse were so high because my blood was already boiling at this point but I was bottling it all up inside of me! I had just had my healthy body- image assaulted and was forced to defend it, and now we're going to see what my heart is like in a calm, resting state?!
Next, I allowed the personal trainer to wrap a measuring tape around certain body parts and then I stepped onto a fancy scale that was going to tell me my weight, my body fat percentage, and the break down of my body composition (fat mass, bone mass, muscle mass etc.) For a moment before I stepped on the scale I was self-conscious. I knew what the scale was going to say, and I knew I wasn't going to be thrilled with the number. I knew I had gained over 10lbs since the beginning of my training and had never weighed this much before in my life. I also realistically had continued to tell myself that most of that weight had to be muscle, that I still fit into all of my clothes, some even better than before, and that no matter what the number is, I am not defined by it. So I stepped onto your scale, and was greeted by the expected number, and I came to terms with it. Then the scale gave my personal trainer a print-out and we went back to the table to enter the last numbers from my assessment into a computer and go over what it said.
It said that I am made up of 35% fat. To MY credit I didn't react to the number, "What do I know about body fat percentage, I'm sure its fine!" My personal trainer however, was more than happy to interpret the number for me. "35%, well that, along with your blood pressure results puts you in the very unhealthy zone." She then pointed to a column on the computer for me. I scored 62/100 on my health assessment and it was concluded that significant lifestyle changes needed to occur. In addition, 35% body fat puts me in the obese column of every body fat percentage chart. What?!
My personal trainer smiled at me, handed me the package of paperwork, detailing how unhealthy I am, and how I am at a high risk for heart attack and stroke, and then she tried to sell me 8 different personal training packages ranging from $1000-$6000, all of which I declined, before she said goodbye and left for her next appointment.
Goodlife, I am afraid. I am not afraid for me. I am not afraid that I'm going to die young from heart disease or stroke. I'm not even afraid of what 35% body fat means for me, my swim, or my overall health. What I AM afraid of is how your personal trainers are interpreting your health assessment results. If your employees can sit for an hour with me, do a workout with me, listen to the details of what my training has included over the past year, and at the end of that can point to a chart telling me I'm considered obese -- that's terrifying!! It's terrifying because I'm not obese! I'm not even close! And if you can look at a high performance athlete and ascribe that word to them without any qualms, I shudder to think what is being told to the men and women, especially young men and women who do not have the knowledge of how strong they are to fall back on. What about your clients who may not have my amazing support group and people in their life who consistently tell them they're beautiful and help build up their self-esteem?? What are you telling to the other people who look like me but might look in the mirror and actually think they are obese, and then you CONFIRM their deepest fear?! It's possible that 35% of my body is fat. I'm skeptical, but its possible. Even if that IS true, clearly in my case that number does equal an individual who is living an unhealthy lifestyle, clearly 35% does not always equal obesity.
Here's my point. I am not against your health assessment. I am not against your gym. I am actually very happy with almost everything I have experienced at Goodlife. What I AM against is the blanket, one size fits all, black and white way in which my health assessment was explained to me. Healthy doesn't always look like 18% body fat, 120lbs, and a size 2 waist. It certainly doesn't look like that for me. Healthy looks different for everyone, and that's why it's really difficult to make any kind of judgement calls based on a person's appearance. That's why fat-shaming is so problematic!
As an organization whose goal is to "give every Canadian the opportunity to live a fit and healthy good life", I'm asking you to please redefine the way you see people, and the way you're telling people to see themselves. Please stop telling healthy people that they're obese. Please stop forcing people to tell you all the things they hate about their bodies. Please stop viewing the numbers as absolute truth, to be weighted as worth more than the story of the person sitting across from you.
Sincerely,
Krista
Update: December 23rd 2015. I made it across Lake Erie! I am still a regular Goodlife Member. I am still 35% body fat. And that is still okay.
Friday, July 3, 2015
Training Journal #24
Georgian Bay was beautiful! We were camped on a Native reserve which was a bugger to get to and I think I destroyed my car, but the location was lovely. There were two islands really close to our site that we swam around and the waves were lots of fun! I've always loved playing in the waves at Sauble beach and maybe I just naturally know how to swim in them. In theory I shouldn't have to swim against the waves on Erie. I can swim N to S or S to N. My preference would be S to N so that I can end at Crystal Beach, but at the end of the day its not up to me. So the waves should be behind me, or slightly to the side of me. The important thing to remember is to brace your core when you're swimming in waves so that you can hold your line and stay on plain. The other thing is that sometimes the waves will mess up your breathing. I breathe every 3 strokes, but if I turn my head into a wave or get hit in the face, I need to be able to relax and just wait to breathe a little later. Some of the drills we used to do in practice required us to breathe only every 5 or 7 strokes, so again, in theory I should easily have the lung capacity to deal with unpredictable waves. We'll see. I'm feeling good though.
Mileage is way down this week, only 12 km. It hasn't been that low since February I think! One freaking week left!! Still not sure about the whole boat situation. Christine isn't freaking out yet so I guess it'll be fine. Erie is high 60s which is all I can ask for. Please let conditions be prime for the 12th!
Mileage is way down this week, only 12 km. It hasn't been that low since February I think! One freaking week left!! Still not sure about the whole boat situation. Christine isn't freaking out yet so I guess it'll be fine. Erie is high 60s which is all I can ask for. Please let conditions be prime for the 12th!
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