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Ladies, Losing Weight Doesn't Always Mean Getting Healthier

Being healthy includes living an active lifestyle and eating a variety of foods in moderation, but being healthy will look different for different people. Wouldn't it be awesome if we could actually see more than one version of a fit body represented in the media? Instead we're bombarded with image after image perpetuating the myth that the skinniest women are always the fittest and the men with the most muscles are always the strongest.
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What does being fit actually mean?

To a lot of people it means having six pack abs and chiselled arms or sculpted legs with a rock solid butt. But that's not what being fit is, that's just what we've come to believe that being fit looks like and even that isn't always accurate.

First thing's first, being fit can be described as: a state of well-being with a low risk of premature health problems and energy to participate in a variety of physical activities.

In other words, being fit is about how our bodies work.

But we live in a visual society where how things appear has become much more important than how they actually may be and this is the reason so many of us are wasting our time and energy criticizing our bodies when we should be appreciating and celebrating them. Being healthy includes living an active lifestyle and eating a variety of foods in moderation, but being healthy will look different for different people. Wouldn't it be awesome if we could actually see more than one version of a fit body represented in the media? Instead we're bombarded with image after image perpetuating the myth that the skinniest women are always the fittest and the men with the most muscles are always the strongest. As a result, we are constantly confusing physical fitness with physical appearance and sadly, putting more importance on the latter.

Why is this problem? It's a problem because there are too many women who would choose being sick, or even dead rather than be overweight and since so many healthy women actually overestimate their weight, they're being set up for a lifetime of body image issues and disorders.

Why is it so hard to believe that there are different ways to be fit and to look fit?

Women need to STOP hating their healthy bodies for not being skinny enough!

These women know that you don't need to be a fitness model to model fitness and that we all have the right to be proud of what fitness means to us.

Self-worth shouldn't be measured in pounds.

Also on HuffPost:

Facts About Women And Body Image

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