I need to see your ID, skinny bitch

I'm not really into blogs where every post is a bitch fest, some long drawn out "why me?" rant about how life is so terrible. This is not one of those blogs and neither is this post - but I can't promise there won't be some mild bitching here today. You see, it all started on Tuesday while I was waiting for my BodyStep class at American Family Fitness. The second floor of the gym looks down on to the pool which is currently under construction. As I stood watching, a guy I've made small talk with in previous classes came over and asked what I was looking at. After a few minutes we got on the topic of children and he asked if I had any. I laughed and said, "no, I'm only 26." His reply: "26? I thought you were in high school!"

Now I know I look young, I always have. I'm used to being carded at bars and not surprised when I'm mistaken for a college student. But gym guy's comment really irked me. High school? Kids in high school, especially in the West End of Richmond, are brats who drive cars nicer than I'll ever have. They come to the gym to check each other out and trade the latest gossip. The girls wear super short shorts and "Godwin Cheerleading" tee shirts while pretending to run around the track. Last time I checked, I wear a running tank top and mesh shorts that don't show off my ass when I work out and I rarely talk to anyone. When I run on the track I actually run and I wear a watch to track my time.

The gym incident happened on Tuesday and by yesterday afternoon it was all but a distant memory; until today. After work, I went to Kroger to pick up some groceries for dinner. Thankfully it wasn't busy and I didn't even have to wait in line to check out. The cashier and I made some small talk and she asked if dinner was just for me and my boyfriend and I said no because Brad's aunt was joining us as well. Then she brought up something about kids and I commented that I was only 26 and so I didn't have any kids. "26? I would have thought you were 21." Ugh. Well, I guess 21 is better than high school. I should have left it at that but of course I brought up the gym incident to which the cashier replied, "oh yeah, you could pass for high school."

There's something else about high school kids, especially girls, that I didn't mention previously, and it's that most high school girls are skinny...which brings me to my next gripe. It's no secret that I'm small. Just like I've always looked young, I've always been skinny (except for a short stint in college where I gained 15 pounds, but even then, I wasn't huge). In fact at one point, I was under weight for my height.

Now I'm sure some of you are thinking, "oh great, she's gonna bitch about how skinny she is."That's not what this is about. This is about the fact that I don't like it when people make me feel bad about my size. I routinely receive comments like, "oh so how much do you weigh?"; "You're so small, have you lost weight?"; "I never realized how petite you were!"; "what size jeans do you wear? Oh a 2, but you're really a 0 because those are big on you..." etc. etc. The truth is, I love food and if you know me you know how much I love cheese, wine, dirty martinis and crab dip from 3 Monkeys to name a few. But if you know me you also know that high blood pressure runs in my family and to some extent, high cholesterol. So much as I love to indulge in these culinary delights, I pretty much have to work out and watch what I eat because I'm 26 and I don't want to be on blood pressure medicine or worse, dead!

Another thing about me is that I love working out, especially running. In high school I ran cross country and track and I renewed my love of running when I ran in the 5k4 Caitlin last year. In December, my sister and I decided to sign up for the Monument Avenue 10k and I joined the YMCA Training Team to help jump start my training. Naturally when you're running 20 plus miles a week, you're going to lose weight. After finishing the 10k (in 52:04), I trained a bit for the 5k4 Caitlin and then got a little burnt out on the whole running thing. Now, I'm trying all sorts of classes at the gym and having so much fun. Naturally, since I'm changing up my work out routine, my body is going to change. My legs might get more toned; my abs may become more defined; maybe my butt will become more of a badunkadunk. My point is, just because I like to work out, doesn't mean I'm trying to lose weight. I just enjoy the high it gives me and I enjoy not having to be on prescription drugs for high blood pressure.

Sigh. I'm glad I got that all out. Thanks for reading and I hope you don't think I'm a whiny bitch or a skinny bitch or some other kind of bitch. I promise not to post anything like this again for awhile!