Working on 'shaping' things up
Live And Learn
Luis Bahena
Issue date: 3/2/10 Section: Opinion
It had been one month into the New Year when I realized that I hadn't really begun on my new year's resolution. What might that be? Well like many Americans across the nation, it was to get in shape.
I started thinking about my shape when I was filling out my dating profile on Match.com (I know it's kind of sad, but the bars haven't resulted in good dates lately). So when it asked about my appearance, my options were: "Slender, About Average, Athletic and Toned, Heavyset, A Few Extra Pounds, Stocky and No Answer."
Alright, so I didn't want to select "No Answer" because that could be considered suspicious, so I had to consider the options. I'm not "Slender", never have been, so that option was eliminated. I'm not "Heavyset" or "Stocky", so those options were eliminated, along with "Athletic and Toned".
Considering that my Nintendo game Wii Fit says that I am overweight (my BMI was at 25.55 last time I checked), I could've selected the" A few Extra Pounds" option. However, I consider myself to be in pretty good shape for my age so in the end I went with "About Average".
Thinking about it though, "Athletic and Toned" would mean that a person is in pretty good shape to be considered "Athletic", right. Let's say that I was to get in good shape, how would that make me "Athletic" if I don't even play sports?
I was never really big on sports to begin with. I liked volleyball when I was in elementary school, but I never really pursued it. One time I was picked as goalie for a soccer game at school, but was taken out because I blocked the ball… With my face!
Football confuses me, baseball seems to go around in circles and basketball can be entertaining at times, but I am too damn short to play the sport.
So, say I was to get in shape, all six pack abs and everything, why would that make me an "Athletic" shape? Perhaps that's why Match.com decided to add the "Toned" part to that option.
America does not make it easy to get in shape. In almost every corner there are temptations in fast food. McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's Jack-in-the-Box, Carl's Jr., and the list go on and on. You can't travel 5 miles without coming across a fast food joint.
I started thinking about my shape when I was filling out my dating profile on Match.com (I know it's kind of sad, but the bars haven't resulted in good dates lately). So when it asked about my appearance, my options were: "Slender, About Average, Athletic and Toned, Heavyset, A Few Extra Pounds, Stocky and No Answer."
Alright, so I didn't want to select "No Answer" because that could be considered suspicious, so I had to consider the options. I'm not "Slender", never have been, so that option was eliminated. I'm not "Heavyset" or "Stocky", so those options were eliminated, along with "Athletic and Toned".
Considering that my Nintendo game Wii Fit says that I am overweight (my BMI was at 25.55 last time I checked), I could've selected the" A few Extra Pounds" option. However, I consider myself to be in pretty good shape for my age so in the end I went with "About Average".
Thinking about it though, "Athletic and Toned" would mean that a person is in pretty good shape to be considered "Athletic", right. Let's say that I was to get in good shape, how would that make me "Athletic" if I don't even play sports?
I was never really big on sports to begin with. I liked volleyball when I was in elementary school, but I never really pursued it. One time I was picked as goalie for a soccer game at school, but was taken out because I blocked the ball… With my face!
Football confuses me, baseball seems to go around in circles and basketball can be entertaining at times, but I am too damn short to play the sport.
So, say I was to get in shape, all six pack abs and everything, why would that make me an "Athletic" shape? Perhaps that's why Match.com decided to add the "Toned" part to that option.
America does not make it easy to get in shape. In almost every corner there are temptations in fast food. McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's Jack-in-the-Box, Carl's Jr., and the list go on and on. You can't travel 5 miles without coming across a fast food joint.
