Inspiration

I am one of those people who watches Food Network and then wants to cook something delicious.

Butter? Yes please Paula...you are very wise.

I watch Survivor Man, hosted by lovable nerd Les Stroud, and I want to go camping and hiking (although I think I can skip the eating of bugs).

So serious...so sexy :)

Luckily for me (and the size of my waist line) the Women's World Cup has been going on for about a week now and I have been watching almost every game. These women aren't sticks who only eat lettuce and the occasional line of cocaine a la Hollywood...no, these women are strong, passionate and talented. As a long time competitive soccer player, I grew up in awe of the USA women's 99' World Cup team. I remember the absolute media circus after Brandi Chastain took off her shirt after winning the cup for her team. Now I look at pictures capturing that moment and I realize that although movies, tv and magazines hawk the skinny, emaciated look, I want to look like this:

I could get abs like this with just a few sit ups...right?

and not this...

Please get these gals a sandwich STAT

Anyway, I watch these soccer games and I want to go outside and run for hours (unfortunately my body and fitness level disagrees strongly with these desires) and I want to become stronger. These are the women who I think of as inspiration to go outside and run even when it's hot and I want to sit inside and watch endless episodes of Gilmore Girls. As a woman, I think it's important to remind myself that it's not about clothing sizes, a magical number on the scale or the perfect diet...instead, for me, it's about being able to go out and run miles even when it's hot and humid, to be able to pick up heavy bags of bird seed, to hike up a mountain with my husband and just to enjoy my life to its fullest capacity (cheesy? yes...but still true)