The other night my Muay Thai instructor (John Staab) made a joke about the end of the world coming. I replied that if it did, I’d at least be in the best health of my life. And that got me thinking.

You see, I’m fat. I’m 5’7 1/2″ and I weigh around 240 pounds. My Waistline is 48 inches. My (calculated) BMI is in the morbidly obese range. So to look at me, you would not think I am in any way healthy.

I certainly was fit in college. I weighed 145lbs, I biked 5+ miles a day just to get to school and around on campus. I had little spare money, so I ate frugally and a mostly-vegetarian diet. anyone looking at me would have thought I was very healthy. (Cute, too!)

But I wasn’t healthy. I was *fit*, but not healthy. I ran with a crowd that drank a lot, I had a lot of unhealthy behaviors regading sexuality and risk-taking. I smoked.

Now I am not particularly fit, but I am healthy. I don’t smoke. I eat a well-rounded diet with lots of whole grains and unprocessed food. I do Muay Thai 2x a week, Pilates and Aquafit each week as well. I do more exercise now than I did three years ago . . . actually I do more exercise now than I have since college.

And my instructors are quick to praise me and my abilities. Staab, in particular, is really impressed with how far I’ve come. I do things now that I literally couldn’t have just 6 months ago. My abilities, my conditioning, my strength are all progressing and he’s very proud of me. (Part of it is: I’m not a quitter. Sometimes I don’t make class, its true. But when I am there I will try anything and give it my best effort. Always.) My Pilates instructor (Jamie) is consistently impressed with my strength and ‘flow’ — I make it look easy, and there are lots of things I do that people who’ve been doing Pilates for years can’t do as well I can.

So, I may not be fit; but by golly I am healthy!