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fitness noun/fitnis/
by NGAWANG TARA GHALE
| FROM ISSUE # 188 (August 2011) | IN THIS ISSUE | |||
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Fitness is a loaded term. It is not determined as much by how strong your heart is, or whether you are disease ridden or not as it is by how thin you are. Thinness is marketed as a panacea for all ills and while it is true that obesity kills, is it necessarily true that if you are ten kgs below your ideal weight, your bones protrude, your skin is sallow, and you are not able to run a mile, then you are fit? 
A favourite Nepali greeting was 'khana khanu bhayo?' but today a more likely greeting is 'kasto motaunu bhayecha' or 'wah kasto dublaunu bhayecha'. Conversations revolve around which gym you belong to and what your exercise regime is. Or how the last meal you ate was twelve hours ago and yet you don't know why you can't seem to lose any weight. The classifieds in our dailies carry advertisements from companies claiming to have imported THE fat pill to magically melt those last few stubborn pounds. Magazines and websites aren't much better with each one contradicting what the other had to say; and don't even get me started on all the conflicting information concerning food- eat carbs, no carbs, good proteins, too much proteins, and now we are being encouraged to eat butter for our bodies need essential fats, this after years of being told butter makes you fat!
When did we get so 'fat' obsessed? The last time I checked the dictionary fitness still meant the condition of being physically fit and being suitable to fulfill particular roles or tasks. So the next time someone patronisingly advises you to lose weight, ask yourself…
Has my doctor given me a clean bill of health?
Does my BMI say I am not obese?
Can I walk up a flight of stairs without huffing and puffing?
Do I feel good about myself?
And if the answer to all of the above is yes, stop hating yourself. If you are healthy, you are fit.