My body isn’t the issue, your assumptions are

I stand a mighty 60 inches tall. Or five feet, in common terms.

I weigh 120 pounds.

I’m muscular.

I’m toned.

And I take very good care of my body.

But for some reason, these facts rarely translate when I encounter people who don’t really know me.

I hear it all.

“You need to eat more.”

“Did you lose weight?”

“Wow! You’re so small.”

“I didn’t think you ate that kind of stuff.”

“Do you ever eat?”

“We’ve got to get some weight on you.”

Yada. Yada. Yada.

Honestly, I don’t care what people think about my body and my weight. I love my body. The thing that gets under my skin is that people are so comfortable sharing their assumptions. Assumptions are in my list of top five things that I despise. They’re on the list with snakes, mayonnaise, people smacking on food and ugly people. And by ugly I mean people who are filled with hate and bigotry.

Assumptions have caused so many issues throughout society that I’m always befuddled by people who haven’t learned this lesson yet. I believe people assume that because I’m petite then I don’t get annoyed when people draw their own conclusions regarding my size. I’m equally as puzzled by the fact that the assumptions always have a negative connotation as well.

Now that I’m writing these thoughts out, I realize I’ve been subjected to a form of body shaming. While mine is less prevalent than what I believe women who are in the midst of weight battles experience, it’s all ridiculous and needs to stop.

We live in a world where a lot of times our first notion is to tear someone down instead of building them up. This can come from years of being subjected to that form of “love” and treatment. It can come from years of comparison. It can come from years of society presenting it’s “beauty standards” while trying to force us to conform to them.

That’s another article for another day.

As far as the assumptions about me go, if you would ask me questions, I could tell you why I haven’t gained weight since high school.

I have very high metabolism. I burn calories faster than I take them in. This a result of my very active lifestyle which started as a child. I’m a certified personal trainer. I’m a runner. I work out at least three times a week. I eat healthy. I love pizza, a good burger, veggies and food truck festivals. My mama is 5’6. My father is the same height. There are a lot of factors that contribute to my frame. None of which are negatives.

Instead of drafting your own preconceived narrative, just ask. Instead of formulating your own speculations, just ask. Instead of crafting your own story, just ask.

I think that’s pretty sound advice not just when weight is being discussed but for life in general. We could all learn a lot from one another if we let more questions roll off our tongue as opposed to assumptions.