#Annoying Question: Why do you work out?

Last week, one trending topic on Twitter was #annoyingquestions. One question that really annoys me: Why do you work out? If you're a skinny black chick who exercises, you probably get asked this, too. It's like I don't need to work out because I'm already skinny.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not an exercise goddess who works out seven days a week, twice a day. In fact, it's something I just kind of started enjoying recently. I think people have this idea that the only reason anybody would {and should} work out is to lose weight, at least in my experience. People can't imagine any other reason someone would want to. Well, I work out {or attempt to} for a few reasons: 1) I want to be healthy and have a long life with few health issues; 2) I like how I feel after working out {now, being motivated to do so is a whole other story}; 3) I don't want to have to work too hard to maintain my physique when I get older. And besides, just because you're thin doesn't mean you're healthy.

Whether you're skinny or not, there are several benefits to working out {aside from losing weight}. According to Mayo Clinic, exercise:

• Improves your mood.
• Combats chronic diseases like high blood pressure, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis.
• Increases your energy level.
• Promotes better sleep.
• Can be fun (hard to believe, right?)

What ya'll think?

Skinny Black Chick- Amanda E.

Beauty

As you may know, Jada Pinkett Smith graced the cover of the July 2010 issue of Essence Magazine sans clothing.

In her feature article, she spoke on her size-- being a thin black woman. She was telling the writer, Jeanine Amber, how she feels that women should love the way they look. She said, "...whatever you look like, you better be comfortable with it."

Jeanine suggests that it's probably easy for Jada to embrace her body because "what is she, a California-size negative zero?" Jada's response? "...Black men like their women with a little meat. All my life, Black men have told me how flawed I am. People may look at the picture and not necessarily be able to identify my woes about my own body, but I have them..."

I remember as a freshman in college, this guy told me I "would be a dime if I were thick." It used to bother me when guys would say things like that because I can't control how I look (It took me all four years in college to gain weight, and it was only 10 pounds Lol). It's like hearing that you're almost good enough-- but not quite. Thankfully, like Jada, I've learned to accept and love my skinniness (90 percent of the time).

I also think it's interesting that people don't get why thin/skinny women have body insecurities just like many other women. I mean, we get called 'bony,' 'sticks,' 'poles'; people ask us if we eat, what do we eat, how much we weigh, what size we wear and the list goes on and on and on. And the thing is, it's seemingly okay for people to do this to thin people. Newsflash: It's not. What if, as a big girl, people said, 'Oh my gosh, you're so big!' And asked you , 'What do you eat? What size pants do you wear?' You'd probably find it annoying and rude as hell. My point is, when you constantly have people telling you how skinny you are, how you need to eat and gain weight and how you're so pretty...but you'd be perfect if you were thick, it can cause you to feel insecure about your looks.

But like Mrs. Pinkett Smith says, we have to learn to love ourselves and our bodies, no matter how fat, skinny, tall, short, light, dark, etc. we are. There is beauty in our differences, and I wish more people realized that. But whether they do or not, we have to know for ourselves that we are beautiful and worthy.

What do ya'll think?

Skinny Black Chick- Tiffany P.

What she had to say:

"Thanks for creating this blog!"

Skinny Black Chick- Donica' B.

Here's what she had to say:

Thank you so much for creating this space for Skinny Black Chicks who feel the same way. For a minute there, I thought I was alone. Even at 30, I still get teased about my weight; and boy can I EAT! Lol! Plus, I am from the south, so you know already know what I mean by that...

Skinny Black Chick

Nicole D.

Skinny Black Chick

Jessica B.

Skinny Black Chick- Dorita

Dorita M.

Why I created this blog

I’m Jamie, and I’m a skinny black chick and proud of it!

However, I wasn’t always happy about being skinny…I’ve been thin my whole life, and I use to always want to be bigger {and, admittedly, I still have my moments}. I wanted to gain weight because it seemed like being thin and black was a bad thing. People would always be like, “Oh my god, you’re soooo skinny!” or “You need to eat!” {Well, some people still do, but, I digress.}

As you can imagine, that gets old after a while, so I wanted to be thicker, curvier, you know, like the “other” black girls. Don’t get me wrong now, I didn’t hate myself, nor did I have an issue with males pursuing me…I guess I just wanted to look like “they” looked and to feel like I fit in. I figured I’d gain weight in college, you know, the freshmen 15. Well, that didn’t happen exactly. I mean, yeah, I gained weight, about 10 pounds actually. It just took me all four years to actually gain anything. Anyhoo, long story short, I just started embracing who I was and loving myself and my skinny-ness. Even though people try to make me feel like I shouldn’t.

I know I’m not the only skinny black girl tired of Mo’Nique talking about “skinny b***es,” people asking if we eat {What?! Most of the skinny girls I know can eat- just ask anyone I know about me} or telling me that “only a dog wants a bone; men want a ‘real’ woman.” {Yeah, you can ask my fiance what he likes}.

Anyway, I made this blog to celebrate the skinny black chicks. That’s not to say I don’t celebrate all women because I do {see my blog, for colored gurls}…

So, here, I’ll talk about my thoughts and experiences, post pics of other skinny and fabulous black chicks and just celebrate this aspect of black beauty.

Enjoy!

P.S.- If you’re a skinny black chick, send me a pic of you to post to jamienfleming@gmai.com.