I have a confession to make. It’s not really a secret because those who see me on the small screen, as a Community Affairs Director on WTHR-TV, know that it is a struggle. I share this struggle with millions of other Americans and it’s impossible to hide, with an audience of tens of thousands daily. Viewers sometimes make comments about it and I have to brace myself. “You’re not as big as you look on TV,” “You’ve lost a ton of weight!” or “You’re not as fat as I thought you were.”
Yes, it’s true. I am not as thin as some television broadcasters. I was always a little bigger than some television executives would prefer, as a former news anchor/reporter, but with advancing age, and a vow to give up a lifetime of yo-yo dieting, my problem has expanded (pun intended). It’s not a comfortable subject to discuss.
We, as women, are sensitive about our outer appearance, even though we are so much more than that – sisters, mothers, and friends, accomplished and successful members of our community. However, this is not about being thin. One size does not fit all. This is about being healthy.
Women are always so busy taking care of everyone else’s health that we forget about our own. My Mom always urges me to ‘take time for you.’ I can’t even wrap my mind around that concept. I have a demanding job, dozens of community service commitments year-round, a busy personal life, and until this fall, as our last girl headed off to college, I was a full-time mother/stepmother to five daughters.
Take time for myself? When? How? Where? We must ask ourselves, what happens, if we don’t? If we want to be around for those we love, we have to love ourselves better. It’s not easy.
You name the diet; I’ve tried it over the years. You name the exercise trend and I probably have the VHS tape, from yesterday, and the DVD, today. I have started and stopped fitness routines enough times to make me dizzy.
Today, I realize that’s because I don’t ever make a long term plan. “No time. Someone needs me. Other priorities…” When do we become our own priority?
We can get some new ideas for a health plan at the first-ever WTHR Health & Fitness Expo, on April 27 and 28, at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. It offers free health screenings, healthy cooking demonstrations, and dozens of exhibit booths featuring health tips for the body, mind and spirit.
You’ll also learn about a new health challenge for kids from Colts quarterback Andrew Luck; you’ll get healthy lifestyle tips from Olympic Gold Medal diver David Boudia; and you’ll hear about health and happiness from national television personalities, Bill and Guiliana Rancic, with Guiliana sharing her message of surviving breast cancer.
Won’t you join me there? You can get free tickets on wthr.com. We only get this one life. Let’s make a plan to live a long and healthy one.
You can email comments to Angela Cain at acain@wthr.com.
