Why simply be normal, when you can be a freak?

mccindy72

an USAF officer, I train hard and expect no less than that from others. But this is not the place for such tactics.

I hope you can forgive me and I will make personal appeals to those you I seem to have upset the most.

Sincerely,
TC

Being A (not an) USAF officer has nothing to do with your condensation, I am aware of the USAF tenants and acting like a total horse's behind is not one of them.

correcting someone else's grammar and then using the completely incorrect word in the same sentence makes you the horses' behind, not the OP. I believe being driven is part of the military state of mind. I'm behind OP on this one.

royaldrea

an USAF officer, I train hard and expect no less than that from others. But this is not the place for such tactics.

I hope you can forgive me and I will make personal appeals to those you I seem to have upset the most.

Sincerely,
TC

Being A (not an) USAF officer has nothing to do with your condensation, I am aware of the USAF tenants and acting like a total horse's behind is not one of them.

correcting someone else's grammar and then using the completely incorrect word in the same sentence makes you the horses' behind, not the OP. I believe being driven is part of the military state of mind. I'm behind OP on this one.

LOL he corrected his grammar and then accused him of being drops of water on a glass I love it.

OP and supporters, I don't think anyone except Monsieur Grammatico up there was trying to be rude or was overly offended, just expressing their honest belief that your all or nothing mentality is unnecessary (and I feel that your derision of the normals was a bit condescending tbh, but no harm done). A lot of people read the forums and may not comment but kind of take certain things as gospel, and the MFP regulars usually try to provide evidence that there is an alternative path to success that can be more sustainable.

Not involved in the conversation but I think it was big of you to apologize for offending people. That's really cool. I think your heart was in the right place so don't feel bad, maybe even try to hear the normals out and modify your approach so that it's less exclusive of other ways of reaching goals?

ETA modify your approach in terms of motivating people, not in terms of your own regime.

Docbanana2002

First my sincere apologies for any offense I may have cause anyone for what may be construed as egotistical bravado. That was not my intent but I will be the first to admit it may have been taken that way.

As both a competitive bodybuilder and an USAF officer, I train hard and expect no less than that from others. But this is not the place for such tactics.

I hope you can forgive me and I will make personal appeals to those you I seem to have upset the most.

Sincerely,
TC

Thanks for that. It would be really easy to walk away and conclude we're all jerks, but you listened to the feedback and apologized. That's not easy.

You seem like you mean well, but like someone whose life (and probably social circle) is so centered around fitness and bodybuilding and physical perfection that you might not know much about the rest of us normal people out here. You should get out more, listen to people who have struggles with health and fitness that are quite different than a young healthy USAF officer. Struggles in really basic things, like giving up addictions, overcoming eating disorders, physical illness, disabilities, grappling with aging bodies that don't look or work as perfectly as they once did. My mother's physical condition is such that she doesn't leave the house and can barely walk a tenth of a mile. She was once an active vibrant healthy woman, a runner, until fibromyalgia and a host of other medical issues claimed all of that. Her fitness goals are quite normal by anyone's standards. She would feel belittled, reading your post, about her crappy little desire to go for a walk in the sun. But the reality is she's fighting like a warrior to live each day with the pain she is in.

As for me, merely being "overweight" and able to run (not win) a 5K was a cause for celebration. I've never known anything but obesity. I've struggled in this area all my life and am quite accustomed to being a body-related freak who stands out in the room. Just not in the exact way you mean! You have no idea how hard I've worked and how much I've given up for my crappy little "accomplishment" of just looking NORMAL. I blend into the crowd now and shop at regular clothing stores. It's nice. I look at your photo and think "Wow. If I could just get to a normal weight and have a little muscle tone I would work hard to stay that way. But I don't know why someone wants to spend all their time in the gym obsessing over every little fat pocket being gone and every little muscle looking just the right way. Seems to be missing the beautiful forest...because he's too busy trying to nit pick that one tree." BUT then I have to remind myself that you are not me, and your passions are not my passions, your history is not mine, and that's okay.

If you met me, you might wonder why I spent so much time on my education, doing research on little nit picky issues. I have two master's degrees and a Ph.D. I take being "brainy" rather seriously. I'm good at it... so good that I was rather freakish in that area. I got picked on for it in my early life. But I don't go on "motivational" rants at random people about how their education is so... normal (ewwwww, normal) and they need to strive to be freakish like me because my way is THE way.

I love photography (as a hobby), and I'm very picky about my work looking a certain way. Sometimes I cringe when on Facebook with the photos I see. I think OMG they need some cropping and lighting adjustments and wow can you SEE that crooked horizon? But I calm down and brag on how cute their dog is. Cause they like their new camera and are happy to be a regular person taking regular photos of their cute dog. I don't go on lectures about how they need to become a photography freak and do better than this mediocre crap. That would be condescending and obnoxious and self-centered to think that my photography goals are the same as theirs or that I'm supposed to be in charge of their education in this area.

This is how you are coming across. Not realizing that YOUR "thing"... passion, talent, accomplishment.... isn't everyone' thing. And that it isn't okay to make other people's lives seem wrong or insignificant or low-achieving because they aren't doing what you are doing and don't have the same goals you have. And that what you expect or demand from me is none of my concern because you are a stranger, not someone I've invited into my life or that I choose to be accountable to.

As for your USAF recruits... they have signed up for that. You need to give them the "I expect more from you" speech and get in their face and stuff. And I have a scholarly-sounding academic version of that speech that I give to students who are paying lots of money to be educated by me but slacking off. That's okay, in those contexts.

liftnlove_

Not to worry, OP, no one here is normal :laugh:

I personally liked your post, and your enthusiasm. I think people just got hung up on a few key words, and kind of missed the point. What I got from your post is that we shouldn't limit ourselves--we are capable of so much more than we know. We can do so much more than we once thought we could do when we first started. I have certainly found that to be true myself...my original goal was just to get out of my maternity pants, since my son was almost 4 years old. ...Anyway, I'm pretty damn happy I didn't just reach that goal and stop...I get it.

WinoGelato

an USAF officer, I train hard and expect no less than that from others. But this is not the place for such tactics.

I hope you can forgive me and I will make personal appeals to those you I seem to have upset the most.

Sincerely,
TC

Being A (not an) USAF officer has nothing to do with your condensation, I am aware of the USAF tenants and acting like a total horse's behind is not one of them.

correcting someone else's grammar and then using the completely incorrect word in the same sentence makes you the horses' behind, not the OP. I believe being driven is part of the military state of mind. I'm behind OP on this one.

I don't know how to BOLD on here but also the word that the grammar nazi should have used is "tenets" not "tenants"

Tenet - a belief or idea that is important to a group
Tenant - a person that pays to use another person's property