{"id":10909,"date":"2024-10-02T16:55:35","date_gmt":"2024-10-02T09:55:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=10909"},"modified":"2024-10-02T16:55:35","modified_gmt":"2024-10-02T09:55:35","slug":"my-secret-connection-to-ilona-maher-and-bmi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=10909","title":{"rendered":"My Secret Connection to Ilona Maher and BMI"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p id=\"t_0\" data-pm-slice=\"0 0 []\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-315813 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/shutterstock_1234147891-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"520\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/shutterstock_1234147891-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/shutterstock_1234147891-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/shutterstock_1234147891-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/shutterstock_1234147891-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/shutterstock_1234147891-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/shutterstock_1234147891-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/shutterstock_1234147891-150x100.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\"\/>A month after the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ilonamaher\/\" class=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow\">Ilona Maher<\/a> \u2014 the American rugby player who famously <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/C9QIae1yHst\/?igsh=MTUza2w5cHFndnJnNw==\" class=\"external\" rel=\"nofollow\">fired back at a comment<\/a> on social media that she (Ilona Maher) must have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 which would categorize her as \u201cobese\u201d \u2014 is all the body acceptance rage right now. And as someone who has been in the \u201coverweight\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/2019\/04\/bmi-is-a-bs-number\/\">BMI<\/a> bucket her entire life, I\u2019M HERE FOR IT! But my personal connection to this story goes even deeper.<\/p>\n<p id=\"t_2\" data-pm-slice=\"0 0 []\">25 years ago, Ilona Maher was a toddler, I was playing rugby in college, and the US Army rejected me because I was \u201coverweight\u201d. It shattered me and I haven\u2019t told anyone the truth about what happened that day.<\/p>\n<p id=\"t_4\">Until now.<\/p>\n<p id=\"t_6\">It was 1999. I was a sophomore in college. I had no familial financial support. The $174 I started university with was long gone. My loans and grants only went so far and now I was fighting for my life to stay in school.<\/p>\n<p id=\"t_8\">The Army offered a solution \u2014 my college education in exchange for years of service. Since I was a rugby player and in ROTC, I was pretty fit so the <a href=\"https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/2018\/09\/5-reasons-why-youre-not-reaching-your-fitness-goals\/\">fitness<\/a> requirements of joining the Army didn\u2019t intimidate me. I didn\u2019t see any other options.<\/p>\n<p id=\"t_10\">I talked to Sergeant Reed who I knew through ROTC to set the wheels in motion. His angular face, sunken eyes, and grayish complexion\u00a0lit up when my Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery results came back only one point shy of a perfect score. \u201cJackpot\u201d was written all over his face.<\/p>\n<p id=\"t_12\">\u201cYou can do <em>any<\/em> job in the Army, except infantry and combat arms,\u201d he told me over greasy burgers on the way home from the testing site. His treat. \u201cA recruiter\u2019s dream,\u201d he said as he dipped a French fry in ketchup.<\/p>\n<p id=\"t_14\">\u201cWow. Really? Anything?\u201d I said as I perused the list of military professions available to me.<\/p>\n<p id=\"t_16\">\u201cMilitary intelligence,\u201d I announced proudly.<\/p>\n<p id=\"t_18\">He slapped the table hard. \u201cOh shit, yes! This is so great, Alison.\u201d I couldn\u2019t tell if he was more pleased with me or himself for being the recruiter that would get credit for me. It didn\u2019t matter to me either way.<\/p>\n<p id=\"t_20\">A few weeks later, we arrived at the Military Entrance Processing Station where the Army would determine if I met all the standards to join. Vision test, hearing test, HIV test, drug and alcohol test, and pregnancy test \u2026 all passed.<\/p>\n<p id=\"t_22\">The final steps in the process were done on the far right side of a large white tile-covered room that looked like a place where they do autopsies. They had a group of us women go behind the dark gray divider curtain, strip down to our underwear, and perform some movements like squatting all the way down and walking like a duck across the room.<\/p>\n<p id=\"t_24\">After that, one-by-one we were called into the poorly-lit corner of the room where the scale waited at the ready to determine the fate of every young woman left in the room.<\/p>\n<p id=\"t_26\">A chart hung on the wall above the scale that listed the acceptable body weights, based on BMI, for each height for each branch of the military. My weight put me in the \u201coverweight\u201d category for women of my height and I was disqualified. Shock washed over me.<\/p>\n<p id=\"t_28\">It didn\u2019t matter at all that I was physically fit, athletic, muscular, and very strong \u2014 as most college rugby players are. They didn\u2019t test my fitness at all \u2026 they only weighed me. And that was that.<\/p>\n<p id=\"t_30\">When I found Sergeant Reed in the lobby and I told him what happened, what little color he had drained from him face. And then he got mad.<\/p>\n<p id=\"t_32\">\u201cWhat do you mean, you\u2019re too overweight?\u201d His frustration boiled over. \u201cYou\u2019re fitter than most people in this building!\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"t_34\">He paced back and forth across the same four floor tiles, mumbling something. But I wasn\u2019t listening to him. I was gathering my bags to get out of there before the flood of tears began.<\/p>\n<p id=\"t_36\">He rubbed his hand over his clean-shaven scalp and asked if I\u2019d be willing to try to lose some weight and try again. I ignored him. The damage was done. In that moment, I was just a poor, fat kid who was out of options.<\/p>\n<p>Soon after, I quit rugby and ROTC and cut back my course load to part-time so I could get a full-time job to pay for college. And in the days that followed, when friends asked how it went, I lied and said I couldn\u2019t pass the physical because I had a bad hip. To 19 year-old me, it was better to be seen as \u201cdamaged\u201d than \u201ctoo fat\u201d.<\/p>\n<p id=\"t_40\">And I\u2019ve held on to that lie for the past 25 years.<\/p>\n<p id=\"t_42\">But I\u2019m 44 now \u2014 a 9-time <a href=\"https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/2017\/10\/13-things-know-training-first-ultramarathon\/\">ultrarunner<\/a>, 20-time marathoner, triathlete, and <a href=\"https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/2018\/07\/what-its-really-like-to-train-for-a-crossfit-competition\/\">Crossfit<\/a> and weightlifting competitor. At no point when I was accomplishing any of those physical feats, have I ever had a \u201cnormal\u201d (not overweight) BMI. I know this because my BMI has been listed right along side my blood pressure and height in my medical charts by doctor\u2019s offices that still use this ridiculous metric for god knows what. And every year they send me \u201chelpful\u201d tips for how to lose weight since I\u2019ve been red flagged as being \u201coverweight\u201d in spite of all my excellent heath markers.<\/p>\n<p id=\"t_44\">In fact, even when I was dealing with disordered eating more than a decade later and my body fat percentage was dangerously low, I still weighed enough to be considered \u201coverweight.\u201d I have the DEXA scan results to prove it.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-315814 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/BMI-Graphic-e1726143772505.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"548\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/BMI-Graphic-e1726143772505.png 1920w, https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/BMI-Graphic-e1726143772505-300x137.png 300w, https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/BMI-Graphic-e1726143772505-1024x467.png 1024w, https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/BMI-Graphic-e1726143772505-768x350.png 768w, https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/BMI-Graphic-e1726143772505-1536x701.png 1536w, https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/BMI-Graphic-e1726143772505-150x68.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 548px) 100vw, 548px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>How is this even possible? Well, BMI makes no distinction between men and women AND YET, healthy body fat percentages for men range between 8-21% and for women between 21-33%. For this reason, women with healthy body fat percentages are more likely than men to be labeled as overweight. Wild.<\/p>\n<p id=\"t_46\">Over the years, my body weight has fluctuated quite a bit\u2014mostly increasing, as I train to gain strength and muscle mass. Judging my body weight alone, you\u2019d be wrong about when I was the fittest. You\u2019d also be wrong about when I was the happiest, the healthiest, most at peace with my body, and most proud of my body.<\/p>\n<p id=\"t_48\">25 years later, it\u2019s time to talk about this.<\/p>\n<p id=\"t_50\">After all, a brick house weighs more than a house of cards.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What has your experience been with BMI? <\/strong>Share with us in the comments. <em>\u2014Alison<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\nn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;\nn.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\nt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,\ndocument,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js?v=next');<\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/fitbottomedgirls.com\/2024\/10\/my-secret-connection-to-ilona-maher-and-bmi\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A month after the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and Ilona Maher \u2014 the American rugby player who famously fired back at a comment on social media that she (Ilona Maher) must have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 which would categorize her as \u201cobese\u201d \u2014 is all the body acceptance rage right now. And &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fitness"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10909\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}