Hi Carol,

> I'm sending this directly because we seem to have strayed into an area
> that few who wait for messages about raw food and health are probably
> happy to see. :)

Yeah you're probably right, but I'll post this to the list anyway,
just
to finish the thread we started.

> I don't mean to insult anyone, really.  I don't consider "sweat
> monsters" a mean thing to say.  These days, "monster" has become
> a very common add-on (as in "stress monster" "chocolate monster")
> used to describe someone who relishes a certain something.

Sounds kinda derrogatory to me. But I guess it all depends on the
tone of voice, which is missing here.

> It's tricky, I admit.  As far as professional athletes go, all I can
> say is that adding the word "professional" (or "pro") puts them into
> a different category -- those who are referred to as athletes because
> of their job and nothing else.  Pro bowlers are called athletes on TV
> all the time, but how many of us, when we picture "athlete" in our
> minds, think of a pro bowler?

Definately.

I live in a house of hard-core jocks - born, bred, living and
breathing to play sports. All the talk and culture in my house is
athlete talk, athlete culture  --  and from our point of view, many
more people are athletes than from your point of view, evidently.

> Most of the folks I see, in my gym, at the times I go, are not, in
> my most humble opinion, athletes.  If everyone who takes up a sport
> or a fitness program, at any level, were to be called an athlete, as
> you seem to be suggesting they should, we'd be describing 90% of the
> people in this country!  We'd need a new word for the more athletic
> athletes. :D

Your post was just not particularly flattering to excercisers,
gym-goers, girls who wear spandex, people who can only work-out on
weekends, people who play sports, people who get sweaty, or
athletes. My purpose was to interrupt the negative images and
assumptions you seemed to be putting out there. There's a lot of
this trashing of people who do physical stuff - it's very acceptable
and very old - the "brain vs brawn" thing. Same thing as picking on
nerds (didn't you recently apologize for being a "geek"?), only the
flip-side.

Liza:
> > Who are the "weekend warriors" that YOU know?

Carol:
> Lots of people!  It is a common term.  I didn't make it up.  It is
> used all the time to refer to people who engage in sports and/or
> fitness training on the weekends only, usually because they can't
> fit it in during the week for perfectly good reasons.  Again, I'm
> not criticizing.

Your original message sounded critical and negative. My apologies if
I misinterpreted your tone.

> > Or maybe you should start thinking of yourself as an athlete, try
> > that identity on for a while.  :)
>
> So it's just a state of mind? :D

Sounds to me like you don't have experience with this particular
identity. If it were "closer to home," I doubt you'd be making some
of the same comments.

Love Liza
--
[log in to unmask] (Liza May)