That's not normal.

If you like to keep track of the human interest-y trending topics in the news, you’ve probably seen the fallout of Glamour’s decision to print a picture of a plus-sized model on one of its glossy pages last month. People are up in arms over this photo. Comments on articles dealing with it or any similar topics are totally polarized. Some praise the magazine for showing us someone “normal” and “healthy;” others claim the model is “overweight” and that this idea of “normal” we have in America is the very cause of the obesity epidemic we currently face.

I think the problem is that we use the words “normal” and “healthy” interchangeably. Sometimes, they are synonymous. But when it comes to body weight in the ol U S of A, they aren’t even sitting at the same table. They’re like…one on the elliptical at Gold’s and one across the street at Taco Bell. What’s “normal” here isn’t necessarily what’s “healthy.” Because society would have us think normal for America is a quarter pounder with cheese, an order of fries and a coke on the way home from work. And healthy is something else entirely.

There are times that (in a lot of different scenarios) I take comfort in being normal and I think in doing that, we kind of all drag each other down into mediocrity. Where does the motivation to be better than normal come from? Sometimes I have it and sometimes I definitely do not. And where is the point where we just have to come to terms with the fact that sometimes good enough is good enough and it’s time to move on?

Like the plus sized model in Glamour. She looks like she’s at a healthy body weight, in my opinion, and she’s said she is happy the way she is (you go, girl). But so many others look at her and think they will never look as good as she does. Others still might look at her and hope they never let themselves go to the point that they look like her. I mean…normal. It just doesn’t exist.