Photo: Saltwater Fit Credit: Visel Photography.
“Nothing tastes as good as being skinny feels.”
“Sweat is just fat crying.”
“Unless you puke, faint, or die – keep going.”
Type “fitness motivation” in your Instagram or Facebook search bar and you’re guaranteed to see these quotes pop up somewhere. What sort of message are we trying to paint here? It all just sounds like “skinny or die” to me.
As a fitness professional and nutrition coach, this type of messaging makes my skin crawl. It’s ridiculous. And more importantly, it creates a false portrait of what health and fitness really are. Focusing on becoming skinny and killing yourself in the gym so you can look like a fitness model is what mainstream fitness culture is desperately trying to condition us to believe. A one size, one look fits all approach to health. It’s an oppressive message that speaks to our insecurities.
Truthfully, what you look like has little to do with the state of your health and fitness. You can be skinny and unhealthy. The assumption that being skinny means you’re healthy and fit is called the “skinny bias” and I see it play out all the time. Real health and fitness come in all sizes and shapes, having very little to do with how you look and everything to do with how you feel in your body. Health and fitness can be a tool to improve your experience in the world and help you do more of what you are meant to. But it is only an effective tool if you focus on how you feel.
Do you have energy? Do you feel alive and happy? Do you feel peaceful or stressed? Can you focus and think clearly? Do you know how certain foods affect your body and state of mind? Can you move well? Can you do the physical activities you want to do? Can you show up and be the person you want to be in the world? This is where the conversation needs to be focused. By knowing your body, what makes you thrive, and what you love to do, you resist the mainstream messaging and help to recreate a better culture for all of us.
Here are three ways to help you do just that:
1. Know your body type
We all have different body types. We all have different genetics. For example, some of us are longer waisted, while others are shorter waisted. Some of us have very long legs, other short. We all have different bone sizes. Some of us carry weight in our stomachs while others in our hips. Some of us can eat dairy while some of us get bloated, gassy, and cramped.
These examples are part of our genetic makeup that we can’t change. And that’s ok. There is beauty in every unique variation under the sun. And from an evolutionary standpoint, it is these genetic traits of ours that were selected for to bring us here today. When we think of all our unique differences, it becomes easy to see how it is impossible for us all to look the same. However, the image we see of idealized health and fitness tends to look the same. It’s the same body type over and over, right?
Tall, blond, long limbs, skinny, flat abs, you know the look.
So we must shield ourselves from this harmful message putting us at war with our own bodies. We need to equip ourselves with information about our body type, so we can work with it, not against it. When you learn more about your body type, you can start to better understand how to eat and train for your unique body.
2. Eat for your unique body
The fitness industry is always trying to sell you some sort of dogmatic way to eat. Paleo, Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers, Vegan, High Fat and on and on. While I think there is some merit to a few of these approaches, none of them take you into consideration as an individual.
You are what you need to better understand. Not the diet. Building off the understanding of your body type, you now have a framework that you can continue to refine. You’ll now know more about what macronutrients your body utilizes best (For example, you’ll know more about your carb tolerance). But you don’t want to stop there, as this is just the beginning.
Next, it is important to get a clear understanding of what you eat. A great way to practice the skill of awareness is by keeping a three-day food journal. Write everything down and include portion sizes. If you want to get even more forensic about your body, jot down how you feel (energized, tired, foggy, stuffed) after eating. Although the recording process can feel difficult, try not to attach any meaning to what you ate. No judgment. Once you have an accurate picture of what you ate over the course of three days (and also how you felt), you can start to analyze this information. I do this with new clients at the beginning of my coaching program if we are working together. Often, particular foods can make us feel tired, foggy, bloated, achy, or even worse – leave us hungry two hours later. Or sometimes, uncover a food sensitivity or allergy. Knowing this information is a critical step to mastering your body.
3. Do exercise that brings you joy
The fitness industry seems to churn out new exercise regimens faster than the speed of light. Burn the most fat with Orange Theory. Build more muscle with CrossFit. Burn the most calories with Soul Cycle.
The list goes on and on. But again, we’re faced with the same problem. These are all methods concerned with selling you something, but not looking out for what is best for you. When approaching the question of, what exercise you should do, start off by thinking about physical activities you enjoy. Activities that you do because you love them and because they bring you joy. Activities that require no willpower or motivation. Activities that you naturally gravitate towards. I call this your active passion.
Think about a physical hobby or sport you enjoy. Do you enjoy:
-Dancing?
-Climbing?
-Hiking?
-Skiing?
-Snowboarding?
-Running?
-Walking?
-Tennis?
-Playing with your kids?
Whatever it is for you, start there and commit to doing more of it. With active passion, exercise becomes effortless and requires no motivation. We all know exercise is beneficial to our health. It not a matter of knowing, it’s a matter of doing. With active passion, you’re much more likely to prioritize exercise because it is not something you think you “should” do. It is actually something you “want” to do. When exercise becomes a part of your daily life, your risk for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic illness goes down and your health, energy, and vitality all go up. It’s this consistency that allows you to build a healthy and fit lifestyle on your own terms.
Together we can resist the mainstream fitness programming and recreate our health and fitness culture into something more diverse, inclusive, and supportive of all of us. We all deserve to feel awesome in our bodies and enjoy vibrant health.
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