** Avoid this post if you think that it may trigger disordered thoughts.
Nowadays, most people seek to look good whether if it is summertime or Christmas time. Many swear by the “tomorrow I will start my diet” ritual and end up burning out and stuffing their faces after a week or so. Most women stick to veggies and to acting like a maniac on the cardio machines, whilst men seek to rule the weights’ room and buy every kind of supplementation from the nearest store. They expect their body to change in a week’s time, get angry at themselves, get discouraged and quit.
I am going to vent my anger for all the time people at the gym or at home ask me these kind of questions or statements, “Why don’t you just stick to what the rest of the women here usually do rather than lift like a man?”, “But carbs and fat make you fat so I stick to protein foods only.”, “You should not do weight training, cardio helps fat to turn to muscle (totally wrong).”, “What is your BMI?!”. My eating disorder and exercise obsession, thought me a lot. There are a lot of reasons why I do the opposite of the above statements!
· Bulimia and anorexia made me lose a lot of muscle mass. I was very week last summer when compared to today. The lack of muscle mass destroyed my metabolism, my thyroid slowed down, I was feeling cold all the time, lost a lot of water, I could feel my spine getting more unbalanced (I have scoliosis), I had no energy and above all I felt weak. As part of my recovery, I decided to focus more on weight training in order to gain what I have lost and things are working well for me. So I believe that weight training can solve a lot of metabolism, posture, strength and psychological fears’ issues.
Nowadays, most people seek to look good whether if it is summertime or Christmas time. Many swear by the “tomorrow I will start my diet” ritual and end up burning out and stuffing their faces after a week or so. Most women stick to veggies and to acting like a maniac on the cardio machines, whilst men seek to rule the weights’ room and buy every kind of supplementation from the nearest store. They expect their body to change in a week’s time, get angry at themselves, get discouraged and quit.
I am going to vent my anger for all the time people at the gym or at home ask me these kind of questions or statements, “Why don’t you just stick to what the rest of the women here usually do rather than lift like a man?”, “But carbs and fat make you fat so I stick to protein foods only.”, “You should not do weight training, cardio helps fat to turn to muscle (totally wrong).”, “What is your BMI?!”. My eating disorder and exercise obsession, thought me a lot. There are a lot of reasons why I do the opposite of the above statements!
· Bulimia and anorexia made me lose a lot of muscle mass. I was very week last summer when compared to today. The lack of muscle mass destroyed my metabolism, my thyroid slowed down, I was feeling cold all the time, lost a lot of water, I could feel my spine getting more unbalanced (I have scoliosis), I had no energy and above all I felt weak. As part of my recovery, I decided to focus more on weight training in order to gain what I have lost and things are working well for me. So I believe that weight training can solve a lot of metabolism, posture, strength and psychological fears’ issues.
· Carbs and fats have an important role in the functioning of the body. Carbs provide fuel, support the cognitive function of the brain, regulate blood glucose levels and spare the use of protein for energy amongst other functions. On the other hand, fats are essential for the supply of energy when the body is depleted of carbs, aid in the absorption of vitamins A,D,E and K, provide insulation and are required to regulate the sex hormones. Protein is a very important macronutrient especially when ones seeks to increase muscle mass, but I believe that carbs, fats and protein should make part of one’s daily diet and should be able to balance them out according to one’s lifestyle.
· First and foremost fat does not turn into muscle and cardio is not the ideal lifesaver. Yes, cardio is important but no one should waste an incredible amount of time on any cardio machine. There are other essential cardio options than jogging or walking which also help muscle growth. Weight training builds muscle mass. The more muscle one has, the higher the metabolic rate. Muscles aid the body’s framework and support the skeletal system. They increase bone density thus prevent osteoporosis (Very important for us females! Why abandon weight training?!?!?), increase overall strength, improve blood circulation and produce heat amongst other benefits. So, next time you are at the gym think twice before stepping on that cardio machine and burning yourself out.
· There is an ongoing debate about this dreaded BMI. Reality is muscle weighs more than fat so the more muscle on has, the more one weighs. I HATE weighing myself. I have a love-hate relationship with the scales but sometimes I got to weigh myself out. According to the BMI I am overweight. In my opinion I am a healthy individual; I train and I make it a point to eat adequate amount of nutritious food thus I ditched the BMI theory. Most people who workout often and eat right tend to be overweight according to the BMI. The most important factors when it comes to health are your approach towards living a healthy lifestyle, your mental attitude and your outlook on life not the BMI. No number should rule your life.
· First and foremost fat does not turn into muscle and cardio is not the ideal lifesaver. Yes, cardio is important but no one should waste an incredible amount of time on any cardio machine. There are other essential cardio options than jogging or walking which also help muscle growth. Weight training builds muscle mass. The more muscle one has, the higher the metabolic rate. Muscles aid the body’s framework and support the skeletal system. They increase bone density thus prevent osteoporosis (Very important for us females! Why abandon weight training?!?!?), increase overall strength, improve blood circulation and produce heat amongst other benefits. So, next time you are at the gym think twice before stepping on that cardio machine and burning yourself out.
· There is an ongoing debate about this dreaded BMI. Reality is muscle weighs more than fat so the more muscle on has, the more one weighs. I HATE weighing myself. I have a love-hate relationship with the scales but sometimes I got to weigh myself out. According to the BMI I am overweight. In my opinion I am a healthy individual; I train and I make it a point to eat adequate amount of nutritious food thus I ditched the BMI theory. Most people who workout often and eat right tend to be overweight according to the BMI. The most important factors when it comes to health are your approach towards living a healthy lifestyle, your mental attitude and your outlook on life not the BMI. No number should rule your life.
I am by no means a profession but I read a lot and had gone through a lot of health issues thus I came up with this post. You define your health and only you can change the way you think about certain factors. Now that my rant is over, I can enjoy my day in perfect peace and hope that one day the female vs. male training hype will be over, the starvation diets will burn in hell and that people will base their self-worth upon their actions and not by the number on the scales.
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