I am so tired of seeing "no excuse" weight loss/muscle building motivational posters. Here, lets look at some:
Disclaimer: The idea of "no excuses" in and of itself is not inherently bad. What I am taking issue with is the constant plastering of this form of "motivation" in terms of "fitness".
First off, being strong and fit has little to nothing to do with how ascetically pleasing you look based on cultural beauty standards. You do not have to lift and have major muscle definition to be strong, you do no have to spend your life on a treadmill to be fit. Some people don't care about muscle definition and their lack of concern does not equate to an excuse.
EXAMPLE: I am not a toned individual. I hate the gym. I hate it with a passion. Would I take a gift offered to me by the magical over night toning fairy? Sure, but my hating the gym and every moment I spend there trumps my concern for being ripped. I am not willing to be miserable in order to reach an unnecessary fitness goal that in all actuality can only be traced back to my own personal vanity. That is not an EXCUSE it is a personal choice.
This leads me to second point, vanity. I don't care what you say, or how long you try to argue with me about what you say, your desire to look like a Barbie/Ken, or super toned Barbie/Ken, or >insert beauty ideal here< Barbie/Ken, has NOTHING TO DO with health. NOTHING. Health = 30min a day with your heart rate up. 30min a day with your heart rate up will never = Barbie/Ken in any form, unless you have genetics MAJORLY on your side. This means if I play 30 min straight of Just Dance with my kids on the "sweat setting" at least 4 times a week, I am doing reasonably well maintaining heart health. Anything beyond this is a personal preference that again has NOTHING to do with excuses.
I can say all this because I have been on EVERY SIDE of this fence. I have eaten, thrown up, not eaten, over exercised while under eating, under exercised while overeating- I GET IT. I have EARNED my right to this opinion. I am just SO tired of "fitspiration" that consists of some 8 packed individual exercising half naked. That is no kind of inspiration, that is vanity and it only serves to make people feel like that is the only ideal there is, and if they can't attain that then something is inherently wrong with them. It is an excuse for people who DO care more than what I would consider normal about body type, to show off and quite frankly it is bullshit. You want to spend 4 hours a day exercising- good for you, great, awesome, but when someone else doesn't which means they won't ever look like you, don't call their reasons excuses. AND STOP TAKING SELFIES IN YOUR DAMN SPORTS BRA. GET OVER YOURSELF. You're VAIN, the end.
NOW, do I deal with vanity? Yes. More so than I would like sometimes. I am certainly a fan of a flattering selfie, because, and I am about to quote my pastor here, "On some level we are ALL just living for the 'like' button." It's true. If we weren't things like Instagram and Facebook wouldn't be what they are. Generally every time we post to social media we are saying "Look at me! Look what I can do! Look what my friends can do! I am awesome! You should like me!" It is at epidemic level and I struggle with it just like everyone else. What I don't do is take pictures or post things that would in anyway make others feel like they are less than because of who I am. If I had a 6 pack maybe I wouldn't be able to say that. I am not immune. But I am AWARE and I feel like that is much more rare than it should be.
Vanity generally stems from insecurity. "If I can only LOOK perfect enough, who I am will be less significant." "If I am pretty/handsome people will like me." This is not truth. You want to be inspirational??? Post a picture of yourself on your WORST day, and be secure enough in who you are to laugh at it. Post or talk about things that DON'T revolve around your workout or what you ate for dinner. I AM PREACHING TO MYSELF HERE. Please don't get it twisted I am guilty of ALL OF THESE THINGS but I am trying to convince myself of these truths that I share with anyone who will listen. I am not holier than thou, I can be vain and arrogant and proud like everyone else but I know the damage it is causing not only to myself but to the people watching me.
I know this went from a rant to an admission of wrongs to I don't know what and if you have stuck out to the end, I really hope some portion of what I said makes sense to you. Being healthy and happy are different for everyone. If for you that looks like a ton of gym time and rock hard abs, fine, but stop pushing it and flaunting it because you are only serving to make others MORE insecure. You know what, (lightbulb JUST went off):
The problem is not who thinks or does what about "physical fitness", the problem is that it is so insignificant in the learning, growing, uplifting, areas of ourselves and our relationships with others that it is a SHAME we talk or post pictures about it AT ALL. What are you doing
that means something to someone other than you???
Good grief, life has nothing to do with how you look. The end.
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