A great documentary...definitely Something everyone should watch
http://theweightofthenation.hbo.com/
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Friday, August 10, 2012
FAT
Fat. A small word that casts a long, and dark shadow. This tiny, monosyllabic word instills about as much, if not more fear in the hearts of women (and men!) than death.
In fact according to "some scientific study", most people would prefer to die than be obese.
Whether that is true or not, I would not be able to say for sure, however as a personal trainer I do know that many people would do anything to lose weight.... Except eat properly and exercise.
The subject of "fatness",weight, fitness, looking and feeling good, sex appeal, body image, and beauty are blurred and confused. Why do some people with fit looking bodies have poor body image? Why does the woman with curves want to look like an ironing board?
It is exasperating, tiring, and sad when I encounter young women, older women, and increasingly more men who don't like their perfectly functional, healthy, and fit bodies. Do most " dull normals" who workout look like Jamaican sprinters? No, but they also don't eat and train like them... They are not professional athletes!
I think it boils down to balance in life, and respect for the body we were given. The way you seem to yourself and look to others in that body, in my opinion, reflects from how you feel about your body...Mae West was onto something when she said that "sex appeal is 50% what you got , and 50% what people think you've got".
Confidence is beautiful. Health is beautiful, and beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.
This brings me to Crossfit.
One of the reasons why I embraced to CrossFit community was because of the emphasis on strength being beautiful, and the inclusive nature of its programming: whatever shape, size, sex, or age you are, you can benefit from increased health benefits. It was a breath of fresh air! Box gyms void of mirrors and fluff... Only basic strength, fitness and improved health for all.
This concept (although not new) freaked out a whole industry... A HUGE industry: the fitness industry. CrossFit challenged an industry built on the image of being beautiful meant you had the perfect body void of fat, an industry built on selling fitness products and gadgets, infomercials, magazines, supplements, shoes that "tone" your butt 26% more than regular shoes, and get fit quick schemes.
Crossfit was about fitness and health for all.
Emphasis on the past tense. Enter Crossfit's growing pains as well as Reebok.
Crossfit's success may be its own demise: anything that grows in popularity that quickly tends to attract both fervent criticism, as well as people wanting to jumps on the bandwagon and squeeze the goodness out of it.
Reebok, the same company who is currently entangled in a bunch of false advertising lawsuits regarding their Easy Tone clothing lines (that promised to reduce body fat when you wore tenor garments and toning shoes), latched onto to Crossfit in order to revitalize it's brand and breathe life ( and profits) into its lagging sales.
What better forum to peddle and advertise their clothes: the sport of fitness has arrived indeed... And so has all the bullshit that comes along with a multimillion sportswear company trying to capitalize on their investment.
their add campaigns do not involves older or "fatter" individuals... Only hard sweat slick bodies pounding out reps , looking all "elite"... If you look at the more recent Crossfit articles published involving Crossfit athletes there are at least as many booty shorts, bra tops, and silicone boobs as in Oxygen magazine.
Another article claimed that Crossfit could help you go from a 7/10 to a 10 on the hotness scale.
And now the community is morphing, changing, growing, and dividing. Where is will go, we don't really know. I do know that I will continue to enjoy the workouts, the training, and the people in my entourage and community who embrace the same health values and all-inclusive access to fitness as I do.
I will continue to do my best, and be happy with what my body has done and hopefully it will continue to surprise me in it's ability, and good health. I will do my best to respect it, and love it for what it is.
In fact according to "some scientific study", most people would prefer to die than be obese.
Whether that is true or not, I would not be able to say for sure, however as a personal trainer I do know that many people would do anything to lose weight.... Except eat properly and exercise.
The subject of "fatness",weight, fitness, looking and feeling good, sex appeal, body image, and beauty are blurred and confused. Why do some people with fit looking bodies have poor body image? Why does the woman with curves want to look like an ironing board?
It is exasperating, tiring, and sad when I encounter young women, older women, and increasingly more men who don't like their perfectly functional, healthy, and fit bodies. Do most " dull normals" who workout look like Jamaican sprinters? No, but they also don't eat and train like them... They are not professional athletes!
I think it boils down to balance in life, and respect for the body we were given. The way you seem to yourself and look to others in that body, in my opinion, reflects from how you feel about your body...Mae West was onto something when she said that "sex appeal is 50% what you got , and 50% what people think you've got".
Confidence is beautiful. Health is beautiful, and beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.
This brings me to Crossfit.
One of the reasons why I embraced to CrossFit community was because of the emphasis on strength being beautiful, and the inclusive nature of its programming: whatever shape, size, sex, or age you are, you can benefit from increased health benefits. It was a breath of fresh air! Box gyms void of mirrors and fluff... Only basic strength, fitness and improved health for all.
This concept (although not new) freaked out a whole industry... A HUGE industry: the fitness industry. CrossFit challenged an industry built on the image of being beautiful meant you had the perfect body void of fat, an industry built on selling fitness products and gadgets, infomercials, magazines, supplements, shoes that "tone" your butt 26% more than regular shoes, and get fit quick schemes.
Crossfit was about fitness and health for all.
Emphasis on the past tense. Enter Crossfit's growing pains as well as Reebok.
Crossfit's success may be its own demise: anything that grows in popularity that quickly tends to attract both fervent criticism, as well as people wanting to jumps on the bandwagon and squeeze the goodness out of it.
Reebok, the same company who is currently entangled in a bunch of false advertising lawsuits regarding their Easy Tone clothing lines (that promised to reduce body fat when you wore tenor garments and toning shoes), latched onto to Crossfit in order to revitalize it's brand and breathe life ( and profits) into its lagging sales.
What better forum to peddle and advertise their clothes: the sport of fitness has arrived indeed... And so has all the bullshit that comes along with a multimillion sportswear company trying to capitalize on their investment.
their add campaigns do not involves older or "fatter" individuals... Only hard sweat slick bodies pounding out reps , looking all "elite"... If you look at the more recent Crossfit articles published involving Crossfit athletes there are at least as many booty shorts, bra tops, and silicone boobs as in Oxygen magazine.
Another article claimed that Crossfit could help you go from a 7/10 to a 10 on the hotness scale.
And now the community is morphing, changing, growing, and dividing. Where is will go, we don't really know. I do know that I will continue to enjoy the workouts, the training, and the people in my entourage and community who embrace the same health values and all-inclusive access to fitness as I do.
I will continue to do my best, and be happy with what my body has done and hopefully it will continue to surprise me in it's ability, and good health. I will do my best to respect it, and love it for what it is.
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