Five days into starting the blog, and I've blogged twice as of now. Ashamed? Not so much, I'm too busy kicking my own ass at the gym. As much as I focus on my own workouts, I've started to witness the influx of new gym-goers, the ones who are imagining their resolutions to include a tighter, fitter, stronger body. There are more, however, I fear, who are focused entirely on a number on a scale.
I'll probably wax overlong in the future about the horrendous game the modern American media sends to women in particular, but everyone in general, about body image ideals. I observe (and have experienced firsthand) women being brainwashed into believing their bodies are disgusting, unsatisfactory, and ugly unless they are a size 2.
From the time I was about 8 years old, I believed I was fat. I held my stomach in from age 8 through the end of college, trying to imitate the models I saw in the media with flat little stomachs. I also admired the washboard abs of the fitness models and surfers I grew to admire. Can I re-emphasize for a moment that as an eight year old, I believed I was too fat to walk around without my stomach sucked in? In retrospect, that's borderline demented. From age 8, I was aware of the "need" to stay thin, to stay small, and not to be seen as fat. My focus, always, was more on size and weight, than on strength or fitness.
(At some future post I'll elaborate my rehabilitation moment; my perception changed in one amazing awesome moment where I suddenly appreciated my own body and what it could do over the ideals hammered into me by years of media and socializing. Suffice it to say, for the moment, that it's far better to bend, than to break.)
As I am now, my goals are strength and fitness. I love the moments when I can pull or push more than the last workout. I love feeling my muscles flex as I finish a challenging movement. I love having to put back a weight I'm used to, in favor of a heavier weight for the rest of my sets. What I want is for more women, particularly young women, to stop obsessing about a number on a scale, and focus more on what their bodies can DO, rather than what size jeans they wear as opposed to their friends.
Three things I want women to change:
1.) "I will lose weight this year!" to "I will be able to run a 10 minute mile, squat 100 pounds, and do a pull up before June 1, 2013."
What does this do? It takes a vague goal and turns it into a distinct series of fitness accomplishments, that allow for planning and perseverance, and can be adjusted for what a person's abilities and needs are. Be specific. Be realistic. Set an exact date by which you want your goal accomplished.
2.) Focus on your fitness, not your failures. Be aware of where you are (realistically) and how far you can go. Sometimes, this self awareness comes from talking to a trainer, or a doctor, prior to setting realistic goals for yourself. Do not be cruel to yourself. "I'm so fat. . ." no, please. Try, "I have a world of potential. Every step is a step forward."
3.) Learn this. Love this, live this. I learned from Tosca Reno (look her up, she's a star) that the way your body looks IS within your control. It's not determined solely by your genetics. You are NOT a slave to your mother's crappy metabolism. You CAN change your own metabolism, through changing your habits and your body composition. A body's appearance is (according to Ms. Reno) 80% diet, 10% genetics, and 10% exercise.
In short, muscle burns more calories than fat, at a resting rate. If you lose fat from your body, and gain muscle, you will have a faster metabolism. Period. That's just a fact. Therefore, women, lift weights. Gain muscle. You will not bulk up into the imagined bodybuilding muscular "masculine" image your mommy warned you about. Women CAN'T get like that without chemical assistance. If you lift heavy weights, you will gain muscle. You will lose fat. And you will be fitter.
So please keep 1, 2, and 3 in mind if and when you decide to set your fitness goals for the New Year. You will love you more. And you deserve that.
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