Positive Body Image
Creating a Healthy Image of ourselves begins with overcoming what we’ve been taught to think of ourselves.
Your Weight does not define you. This photo is of all the same weight (154 lbs) with different body types and shapes.
They are all beautiful. The weight does not define them or you. Yet, most are not happy with their weight and use that as the only gage of progress. Why is that? Well, a few reasons…
BMI has failed us. BMI that is used by the medical field as a gage for healthiness has come with a baggage that leads to poor habits. A high BMI tells us one thing…my weight is too high and I need to lose weight. It tells us that I need to go on a restrictive, low calorie diet.
But it's not the right approach, because ...
Diets have failed us. Have you ever heard someone say they lost 10, 20, 30, even 100 pounds, but they have very flabby skin...those underarm “wings”? Well, here’s a secret you should know…the flabby skin It actually comes from the diets they’ve been on. Low calorie starvation diets will actually consume the lean muscle tissue for fuel, and put your body in survival mode, where your body will actually store fat. The pounds come off, but when you come off the diet, your metabolism has slowed to crawl, and the weight comes back, only harder to keep off. You might know someone who has lost the weight and gained it back...yep, they are not alone!
And the unfortunate thing is that it is perpetuated by a $30 Billion dollar weight loss industry. At a weight loss clinic you’ll see these photos of anonymous people with transformations as a marketing tool, but they defy science. And it gives you flabby skin.
What we’ve been taught about exercise has failed us. Extensive cardio, quick fix diets, they don’t lead to long term success and contentment.
If you truly want to have it all, the look, energy, toning, tighter skin, and quality of life that will lead you to long term happiness, give yourself permission to accept who you are as you are. You are beautiful. You are worthy. You can do it.
And then, form a plan.
Before thinking of joining a gym where only 30-35% of people actually attend only 2% of those have a dedicated program in place, you’ll want to do research on the right form of exercise. And before you waste your money on home exercise equipment, because even with the latest and greatest digital, the stats don’t lie that 90% of home exercise equipment goes unused-or rarely used- after the first month. Stats don’t lie, human nature wins out and stops using it.
Instead, if you truly want to see long term success and a healthy, vibrant quality of life, seek out a facility that can help you and give you individualized, custom programming that includes the latest resistance training technology, expert guidance, and has multiple forms of accountability-from dedicated appointments to personal attention to keep you consistent, on track. They should have a system backed by the latest science to give you the right guidance and progress through short and long term goals, and help overcome all the obstacles in life. It’s no surprise to know that a Virginia Polytechnical Institute study found that having the right guidance increases your chance of success and sticking with a program by 2200%!
The right facility will help you with that positive body image, self confidence AND achieve what you are truly capable of…and more! You -and your body- ARE worth it!
