Self Image

How many times do you hear a young woman who's working out say "I wanna have Cameron Diaz's arms and Carmen Electra's legs, that's why i work out"? I meet with a lot of people male and female that in an initial fitness consultation say to me "I want a body of this actor/model." My response to that is "Great! You can do it, all you have to do is first quit your job, next hire a personal chef to cook fish, vegetables, and amazing, nutritional, low-calorie food all day. Then you need to be working out with your trainer 3-5 times a week for about 2 hours each day and then work with a Pilates or yoga instructor 3 times a week for an hour..."

PEOPLE!

The Actors/Models and the like that we see on the TV, in the movies, on magazine covers are employed to be beautiful and in shape THAT IS THEIR JOB, TO BE BEAUTIFUL. I'm not saying this to crush anyone's dreams, yes you can have that actress' arms and the super models legs if you put in the time and are strict in you diet and exercise. I still haven't figured out how to help people make goals to make the best of the body they have 100% of the time, some of us just don't get it.

Ladies the media and advertising industries place amazing pressure on you because you see the magazine covers and wonder why your body doesn't look that. Men you see the fitness models with the actresses draped over their 28 biceps and wonder why your veins aren't popping out of your skin. Realize that you have a great body and that you can do amazing things with it. A recent study in Britain (article here) found that women are happiest with their bodies (and sex life) at age 28, but they soon start worrying about wrinkles and getting gray hair. If you are approaching this age or well past it the best way to improve your body image is not through more make up, or risky diets, dangerous surgeries, it's that hour work out in the morning. Working out consistently will increase you attitude towards yourself and all those things around you, it will help you be more successful at work and you brain will actually function better.

Full List Here

To best illustrate my point of this entry I would like to use one of my favorite analogies.

Your body is like a pre-packaged box of brownies. If you follow the directions exactly with no variation what-so-ever you will get the exact brownies that are picture on the box.

However...

If you change the ingredients, add more water, one less egg, some nuts or maybe a little more sugar (not that you ever would) and you will get a brownie that is different than the one on the box.

Hopefully you are not completely lost and thinking I'm a couple fries short of a Happy Meal because now I'm going to make sense of this analogy.
Our body shape, size and make up is determined by our genes (recipe) and if we adjust the ingredients (diet, food, exercise, activity level, job, life style) you will get a different result. Some people say that they are overweight because their parents were, BULL! Yeah its BULL! Your genes do not determine the out come, they may make it more difficult to have the body you want but your genes do not give you an excuse to be unhealthy, overweight, underweight or any other harmful body condition.

YOU CAN MAKE WHATEVER TYPE OF BROWNIE YOU WANT!!

TRANSLATION

YOU CAN HAVE THE BODY YOU WANT BECAUSE YOU ARE IN CONTROL!!!

Find what works for you and start towards your best body TODAY I'll be putting up free workouts on this blog soon that you can download and use as a template for your workouts no matter what your goal. I can even create a workout and make nutritional recommendations for you on a personalized level if you contact me and say "I want a better body!"

"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going." ~Jim Rohn~