2746: Break Free From the Ugly Side of Health and Fitness by Nia Shanks on Negative Body Image

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[00:01:13] Nachbar zum nächsten Malikosi und dr. Neal Malik

[00:01:16] Hey there, happy middle of the week Wednesday and welcome back to Optimal Health Daily or OHD,

[00:01:21] where I read an article to you every single day of the year and always with my commentary at the end.

[00:01:27] And every Wednesday I like to share a little bit of inspiration with you.

[00:01:31] For many of us, Wednesday signified that middle of the week and we may need that little bit of

[00:01:36] inspiration to get us through the next couple of days. So with that, here we go.

[00:01:41] Quote, if you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change the way you think about it.

[00:01:49] Mary Engelbreit

[00:01:50] Alright and with that, let's get right to today's post and start optimizing your life.

[00:01:59] Break free from the ugly side of health and fitness by Nia Shanks of niashanks.com

[00:02:06] The health and fitness industry has done a fantastic job of making us dislike our bodies and ourselves.

[00:02:12] Browse the health section at your local bookstore, scroll through social media feeds of fitness professionals,

[00:02:18] glance at fitness magazines in the checkout aisle of the grocery store,

[00:02:22] and it's abundantly clear what modern health and fitness is about.

[00:02:26] Losing fat, getting into a smaller clothing size, fixing flaws, and building perfect body parts.

[00:02:33] Physical endowments like a defined midsection and sculpted bottom are highlighted while

[00:02:37] tips to reduce cellulite and the newest fat-scorching workout are plastered on magazine covers and littered

[00:02:44] across social media. You can finally love your body and be happy once you attain these goals,

[00:02:50] or so we're led to believe. Happiness, it seems, is just a couple of smaller pant sizes or

[00:02:56] one perfectly sculpted body part away. Look around much of the health and fitness world and the

[00:03:02] underlying themes become abundantly clear. The effectiveness of a workout is determined by

[00:03:07] how exhausted you were at the end or how sore you felt the next day. And when it comes to food,

[00:03:13] you need to be on a rigid restrictive diet and you must follow it perfectly without deviation.

[00:03:18] Behind these messages is a fundamental principle that saturates the health and fitness industry.

[00:03:24] Your priority is to build a leaner, more attractive body free from flaws at any cost necessary.

[00:03:31] Once you achieve a goal, it's time to move on to the next thing on your body that you can improve.

[00:03:37] Is it any wonder so many dislike not just their bodies but themselves?

[00:03:42] Health and fitness has been relegated to the lowest possible denominator.

[00:03:46] The superficial has replaced the substantive.

[00:03:49] Health and fitness nowadays really aren't so much about health or fitness as they are about

[00:03:55] achieving superficial standards at any cost necessary,

[00:03:58] and with a blatant disregard for other more important components of what truly defines health

[00:04:03] and fitness. In other words, it's not about how healthy or fit you are. It's about how healthy and fit

[00:04:09] you look. The superficial focus has ushered in obsessive eating habits, negative self-image,

[00:04:17] frustration, guilt, dissatisfaction, determining self-worth by numbers like the scale,

[00:04:23] our pant sizes, and so on, and a surplus of costly gimmicks and worthless supplements.

[00:04:29] And it's nonsense.

[00:04:30] Health and fitness is a multi-billion dollar industry per year.

[00:04:34] It will incessantly poke your insecurities and gladly create new ones just to sell you a

[00:04:39] solution.

[00:04:40] Intelligent marketers know how impatient humans are,

[00:04:44] and they're happy to play to our innate desire for instant gratification.

[00:04:47] They point out a flaw, like, you have unsightly cellulite that makes us self-conscious and

[00:04:53] present us with tantalizing products and programs that promise to deliver quick results.

[00:04:57] Like, you can look better within a short time with our revolutionary product.

[00:05:02] They know which buttons to push, so we reach right over our common sense to whip out the credit card

[00:05:08] if we believe their solution just might work.

[00:05:10] This brings up another problem with fad diets, fitness programs, and hacks that promise drastic

[00:05:16] results in a few short weeks.

[00:05:18] We're told if we go all in or do the program or diet perfectly, we'll achieve results that

[00:05:25] provide overwhelming happiness.

[00:05:27] Not only is perfectly following such a thing an extreme challenge, but we never stop and ask,

[00:05:32] what will I do once this is over?

[00:05:35] Instead of yet another extreme, strict regimen, why not try something different?

[00:05:40] Something that truly works, so you not only achieve great results, but you can maintain them

[00:05:45] without a tremendous amount of effort, and you can do it for the rest of your life.

[00:05:50] I want to make sure that come next year, you don't find yourself saying,

[00:05:54] I gained a bunch of weight, help me get my body back.

[00:05:58] I love training people, but I do not love helping people get their bodies back year in and year out.

[00:06:04] Rather, my goal is to help you develop a sustainable lifestyle so you can maintain the results

[00:06:09] you achieve into the next year and the year after.

[00:06:13] That's only possible if you enjoy the process, at least most of the time, and it fits into

[00:06:19] your life instead of dominating it.

[00:06:21] If you hate the process or feel like your life must revolve around it, you know you won't

[00:06:26] keep doing it.

[00:06:27] Health and fitness should be about gaining strength that makes your life easier, less stressful,

[00:06:32] and more enjoyable.

[00:06:33] It's about eating well, not just for the goal of looking better, but to nourish yourself so

[00:06:38] you can grow stronger and more resilient.

[00:06:40] It's about building a body that serves you and allows you to live your life to the fullest.

[00:06:45] It's about creating a sustainable lifestyle.

[00:06:48] All the things you do for your health, strength training, eating well, harnessing an empowered

[00:06:54] mindset, become things you do because they're part of who you are.

[00:06:58] You just listened to the post titled, Break Free from the Ugly Side of Health and Fitness

[00:07:07] by Nia Shanks of niashanks.com and I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:07:13] Dr. Neil here for my commentary.

[00:07:15] I want to go back to something today's author, Nia, said.

[00:07:18] Nia said that at times, we may judge the effectiveness of a workout by how exhausted we feel at the end

[00:07:25] or how sore we feel the next day.

[00:07:27] And I'll be honest, I do this.

[00:07:29] But only because it serves as motivation for me.

[00:07:33] I don't do it as punishment to myself.

[00:07:35] I just enjoy that feeling of fatigue after a workout.

[00:07:39] The soreness I could do without.

[00:07:41] But I also understand that I shouldn't feel completely exhausted after every single workout.

[00:07:48] There are days and times when it is appropriate to feel that way.

[00:07:51] But mixing up workouts with lighter or more moderate days is good for the body

[00:07:56] and will help avoid overtraining and burnout.

[00:08:00] So, again, pushing my body to the point where I feel tired just walking back to my car after the workout

[00:08:07] is something I enjoy.

[00:08:09] But it's not something I see as punishment.

[00:08:11] And that's not how I push my body every single workout.

[00:08:16] I've learned to love those more moderate days and, believe it or not, even those rest days.

[00:08:22] All right, that's another episode of Optimal Health Daily.

[00:08:25] Thank you so much for listening every day.

[00:08:27] Thank you for sharing the show with someone.

[00:08:30] That's how we've been able to keep this show going.

[00:08:32] So, again, thank you so much for doing that.

[00:08:35] I hope you have a great rest of your day.

[00:08:36] And I'll see you back here tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.

[00:08:40] I hope you've been able to keep this show up.