Whittling your middle is a lie!!!

Listen, I understand that most people want to lose a few pounds but what makes me absolutely bananas is when people are brainwashed into thinking that if they KILL themselves exercising they will surely lose weight. Seeing magazines and gyms and videos on social media touting phrases like “lose 10 lbs in a month” or “drop a dress size by <insert arbitrary date here>” or my very VERY least favorite “whittle your middle” by whatever stupid time frame they give are not only terribly erroneous but are downright irresponsible in my book. Let me count the ways:

Way 1. Because every single person is a crazy microcosm of chemicals, bones, muscles, organs etc. promising the exact same result for everyone is not only impossible it’s a straight up lie.

Way 2. You can’t spot treat your body. As I mentioned before your body is an entire microcosm – you can’t just magically pop out muscles in one part. In fact isolating all your attention on one area of the body will inevitably lead to imbalance and injury.

You are a unique microcosm like this beautiful field of flowers

Way 3. You can build all the muscle you want but if you have a bunch of fat covering it that muscle will remain forever hidden. That is why you can’t tell how muscular or fit someone is just by looking at them. I have clients that by superficial standards would seem out of shape but just slightly below the surface are very strong and flexible. Conversely I’ve had clients who are very visibly fit, participating in strength training competitions etc. but they can not touch their toes and are riddled with injury. I also know plenty of thin people who have very little muscle development.

I’m not trying to call anyone out or shame anyone – my point is unless you do thorough testing you can not know what kind of shape someone is presently in, let alone be able to promise a very specific result from any kind of exercise regimen.

I have been ensnared in the exercising to lose weight trap too many times – and I know better! It almost always follows the same pattern. I go in at 110% which as we all know is not only impossible but unsustainable (because you can’t sustain something that doesn’t exist). Inevitably I over do it and injure myself and then have to take a break from working out and feel like an absolute failure and worry about putting on weight. And round and round it goes. <Nora Ephron wrote an amazing essay about this titled “On Maintenance” in her collection “I Feel Bad About My Neck” find it and read it and then go read everything else she has ever written>.

Now in my case I have no one to blame but myself however the thought of someone manipulating others by exploiting their insecurity is unforgivable. Not to mention the fact that more often than not it is directly aimed at women.

You should exercise so that your body works. So it WORKS! So that you’re not in pain constantly. So your knees, back, hands, shoulders, hips, wrists or whatever spot is nagging at you right now does not hurt you. So that all your body parts move through their full ranges of motion unfettered and so that movement is done with the least amount of wasted energy. You should exercise so your hormones will be better balanced and so that you have more confidence in your physical being.

I find it deeply disappointing that the only benefit of exercise that is constantly shoved in everyone’s face really isn’t a benefit of exercise at all. All of the real benefits – which are many and substantial – are completely lost or intentionally ignored altogether.

In my next blog I will enumerate different ways to assist you in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. Warning: it involves sustained hard work and commitment beyond one week or 30 days or 30 months!