I don’t know about you, but every time I see a magazine or TV ad with someone wearing very little clothing and looking all ripped, I get a tad annoyed. Especially if it’s a female celebrity who just had a baby a month ago and already looks like a 16 year old again. It’s kind of ridiculous.
Add to that the fact that so many photos you see of in-shape individuals are, let’s face it, highly sexualized. Do we really need to see someone in a skimpy bikini and provocative pose? Not so much. Do we want our daughters to see that? No!
Fitness has become something of a trend on social media, which I think is both good and bad. Getting the word out that we should be healthy, take care of our bodies, and eat well is never a bad thing in my book. But when it becomes just about looking a certain way or “do this and you’ll look like this Victoria’s Secret model,” it’s taking it a little too far. Fitness is about HEALTH and FEELING GOOD from the inside out. It’s about having confidence in yourself and knowing that you’re taking care of the body you were given. It’s about setting a good example for your children and the people around you.
Don’t you want to work for a cause – your own health?
It’s not just on social media either. Turn on the TV and you’ve got Carl’s Jr ads. Go to the grocery store and you’ve got a model on the cover of a magazine. Everywhere you look there are images that make you think you have to look a certain way in order to be accepted.
But accepted by who? Let me ask you, does your spouse really want you to look like that supermodel? I should hope that you got married for deeper reasons than that. Do you friends really care if you look like a supermodel? I doubt it. Do your kids? Obviously not.
The people who matter in your life care about YOU. That means they care about who you are as a person. That means that they care about your health. Did you ever think of it that way? My guess is no. It’s not something any of us really think about. But look at it this way: you want your kids to be healthy. You want your friends and family to be healthy. Doesn’t that mean that THEY want YOU to be healthy too? Of course it does!
Being healthy for your family is what matters most.
And that means that we need to care about our own health as well. That’s really what it’s all about. It’s not about looking a certain way (although that’s a nice perk). It’s about taking care of our bodies and recognizing that we only have one body to live in. Taking care of our bodies now means less health issues later in life. Investing in ourselves now, both in time and maybe a little money, means less time spent in the hospital and less money spent on medical treatments at the other end of life.
So ladies, moms, housewives 😉 – how are you going to view fitness? As something that’s annoying, icky, sweaty, and something you just have to do in a fruitless attempt to look like Giselle Bundchen? Or is it something you WANT to do because it makes you feel good – mind, body, and soul?
I know which one I would choose.
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