Erik posted this over at Lean Bodies Consulting the other day. I could never write it as well as him, but we had some great discussions over many meals while in Mexico. I too have been guilty of comparing myself to others. This is a must read. -Amy =================================== I made an observation while down in Mexico that I think many of you will be able to relate to and hopefully, ultimately benefit from. Many of us fitness-oriented people can easily become tarnished by the fitness industry and the great bodies in it. It without question can affect our perception of our bodies because of who we all compare ourselves too - awesome industry physiques we admire and sometimes strive for our own version of. But heres the kicker; when you step out of the small fitness world and into the huge real world you can quickly realize how jacked up you can or may have become. I cant tell you how many times people commented on my being big, you must be a trainer or are you a bodybuilder, Arnold quote impersonations directed at me, etc. Here I am thinking Im not muscular enough, my body fat is still too high to be on the beach, this or that needs improvement, oh I have so far to go, disappointed that despite making great progress I still didnt meet my physique goals for this trip and so the list goes on. And yet in reality I saw ONE person on the whole resort in 10 days who looked better than me. One! Im not even talking about when I got there in pretty good shape, abs and vascularity at 225 on Day 1. Im also talking at the end of the trip at probably 240 feeling like a pregnant mule, barely two abs (shouldnt even call them abs) and no vascularity and being upset with how fat my face looked compared to Day 1 (mind you I still wrecked the breakfast buffet one last time on departure day, ha). Incidentally, near the end of our trip I showed a couple we became close to a picture during a conversation about diet and training of what I looked like when I got there and their reaction reinforced that Id done some serous physique damage, lol. What? No way. That was last week? Get lost! How? #hangsheadinshame Wait! #Imhungryletsgoeatagain Im not saying any of this to boast, but to remind you, as I have and now will remind myself, to not lose sight of reality. We fitness-minded people can become seriously jaded, obsessed, hyper-critical and unnecessarily insecure all because of this little industry. We talk often about the Diet Prison but this is just another type of prison. Here I was being a bit self-critical and yet I looked around, saw few people In shape and with apparently little care in the world except soaking up the fun. Dont get me wrong, as my last post shared, I was living it up too, but while fully accepting, I was still very aware of what my body and the changes. I wasnt happy with it, but I was accepting of it due to my choices. So be mindful of this the next time you look in the mirror and cast hateful thoughts towards yourself or your body. You are likely light years better than what you think you see in your mirror. Comparison is the death of security and the vehicle of insecurity. I could write so much more on this topic but I think you will understand my message at this point. #checkyourselfbeforeyouwreckyourself - Erik
Posted on: Tue, 06 May 2014 01:24:39 +0000
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