It seems insane to me that there are all these big studies and corporations that do all this research on the "obesity epidemic in America." Seriously--do we really need to throw away millions upon millions of dollars to find out why Americans are overweight and why obesity rates in children are higher than they have ever been. As a personal trainer and bikini athlete, health and fitness is something I'm extremely passionate about but also don't like to sugar coat things so hopefully this doesn't come off the wrong way to anyone and I apologize if it does! ;)It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why people are overweight and a large majority obese. The average American spends most of their time in a sedentary job, then they come home and watch tv and don't take the time to exercise or actually get out and MOVE! When you turn on the televsion, you're flooded with commercials about which diet is the hottest trend of pretty much the hour and then it switches into a commercial about the newest fast food special and how a disgusting caloric fest of a meal is only $1.99 and then an advertisement for a medication about monitoring your blood pressure or reducing your cholesterol! Its seriously insanity to me--the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again--expecting a different result.
The money that is thrown away on all these stupid studies should be spent educating people on eating clean and how to start moving more and fitting exercise into your schedule no matter how busy you are. It shouldn't surprise anyone that every time the new season of Biggest Loser begins--the contests are getting bigger and bigger each time and the list of medications that they are on is a very lengthy list. Once on a regular (though I do realize that training at the level they do isn't realistic for people--but the same results occur, they just take longer and a little thing called "patience") exercise routine and eating healthy CLEAN foods that your body craves anyways and literally is so thankful for when you eat them--they lose weight, have more energy, and many of them go off all, if not most of their medications. Your body is not meant to hold all that weight and of course people have bad knees and bad backs and injuries and complications a mile long! My clients have often tell me during a workout that I'm "trying to kill them"--I've now come to the point where I bluntly say "you've been slowly killing yourself for a long time now and I'm just trying to undo all the damage!"
You aren't going to see commercials about eating clean because its not a miracle diet that someone can make money off it. I'll avoid getting on a conspiracy theory soapbox--but the pharmaceutical industry and medical industry makes millions because of how unhealthy Americans are so don't expect them to give you a solution. Do it yourself. Eating clean and exercising is ALWAYS THE ONLY SOLUTION to healthy and long-term weight loss. Its hilarious to me when I go to the grocery store and people look at me and then my cart filled with chicken, turkey, several dozen eggs, a ton of fresh vegetables and a selection of fruit as well. I'm never surprised when I constantly look at people and then what they have in their grocery carts (sorry I'm a trainer people I can't help it!) and am not surprised one bit at how picture perfect of a reflection their carts are of what their bodies look like. And its not just an aesthetic thing--you can tell if someone is bright-eyed and full of health and literally glowing with positive energy. It stands out very clearly when someone is unhealthy, negative, and the whole world is ending on an hourly basis to them.
I'm now 8 days away from my first NPC Bikini competition and making my debut at the Arnold Amateur in Columbus, Ohio. If I had a dime for all the people that tell me how they could never do what I'm doing because the diet is SO HARD and they just couldn't deprive themselves like that. Deprive myself...?!? Are you kidding me?! I think that everyone else is missing out not me! I wake up every morning excited to tackle the day and truly feel beautiful from the INSIDE OUT. And I eat the yummiest and healthiest foods on the planet and seriously do not miss all the things that I have cut out from my diet. I didn't just cut these things out because I'm in contest preparation but they are foods/drinks that I have permanently removed as I am a firm believer in giving your body the healthy and yummy nutrition it so desperately NEEDS and CRAVES.
Sure, I don't drink other than a couple glasses of wine a year when enjoying a fancy dinner out with my boyfriend, or celebrating something very special with my best friend, etc.--but I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything as I simply enjoy the feeling of not waking up hungover in the morning and getting my calories through food rather than drinking them. I also have made the decision to cut out refined sugar and you wouldn't believe the amount that my taste buds have changed since doing so. Fruits and vegetables taste more amazing ever because I don't have all the refined junk keeping me from tasting foods the way they were meant to be tasted. Refined sugar is one of the very worst things for you and doesn't benefit you in any way whatsoever. Do you have to avoid refined sugar forever if its not something you don't want to do and sounds "extreme" to you? Of course not, its just a choice that I've chosen to make because of loving how I look and feel not having it. I love being creative with clean eating and am always coming up with new ideas and recipes for amazing super tastey meals. Recipes that are made with wholesome, clean ingredients are not only ten times better for you but so much more creative and fun! It doesn't take much to make a recipe with butter, sugar, & flour taste good--but do you get any benefits from it after the 30sec that it tastes good coming across your lips? Didn't think so...
I'd love to share many of the amazing recipes that I have come up with or had others share with me but this is already a novel length post so I will save that for future entries. But even the simple things...like Banana Creme Protein Rush poured over my oatmeal (tastes like warm banana bread!), or Organic Cinnamon Peanut Butter with some fresh apple slices, or homemade tomato sauce drizzled over chicken with some fresh grilled asparagus, or PR pancakes (check out PR recipe favorites at www.performanceready.com) with smart balance spread and SF syrup or jam--SO YUMMY!!
So you have two choices...you can continue to do what the rest of America is doing and get the results that the rest of America is getting. OR you can get out and exercise and eat clean, healthy foods. There are no quick fixes, miracle diets, or magic weight loss pills that are going to make you suddenly lose the bodyfat that you want to lose IN ONE WEEK ONLY. You have to use some common sense and realize that if it took you longer than a week to gain that weight and you just didn't wake up 50lbs heavier one morning--its probably going to take some work to get it off. So get out and move and start eating the foods that your bodies were meant to eat!! You will not only look, but more importantly FEEL amazing, and experience life in the way you were meant to experience it. ;)
hils
