Saturday, November 10, 2012

WHICH ONE ARE YOU ?

On reflecting about the recent US election and the polarising effect of politics it made me ponder on that other great division, not only in the US, but throughout the world. It is of course between the have's and the have nots........those who have a lot of fat and those who don't.
      'Oh I can hear you saying, he's off again, having a go at us unfit fatties'....well yes, repent, repent the time is nigh......the day of reckoning is approaching......ha ha, I sound like Elmer Gantry. Who? don't worry about it, (there was a time when I would have to explain this reference but I guess anyone interested will Google him in 5 seconds). I digress. Why is it that 'obsession' is a word that is always applied to the fit and healthy whereas if someone eats crap, drinks too much and watches TV all night then they are considered 'normal'. I think its a con and a great many people have fallen for it, I meet them all the time.....'I eat very well'........'Nothing wrong with having a few drinks'.....'People who excersise are always dying of heart attacks'.........'I'm happy with my weight'........'My grandma lived to 98 and she smoked all her life'.......I could go on and on but you get the picture. So many people live a life of denial......and as my friend Crazy John used to  say.....'Yeh they think de nial is a river in Egypt'.
        We all succumb to easy ways and lazy thinking, its a natural human trait but when it comes to being healthy you have to fight the easy option......'Shall I go for a run or have a pizza and watch X factor?' The facts are that the majority will do the latter but the fit minority will not only choose to run, they prefer it and herein lies the problem. The 'fits' believe in the idea and the reality of being healthy and any action associated with it whereas the 'fat's' believe, or want to believe, that the pizza/X factor option will do them little or no harm.......and while that thought predominates they will always be fat.
       Belief is everything. I don't think the 'fats' neccessarily believe that over eating is healthy but neither do they believe that eating well and exercising leads to Nirvana. So what is going on in the old cerebal cortex and how do we flick the 'fit' switch and get everyone off their backsides ?


WHICH ONE ARE YOU?
   Its a big question as many people have good intentions and 'want' to do something but 'want' is no good, it has to be a 'must'.The other challenge is that a great many 'fat's' actually think they are a 'thin'........or atleast not as fat as they truly are. Before I get accused of being fattest we have to understand that everyone has and needs fat, if you didn't you'd be dead. Top male athletes are well under 10% but the average American male is between 18-24% and over 25% is considered to be obese. In Women its 22-25% with over 30% being obese. Female athletes are below 18%.

      Fat percentages don't lie which is probably why most people stay away from them. I see women, especially, buying more and more varied outfits designed to hide the obvious. A friend of ours owns a very successful ladies store in England and she told me that atleast 4 or 5 times a day a customer would say 'Does my bum look big in this?' The sad thing was that she would be polite in her reply and avoid the question but the reality was, 'Yes, it does!'......'Hello!'





   So, step one....Get real
         step two....Get disturbed
        step three...Decide to do something about it.
and step four.....DO IT.
   and I don't mean join a gym or pass on that extra slice of pie...I mean do something structured with a plan and a time horizon and a goal. To say I'm going to exercise more and/or cut down on cakes and biscuits is not a plan that's just a floaty thought.
       Educate yourself on what you are eating and on what exercise is the best for losing fat whilst improving your fitness and health. As you can tell I'm pretty passionate about all this. I think its great to see people improving their health in which ever way works for them....and I also think its terribly sad to see unfit, overweight people indulge in some kind of false happiness that they clearly don't feel. Just for the record if you are fat and happy then good luck to you.......
     As all health proffessionals I know will tell you, its not easy, it takes commitment and effort, sometimes its fun, sometimes its boring.....and sometimes you just don't want to do it and thats's why you must have a plan and a goal and stick to it.....no matter what, no excuses, period.
I like the quote 'Nothing tastes as good as fitness feels'........that biscuit is a 2 second thrill....fitness and health is a life time experience.
  Many people email me about my blogs but if you want advice on nutrition, fitness.....or God forbid, ultra running, then email me at phil@modelplan.co.uk  and just ask.

1 comment:

  1. Great post Phil. And as you know, I message you more than enough with questions! Ha. Will.

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