“Fitness” is Overrated
What makes “fitness” the term people use when they're into going to the gym? Most of what I see “fitness” people do is sort of subjugated to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s workouts nearly 50 years ago. And he was one that did it right for what he went after. The olimpia, the bodybuilding competitions, and the fame and the money and opportunities that came with it. It's silly, but it drove a generation of people to fall in love with a body image that would turn into an unrealistic never ending hole that there is only one escape, I have found, from. Not turning your back on exercise, not sitting on the couch and not drinking beer and not doom scrolling people on the internet who portray lives better than you'll ever see because they don't exist. No, the only escape from the darkness of the Hollywood portrayal of fitness, which seems to be fitting needles of androgens instead of fitness of the body, is to stop relying on the image of what your body can do, and rely on the actuality of what your body can do. Here's what I mean.
6 pack abs are a sign of dedication, the correct choices in diet and cardio effort. Or just plain old genetics. The act of wanting 6 pack abs and doing the exercises around that effort, counting calories around that effort, and chasing the image of those perfect abs will leave you constantly on that chase. Your abs may have gotten to a point you've never seen before, you could look into the mirror and think you've really gotten somewhere, but for a lot of people, it will never be good enough. I know it wasn't for me. When I chased leanness and abs, I went to bed hungry every night and spent most of my days hungry. The irony of counting calories is your body starts to like to hold onto more weight as you diminish calories. No one ever beats the law of thermo-dynamics. Calories in calories out is the defining law of “fitness” but the amount you burn becomes decreasingly less if you don't have any fuel in your body and you've forced your body into a more survival calorie limited state.
