Vacation Thoughts...Part 3: Mainstream Fitness Garbage
By
July 8, 2016
One of the things I love about vacation is having time to read. I finish books in a few days that would normally take months, catch up on my favorite blogs, and wade through the informational emails on fitness-related products and services that normally just don't make it to the top of the queue. There is some good stuff in there. There is also some absolute junk in there. I am always surprised by the amount of complete nonsense that is postulated as "fitness and nutrition guidance". Just as surprising is the intensity with which it is marketed. The worst part? Most of what is being marketed won't even work. We are feeding ourselves a steady diet of lies that there are "quick and easy" ways to fitness or "10 steps" to being healthy and lean. As long as there is hope that getting fit can be "easy", we will continue to believe that. No wonder we are getting sicker, fatter, and more unhealthy by the day.
Let's just crush that hope right now. The only way to be leaner, healthier and fitter is sustained effort and work over time. It is all that has ever worked and it is all that ever will. As Lisbeth Darsh says:
"Americans like to talk the talk about fitness, and sometimes we even like to walk the walk. And therein lies the problem. Walking the walk will not do it. You have to run. You have to push. You have to lift. You have to eat right, not just less. You have to sleep. You have to sweat and sacrifice. You have to give more. Do more. Be more."
I am sometimes embarrassed to even be a part of this industry. Without a doubt, we are part of the problem. If you are in this business to make a quick buck, it is much easier to sell shiny "fitness solutions" than sweaty, down and dirty hard work. But if you are in it to change lives, there is only one way: sustained effort and work over time. It is all we have to offer and it is everything. An actual solution. A cure. A way out of the obesity and sickness epidemic. The path to fitness and health is not an easy one. We will not do you the disservice of misleading you to believe that it is. What we will do is be your partner is accomplishing that which is hard.
So put away the fitness magazines and stay away from the diet websites. I'll see you on Monday to get back to work.
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