Today I’m @ifs_events to watch a few speakers who put out messages I respect on social media. @bdccarpenter @soheefit & @jamessmithpt are all well-known proponents of taking healthy, mentally sustainable approaches to fitness and steering clear of a mindset that prioritises “hacking” weight loss or putting it before ones sanity. They’re at the front line of fighting how, particularly as we consume it in well marketed snapshots, a lot of the online fitness culture is misleading.
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It’s very easy to live under the illusion that abs and guns must equal happiness - there aren’t many photos of ripped people on Instagram who look miserable, yet I guarantee you many of them are.
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It’s not necessarily the acquisition of their physique that made them miserable (though, for many, a life of deprivation and lacking anything that inspires them more than what they look like could have), more that there’s very little correlation between shreddedness and happiness.
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Yes, being HEALTHIER means you feel better. How ripped someone is doesn’t provide an indicator of this though.
Yes, time to invest in yourself in the gym is good for your sense of self-worth and mental health, but it doesn’t mean someone is happy with the other 23 hours of their day.
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A ripped fitness influencer I know in Vegas eats donuts and pizza all day and has to recreationally “medicate” his way through his daily battle with depression.
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In their podcast this week Ben & James talked about the different ways in which a lack of inspiration and contentment showed itself in their habits and decision making.
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My recommendation would be to focus on the things that improve your health & contentment. Go to the gym because it’s rewarding to spend that time exercising and use the modality that you enjoy most and look forward to. Make sound dietary decisions because the energy they give you is rewarding.
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Look for something in the rest of each day that you find rewarding. Time with family. Painting or playing music. Checking in with a friend who you know is struggling. Studying a subject you love that might just allow you to make it your career.
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Don’t be fooled by feeds. “Happiness > Pleasure”
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