Category Archives: Body Image
The Word I HATE THE MOST
Bulky.
I shudder ever time I hear a woman utter that word.
Actually, I shudder and then I want to shake her until she is a limp pile on the floor…or at least scream at her at the top of my lungs.
This is what I feel like doing when I hear a woman utter the word bulky!
But usually I don’t do either. Usually I just internally roll my eyes and then say, “You won’t get bulky if you lift heavy weights.”
Trust me. You won’t.
As I tell all my clients, if anyone has tried to get huge or “bulky”…it’s me. I’ve lifted super heavy without doing any cardio. I’ve eaten more protein than any human should and I’ve taken supplements that I will never ever try again.
And trust me…I’m not big. Although I am the biggest I’ve ever been and I don’t think my photos look “bulky.”
I’m muscled. I’m “toned.” I’m lean…when I avoid pizza 😉
But I’m nowhere near bulky.
Where does this fear of lifting heavy weights, gaining muscle and becoming bulky or manly come from?
I blame the media. I blame all of us women who perpetuate it. I blame all of the men who make us feel like we should act like the weaker sex.
But I think Caitlin at Fit and Feminist narrowed it down to the true root cause of the whole problem – that society promotes a single body ideal.
All of us women grow up being indoctrinated with a single ideal of female beauty, an ideal that really doesn’t promote lifting heavy weights in the least.
As Caitlin states in her article “Body Image: The Danger of a Single Body Ideal”:
[A] slim figure with breasts that aren’t too big and thighs that don’t touch and a butt that isn’t too flat and nothing that jiggles too much — is desired with such single-mindedness that the non-cosmetic benefits of weight training are dismissed without a second thought.
So we can’t even seen how good weight training is for us because of this feminine ideal. We can’t risk becoming BULKY because BULKY means we look manly and unattractive.
BAH! I HATE THAT WORD!
Seriously, how and why did women decide that weight lifting makes them look bulky? I mean how is a lean, toned body not sexy?!? And if you lift weights that is what you will get – a lean, toned body!
I’ve never seen a woman get bulky from lifting weights UNLESS she is a) taking steroids or b) carrying around a ton of extra fat on top of her muscle. In the second scenario, what actually makes the woman look bulky is the extra fat NOT the muscle.
Sorry, but it’s true.
So next time you go to utter the word BULKY, think for a second about whether or not the person you say it to will want to shake you until you fall limp to the ground.
OR just realize that LIFTING HEAVY WEIGHTS WON’T MAKE YOU BULKY!
How do you feel about the word bulky? Have you ever been guilty of worrying that weights would make you manly and “bulky?”
Dieting and Body Image
So I’ve been reading the “Body Image Warrior Week” posts over at Fit and Feminist. They are great and they got me to really thinking about dieting and body image.
Usually negative body image and dieting go hand in hand. But dieting doesn’t solve negative body image.
If you can’t accept your body as it is now, you won’t accept it even if you find a diet that makes you look exactly the way you always wanted to. No matter how “good” you look, if you have a negative self-image, you will always be able to find some flaw.
So stop looking for the flaws. Stop thinking that if you just find the right diet you will be able to lose enough weight or fat to correct them. Stop thinking that dieting is the solution.
You can’t change the body you were given.
A healthy diet will make you look good, but you already have to be content. No matter how great the transformation in your body, a diet won’t create a positive self-image.
BUT, if you find a diet that will make you healthier, that will make you feel better, you will find a diet that makes your body look the best that it can!
That is why I’ve been so gung-ho about the Man Bicep diet. I found something that has made me healthier and feel better with the added bonus that my abs show.
My body may not be what someone else considers to be perfect, but guess what?…I like how I look! (Although I’m still weirded out when I log in and see like 50 bazillion pictures of myself EVERYWHERE, but it’s proof right!?! haha)
Is that cocky? No. Is it confident? Yes. Am I happy? Most definitely.
But I’m not only happy with my body because I feel it “looks good.” I’m happy with my body because I like that I can lift more weight than is necessary. I like that I can sprint and paddle board and even occasionally eat till I have a food baby and can only roll around in pain and moan.
I love my body’s strength and feeling of health. Yes it has flaws, but there isn’t a person out there who doesn’t see a flaw no matter how “perfect” someone else thinks their body is.
And while I feel better and healthier when my abs are showing, I’m just as happy in my own skin when Chinese food and ice cream have hidden them (Ok so not quite as happy, but that is mainly because I usually feel pretty ill from the bad food binge-ing!)
So stop looking for the flaws in your body and realize how wonderful it is.
And I’m not undermining the importance of committing to a healthy lifestyle. I’m just saying a diet won’t correct a negative body image.
A healthy diet, however, does have a big pay-off – one bigger than 6 pack abs…You will feel freaking healthy and good!
Where were the biceps at the Oscars?
So yesterday Candy and I decided to look at pictures from the red carpet at the Oscars. We weren’t looking at the women’s dresses though – we were looking at their biceps.
We were searching for 10 women with great arms so today I could post “The Top 10 Biceps at the Oscars.”
But we couldn’t find 10 women on the red carpet with Man Bicep worthy arms.
We found only two. Viola Davis and Cameron Diaz were the only two females out there repping Man Biceps.
Nice arms and a nice back, Viola Davis!
Nice sculpted arms!
I must admit….we were severely disappointed.
What the heck ladies!?! I mean did I miss some memo about anorexic, skinny arms being the new red carpet trend?
Are these really the arms you would prefer?
Eat some meat. Lift some weights. Then maybe you’ll be the best dressed on the red carpet.
Strongest College Female Cheerleader
I got shown this article by numerous people today and yesterday so I felt the need to write about it.
While the article bothered me, I do love Anna's biceps!
But what I feel the need to write about isn’t the fact that she turned down money because she was asked to do steroids. I feel the need to write about how her strength was talked about in every single article.
If you read any article about how strong some guy is, the article will tell you his weight and height along with his lifting maxes. They do this to prove just how relatively strong he is for his height and weight.
But in most of the articles there is absolutely no mention of her weight and only a handful mention her height.
Why is this? How can we tell if those numbers are actually good if we don’t know her height and weight?
In all honesty, we don’t really know how strong she is…but I don’t think that matters to mainstream media or a majority of the population. And I’m not saying that she isn’t super strong. I think her numbers are great!
BUT still…why wouldn’t you prove that she is super strong by giving her height and weight like you would a man’s?
I think they didn’t even think to list her height and weight because to most of the population, any woman who lifts over 100lbs is ridiculously strong. I mean women aren’t supposed to lift super heavy weights so anything over 100 is huge right?
I don’t…for some reason this really bothered me. Am I reading into this lack of weight and height too much?
Or am I right? Does society still believe that women don’t lift heavy? I mean a 5 foot 10 woman with the numbers that Anna Watson has aren’t bad BUT they aren’t THAT awesome.
I mean I’ve seen enough women lift heavy to know that her numbers don’t stand out…which I guess is why they wanted her to do steroids…
Don’t get me wrong. She is strong and looks great. BUT RELATIVELY SPEAKING…she isn’t crazy strong like the article tries to hint at by only listing her numbers without her height and weight.
It just makes me think that society hasn’t fully realized just how many out there look super sexy and lift heavy weights!!
What do you think?
Interesting stuff from this week
- My post on Thursday had to do with the lingering belief that women aren’t men’s equals in the sports and exercise arena. Fit and Feminist also had a post concerning a similar issue, which I thought was interesting. It seems that strong, competitive, athletic women still aren’t full accepted by society. Instead society keeps trying to make these women more acceptable by imposing rules to make them more feminine. What do you think?
- So I made a couple interesting food discoveries this week. I found wild boar salami!!!! Nitrite free wild boar salami!!! IT IS AMAZING! Thank you Meat House! Also, Trader Joe’s had an aged raw goat’s milk pecorino romano. YUM!!! Nice and salty and delicious. And the best part is…it’s raw milk!
- I also have two delicious recipes I want to share. One is for a Primal cheat day – chocolate macadamia nut bark with sea salt. I didn’t follow Mark’s recipe, but he did give me the idea!
- The second is a protein shake, which is absolutely delicious! It is Trader Joe’s light coconut milk, coconut oil (for some good healthy fats), chocolate protein and water! If you like the taste of chocolate and coconut together, you will LOVE this protein shake! AND the coconut milk makes it nice and creamy and thick! Plus not only are you getting some protein out of this shake, but also all of the health benefits of coconut.
- Ok…”all natural” as a label on food means absolutely nothing. There is this new diet aid, called Proasis, which is essentially a protein and vitamin shot that they state is “all natural.” They claim it helps a dieter get all the vitamins, minerals and protein that they won’t get on a diet for weight loss. For one, how can a protein shake, fortified by vitamins be “all natural?” Two, if you do the RIGHT diet to lose weight, you will get plenty of vitamins and minerals and protein! Uhm, Paleo/Primal anyone!?!
- There is a children’s book now for “Paleo” children!! The book is called “Paleo Pals” and helps parents get their children excited about Paleo eating! Really neat! I love how much of a “culture” Primal and Paleo have become!
- One last thing…have you ever noticed that when one thing in your life is going right, you feel so much better about everything else? I have!! So I’ve made it through three weeks of this new diet, which is a strict version of Primal and I’ve started to look and feel great! It’s amazing how looking and feeling great gives you so much more confidence in every aspect of your life. You know the saying, “When it rains, it pours?” Well I guess the opposite can be true! When you have confidence in one part of your life and are happy, the happiness and confidence can really spread to other portions of your life!
Also, I’ve created a “Question Submission” page. I’ve already gotten a few questions, which I will address tomorrow in a post. Thank you for the submissions and keep them coming!
A Taboo Subject – You’re Overweight
Why is it easier to prescribe a procedure than it is to tell a patient to lose weight naturally?
Why are we so afraid to discuss someone being unhealthily overweight? Why are we more afraid of offending the person than looking out for their health? Why are people more afraid of admitting they are overweight and doing something about it than they are of dying from it?
Are we really benefiting anyone by not discussing obesity?
NOPE!
Some people blame doctors for not discussing the subject with their patients, but will their patients really listen to them? An NPR article called “Why Doctors and Patients Talk Around Our Growing Waistlines” blames both the patient and the doctors.
And I agree. Both parties are to blame.
Doctors NEED…I repeat…NEED to discuss diet and exercise with their overweight patients…heck I even think they should discuss it with their normal weight patients! Doctors are respected figures who can influence our decisions concerning our health. They can’t worry about whether or not they offend their patients when they tell them they are overweight. I’m sorry, but sometimes the truth hurts.
Maybe if there were some incentive for doctors to discuss diet and exercise with their patients, they would. I mean we give them incentives to prescribe drugs…
Anyway, I do realize how touchy a subject it is to bring up with a patient.
It can be a very upsetting discussion. No one wants to hear that what they are doing is bad for them. And let’s face it, mainstream media has made us associate pretty negative images and words with being overweight.
And you don’t always know how the discussion will be received. You want it to encourage people to take charge of their health, but instead it can sometimes make people want to give up.
As the NPR article states one woman started cancelling her doctor’s appointments because she hadn’t lost enough weight. She felt ashamed.
Why would a doctor then want to discuss obesity with his/her patients if it is just going to scare them off?
So what then is the answer?
Maybe we all just need to grow a pair and stop being babies. Sometimes the truth hurts. Sometimes the truth is uncomfortable to talk about.
BUT YOU NEED TO DO IT! I mean 74.1% of the US population is overweight and 30% of those overweight people are obese.
Obesity and it’s health risks aren’t just going to disappear! Start talking people!
Are you happy with your body?
The results of a survey published by FITNESS Magazine and Yahoo! revealed that “57% of women polled think they look fat naked and 81% of adults have a body part they hate.”
These results don’t surprise me – we all know that most people aren’t content with their bodies.
I mean come on…don’t people in the diet and fitness industry sort of bank on the fact that we all want to improve some part of our body? (Uhm we most definitely do! Of course I wish that most people just wanted to get stronger or feel fitter rather than change their bodies but that is a conversation for another time.)
But anyway, I find it sort of sad that 81% of adults have a body part they hate. And what I find even more upsetting is that women, in general, are less happy with their bodies than men.
What is wrong with us women?
Is it the media? Is it men? Is it other women? Why are we so insecure?
Why do we focus on the one body part we hate instead of focusing on the other 99% of our bodies that we love?
Boy do I wish I had an answer…
All I can say is when I eat well and lift heavy weights, I’m pretty darn happy with my body even if it isn’t perfect in someone else’s eyes.
Maybe that’s it…maybe we women focus too much on everyone else and not enough on ourselves.
I mean do you really think you look fat or do you just “think” that you do because you are worried some other woman/man/thing thinks you look fat?
Is BMI accurate?
Is BMI really an accurate calculation of body fat? NOPE!
BMI or Body Mass Index is actually kind of bogus in my opinion.
Why is it bogus?
Because it tells you if you are a healthy weight based on your height and weight AND doesn’t take into account body composition at all!
The formula to calculate BMI is BMI = ( Weight in Pounds / ( Height in inches x Height in inches ) ) x 703
If you are a 5 foot 4 inch female and weight 150 lbs, you are overweight based on the BMI scale. BUT there is a huge difference between a 5’4″ female that is 150 pounds with 15% body fat and one that is 5’4″ and 150lbs with 25% body fat.
I mean shoot! I weigh more now than I did a year and a half ago (10 pounds more to be exact), but I look leaner and more muscular than before. I didn’t look underweight before even though my BMI said I was. I was more toward skinny-fat in my opinion. I literally lacked muscle (ok I had muscle…just not enough!!!). However, now that I’ve increased my muscle mass, my BMI states that I’m almost overweight. HA! I’m not even close to overweight!
And I’m not the only one for which BMI isn’t an accurate indication of what is a healthy weight. It isn’t for most of us weight lifting fiends! If you calculate the BMI of many athletes, you will find that their BMI categorizes them as overweight. Some of them even fall into the obesity range!
But they aren’t! Most of them probably even have less body fat than the person whose BMI states that their weight is within the normal weight range.
So if this calculation can overestimate the body fat in muscular people, don’t you think it probably isn’t an accurate reading for other people as well?
What about the skinny fat? Their weight may be within the “normal range” but if they lack muscle…like I did…than their body composition probably isn’t very good!
How can we still be using something that doesn’t seem to accurately predict body fat for anyone!?! I mean even NPR thinks BMI is bogus!
Mirror, mirror on the wall. Who’s the fairest one of all?
Are there times when you don't like the answer the mirror gives you?
When I started this blog, I really had no intention of writing about anything but lifting. I just wanted to try to convince every woman out there to lift heavy weights. And I definitely didn’t plan to spend any time talking about “body image.”
But of course, I’ve now realized that you can’t convince women to lift heavy without discussing the “body image” issue.
Because lifting in and of itself is meaningless. For most women (and most men), the main reason to workout and diet is because they want to improve their body and feel better about how they look. (Yes some people just workout to be healthy and some people do it because they love it…but let’s face it…we all want to be the best versions of ourselves so will do everything we can to achieve that!)
That’s right…more than looking good for other people, we want to love the person we see in the mirror. We want to be able to look in the mirror and say, “Damn I’m sexy.”
So what is stopping us from always looking in the mirror and thinking we look amazing?
I’ve found that it stems from two main issues – the Ugly Duckling Syndrome and the Evil Queen Complex.
I definitely find myself at points suffering from the Ugly Duckling Syndrome. When I was in junior high, and even at the beginning of high school, I was a bit pudgy. Not fat, but my middle was soft and I had chipmunk cheeks.
I lost the weight, but sometimes when I look at pictures, or even in the mirror, all I can see are chipmunk cheeks. Or when I try on shirts, I get super focused on how my stomach looks.
It doesn’t matter that I know I’m not at all pudgy now because sometimes I’m just so stuck on the fact that at one point I felt I was an “ugly duckling.”
Since I began lifting super heavy and eating Primally, I find I have an easier time moving past my doubts about how I look. I know that the way I’m living is healthy so there is no way I can be out of shape. I repeat that to myself when I look in the mirror and start to think about chipmunk cheeks.
Did you go through a period you consider an “ugly duckling” phase? Do you sometimes only see what used to be there?
And, the second issue…the Evil Queen Complex.
Ever look in the mirror and focus on the fact that your hips/arms/stomach aren’t as perfect as that of a model/actress/friend’s?
If you’ve ever compared your body to that of someone else’s and wish that yours was better than theirs, than you have suffered from the Evil Queen Complex.
We all have people that we think have perfect bodies – that represent our standards of what is beautiful.
The thing is we can’t focus on how our bodies compare to theirs. We can’t look into the mirror and ask, “Who’s the fairest one of all?”
We will never EVER have the exact same body as that person. We can only make our body as perfect as possible and be content knowing that we are living a healthy life by eating well and lifting heavy weights.
Have you found yourself falling victim to either one of these body image issues? What do you do to move past them?
“I need to workout so I don’t get fat”
I hear this statement uttered all too often in the gym. Clients tell me they are frustrated because they haven’t lost weight even though they are working out every day. Candy and I have even been guilty of thinking this statement at times…like when we go on vacation or home for the holidays and we know we are going to be eating WAY too much and not working out at all.
But the statement is just so ludicrous.
I mean yes, getting in a light workout (like an easy bike ride, a long walk or even going roller skating) can help with damage control, but we aren’t talking about preventing weight gain here…we are talking about LESSENING the damage not fully preventing it.
And yes, exercise can help you reach your weight loss goals by adding muscle, which will help you burn more calories, BUT if you are consuming crap calories, you won’t be getting anywhere fast. Exercise gives you an extra boost, but it won’t be the driving force behind weight loss.
For one, 80% of weight loss is eating healthy foods. As much as I would love to tell my clients that all they need to do is train with me to lose weight, it just isn’t true. Diet is key to weight loss. So you don’t need to workout to keep from getting fat…you need to eat right to get the weight off and keep it off!
Diet is also key to maintaining a healthy weight. And if you’ve been down at a healthy weight for a long time, eating badly on vacation while you aren’t working out isn’t going to make you fat.
Yes you may gain some weight, but most of it will probably be water weight. AND the second you get back from vacation, if you return to your normal healthy eating pattern, the weight will melt off in less than a week.
But if you really don’t want to gain weight over your vacation or the holidays, I guess you could follow these stupid conventional wisdom tips (they remind me a bit of the tips you see every where right before Thanksgiving..)
And if you can’t do that…well just enjoy the vacation and get back to your diet the second you come home! Sometimes you just do need to let loose and live a little!!!
Man Bicep 