You may have noticed that I don’t post many ‘inspirational’ photos of women lifting weights with well defined muscles, with messages about overcoming hardships and claiming victory over challenges.
That’s because any person who has the time and money to lift weights as a hobby and pursue a well defined physique doesn’t really have ‘hardships’. Their basic needs are met. They can focus on those things because they don’t have to worry about where their next meal is coming from, or if their husband is going to be kidnapped and beheaded on his way home from the job that pays 60 cents a day, or if they might get blown up at the market, or if their daughter might get raped to death by men who think doing so will cure their HIV, or if their government is going to dam the river that they depend on for survival.
We are so unbelievably fortunate. My thighs are a hardship? Hell no. There are billions of women on this planet who would trade places with me in a heartbeat.
We have the luxury of pursuing excellent health, and I am so glad I have the opportunity to share my experiences with you and support you on your way to better health. I try to remember every day, though, that the choices I make have far reaching effects on other people on this planet, and on the planet itself. Every choice I make and every dollar I spend is a vote for either the status quo, or change. I have great power because I have so many choices and dollars to spend (no, I’m not rich by American standards, but I am by global standards). I do it as mindfully as I can, keeping in mind that my appearance is far less important than the negative impact a mindless choice can have on someone else in this world.
We can make choices that make us healthy AND that create positive change in this world. Be mindful of where your food dollars are going. It is one of the most profound ways you can help others, while still prioritizing the health of you and your family. Foods that are produced in ways that sustain the environment and the cultures and individuals that contribute to that production are, by and large, the same foods that will support excellent health and vitality on an individual level.
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I keep seeing this image (and others like it) floating around the paleo-sphere. I find it incredibly discouraging. Paleo is frequently portrayed as a philosophy that values strength above all else in women, and yet the images of women that accompany so much of the paleo rhetoric I run across are impossibly, perfectly fit, with unnaturally massive breasts and dangerously low body fat. This is a perfect example. What woman in her right mind would go hunting in such a skimpy ‘outfit’? That hair, while perfect for being dragged back to the cave by Grok, would be a huge liability while trying to hunt (or do just about anything other than posing provocatively by the water hole). Did breast implants exist in the paleolithic era? Because any woman with body fat low enough to have that level of muscle definition would have long since lost her breasts. The message I get from images like this is that if I eat and live like a cavewoman, I will look like this. Not true. If I ate and lived like a real cavewoman, I would look more like this:
I get so frustrated that a philosophy that talks such a good game about valuing women for their strength and abilities still objectifies our bodies so blatantly. Spend a few minutes surfing paleo blogs and you will see image after image of women in bikinis and booty shorts, many even naked. Sure, they’ve got visible abs, which sets those images apart from the images you’ll see in fashion magazines, but in the end it’s the same old story. Women’s bodies are being exploited to sell a product, and in the process a message is being sent to women: this is how you’re supposed to look to be desirable. You’re supposed to have a well defined 6 pack, biceps and lats to rival a young Arnold’s, and a single digit body fat percentage. Oh, and God help you if your boobs aren’t enormous and perky. Because if cavewomen could look like that, Lord knows you can too. So get to work ladies!
Sigh. We can’t win. No matter what.
Women: eating real food and challenging your body physically every day will give you a strong, healthy, beautiful body. But unless you’re willing to invest in invasive surgery and devote almost all of your waking hours to planning your diet and working out, you’re more likely to look like the beautiful woman in the second picture than the caricature in the first. That’s fine. It’s more than fine. It’s wonderful.
]]>I’m not a scientist, I’m a lowly little Personal Trainer and Massage Therapist. I don’t perform studies (other than my N of 1 ones), I don’t write research papers, I don’t have a degree in anything health related.
What I do do is read a lot. Blogs (I’ve got a few of them listed in my blogroll), news articles, and most importantly, science. I try to find and read as many sides of an issue as possible.
And one thing I have, that a lot of people don’t, is an ability to think critically.
There’s a Diet War going on out there. One faction would have you believe that primitive man spent most of his time lolling about the savannah, working on his tan, only getting up off his ass long enough to throw a spear at a passing buffalo, then sitting back down to gorge himself and get back to the serious business of lazing about. Sounds pretty idyllic. Sign me up! Oh yeah, and that buffalo was made out of bacon.
Building on this belief system, they argue that modern humans are therefore primed for a life of blogging and bacon eating. It’s the true path to optimal health! See, our bodies are made to sit and eat fat, so when we eat carbohydrates, everything goes haywire. Insulin resistance, diabetes, obesity, cancer, DEATH.
‘Course, there’s all that pesky scientific data that suggests that increasing physical activity improves metabolic function (don’t believe me? Google ‘exercise and insulin resistance’, or check out my pinterest board on the topic). How can that be, if the body’s natural state is lolling about the savannah? If our bodies are designed to sit, why would moving improve metabolic function?
Do you REALLY believe primitive man spent most of his time on his ass? I don’t, not for a minute. I believe primitive man spent most of his time on the move. I believe the human body’s natural state is one of almost constant motion. When we move, we metabolize carbohydrate just fine. In fact, science holds carbohydrate is the brain and muscles’ preferred fuel (yep, I’m aware of the studies that suggest otherwise. Guess what? So far, they’re outliers). ‘Course, if we’re not moving, carbs can cause problems. But is eliminating carbs the answer? Only if you believe our bodies are designed to sit all day. If you believe that our bodies are designed to move, then eliminating carbs is a band-aid. A band-aid that might allow you to sit on your ass a few more years before disease sets in, but that ultimately doesn’t address the CAUSE of the disease: exercise deficiency. That’s right folks, I’m calling it like I see it: Metabolic Dysfunction is a disease of exercise deficiency, not of carb intolerance.
“But modern lifestyles make adequate exercise nearly impossible!” they claim. Bullshit. I have kids, a job, a household to manage, and a social life, and I am able to include adequate exercise into my daily routine. I also manage to maintain a blog! Yes, you too can blog AND exercise.
“But only young people and endurance athletes can eat carbs safely!” they counter. Bullshit, again. I’m 40. I exercise 30 minutes a day on average.
“But…but…some of us are so damaged by obesity and the Standard American Diet that we simply can’t ever eat carbs again!”. Bullshit, times 3. I was obese for 3 decades. At 35, I had a whole laundry list of metabolic issues: PCOS, high blood pressure, blood sugar regulation control problems, low HDL, and obesity (not to mention depression, panic attacks, migraines, hair loss, cyctic breasts and acne and much, much more). I reversed it ALL while eating carbs.
Ask yourself: which is more likely the natural state of the human body:
a. sitting and eating only one or two macronutrients, to the exclusion of thousands of edible energy sources
b. moving and eating whatever is easiest to find (which, where I live, would be mostly plants, with some rodents, insects and perhaps an occasional bit of larger game thrown in to supplement)
I choose b, and live accordingly (minus the rodents and insects). And you’ve seen my pictures. I suspect I look a lot more like the mythical Grok(ette) than most basement dwelling, bacon eating bloggers.
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