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This is one of the main questions I keep getting asked year after year when people find out that I'm into fitness. It's weird because its a very revealing question. Some people realise just how telling it is psychologically that they want to reduce their tummy fat and immediately play it cool, "I mean I don't really care but if I could, that would be cool".
There is no way of saying "I am a work in progress" without implying that there are parts of ourselves that we want to shed off. There is also no way of saying you want to shed parts of yourself without insinuating that those parts are bad for you.
The question is can you accept that it is okay? It's okay to want better for yourself so long as it is actually better for you.
What do I mean? Losing belly fat reduces the chances that you will suffer from diabetes and hypertension. It also means you are less likely to die from heart disease and heart disease may or may not be a significant cause of death when compared to other more tragic causes of death like Road traffic accidents.
That said, in this post, I am not talking about getting shredded and dropping below 10% body fat. I am talking about staying within a health range above 10%.
Before we go any further it is important that we address actual unhealthy beauty standards. The world has jumped so deep into this fat shaming/body shaming bandwagon that we no longer know what we are talking about when we say unhealthy beauty standards.
How many times have these men's health magazines featured a man who clearly is dosed on steroids on their covers? For how long are we going to pretend like we don't know that WWE wrestler who was smaller in his 20s and 30s (when testosterone is highest) is on steroids now in his 50s?
Then on the other hand are women's health than pedestolise female obesity by throwing visually overweight people on their covers? or equally damaging featuring anorexia? Sometimes I wonder why they do these things, then I realise that we have ourselves to blame.
We give so much credit to these brands and figures that we forget that they are not perfect and can be as misguided as anyone.
That said, when I talk about making yourself better I am not talking about looking like any of these groups. They make the health and fitness world look either superficial or so deep that it is hard to reach.
We all can make improvements because none of us have reached perfection and I am not going to pretend to be 100% assured down the direction I'm going most of the time but when I made improvements, things got better. It was hard but they got better in the end.
If you are on a journey of self-improvement/betterment then you can stick with this. Give it some time.
While going on this journey however there are some misinformation that could slow you down.
The biggest one out there is that if you focus on a particular part of your body for long (such as arms, shoulders, or legs) you will lose fat in that particular part of your body. But this could not be further from the truth.
Infact, by focusing on that particular part of the body you could gain muscle around that area and give the appearance that the area grew bigger.
I may not be sure of your weight loss goals, but I am very sure that that's not it.
This myth is called spot reduction and it is the biggest one out there. I think many of us develop it from mere intuition. You watch people moving their arms in the gym with weights and immediately assume that they must be trying to lose weight around that area.
This myth leads people to think that in order for you to lose weight you have to spend long hours in the gym pushing weight. It is also the nest of kin to thinking that high rep ranges will lead to fat loss.
Another one is that people get caught up in that prevents them from losing weight is that they think that all calories are equal. Meanwhile in reality some foods are better at keeping hunger at bay or they may have specific effects on metabolism or homones.
For example, when you eat food that is high in protein and low in carbohydrates over a long period, this tends to have a greater effect on weight reduction.
It is usually nice to start out with portion control or reduction but it is best to switch to a diet that will allow you to lose weight easily. Leading to the other myth that people carry around.
You have to starve yourself or else you won't see any results. Not only will you lose muscle this way, but you will not have the energy in the gym to keep up with the activities. Energy is what your muscles need to grow and if they don't get it from your diet, then they will get it from your body and one of the first places that they reach out to are the protein stores of the muscle.
Starving yourself is just an offshoot of anorexia.
Regarding energy and the gym it's also important to note that you don't lose fat in the gym (I mean you do, but) the gym is not the most effective place to lose fat. It is done in the kitchen and wherever you can stay active in. Your diet and you're lifestyle around activity is the main way through which you lose weight.
The last myth that people carry around is that only those with strong will can have results when it comes to weight loss. Just because you are not able to see results in the gym does not mean that you automatically lose than those who do. There are different factors that come into play when it comes to weight loss and you should not be comparing yourself to others. Comparison will always be a thief of joy.
Old zoomed in picture of me
The fitness community is riddled with body dysmorphia and if one is not careful, we could end up abusing our bodies in search of the fitness community's standards of perfection.
There are a lot of myths that surround fat loss and you cannot reach where you want to go with a faulty map or compass.
So once again, get out there do your thing, and don't let anybody stop you even if the person trying to stop you is you.
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