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WHAT IS THE TRUE PRICE OF GETTING RIPPED?
This was me two years ago. I had 13% Body Fat. But what did I sacrifice to get there? I was proud of these types of pictures for a while because I had worked really hard. But the truth of things was a little less impressive.
Being 13% body fat may look great. But for a woman in her 40s, it is most definitely not healthy.
And if anyone here is aspiring to look like this or any of those ripped Fitness Models we see regularly appearing in our newsfeed my advice would be DON’T. A lot of them hide dark secrets about how they got there and how they stay there.
Who should look ripped?
There are only 2 types of people, in my opinion, who should look like this.
1) Fitness instructors (especially Les Mills Instructors!) who teach every day because it is their passion and/or have no choice (that was me)
2) Athletes in competition or with a specific performance goal.
Everybody else (in my opinion) who is this ripped, has either body image and/or food issues (controversial, I know).
Why do I say this? Because I know what it takes to look like this. It is insane and it is not natural. Obviously it is more natural for a 25yr old than a 40yr old, and more natural for a man than a woman (men naturally have less body fat) but the work required is still insane.
That is why I gave up my Fitness Career. 25 hours of weights, HIIT and endurance exercise a week is not natural or healthful on a long-term basis. Especially not for a woman in her 40s!
This is the price I paid for being 13% Body Fat:
1) Inability to enjoy social occasions as constantly had to think about fuelling for the next day and not jeopardising my energy levels.
2) Getting up an hour earlier when I was exhausted to carefully time my fuelling and hydration correctly.
3) No time to prioritise other things that were important.
4) My hormones changed DRAMATICALLY. It made me ill.
5) Constant risk of injury and regular expensive Osteo treatments and Sports Massages to re-align
6) Inability to EAT ENOUGH FOOD due to lifestyle and timing constraints around teaching.
7) Exhaustion
8) Joint damage
9) Loss of feminine curves! (which is why you see SO many depressingly bad boob jobs in the Fitness Industry).
10) Constant sugar cravings (because my glycogen was always depleted!)
It takes A LOT of effort, dedication and commitment to get this ripped. And the puritan approach you need with your food and your training can get totally obsessive for some and encourage eating disorders – extremely common in the Fitness Industry.
But it looks good, right?
If the only motivation is aesthetics, I would seriously question the reasoning. But that is just my opinion. I realise some people may think there is nothing wrong with making these sacrifices for aesthetics alone.
I gave up teaching because I wasn’t prepared to see my health or body suffer. If I was 25, things may have been different.
Since giving up teaching I am healthier and happier, I’m still fit, and I have feminine curves that I love. I have no idea how much I weigh or what my new Body Fat percentage is but my hormones have stabilised and I never ever want to be 13% Body Fat again!
Do it because you love it [:)]
This was me two years ago. I had 13% Body Fat. But what did I sacrifice to get there? I was proud of these types of pictures for a while because I had worked really hard. But the truth of things was a little less impressive.
Being 13% body fat may look great. But for a woman in her 40s, it is most definitely not healthy.
And if anyone here is aspiring to look like this or any of those ripped Fitness Models we see regularly appearing in our newsfeed my advice would be DON’T. A lot of them hide dark secrets about how they got there and how they stay there.
Who should look ripped?
There are only 2 types of people, in my opinion, who should look like this.
1) Fitness instructors (especially Les Mills Instructors!) who teach every day because it is their passion and/or have no choice (that was me)
2) Athletes in competition or with a specific performance goal.
Everybody else (in my opinion) who is this ripped, has either body image and/or food issues (controversial, I know).
Why do I say this? Because I know what it takes to look like this. It is insane and it is not natural. Obviously it is more natural for a 25yr old than a 40yr old, and more natural for a man than a woman (men naturally have less body fat) but the work required is still insane.
That is why I gave up my Fitness Career. 25 hours of weights, HIIT and endurance exercise a week is not natural or healthful on a long-term basis. Especially not for a woman in her 40s!
This is the price I paid for being 13% Body Fat:
1) Inability to enjoy social occasions as constantly had to think about fuelling for the next day and not jeopardising my energy levels.
2) Getting up an hour earlier when I was exhausted to carefully time my fuelling and hydration correctly.
3) No time to prioritise other things that were important.
4) My hormones changed DRAMATICALLY. It made me ill.
5) Constant risk of injury and regular expensive Osteo treatments and Sports Massages to re-align
6) Inability to EAT ENOUGH FOOD due to lifestyle and timing constraints around teaching.
7) Exhaustion
8) Joint damage
9) Loss of feminine curves! (which is why you see SO many depressingly bad boob jobs in the Fitness Industry).
10) Constant sugar cravings (because my glycogen was always depleted!)
It takes A LOT of effort, dedication and commitment to get this ripped. And the puritan approach you need with your food and your training can get totally obsessive for some and encourage eating disorders – extremely common in the Fitness Industry.
But it looks good, right?
If the only motivation is aesthetics, I would seriously question the reasoning. But that is just my opinion. I realise some people may think there is nothing wrong with making these sacrifices for aesthetics alone.
I gave up teaching because I wasn’t prepared to see my health or body suffer. If I was 25, things may have been different.
Since giving up teaching I am healthier and happier, I’m still fit, and I have feminine curves that I love. I have no idea how much I weigh or what my new Body Fat percentage is but my hormones have stabilised and I never ever want to be 13% Body Fat again!
Do it because you love it [:)]