Scale Liberation: Weighing in on Happiness

ATTENTION ALL:
I'm offering a one time only offer that runs until the end of the October 2012. Come get pre-approved to get your own scale hammer smashed by yours truly. I REPEAT: come in before the end of October with your scale and I will smash it in front of your eyes. Come and feel the liberation that you rightfully deserve and here's why:


I'm a little frustrated here folks. When I hear someone say "I need to lose weight," I hear "I need to be happy." That obviously brings up the question "Why is this person concerned about their weight?" Clearly somewhere along the lines in the mainstream medical and fitness community someone convinced them that there was a correlation between weight and health/happiness. Despite that sounding perfectly logical there unfortuately is not a whole lot of truth to it. The only reason that theory has any staying power is that there is an iota of truth to it. After helping countless people I can indeed say the ones who have lost weight are happier than the ones that didn't. The big issue, the ones who trained for the scale and ate by total calorie counts are already having weight management issues because they refused common sense and overwhelmed their body with under eating and overexercising. That nastiness can only last for so long before a wall is sure to be hit. The ones who focused solely on becoming physically powerful, eating all natural non processed food and adopting successful thinking have managed their weight and more importantly their happiness. In reality, if someone was truly convinced they could be healthy and fully respected by others then there would be no other reason to lose weight. So by deductive reasoning everyone just wants happiness. Am I wrong? If I am stop reading now, there is nothing here for you to learn. If that was a correct assumption I insist you take this into consideration: Are you unhappy with your weight or are you unhappy with the habits you've built (laziness, self defamation, lack of esteem, ) that keeps the weight on? Weight retention is not a source of unhappiness, it's a symptom of a much larger issue. Let's work on treating the source not the symptom.

What is happiness?

* Confidence- complete confidence is your ability to provide assurance you may succeed in a given situation. This certainty can only be achieved through leadership training, physical strength, and self acceptance.

“Confidence is a change in attitude that makes the seemingly unworkable workable. This dosen’t mean that all of the sudden everything is going to go our way. But it does mean that we acan appreciate life even when things don’t go our way. We have the resources to live in the challenge. That is the expression of the courage of a shamabla warrior.”  Venerable Chogum Trupunga

* When your actions meet your morals- "I know I shouldn't but I did anyway," is a red flag you are consistently acting against your own values and will consistently make you unhappy. Align with your values and self acceptance will come.

How have you come to define happiness? Is it money, iphones, shoes & clothes or having a skinny body at an "ideal" weight? None of those give you love, relationships, or real confidence. Just look at Jennifer Anniston (i know shes getting married but c'mon, it's been a long road :)). Confidence and self acceptance does. If those ideals were true happiness then celebrities would never be in rehab, consistently get divorced , there would be no eating disorders, and "Mo Money Mo Problems" wouldn't be my favorite song of all time.

Weighing in on happiness

The world has come a long ways recognizing that a) we don't have the same farmhand lifestyle we used to have 100 years ago and b) we have to do things differently. Therefor you have a choice and a major life decision to make. There are countless dietitians, doctors and trainers that promote the BMI, old food pyramid, counting calories based on general guidelines given for Americans of all shapes and sizes regardless of their exercise habits and basing your health on your weight. You can choose to stick with that method which has continuously risen the count of chronic illness and made us the sickest country in the world by a long shot. The big problem with this is that there is absolutely no correlation between your health and your bodyweight. I repeat, NO CORRELATION. Skinny and frail can equal unhealthy and unsexy just as someone who is 40% bodyfat. Is it possible to be healthy at a "non-ideal weight?" How is it possible that boney arms, transparent rib cages and no butt became sexy? Conventional wisom tells us that thin is in but truth be told, happiness will never be found on the scale. You have that or you can adopt a mindset that healthy foods fuel a healthy body, lean muscle can only be grown through hard work, healthy blooded bodies with lean muscle will be lean. Lean healthy bodies then go on to complete races and do their first pull ups. Underfed over stressed and weak bodies are unstable emotionally and physically and will not be able produce enough changes to keep you motivated the rest of your life.

What if you looked the way you do now but lived on the moon? How would you feel about your body?

If the answer is happy, keep doing what you're doing. If not, then what needs improvement? Do you need to lose body fat or gain muscle? What are your goals and are they based on your own self acceptance? Or is your self acceptance based on society's perception of you? Is there any truth to your defnition of happiness? If it's based on vanity I am warning you, you will be chasing happiness your whole life.

So what are good signs of progress?

1. You feel good

2. You feel good.

3. You feel good.

4. In and out of the gym you are getting stronger and are progressing into more advanced movement skills.

5. You are physically able and energetic enough to handle whatever challenges life throws at you. Things won't always go our way but how capable are you to handle obstacles and conquering them?

6. You feel good

Finally
Do you qualify for a free scale hammer smash?

If you can answer yes to one of these 3 questions, you qualify for a free scale hammer smash:

1. If somehow you rationalize a difference between yourself and the woman in this story- Here's an example of how you can look great without losing a pound.
2. If you told your trainer how much better your clothes fit yet weighed yourself at night and it ruined your mood.

3. You can personally identify with the 5 ways to stay unhealthy.

I have given you a wealth of information in this blog and I must admit some of my tone is accusatory and angry.  It is also one of my most information packed entries yet. It is only because I care and I see the potential in each and every one of you. Weight loss/management can be as simple or as complicated as you make it. I encourage you all to reevaluate your goals but before you do I want you to consider this: are you building your happiness/confidence through self acceptance or false idols? Are you training strictly for the mirror or for better health? Adopt the "function over form" philosophy. Genetics will determine how your body looks at its athletic peak. Your body will look its best when you are training to reach your athletic potential but you can only control so much. Control your diet and your mindeset...I can take care of the rest ;)