Does 'Fit' Represent Health?

We are bombarded with images of 'fit' women and we have been conditioned to believe this image represents health...but does it? Have you ever met a girl that is really fit? Have you talked to her? Or have you met the guy who looks like an athlete from Sports Illustrated? Chances are you have! You also envied them for their beautiful body and probably thought 'wow, they are so healthy'. This is where the line is very blurred.

The guy who resembles an athlete is not necessarily healthy, just like a body builder is generally NOT healthy. Being around 'fit' people a lot, I can tell you what it takes for this athlete to look this way. Let's start with his horrible diet of meat & protein shakes! I once asked a 'fit' guy at the gym what his diet was like, and he said I eat a ton of meat and drink protein shakes a few times a day. He said 'I try to stay away from carbs, even fruit, then I allow myself a cheat day and I binge out on pizza and junk food'. Sounds healthy, right? No way. We know a high protein diet is acid forming and contributes to numerous health issues, cancer being one of them! Depriving yourself fresh fruit is extremely harmful. Fruit is nutrient rich, unlike meat. A diet without fruit is a nutrient poor diet and that is not healthy.

Cheat days. Why do so many 'fit' people have them, or quickly fall off their high protein diets? Cheat days happen due to lack of nutrition. The body will crave high energy food, looking for carbohydrates (that the 'fit' person denies himself) so when the craving is out of control one cannot make a healthy food choice. Turning to junk food, high in fat, salt, and sugar. Meanwhile a healthy person on a high fruit diet has no cheat days...we don't binge eat, we don't feel deprived. We don't need to cheat.

After these disgusting cheat days, he said he would hit the gym harder than ever out of fear all his hard work would go down the drain! WHAT???? He already works out for hours a day, some days twice a day. After a cheat day, his workout routine would be 1 and 1/2 hrs cardio, followed by an insanity style hour long workout. Why would you torture your body for the bad decision YOU made. Your body is your home, it is not your bodies fault YOU binged all day. It shouldn't be punished.

What does that do to your mental state? Does it feel good to binge? To deprive yourself of carbohydrates? To train for hours and hours? To feel like crap after the binge? To feel like crap after torturing yourself at the gym? NO, this is why this 'fit' person is not healthy. I once asked him why do this? His only answer...to look 'like this'. To jeopordize your health for looks is sad!

This is very common in the fitness industry, both 'fit' men and women follow this kind of lifestyle. Some women are even worse, over training on a regular basis, spending 2 to 3 hours at the gym, usually out of guilt from what they ate, or trying to lose weight quickly to fit into a dress or be ready for swim suit season.

Is it healthy to train 3+ hours a day if you only do it 3 times a week? Depends who you ask. If you ask a 'fit' person they would say sure it's fine. 'No Pain, No Gain' right? If you ask a healthy person, the answer would be it's NOT healthy. Over training for long hours puts unnecessary stress on the body, creating an acidic environment! If your diet is right, workouts can be short and efficient, keeping you lean & fit without the added stress! There are no binges when diet is right! There is no guilt when diet is right!

So does the 'fit' person always represent health? Absolutely not!