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Focus on Health Instead of a "Beach Body"

Beach season is around the corner, summer is here and it's the time we all get to enjoy beautiful weather and fun outside. Let that motivate you, but let it motivate you to make small sustainable changes. No extreme bootcamps to quickly shed weight because you are embarrassed.
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Man on beach doing biceps curls with dumbbells
Chris Ryan via Getty Images
Man on beach doing biceps curls with dumbbells

The "summer body" season is coming. This is when I started to feel ashamed of the health industry.

You are going to be bombarded with tips to lose weight. They will all work.

However they miss the mark on three fronts:

1) They are not sustainable

2) They are not designed for health

3) They focus on vanity, creating poor body image

I'm not sure when our obsession with being "skinny" really took off, but it's caused a lot of problems. Fitness models are now the standard for what we should look like. I thought we'd established reasons why it's not good a few years ago. Here's my top three:

1) Most fitness models take photos on a day where their fat percentage is below healthy. It goes up quick after the photo shoot. Here's a list of reasons you don't want your body fat below healthy.

2) Fitness Models are professionals, and their life revolves around their sport. It's not something that is easily attained, and can effect work/life balance. It's there primary focus. A photo shoot is the culmination of months of work. A perfect photo is the same as a home run in baseball. In both cases it's literally the reason they train.

3) Every body type is different, and our bodies change with age. As it is with every sport, fitness modeling is very much dependent on genetics. Gifted athletes make it to the NFL. Just ask guys who have a ton of talent, but they are average height and weight. Fitness modelling is the same. Admire them if you want, but realize it's hard work mixed with genetics. They put the work in for sure, but some of the rest is a gift.

So let's change this all.

Beach season is around the corner, summer is here and it's the time we all get to enjoy beautiful weather and fun outside. Let that motivate you, but let it motivate you to make small sustainable changes. No extreme bootcamps to quickly shed weight because you are embarrassed. No crash diets to take fat off at all costs. No pills or potions that trick the body, or affect us negatively.

Let's focus on living.

1) Have fun

2) Eat local fresh food to fuel the body

3) Exercise your way, just move every day

4) Get sleep

5) Drink lots of water

I use my Instagram to post fashion pictures and health eating tips. Lots of ideas to be healthy!!

Health is really simple, and the benefits are not just beach bodies. It's energy, internal health, and the ability to have fun and explore the world at the drop of a hat.

If you won the lottery tomorrow, would you live long enough or have the energy to do all the things you dreamed of? Would you want a beach body, or would you want to climb mountains and explore this world.

You can crash diet and take off weight, but it catches up with you. You lose energy.

You can get on a brand new intense workout program, but it will burn you out and possibly cause injuries.

You can take a pill and it will short-term boost your metabolism and burn extra fat.

All of these things catch up with you, and then, when your health fads you'll wish you'd done it differently.

A beach body in 2015 shouldn't come at the cost of health problems in 2055. Look to the future, spend time creating a healthy lifestyle.

If you haven't been active in months, don't think a high intensity, super expensive, promised filled bootcamp or fitness class is the answer.

Let's build a healthier nation, fitness to last a lifetime, let's do it One Fit City at a time.

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