why? obviously, if you’ve read my other postings. it’s a combination of something must be done but incremental changes without going over the top are more apt to be acceptable by the medical community, the public health community, the psychotherapeutic community, and the public than extremes. and the extremes keep coming. pick up any women’s mag, esp fitness mag, and you’ll see extremely fit/lean and THIN women representing what you too can look like IF you do xyz. reality bumps into mirrors all the time but the proponents of fitness products and methods still make readers/listeners believe they can accomplish the unrealistic with just a few simple moves or dietary changes.
granted, many articles are up front honest and open with the challenges one really must confront in order to meet said goals. they usually point out that you need to eat right and exercise more in order to see results. but unfortunately the results you will see will not be what you had hoped for. it’s kind of like my left eye, the one i detached a retina in back in october 2011. i had cataract surgery a week and a half ago and the doc said it’s doing better than expected but as good as he’d hoped. great….i think. of course, that’s better than the other things he could have said so i’m pleased, but most folks want more than that and the media keeps holding that carrot up as if it’s always available.it’s not.
i lecture for Exercise ETC, a provider of continuing education for trainers and other fitness professionals nationwide. i’ve been doing it for over 16 years, and love it. lots of reasons not the least of which is it keeps me up to date both in the literature and with what’s going on outside my small gym. it puts me in contact with fellow educators and fellow professionals from whom i have lots to learn, with one caveat: i know what i’m teaching from a science standpoint, and can better discern what’s authentic and what’s gimmick. does that sound cocky? you betcha. i am cocky. some participants don’t like it and i try to be up front and tell them, invite them to challenge me and to share their knowledge and experience. BUT i also challenge them to be able to support it. i’m all ears til i hear someone tell me what they think vs what they know. then i get suspicious. being academic, i think that’s my personality. sorry if it offends.
but i mention this not to toot my horn or defend myself against others’ opinions of me. i mention it because i try to give folks information more than expected and hopefully better than they’d hoped for. sometimes that comes across harshly but if you listen well, you will learn something, not just about the topic but about yourself. this is true in any relationship, in life in general, but when it comes to health, it is especially true: if you listen well, you will learn something, and if you apply what you learn you will accomplish more than expected but maybe not as much as you’d hoped. that’s not bad. in fact, that’s good. you just have to be willing to accept the harsh truths, and realize there is still so much more benefit than the alternative: ignorance and in the case of health, disease and injury.
disclaimer: i don’t know everything, and i don’t even know a lot let alone more than most. but i try to learn more, and only by doing so can i get where i’d like to be, as a credible, knowledgeable, competent trainer. and like my eye, or like your body’s response to diet and exercise, i can only hope to get more than i expected, and maybe get as much as i’d hoped…but reality bumps into mental capacity, and maybe i won’t. but i will keep trying. so should you.
