The Health vs Beauty Epidemic

*Cracks knuckles*

*Stands on soapbox with megaphone*

THE SHAPE OF YOUR BODY AND HOW MUCH MUSCLE OR FAT YOU HAVE ON IT IS NOT ABOUT BEAUTY!

It's 2018, we have access to MILLIONS of outlets to rant and rave about whatever we want.

In many of these outlets, we hear we should accept everyone and not judge anyone based on the color of their skin, height, weight, amount of tattoos, religion, political stance, etc. but judge them based on their character.

100 percent true.

That comes back to an older blog in the archives where I touch on how you should not be a d*ck.

However, we do live in an era of "acceptance," which is good and bad.

We are really beginning to accept a lot of things that would be unheard of 100, 50, or even 10 years ago and most of it is awesome!

Gay marriage is legal, we had a black president, cigarettes are now demonized and widely known to be bad for your health, Eli Manning beat Tom Brady in the Super Bowl twice, we are all living at the same times as memes and gifs. The world is amazing!!!!

In the midst of all this change and with people seeming more and more willing to open their minds to things they would have never done 20 years ago, it opens the door for some controversial conversation starters.

A touchy subject that has a more prominent spot thanks to social media is that of "fat acceptance."

Now, at this point, you may think the rest of this blog is going to be about fat shaming and since I am a male who works in the fitness industry, we sometimes get the thought of as "hating" out of shape people.

That is an unfortunate black eye on the fitness industry brought on by significantly unqualified individuals who are in it to only raise their follower count and how cool it looks to do an upside down backflip kettle bell pull up isometric plank hold on a bosu ball wearing one shoe and holding a cat with your foot and I don't know what I am doing anymore...

... but that is for another day.

"Fat acceptance," according to the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, "The NAAFA is a non-profit, all volunteer, civil rights organization dedicated to protecting the rights and improving the quality of life for fat people. NAAFA works to eliminate discrimination based on body size and provide fat people with the tools for self-empowerment through advocacy, public education, and support."

I am 100 percent onboard with respecting, loving, and caring for every other person. Because you should not dislike or even hate someone based on physical features or simply because they disagree with you.

The only acceptable reason to waste energy to hate someone is if they are an Eagles fan. This was written before Super Bowl 52, I hope they lose by 100. Go Giants.

Edit: I didn't get to finish this blog until like two weeks after the Superbowl, they won. The world is an evil place.

"Fat acceptance" is simply dangerous. What I mean is actively choosing to NOT get into a healthier lifestyle is dangerous. I would never tell someone to not accept themselves. You were built a certain way and you should love yourself! However, accepting your fatal trait as "beautiful" could not be further from what people mean by accepting yourself.

#HeroinAcceptance

Seems kind of farfetched given the dangers we know about heroin and how fatal it can be and all the other factors that don't even include death.

You may think comparing obesity to heroin is unfair.

You're right. Being obese has significantly higher cases of disease and death than heroin ever could produce.

Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States AND THE WORLD!

What causes heart disease, might you ask?

According to the World Health Organization: "It... occurs when the heart’s blood supply is blocked due to the buildup of fatty substances and cholesterol in the coronary arteries, causing their free-flowing passages to narrow. Such blockages inhibit oxygen and nutrient supplies to the heart muscles, hampering the functioning of the heart."

What people have have a build up of fatty substances and artery blockage due to too high cholesterol?

A lot of people, actually. That doesn't even mean you're overweight or obese. It could happen to literally anyone.

However, the majority of the individuals that suffer from heart disease are the overweight and obese that make poor nutritional decisions and those that do not participate in any sort of physical activity.

There is a myriad of diseases that can cause death from being overweight or obese including, but not limited to: Type 2 Diabetes, some cancers, stroke, sleep apnea, and of course the aforementioned heart disease.

That was literally just the first result on Google. Because if you cannot find your answer on the first page of Google, you're never finding that answer.

Now nothing you have read up until this point is much news to you. You probably know carrying larger amounts of excess fat is damaging to your health.

It is basically common knowledge.

So, why do we not try to eradicate this by pushing a healthy diet and exercise? Well, the government likes to make us pay for crap "food" so we get sick and have to go to the hospital, so we pay for medications we don't need, so we get healthier and go out and buy the same garbage, get sick again, go back to the hospital, buy more unnecessary pills, get healthier and go out and buy more crap—eh, you see where I am going...

The government thing is a whole different topic, but I digress.

We have more FREE nutrition AND exercise information than ever before in the existence of the human race.

We also have more overweight and obese people dying because of poor eating and exercise habit than ever before in the existence of the human race.

Thats it: people are dying because of their refusal to buy the healthier foods and their flat out refusal to exercise.

The media has made people blindly turn an overwhelming HEALTH epidemic into a BEAUTY movement.

Heres the thing:

Incoming cliche: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Anybody has the right to believe anybody is the most beautiful thing in the world. My wife, Libby, is the most beautiful. Fight me.

By no means should we stubbornly sacrifice our own health and well being to prove a point that "everyone is beautiful."

If someone thinks you're ugly and doesn't like you, f*ck them.

Being healthy does not mean you HAVE to have a perfectly flat stomach or six pack abs, it does not mean you have to have huge arms and "toned" legs.

Toned has no place in fitness unless your trying to look like a computer printer.

Stop disguising an unhealthy lifestyle with lame phrases like "chicks dig dad bods," or "girls like a beer belly."

All that energy you use to create excuses for a poor diet or lack of exercise, take that energy and use it to CREATE A PLAN to eat healthier and get into an exercise regimen.

And if you're in your local gym and you see an overweight person trying to workout, do NOT be the piece of sh*t that makes fun of them. They are ACTIVELY trying to live a healthier lifestyle and who knows, maybe its for their wife/husband, maybe its for their kids, maybe they want to get better to join the military and fight for our country, maybe they want to simply not have as many aches and pains.

So get off Snapchat, close out Facebook and Instagram, and stop finding ways to avoid becoming healthier!

Google things you don't know! That is what its for!

If you're lost or maybe you're just afraid to take that first step, shoot me a message. I would be glad to help.

Until next time...

*catchphrase*

- MJ

*Steps off soapbox*