As is often the case when one decides they want, or need, to change their body through weight loss or strength training, they have an idea of what they would like to look like yet have no idea what it is going to take to get there. Of course, the intelligent move is to find a supportive group of like minded people to help you along your journey of weight loss or sculpting. Being as it can be difficult to find actual people who are of the same mind, a logical place to go fr support is any of the many social media support forums. Strength training and body building web sights have excellent forums where you can interact with other meat heads whose eyes do not glaze over when discussing the finer points of a deadlift or bench press. There are good forums on weight loss web sites too where you can interact with others who are also trying to achieve a healthy body weight. Many times our close family and friends do not really understand, nor do they care about how many reps and sets you do on a given lift under the barbell, nor do they have any interest in counting calories every day in order to maintain a healthy level of body fat. Face it, with all the obese and sedentary people among us today, you will find that a lot of them actually may despise your attempts to be a better and healthier you. Don’t believe this, try talking about exercise and good nutritional habits with one who obviously cares nothing at all about living healthy Refusing a piece of birthday cake, can sometimes bring scorn from those you are close to. This being the case for many, the obvious choice for support is often online forums where hopefully you can share your struggles and triumphs without being judged in a negative manner.
Don’t believe your lying eyes.
When it comes to body building or sculpting through strength training, following Instagram seems a good place to find inspiration of what you can do with your body. Instagram is full of pictures of people in phenomenal shape. You will find pictures of men and women whose body’s are muscular and very well defined. You will find a plethora of people who have single digit body fat percentages as if these body types are the norm. If you want to sculpt your body, there is no shortage of body’s you might want to emulate on Instagram.
However, what you do not see is the work and total dedication it takes for these people to achieve their physiques. You do not see the extreme dieting some of these folks go through to look so ripped for a picture shoot. You do not see the lens filters nor body make up that create the images you want to copy for yourself. You do not see the hours on set where countless pictures are taken for only a few select to make it out for public consumption. There is always much more than meets the eye with many of these Instagram models. That being said…
For those who are legitimately healthy through all natural means, you do not see the many hours dedicated towards healthy nutrition or exercise. You have no concept of how many months, or more likely years, these people have spent towards looking a certain way. For most if not all people, it is naive to believe you can take your unfit body and recreate it into one fitting for a Instagram model pictorial in only a few short months.
It is perfectly alright to look towards people on Instagram for inspiration to create a better and healthier body for yourself. But if you do this, please ensure that you temper your expectations with reality and common sense. Understand that not all of these people actually look like the images you see portrayed in their professional photo shoots. Do not sell yourself short by attempting to become what is a manufactured image.
Use caution when dealing with the celebrities on popular weight loss forums.
When it comes to losing weight, many people are not surrounded by others who are supportive of their journey. A good many might find themselves actually being sabotaged by loved ones. If you have experienced this, you can attest to how you might have just celebrated a loss on the scale, only for your significant other or someone else bringing cake and ice cream into your home and consuming it in your presence. This is aggravating as all hell when you have a weakness for these sweet treats that you are attempting to defeat. If you find yourself not being supported, it is a positive move to use a forum on your weight loss web sight or app. Weight Watchers has their Connect social media forum where you can potentially interact with over one hundred thousand other individuals on journeys very similar to your own.
On Connect, you will find others who are just beginning the program as you might be, as well as many who have made their goal weight and maintained it for many years. It can be a wonderful place for support when you are trying to get your weight down to a healthy BMI level. On this particular weight loss social media, you will find many people who are extremely helpful and can help you navigate your way through the Weight Watchers program, and then, there are those who have become popular celebrities of Connect where you have to take them with a grain of salt, or totally reject them.
The smart money is to reject those who appear to be building a cult of personality. You want to reject those who get angry when you question their methods or advice. You want to reject those who have stories that do not align with reality. You might want to watch how these cult builders interact with others who have asked them questions only to get vague or rude answers in return. When this happens, it is because they are frauds who care nothing about helping anyone but themselves, even if they portray themselves as everyones cheerleader.
As on Instagram, you might find a few individuals whose images appear to be entirely manufactured for who knows what purpose. You might find an individual who has all sorts of advice yet you can only find a before picture of them and others that are fairly current, with zero to be found from the middle of their journey of weight loss. This should be a red flag to you.
Be leary of the individual on a weight loss forum who is well over 50 years old, claims to have lost 100 pounds in a short time, who is also very lean and cut, and has no visible sagging, excess, leftover skin. While it may be possible, it is not likely that one this age can get down to a single digit body fat percentage with a one hundred pound loss, and not have signs of loose skin unless they have had a procedure to get rid of it. A surgical procedure is fine, if needed and you can afford it. What I am getting at is one who claims to be all natural with no procedures. This kind of individual you should not attempt to emulate, exactly because they are not truthful in how they met their goal.
Be mindful of the fool who only appears to know his business about physical fitness simply because he can afford a lot of equipment, yet has little understanding of physiology, as evident from their self inflicted injuries that have occurred simply as a result of their physical fitness routines. When you see one hopping around while doing push ups and/or doing clapping push ups, know that they have no concept their shoulders are not meant for this kind of stress.
If you see one who does any type of resistance exercise in a manner totally different than anything you have ever seen or heard of, you might not want to emulate them as there may just be a very legitimate reason you have never seen their movements before. Be leary of taking advice from one who appears like they should be interacting on a body building forum rather than collecting followers on a social media designed for those who are not in shape and attempting to get there. There is likely an explainable lame ass reason why they are establishing themselves as King of the Hill where no real competition exists to them.
The bottom line.
If you have made the descision to lose weight in order to improve your health, good on you. Congrats on making a life changing choice for your betterment. When you begin this journey, you want to proceed in a healthy manner where you learn to eat nutritiously and ease your way into physical fitness if your doctor has cleared you to do so.
It is really imperative that you find a support network where you can be lifted up when your plan falters, and a place where you can celebrate your achievments with others who truly appreciate your efforts. But, along the way, be extra mindful of those who sit atop pedestals of their own creation, who appear to be the picture of perfect health and fitness. Sometimes, what you see is deceptive marketing by professionals or those with an agenda of some sort. While you should aim your sights high, be leary of trying to hit an unrealistic target unless you are prepared to expend the time and efforts to get there with the knowledge that some of these superstars are actually damaging their very own health in order to look like a million bucks.
If you are female, be extra leary of the guy’s who are building a cult of personality on social media, and who also seem to only attract female followers. There are predators out there who seem nice online that might actually be setting you up for a personal encounter with ill intent in their hearts.
If you follow social media as a means of support, ensure you procede with caution, knowledge and common sense. If you get a bad vibe about ones sincerity, trust your instinct and avoid them. Go forth on your betterment journey with the sole intent on being the best you that you can be, and do not worry yourself with attempting to look like a social media celebity. Many of them are false profits, even when they give themselves cute little names and do cute little things in order to get you to follow them.
Be your own person, be the best you can be and have no regrets.