Physical health. What is that really? Is it to have normal blood values, normal blood pressure, normal sleep pattern, no nagging joints, no toxification, no overweight, no underweight, no high cholesterol, no fatty liver due to abuse of pain killers, alcohol, drugs in general?
What does a healthy body look like to you: is the biggest organ of the body, the skin moist and glowing? Does your hair have shine and thickness? bright eye whites? Do your muscles have a layer of healthy body fat on top? Is your stomach flat but not “cut”?
What does being healthy mean to you?
To me health equals doing what I love and counteract potential negative effects of my choices by prevention and focusing on the areas that I find are most important.
As a woman who wants to be cut, muscular and shredded day in and day out I am in no way considered “healthy” if you ask any medical doctor who thinks every woman’s prime focus should be reproduction. Low body fat as a woman takes tons of training, tons of strict adhering to nutrition which supports the training but does not load fat into the typical fat storages for women: thighs, glutes, lower abs and triceps.
The consequences of training for ultra low body fat most likely ends up as osteoporosis, depression, lethargy. However it can all be prevented by taking care of what you need: you need female hormones, calcium, vitamin D, plenty of nutrients on your low calorie diet. This is more or less the only “real issue” about being very lean as a woman. Men don’t have the same problem: all you get when training very hard to stay cut is a bit lower testosterone level MAYBE. Which can be reversed with some refeeds and rest….
Since my goal in life is to be happy with what I do and what I want to achieve, not to bear children to this world, I don’t worry about the menstrual cycles. You see, I read up on this years ago and after my years of not eating I was scared to death I had lost bone mass, so I got it checked. No loss. And a year ago I retested, still NORMAL values.
Now, I have yet to break a leg or fracture a hip. And I’ve been meticulous with supplying my body with the right nutrients for years. I did not ignore the warnings because I was responsible and still am. I knew that if I wanted to be extreme and not regret it when I got older I would HAVE to take care of everything. Even if it meant a lot more work.
When I was competing everyone told me it was impossible to be ripped while on birth control pills. I refused to stop because I knew that those hormones were important to my bones. So I kept on and still do. I keep it for my bone density factor. Now birth control can have adverse effects on the liver and on your thyroid as well, so nothing good without bad to it. That is why I get routine checks to measure my liver and kidney values so I know how they are doing.
To me physical health means spiritual health. Spiritual health comes when I am happy and appreciate my choices in life. I consider myself a very fortunate human being. I have chosen to be one, I was not born one like nobody else is. Happiness is nothing you receive, you fight for it.
When you wonder if I am healthy, well, as you can tell, it depends on what you refer to. As a human being wanting to go for my ideals, my goals, my dreams, I find what I do to be the right path for it. I learn so much from doing what I do and read about all I find interesting, it’s truly GOLD in my opinion. But if you wonder if I am healthy as in “being physically ready to conceive child due to enough body fat and minimal stress levels or subjection to environmental toxins”, NO, I cannot say I am! But who is really?
My blood pressure is normal. My heart rate is low. I do have a heart dysfunction I was born with but that I cannot change. I have not had any tooth cavity in my whole life, I’m never down with the flu, I don’t remember when I was really sick last time (which means it must have been long time ago).
I am strong. I feel strong. I don’t feel fatigued or drained. I have not drunk any alcohol since 2002 when I had a shot of vodka and before that I had another shot of tequila a year earlier. I don’t smoke pot, I don’t even take energy drinks with caffeine anymore and this I chose out of wanting to support my body by reducing one chemical source of stress. (caffeine increases stress hormones which evidently don’t help your body or mind to recover).
In addition to all the above strategies I use to be as healthy as I can with my body ideal, I eat pounds of vegetables daily, I don’t eat red meat, I don’t even buy pre roasted pistachios anymore due to the carcinogens fats get when they are heated. I also switched from whole flax seed as a source of insoluble fiber to psyllium husk. Why? because ground flax seed contains cyanide compounds and they can be toxic. Even thought whole flax pass through the intestines without being digested, I was not sure the cyanide wouldn’t “get out” so I stopped using them.
My “cleaning up” project is something I’ve done since I was a kid. I stopped eating candy at 8 after I saw the connection between my mom’s obese boyfriend and his constant consumption of coca-cola and jelly beans. I do this because I treat my body like the temple it is to me. it’s my diamond, my jewel. Some people work hard to buy an expensive car. Well, my choice of status symbol is my body and mind.
What I do, this sculpting my body and mind, is bodybuilding at its core. Bodybuilding is a healthy sport when done in moderation, but once again, the ultra lean look that is what bodybuilding people desire is an extreme state for the body and not what evolution rewarded. Evolution rewards a lot of body fat so we survive, but that comes with long term sacrifice: unhealthiness.
I am doing my best to educate people who are inspired by me what it means to do what I do. I think it would be morally wrong to do what many fitness “spokes persons” do: not tell the whole story with pros and cons.
It IS healthier from a body perspective to peak for a show and then “fatten up” for the rest of the year. But if health is not the primary focus but the secondary and primary happiness comes from doing what you love, then you must reevaluate why you want to do something and what it means to you for the long run.
Just like you can work extremely hard to be able to buy and ride a fantastic and expensive sports car, you know that owning one takes a lot of maintenance work, lots of high octane fuel, lots of insurance and you run a bigger risk of having it stolen or damaged by jealous individuals, you can CHOOSE what you want your body to be like. If you want it to be, feel and look like a super human you will need to do way more than moderate training and moderate dieting. Extreme results even though they might not LOOK that extreme, just “about perfect” most likely takes way more focus, dedication and patience than most people ever find reasonable.
To round off this long ramble, I want you to realize that you don’t get anything great in life by giving it 50% focus or as much attention as you find is reasonable. Reasonable means average. Do YOU want average? I for sure don’t!