“I
want a body like Britney” were the words uttered to me recently by a client.
“How do I get it” she asked.
As
soon as I began my reply I could tell by the crestfallen look in her eyes that
it wasn’t the answer she was looking for. For
a start, I said she’d have to stop
overestimating the amount of exercise she was doing and stop underestimating
the amount of calories she was eating.
Needless to
say she was slightly taken aback by the news.
Her surprise was amplified further when I
explained that she’d also need to spend hours in hair and make-up and hire a
photographer with the most excellent camera and lighting equipment. Oh and also
hire someone with excellent photo-shop skills too!
Now I know you’re thinking that I am as evil
as Nick Cotton and Cindy Beale's lovechild but let me assure you I am not, unlike your average Estate Agent I
was just being honest.
In a way I was like Simon Cowell giving his
critique of a particularly bad audition - I was being cruel to be kind.
I didn’t want her going on believing that she
was going to one day have a body like Britney Spears. Not because SHE couldn’t,
but because NO-ONE can.
The images we see of celebrities whom many of
us regard as the epitome of perfection have been doctored and photo-shopped
beyond belief.
Don't believe me? Take a look at this clip from youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdbnl7NZ-ok
Hell,
these photos are almost as false as half the people working in the fashion
industry!
Now if weight-loss is your goal I’m not
saying that you shouldn’t be inspired by the figures of certain celebrities and
models, heck many of them work extremely hard to have the figures they do. It’s
just that they are helped massively by the cameras, the lights, the poses they
adopt and the skill and diligence of talented ‘photo-shoppers’ to give them the
figure which they appear to have.
And in a strange way us mere mortals should
find some comfort in this because celebrities have access to personal trainers,
beauticians, and nutritionists around the clock and almost certainly have less
day to day stress in their lives than your average women, yet they still have
to rely on trickery to make them look so good!
So
should we give up on trying to look ‘perfect’?
We shouldn’t stop trying to look our best
it’s just that we should perhaps change our idea of what perfect is. For women
perfect isn’t a really big bust, narrow hips and a tiny bum with 0% body fat –
that is simply unattainable, unless of course you have the help of a skilled
surgeon.
No, perfect should be an individual thing and
perhaps the real ‘perfect’ is when you can accept that nothing with your body (just
like your life) will ever truly be perfect! Perhaps to some degree match.com
put it best with their strapline ‘love your imperfections’. Or John Legend when he sang about loving 'your curves and all your edges, all your perfect imperfections. Anyway, I digress but I think you get what I'm trying to get at.
So get out there and train hard, and go and
improve your eating habits and be excited by the feelings and benefits that
this will bring…just don’t be thinking that that is all you need to make you
look like a model on the front cover of your favourite magazine!
For any exercise or nutrition advice or to book a free trial session, please
do not hesitate to get in touch.
Thanks for reading,
Matt
matt@mlrpt.co.uk www.mlrpt.co.uk 07939316401www.twitter.com/mlrpt www.facebook.com/mlrpt www.twitter.com/mlrpt
