Easy Is Not Always Best

I will begin this post by saying that I love the professional that I am in of Health and Fitness. From teaching classes to personal training to interaction with members throughout the day, I love to share what I know about living a healthy lifestyle. I do my absolute best to practice what I preach by maintaining a healthy lifestyle that includes being physically active, focusing on wholesome nutrition, keeping stress levels low, being drug and smoke free, limited alcohol consumption, getting appropriate amounts of sleep, and maintaining healthy boundaries in all of my relationships. Am I perfect? Not by any means, I am human. I do, however, recognize that there are people who look to me for guidance, encouragement, and motivation when it comes to learning how to live a healthy lifestyle so I do my absolute best to be a good example for them. I think this is why I was so bothered by a sign that I passed earlier this week outside of a wellness studio that holds fitness classes.

The sign out front read "Detox Yoga, it's easier that avoiding junk food."

UGH!!! Seriously?!?! Someone new to this may read this statement and think "WOOHOOOO!!! I just found the answer to my bad eating habits!" What I read is, "These instructors and owners are uneducated in the matter." Is it easier? Possibly. But is it beneficial? Not really.

I don't care who you are or what you do, you simply cannot out-exercise bad eating habits. Working out for 2-3 hours a day will not cancel out the crap you put into your body at each meal. Even if you  happen to be successful in this temporarily by keep weight off, your insides are telling a different story. Skinny or thin does not automatically equal healthy. This facility is saying, "Hey, don't worry about putting crap into your body. Take this detox class and it all goes away." It gives false hope to  the person who may not know any better. They think it must be true if a fitness professional told me so.

I feel it is my job as a health and fitness professional to encourage and teach healthy habits all around. I don't understand how gyms host regular pizza and bagel days for their members. Do they even care about the health of their members or do they just use that to lure more people into the door and make them feel like they need to workout more? I'm not saying myself or my clients should never indulge in an unhealthy meal occasionally, but I'm not going to put it in there faces and tempt them while they are trying to make positive changes in their lives. I would be setting the up to fail. My goal is to give them all of the tools that they need, if they are seeking them, to help reach their goals and this goes beyond lifting weights and running laps.

I know that I can't control what other people do but what I can do is help spread the truth and raise self-awareness. I don't have all of the answers and sometimes research will change our way of thinking. I will be confident in what I do know and share and find the answers to the questions I don't already know. I want my clients and students to be successful in their pursuit to a better them and I want them to be confident that they are in good hands.

In closing, there is no on-size-fit-all method. Through trial and error, find what works best for you. What has worked wonders for your best friend might not be the best solution for you. Their successful nutrition plan could potentially do the opposite for you. We are all made differently. Hormones and genetics play a huge role in the way our bodies respond to different things. You must become a detective. If you need help with that feel free to contact me. I am more than happy to guide you in the right direction.