Women’s Health Magazines Lie to You

My fitness dream takes a lot of studying. As fellow dreamers, you understand the constant focus that achieving your dream takes. There will be some research along the way.

Sometimes you run across something in a women’s health magazine that pisses you off.

I subscribe to several magazines monthly in actual paper form. Wired, Fast Company, Triathlete (yes, there’s a magazine for that) and Fitness. The Fitness Magazine I use to keep up with trending fitness themes, workouts, and eating.

My favorite section is the “I Did It!” section. The magazine highlights amazing stories about women who have discovered their health. The share their inspiration of fitness to make major life improvements in their lives.

What gets on my nerves are some of the headlines on the cover.

Trim & Tone Every Bulge, Sleek Arms, Abs, Legs in 7 Days!

 

Really? The promise of any quick fix bugs me. Big time.

Every day I have conversations with women who are starting on their path to fitness. The frustration of expecting instant gratification is hard to correlate to the reality. Weight loss and fitness take time.

There is no quick fix or pill to make our perfect healthy body appear overnight.

Women’s health magazines offer real results. If you can ignore the hype.

The workouts in women’s health magazines can be advanced, and they will definitely create results. Then again, ANY fitness routine you can stay committed to will create results.

As a blogger, I understand that headlines need to draw the reader in. I get it. A little shock and awe is necessary to grab that potential magazine buyer into picking up the issue.

7 days will not tone every bulge. I don’t care what workout you try.

The reality check of fitness is that it is a long term goal.

I believe that everyone who is striving for fitness truly understands in their heart of hearts that 7 days will not deliver their perfect healthy body.

My hope is that they can see past the hype and stay with a program. Any program. Long enough to enjoy the results of feeling strong and healthy.

Fitness models in women’s health magazines are like any other model.

They get paid to look like that. The media surrounds us with the idea that tight, defined core muscles are the ideal peak of fitness.

Would I like to look like that? Sure!

A couple quick facts about fitness photos and body fat.

1. For that “cut” muscle definition starts to show up on women at around 15% body fat. Just as a comparison, the body fat percentage of women athletes average 18%.
2. The photographs are taken when those rock hard abs are flexed. The average woman who has a very defined core does not walk around looking like you can grate cheese off her stomach.

I have to share this post by Lauren Fleshman, pro runner and blogger. She offers a visual reality check of the difference in walking the runway vs. letting it all hang out.

Never take the photos you see on magazine covers or online too seriously. Everyone has thigh cheese. It’s part of life. Nobody is perfect. :)

Source: Keeping it Real, Lauren Fleshman, http://asklaurenfleshman.com/2013/11/keeping-it-real/

Use the information, not the emotion

I still fight the urge to compare myself to every women’s health magazine cover model. That is the body image improvement 8 Women Dreamer Iman is trying to help us all get better at.

My advice? Use the information.

If you see a headline that grabs your attention, pick up the magazine and look at the article. Is the article informative and offers an amazing fun workout?

Go for it.

If you rip the cover off when you get home so that cover model isn’t staring at you, no one will know.

Go get your fit on – Heather

 

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