Is Being Really Lean Really Worth It?
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Immerito
Posts: 105 Member
Thought provoking.
****
http://mollygalbraith.com/2013/07/is-being-really-lean-really-worth-it/
Say what?! Is being really lean really worth it? This probably sounds like a crazy question coming from a trainer who helps clients reach their fat loss and physique goals.
Before we get started, let me say that I realize this is a very ambiguous question. “Really lean” is relative, and I will tell you up front, that I don’t have an answer for you.
Only you have that answer for you. This blog post is simply intended to help you realize a few things:
Everybody is different.
Some of us can maintain leaner physiques than others.
Going beyond a healthy level of leanness for YOU is a stressor.
It’s not normal, and it may not even be healthy, to walk around shredded all the time.
How lean do you want to be, and will you sacrifice what it takes to get there?
Let’s explore each of these.
Everybody is different.
I have a saying, “If you want longer, leaner muscles, get different parents.” Yes, I sound like a complete smart-*kitten*, but it helps highlight my point. We were all given a unique genetic code that affects how our bodies look. I will never be petite, or skinny, or naturally tan. (I tried to fight this simple fact for many years, and I almost destroyed my skin in the process).
Ouch. It hurts me just to look at this.
Ouch. It hurts me just to look at this.
There are things we can do to make the best of our genetics of course, but at the end of the day, we are the product of our parents. (Darn you Dad, and your Scotch-Irish heritage!)
The sooner you accept this, the more you can focus on making the most of what you’ve been given, as opposed to trying to change things that won’t change.
2. Some of us can maintain leaner physiques than others.
We all know that person who can eat whatever they want, doesn’t exercise, and they have an absolutely gorgeous and lean physique, right? (It’s even more annoying when they have natural muscle tone too, right? I mean…how is that even fair?!?)
We also all know the person who is very strict with their diet, exercises religiously, gets enough sleep, and takes great care of themselves, and they struggle with carrying more body fat than they’d like.
Remember, we all have a genetic predisposition to look a certain way. If you come from a very lean family, chances are, you can maintain a leaner physique than someone who comes from a heavier family. (I am not ignoring the environmental factors that come into play here in terms of the foods you were/weren’t given as a child, and the activity levels encouraged by leaner families vs. heavier families because I know that plays a role. Just trying to keep things simple).
I have a few friends who walk around quite lean on a regular basis with no problems. They eat well and exercise hard, but they feel really good and have a ton of energy when they are really lean.
My friend Siouxsie consistently rocks a lean physique and feels good while doing it.
My friend Siouxsie consistently rocks a lean physique and feels good while doing it.
I, on the other hand, am foggy-brained, cold, and lose my period when I am really lean. The last 6 weeks before my first figure competition, I felt like each of my limbs weighed 300 lbs! It was miserable.
No wonder I look angry here. I felt like garbage.
No wonder I look angry here. I felt like garbage.
This is frustrating, but I have come to terms with it. I am learning to be comfortable with the level of leanness where my health, performance, aesthetics, and lifestyle intersect.
3. Going beyond a healthy level of leanness for YOU is a stressor
Above I mentioned that when I’ve gotten very lean in the past, I experienced fatigue, heavy limbs, foggy-headedness, and I lost my period. Those symptoms don’t generally happen when your body is healthy and functioning well, right?
In some instances, it’s just your body adjusting to its new “set point,” but not always.
Your “set point” is the body weight or body fat level to which your body has become accustomed. It may or may not be a healthy weight or body fat level, but if you have been there for a while, your body often fights to keep you there. Once you have maintained a new “set point” for a reasonable amount of time (6-12 months), it becomes easier to stay there.
Just ask anyone who has lost or gained a significant amount of weight in a short period of time. Until they have maintained their new weight for a while, it’s a struggle to stay there.
The body likes to maintain homeostasis because it’s safe. Hormone levels, blood pH, heart rate, blood pressure… all of these things are tightly controlled, and if they go too far in one direction or the other, we are in danger. Your body generally doesn’t like large body weight fluctuations either.
If you try to get leaner than where your body is comfortable, it will fight back. We have a saying at J&M, “If you don’t slow down, your body will slow you down.”
That’s what your body is doing if you are trying to get leaner and you start experiencing symptoms similar to what I listed.
4. It’s not normal, and it may not even be healthy to walk around shredded all the time.
My good friend Jen Comas Keck touched on this in her article, “Looking Fit Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Being Healthy.”
If it were “normal” to walk around super lean all of the time, more people would be really lean. That’s kind of common sense, right? Not to beat a dead horse, but if you aren’t someone who runs lean naturally, trying maintain extreme levels of leanness is not healthy.
It’s frustrating, because as I discussed in this article, with the surge in social media over the last several years, we are bombarded with images of our favorite fitness professionals (each of us looking our very best, no doubt), but even worse are the “fitspo” posters. Fitspo posters are images of extremely lean women with motivational sayings like, “Winners never take a day off!” or, “Train insane or remain the same.”
blah
Seriously? She looks amazing, but personally, I try to shy away from “insane” training.
I’m sorry, what? Never take a day off? Train insane? Umm, how about the importance of recovery? How about intelligent training?
You can read more about the “fitspo” posters here.
These images give us a false sense of normalcy, and cause many of us to feel dissatisfied with our bodies because we are chasing unhealthy and unrealistic goals.
5. How lean do you want to be, and will you sacrifice what it takes to get there?
I realize that these are some very tricky questions I am posing. It’s hard to know how lean we want to get, because when we achieve that level of leanness, oftentimes it’s not enough.
It’s the same with strength training. I thought that when I achieved a 135 bench, a 225 squat, and a 315 deadlift, I would be satisfied. Pfffft. Yeah, right. I’ve smoked each of those numbers and I am not even close to satisfied. Leanness can be the same way.
At one point I thought this would satisfy me. I was dead wrong.
At one point I thought this would satisfy me. I was dead wrong.
You don’t necessarily have to have a solid answer for these questions, but it is something to think about.
As an example, there is a young women who trains at my gym and she was a D1 college soccer player. She is naturally slim, athletic, and lean, but she had mentioned wanting to lose some fat in her lower body. Her diet is great, her training is great, and she takes good care of herself. All that being said, she does enjoy the occasional cupcake, beer, or glass of wine (or two).
We were discussing what it would take for her to get leaner, and after she told me about her diet and lifestyle, I saw no major red flags. I came to the conclusion that if she wanted to get leaner, she would need to get significantly stricter with her eating, or make other lifestyle sacrifices, so I asked if she was willing to do that. Was she willing to get a LOT stricter to possibly see some small changes in her physique? Her answer was no. And THAT IS OK.
Know thyself, my friends.
If you don’t want to make sacrifices (big or small) to change your body, then that is your prerogative. This woman has found the spot where her aesthetics, performance, health, and lifestyle intersect. Maybe none of them are *exactly* where she wants them to be, but she has a solid balance.
If you would prefer to be extremely lean, and it’s worth it to you to skip social events, get in bed by 9 pm every night, and train twice a day to get there, that’s fantastic. Do it. You are choosing aesthetics over lifestyle, and probably over performance and health, but if you want it, then do it.
Figure what you want. Figure out what it takes to get there, and then decide if it makes sense for your life.
Is being lean really worth it? I don’t know… you tell me.
***Speaking of being really lean, stay tuned for my next blog where I have several awesome women contribute their personal experiences about competing in figure and physique competitions, and how it affected them mentally and physically. You will hear about the good, the bad, and the ugly, so that if you or anyone you know is considering competing or simply trying to get very lean, you will have the information to make the best decision possible.
****
http://mollygalbraith.com/2013/07/is-being-really-lean-really-worth-it/
Say what?! Is being really lean really worth it? This probably sounds like a crazy question coming from a trainer who helps clients reach their fat loss and physique goals.
Before we get started, let me say that I realize this is a very ambiguous question. “Really lean” is relative, and I will tell you up front, that I don’t have an answer for you.
Only you have that answer for you. This blog post is simply intended to help you realize a few things:
Everybody is different.
Some of us can maintain leaner physiques than others.
Going beyond a healthy level of leanness for YOU is a stressor.
It’s not normal, and it may not even be healthy, to walk around shredded all the time.
How lean do you want to be, and will you sacrifice what it takes to get there?
Let’s explore each of these.
Everybody is different.
I have a saying, “If you want longer, leaner muscles, get different parents.” Yes, I sound like a complete smart-*kitten*, but it helps highlight my point. We were all given a unique genetic code that affects how our bodies look. I will never be petite, or skinny, or naturally tan. (I tried to fight this simple fact for many years, and I almost destroyed my skin in the process).
Ouch. It hurts me just to look at this.
Ouch. It hurts me just to look at this.
There are things we can do to make the best of our genetics of course, but at the end of the day, we are the product of our parents. (Darn you Dad, and your Scotch-Irish heritage!)
The sooner you accept this, the more you can focus on making the most of what you’ve been given, as opposed to trying to change things that won’t change.
2. Some of us can maintain leaner physiques than others.
We all know that person who can eat whatever they want, doesn’t exercise, and they have an absolutely gorgeous and lean physique, right? (It’s even more annoying when they have natural muscle tone too, right? I mean…how is that even fair?!?)
We also all know the person who is very strict with their diet, exercises religiously, gets enough sleep, and takes great care of themselves, and they struggle with carrying more body fat than they’d like.
Remember, we all have a genetic predisposition to look a certain way. If you come from a very lean family, chances are, you can maintain a leaner physique than someone who comes from a heavier family. (I am not ignoring the environmental factors that come into play here in terms of the foods you were/weren’t given as a child, and the activity levels encouraged by leaner families vs. heavier families because I know that plays a role. Just trying to keep things simple).
I have a few friends who walk around quite lean on a regular basis with no problems. They eat well and exercise hard, but they feel really good and have a ton of energy when they are really lean.
My friend Siouxsie consistently rocks a lean physique and feels good while doing it.
My friend Siouxsie consistently rocks a lean physique and feels good while doing it.
I, on the other hand, am foggy-brained, cold, and lose my period when I am really lean. The last 6 weeks before my first figure competition, I felt like each of my limbs weighed 300 lbs! It was miserable.
No wonder I look angry here. I felt like garbage.
No wonder I look angry here. I felt like garbage.
This is frustrating, but I have come to terms with it. I am learning to be comfortable with the level of leanness where my health, performance, aesthetics, and lifestyle intersect.
3. Going beyond a healthy level of leanness for YOU is a stressor
Above I mentioned that when I’ve gotten very lean in the past, I experienced fatigue, heavy limbs, foggy-headedness, and I lost my period. Those symptoms don’t generally happen when your body is healthy and functioning well, right?
In some instances, it’s just your body adjusting to its new “set point,” but not always.
Your “set point” is the body weight or body fat level to which your body has become accustomed. It may or may not be a healthy weight or body fat level, but if you have been there for a while, your body often fights to keep you there. Once you have maintained a new “set point” for a reasonable amount of time (6-12 months), it becomes easier to stay there.
Just ask anyone who has lost or gained a significant amount of weight in a short period of time. Until they have maintained their new weight for a while, it’s a struggle to stay there.
The body likes to maintain homeostasis because it’s safe. Hormone levels, blood pH, heart rate, blood pressure… all of these things are tightly controlled, and if they go too far in one direction or the other, we are in danger. Your body generally doesn’t like large body weight fluctuations either.
If you try to get leaner than where your body is comfortable, it will fight back. We have a saying at J&M, “If you don’t slow down, your body will slow you down.”
That’s what your body is doing if you are trying to get leaner and you start experiencing symptoms similar to what I listed.
4. It’s not normal, and it may not even be healthy to walk around shredded all the time.
My good friend Jen Comas Keck touched on this in her article, “Looking Fit Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Being Healthy.”
If it were “normal” to walk around super lean all of the time, more people would be really lean. That’s kind of common sense, right? Not to beat a dead horse, but if you aren’t someone who runs lean naturally, trying maintain extreme levels of leanness is not healthy.
It’s frustrating, because as I discussed in this article, with the surge in social media over the last several years, we are bombarded with images of our favorite fitness professionals (each of us looking our very best, no doubt), but even worse are the “fitspo” posters. Fitspo posters are images of extremely lean women with motivational sayings like, “Winners never take a day off!” or, “Train insane or remain the same.”
blah
Seriously? She looks amazing, but personally, I try to shy away from “insane” training.
I’m sorry, what? Never take a day off? Train insane? Umm, how about the importance of recovery? How about intelligent training?
You can read more about the “fitspo” posters here.
These images give us a false sense of normalcy, and cause many of us to feel dissatisfied with our bodies because we are chasing unhealthy and unrealistic goals.
5. How lean do you want to be, and will you sacrifice what it takes to get there?
I realize that these are some very tricky questions I am posing. It’s hard to know how lean we want to get, because when we achieve that level of leanness, oftentimes it’s not enough.
It’s the same with strength training. I thought that when I achieved a 135 bench, a 225 squat, and a 315 deadlift, I would be satisfied. Pfffft. Yeah, right. I’ve smoked each of those numbers and I am not even close to satisfied. Leanness can be the same way.
At one point I thought this would satisfy me. I was dead wrong.
At one point I thought this would satisfy me. I was dead wrong.
You don’t necessarily have to have a solid answer for these questions, but it is something to think about.
As an example, there is a young women who trains at my gym and she was a D1 college soccer player. She is naturally slim, athletic, and lean, but she had mentioned wanting to lose some fat in her lower body. Her diet is great, her training is great, and she takes good care of herself. All that being said, she does enjoy the occasional cupcake, beer, or glass of wine (or two).
We were discussing what it would take for her to get leaner, and after she told me about her diet and lifestyle, I saw no major red flags. I came to the conclusion that if she wanted to get leaner, she would need to get significantly stricter with her eating, or make other lifestyle sacrifices, so I asked if she was willing to do that. Was she willing to get a LOT stricter to possibly see some small changes in her physique? Her answer was no. And THAT IS OK.
Know thyself, my friends.
If you don’t want to make sacrifices (big or small) to change your body, then that is your prerogative. This woman has found the spot where her aesthetics, performance, health, and lifestyle intersect. Maybe none of them are *exactly* where she wants them to be, but she has a solid balance.
If you would prefer to be extremely lean, and it’s worth it to you to skip social events, get in bed by 9 pm every night, and train twice a day to get there, that’s fantastic. Do it. You are choosing aesthetics over lifestyle, and probably over performance and health, but if you want it, then do it.
Figure what you want. Figure out what it takes to get there, and then decide if it makes sense for your life.
Is being lean really worth it? I don’t know… you tell me.
***Speaking of being really lean, stay tuned for my next blog where I have several awesome women contribute their personal experiences about competing in figure and physique competitions, and how it affected them mentally and physically. You will hear about the good, the bad, and the ugly, so that if you or anyone you know is considering competing or simply trying to get very lean, you will have the information to make the best decision possible.
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Replies
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um.... wut?:noway:0
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Awesome read!0
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Thanks for a good post
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great read..such an eye opener!0
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great post, thanks !0
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BUMP0
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Perso I do not feel like I can go any leaner without changing what I am doing and I am not ready to do that.0
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This woman has found the spot where her aesthetics, performance, health, and lifestyle intersect. Maybe none of them are *exactly* where she wants them to be, but she has a solid balance.
Love this quote.0 -
My goal has never been to be truly lean, it's been to not be held back by my body. Having gotten leanish, I can run, take stairs, carry my daughter and I've had a blast doing obstacle runs.
Sure, I've taken over a foot off my waist and I wear medium shirts, but that has never been my motivation. I just want to move around without being winded if I can move around at all.0 -
This article is so subjective its not even funny. Firstly, I disagree that you can't change your body due to genetics. Are there some characteristics? Yes. But overall, we can change so much about our bodies (unless you have some type of genetic disorder, and even then, it depends on the disorder). The problem isn't genetics. The problem is habits that were formed over 20 years that we are just now trying to break. Secondly, nobody can eat whatever they want, however much they want, and not gain weight, unless they have some type of genetic disorder. It just can't happen. Maybe it just looks like they snack and eat fast food all day, but they are actually very active (even if they don't go to the gym) or potentially they eat small portions of a lot of food. This article is kinda crap.
Is being really lean worth it? Maybe not for everyone, because its hard work. But is it possible for (essentially) everyone? Yes.0 -
Shorter version:
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of course it's subjective- but so it's being super lean.
<facepalm>
There IS a certain genetic pre-disposition. I'm bottom heavy. That's just how I am. I've lost some weight (weight I didn't even think I needed to lose actually)- it was all from diet tinker. I've always worked hard. And I was never fat. Barely would have ever considered myself over weight- even at a size 12.
That being said- I still have fat thighs. I have 4 pack abs- and have a well clearly defined upper body- capable of doing sets of pull ups.... still have fat thighs.
I'd have to lose SO much muscle along with body fat to lose that on my legs- it would just NOT be sustainable and healthy. I would NOT be capable of lifting or functioning in the life I lead (I work 3 jobs and I am running 0700- 2300 6 days a week)
Genetically- my legs carry weight- and I can't change that. I'm not excusing my self.. I'm pretty happy with how I look- I think I look amazing. it's just reality- that LOOK isn't sustainable for me. And it isn't 20 years of bad habits either. I never had bad habits. I'm still cutting right now- and I"m okay with that- I'm going to do this for another 1.5-2 months- then I'll maintain for 2-3 months- then I'll go back to bulking. It's just the cycle and that's how it works.
That's the WHOLE POINT to this article- being SUPER ultra lean isn't for ever one. sometimes the sacrifice just isn't worth the trade off. But we aren't talking loosing 150 lbs of extra weight- brought on by years of bad habits and laziness. Anyone fighting to get to that low doubles or even singles (esp as a female)... has to make some sacrifices.
There is a HUGE difference between losing 5 lbs when you are 50 lbs over weight- and losing 5 lbs when you are at 15% body fat. HUGE. HUGE DIFFERENCE. They aren't even remotely comparable.
And fighting for that 5 lbs at 15% body fat- isn't worth it for some- and it is for others- but you have to know what you are in for- because that **** aint easy- and for some people- it isn't maintainable.0 -
Define "Really Lean".
Of course it is worth it to get rid of metabolically active and disabling fat, to relieve strain on joints, organs, to feel better in hot weather, to reduce risks of cancer, heart disease, double-priced airplane tickets, dirty looks and job discrimination, etc.
I consider myself lean as a female when I'm at 20% body fat. 15% is excessive for most women; we need the fat for basic functioning. Anorexia nervosa is life-threatening. (Terry Shiavo, Karen Carpenter, one of the Olsen twins all suffered from this). It's important to be clear about the difference between healthy and distorted body images.0 -
The author is referring to the "really lean" of doing body/fitness competitions. In her follow up blogs, she talks about her stage weight/bf% versus her walk around weight/bf%. Essentially, the point of the article(s) is the worth of maintaining a stage ready physique and what you're willing to risk health and lifestyle wise.
I would really recommend following her blog, and especially reading the follow ups to this post.0
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