THE 6 MOST SHOCKINGLY IRRESPONSIBLE “FITSPIRATION” PHOTOS

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  • lilacinfinity
    lilacinfinity Posts: 283 Member
    Love it
  • CassieLeigh86
    CassieLeigh86 Posts: 68 Member
    Really great. Also, the little post that he links to (from the massage therapist) was lovely.
  • dakotababy
    dakotababy Posts: 2,407 Member
    ...I guess some of the points are valid, but really...this guy has a lot of time on his hands.
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    I like it. I read it the other day from stumptuous, and shared it with my mfp friends.
  • jim9097
    jim9097 Posts: 341 Member
    Yea, I tried to follow that train of thought before, actually last weekend. I decided to see how far I could push in a single day. Did a 12 mile bike ride, followed by an hour of kickboxing, followed by and hour of kayaking, and finishing up with 7 mile run and 1.5 mile walk. I would think this amount of exercise would not break me; and it likely would not have when I was 20. But being 43 it took 2 days for it not to hurt to stand up. So I lost 2 days of training because I wanted to try and get 30 miles of self propulsion in 1 day.

    Anyway, I am going to try it again this weekend. Hope it does not hurt as much...LOL
  • Yanicka1
    Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
    Thank you for sharing
  • Good post
  • CipherZero
    CipherZero Posts: 1,418 Member
    Read it today.

    The author is a moron if he thinks anyone follows those to the letter.
  • KrazyAsianNic
    KrazyAsianNic Posts: 1,227 Member
    interesting. thanks for sharing.
  • mandasalem
    mandasalem Posts: 346 Member
    Right on the money and also amusing.
    The author is a moron if he thinks anyone follows those to the letter.
    You overestimate the common sense of the desperate.
  • juniperfox
    juniperfox Posts: 127 Member
    What a great writer! Thanks for sharing.
  • SpleenThief
    SpleenThief Posts: 293 Member
    I've puked, sobbed and crawled after workouts or races (true story), but only one at a time. I've never crawled, puked and wept at the same time. If fitness is your goal, there's no need for that sort of thing. I will say however, if you're racing or after performance, trying to beat someone in competition or trying to really see what you're made of, training at that level, vomit inducing, crippling, tear inspiring, has its place.
  • ReinasWrath
    ReinasWrath Posts: 1,173 Member
    I liked it, well written and passionate. I find it annoying people in the comments on the page are actually throwing a fit cuz he swears though =_=
  • kathleenjoyful
    kathleenjoyful Posts: 210 Member
    I shared this on all my social networks yesterday -- it needed to be said. Exercising while someone yells at you until you cry and vomit isn't healthy, it is masochism.
  • Thanks for sharing! Glad I'm not the only one they bug!
  • Read it today.

    The author is a moron if he thinks anyone follows those to the letter.

    A lot of military members certainly embrace these "fitness at all costs" mentalities.
  • whatascene
    whatascene Posts: 119 Member
    I really liked this because I think at some point many of us on this site can agree with it or relate to the message he is sending. Coming to this site, I had this goal for fitness, and so far I've lost 44 lbs, and I'm in my BMI- I'm 9 lbs away from my original goal. Honestly, some days I get caught up in the mentality that 44 lbs isn't enough, I have a HUGE fear of gaining any amount of weight (even 1 lb), feelings of worthlessness when I haven't lost anything in a couple of weeks, and feeling guilty when I don't have at least 200 calories left over in a day. It's this urge to just keep getting smaller and smaller, seeing that number on the scale go down brings soo much satisfaction. It's sooo easy to get caught up in these unrealistic ideas for fitness like in this article and disregarding what fitness is like for the majority of healthy, fit people. These people are paid to look this way, and I bet if we all were paid to work out, we'd look like that. But what makes me even more sad is that many of us unfortunately spend far too much time obsessing about losing weight that we lose sight of the health in between. So focused on this ideal that we can't enjoy the journey, many have a hard time TRUELY treating themselves without feeling guilty with eating out once in a while or or allowing themselves to take an exercise break (which I am truely unable to do because I feel sooo guilty). I, like many other of us on this site, should take time to enjoy how far we come, how awesome our lifestyles have become, and enjoy the new changes in our bodies- and it's hard to do that when we fall into these ideas and have the "must have now" mentality.
  • ewartluft
    ewartluft Posts: 79 Member
    bump to read again later
  • PinkNinjaLaura
    PinkNinjaLaura Posts: 3,202 Member
    ...I guess some of the points are valid, but really...this guy has a lot of time on his hands.

    Yeah, this.
  • AllyCatXandi
    AllyCatXandi Posts: 329 Member
    Interesting dissection of social media.

    But I think a lot of it is really all about interpretation. I personally dislike shows such as the Biggest Loser where the 'at all costs' mentality leads to contestants being pushed to the point of vomiting/injury/collapse because they physically cannot (or cannot safely) do what is being asked of them.

    There is, however, a difference between that and telling the whiny voice in your head you KNOW is a liar to shut up. For example, I know I can run a 5k, no problem. But I can promise in the first kilometer my brain will be trying to talk me out of it ("It's cold out here. I don't like this hill. Can we go home and watch TV?"). After that though I tend to get into my groove and enjoy things, so it's just a matter of pushing past the initial why-did-I-have-to-get-off-the-couch part.

    As for 'obsessed' and 'dedicated' - there IS a difference between the two, yes. But it does seem as though a lot of MFP members, in taking active steps to improve their health, have been labelled negatively by those around them. And sometimes it's simply a matter of context. Someone who loves to cook and is always trying out new recipes could be accused of having an obsession, but if the person saying that lives off microwavable meals then it does give things a little perspective. I don't think the intention of the photo in question was to encourage obsessive habits, but I can't imagine it's easy to come up with a slogan that can't in some way be misinterpreted.

    Sexy is sexy. What is considered so depends on both the society and the individual. You can find glamourized photos of anorexic women, slender women, muscular women, curvy women, overweight women, and so on. Phrases like "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels", "Bones are for dogs - real women have curves", and "Strong is the new sexy" are all just catchphrases associated with different ideals and imply that everyone should strive to be a particular way.

    So yeah. Guy had some valid points. But as someone above said, he probably had a lot of time on his hands :tongue:
  • kckBxer396
    kckBxer396 Posts: 460 Member
    Bump to share with friends
  • HacheraTsarine
    HacheraTsarine Posts: 278 Member
    Read it today.

    The author is a moron if he thinks anyone follows those to the letter.

    What about young girls shriveling away because of thinspo?

    hypergymnasia is a real issue too. There are people who are going to take those images at heart and follow them as a life philosophy, just like there are people who feel validated by thinspo images.
  • runzalot81
    runzalot81 Posts: 782 Member
    I liked it.

    I'm tried of all the "motivational" quotes posted with a photoshopped body. It's no better than a silly magazine.
  • Mr_Bad_Example
    Mr_Bad_Example Posts: 2,403 Member
    This should be required reading when people sign up for this site.
  • jmy1975
    jmy1975 Posts: 56 Member
    Great link!
  • AbbeyDove
    AbbeyDove Posts: 317 Member
    Thank you! I really found that helpful to read.
  • Read it today.

    The author is a moron if he thinks anyone follows those to the letter.

    What about young girls shriveling away because of thinspo?

    hypergymnasia is a real issue too. There are people who are going to take those images at heart and follow them as a life philosophy, just like there are people who feel validated by thinspo images.

    Exactly! Spend some time researching the effects of advertising on people, especially young people (girls and boys), subliminally. Eventually, if you see enough of these, you are affected. You may not follow them to the letter, but you begin to think you aren't good enough, and that is just wrong. We are all amazing, regardless of what our bodies look like.
  • snookumss
    snookumss Posts: 1,451 Member
    I think that some of this is still overreacting. I think that a majority of these are better than some "motivational" images I've seen in the past. I understand this train of thought, but pushing your limits here and there aren't going to result in one hurting themself. I've bench pressed with so much weight I've BUSTED BLOOD VESSELS in my eyes and face. This probably isn't healthy, but if I hadn't pushed myself harder that day I wouldn't have made a personal record on stage and made a WORLD RECORD in the bench press for my powerlifting association. Should I have been afraid of what looked like some slight red freckles? Nope... I still got the job done and passed what had been a mental bench max for months on stage that day.
  • Interesting - loved it - thanks for sharing!!