Observation of the Online Fitness World

I admit that I haven’t been as active in posting as I would like to be. Unfortunately there are times that life just takes precedence. However, even though I’ve been quiet, I’ve been working and observing. I have come to some very real conclusions.

First, fitness is hard. For the longest time I was stuck on a plateau. Finally I was able to break through it but then life hit. I was hit with the stress of doubling my work hours, which in turn caused me to lose sleep in order to maintain my exercise routine. This was okay, I wasn’t losing a lot but I haven’t really gained either. Then, like we are all informed we should, I decided to switch up my routine. I have been doing T25 for several months and love the results that I am getting. On top of that I was doing HipHop Abs in the mornings. Recently, however, I started to do Zumba and the weight loss stopped. I can tell from the inches and how I feel that it is working, but when the numbers stop moving it can get disheartening. This has led to my second observation.

Second, there is a plethora of places on line where people can go to try to get inspiration and motivation during their fitness journey. I have looked in all of those places and sadly there is one conclusion that has become glaringly obvious. There are people out there that no matter what you do, will put you down for it. An example is recently on Tumblr I was following a page of a fit woman who had plenty of fitness tips. However, recently there was a photograph of a woman who had obviously worked hard to lose her weight, but this individual chose not to applaud her for her hard work, but rather to berate her for “her ugly stretch marks.” It is the attitude of people like this that can give a person, who may be struggling to keep up on the path of weight loss and fitness, the perfect excuse to give up. I’m not saying that all fitness blogs, or people are like this, but when there is even one it can be disheartening to someone who is fighting to repair the damage done to their body. I know I have a ways to go yet before I’m happy with my body and I accept my body for how much it has changed as of late but even I find this type of body shaming disheartening. Yes, I’m to blame for the process I am currently fighting to go through, but the fact is I’m not giving up. I would much rather see people applaud others for their efforts than to ridicule them for their flaws.

I guess my point is that not only is diet and fitness difficult, but so is life. We need to find ways to encourage people to make better choices and accept the things about their bodies that they can’t change. I may have stretch marks, but I know that I am doing my best to make my body better. I may be going slowly, but I’m not letting life circumstances or hate from others deter me. We all need to find ways to empower others if only to help empower ourselves.