Want a six-pack? What you need to know!
“How to Get a six-pack (or even an eight-pack) and whether or not you should try it.”
I came across an article by Sara Chodosh and read the first line (above) and immediately thought here we go again. It is just another article providing information on how to reach a potentially unattainable goal without mentioning genetics or the adverse effects that six or eight-pack abs could have on your health. Boy was I wrong and pleasantly surprised. This article is amazing and different from the majority of articles you find about health and fitness. It’s real. It doesn’t tell you what you want to hear, but instead gives you information proven by science. Unfortunately, the fitness world is filled with information and promises that you want to hear but aren’t necessarily factual. That’s how they get you excited about a new program or hooked into a new diet. I am going to be brutally honest with you. Your genetics play a large role in your aesthetic outcome. Can we give you results you never thought possible? You bet! Can we give you J.Lo’s butt or Kelly Ripa’s arms? No, because you’re not them. We can however help give you YOUR best butt and arms. And while making you feel amazing and loving yourself! Here are a few of my favorite things from the article. (the full article is linked.)
“Regardless, you’ll notice that images of folks with ‘normal’ amounts of body fat don’t tend to have visible abs, nor do many of the people below that mark. That’s because a stereotypical six-or-eight pack requires you to be exceptionally lean. You can get an extremely strong core without having a six pack, and there is truly no reason to strive for one unless you want to show one off. There’s nothing wrong with that! But if your primary goal is to be fit and have a strong core, washboard abs don’t have to be on your radar.”
“Don’t go about this cavalierly. Having very low body fat can come with its own issues—many women end up with hormonal problems, for instance—and it’s easier than you might think to get nutritional deficiencies by cutting out the wrong foods. Don’t just pursue less and less body fat. Getting into the single digits for body fat percentages is something that even professional bodybuilders and fitness models only do for short periods of time, precisely because it’s unhealthy and unsustainable.”
“Once you commit to losing weight, you may be overwhelmed by all the potential tips and tricks out there for slimming down. There are a lot of theories on weight loss, and you can find proponents of almost every strategy, from zero carbs to zero fat and everything in between. The truth, as ever, is more complicated. Here’s what all the scientific evidence actually agrees on:
1. Lowering your calorie intake will pretty much always lead to some kind of weight loss.
2. The best diet is the one you can stick to.”
I love the “best diet is one that you can stick to”! Amen! Right!? It’s then not called a diet but a lifestyle. Speaking of lifestyles, stay tuned as Katharine will dig deeper into this in the coming weeks.
