Fitness Competition! Is this actually good for your body?
Maybe you’ve seen some fitness models or bikini competitors and tried their nutrition and training plans in the hope to get the same physique? But a less well-known fact is that fitness models and people who compete aren’t actually at the height of healthiness when they compete. They follow a regime that no one who is approaching a healthy fitness lifestyle would recommend. In short, their bodies, admired as models of fitness by so many, are unrealistic even for them! It is not a sustainable look.
When your diet is super restricted and you work out intensively, you can become crazy in the head. You get moody and say goodbye to your social life. If you are willing to get that body and win a competition, you have to sacrifice things and be very disciplined and dedicated. It takes a certain sort of physical and mental toughness. If this is your passion, you will deal with it.
Another important part is the aftermath. Competitors can get so obsessed with dieting. After a season of competing, they will let themselves go to satisfy their cravings and the kgs will creep quicker on them that they think. They are unhappy with the weight gain and can develop an unhealthy relationship with food and an eating disorder called Orthorexia.
Having a fitness model physique can be achieved without obsessing and maintaining an unrealistic lifestyle. Do it in a healthy and balanced way. Tips to get started:
1- CUT OUT THE JUNK
If you still consume soda, fast food, junk food, candy, and excessive alcohol-stop it. No seriously, we know better and there are healthier alternatives.
2- AVOID/LIMIT THE ‘WHITE DEVILS’
White sugar, white flour, white rice, white milk and white salt. Choose raw sugar or natural sugar alternatives (Truvia or Xylitol), whole wheat flour or oat flour or coconut flour, brown rice, unsweetened almond or rice milk and sea salt or no added salt when cooking.
3- EAT “REAL” FOOD
Was there a bagel bush or a cookie tree 10,000 years ago? No! If the majority of your diet consists of fruits, vegetables, lean protein, and grains- stuff that we are intended to eat, then you are on the right track. Indulgences are OK but your habits define you, so make sure what you do ‘most of the time’ is comprised of healthful food.
If you want a personalized nutrition advice how to get the body you’ve always wanted, book a nutrition consultation with us!
