Are you SO focused, you’ve LOST focus?

Are you so focused on your FITNESS goals, you’ve lost focus on LIFE’s goals?

Warning: This is a long blog, but I am convinced it will be worth it. We all want quick fixes and tips, but there is nothing quick about making the right decision and changing your life. Take a deep breath and get ready to look beyond muscle and body fat – and look inside.

There’s a very fine line between being SO focused on your body and training your obsessions causes you to lose focus on your overall health, well-being and life.  I’ve seen many people uncover layers of fat to expose this new amazing body that even the new owner can’t handle.

Before you know it all they do is look at their physique, think about their physique and want to show their physique to anyone who will look. Before long, there is little room left in their life for others. Relationships go down hill, job performance may even decline, their passions change – and sometimes even their morals.

It’s a very tough act to balance – getting fit physically and staying fit spiritually and mentally. People may spend 2 hours in the gym sculpting their bodies but they don’t spend 2 hours of quality time with their spouse or alone with God. 

What drives you?

Are you driven by selfish desires to get attention or to be found attractive or are you driven by goals to improve your overall health and well-being. Do you sculpt your body because you can’t successfully sculpt other areas in your life and your body is the only thing you can seem to control? Or are equally working on other areas of your life too?  Maybe you have never thought this deeply about how much time, energy and money you spend on your body – and never thought of the possibility of other areas you may be neglecting.

Just how healthy can we be if the outside looks fit but our insides are in shambles. Maybe we need to invest the same amount of time and energy on getting spiritually and mentally fit – then maybe we would be more satisfied with our healthy bodies and quick seeking super-human physiques.

How realistic are your goals and how realistic (and healthy) is it to maintain them?

One thing we so quickly forget (or don’t even realize) is that every fitness model we see on the cover of Oxygen & Muscle & Fitness Hers, PREPARES for WEEKS for THAT shoot to look THAT good for THAT day. They diet, they shed water, they use diuretics, some even use steroids – they do whatever it takes to look perfect. And even then, the photographers photoshop the crap out of the final shot for that “perfect shot”. Friend and humble fitness model who’s graced both magazine covers multiple times, Kristia Knowles (pictured left), is the first to admit just how much goes into making that final print – and THAT is who we compare ourselves too? Not only is it not realistic, it’s not healthy.

On top of that – if you have ever been lean before, you know the struggle of always comparing yourself to when you looked your best. Every day I look in the mirror and I feel fat because I’m not as lean as I can be. That’s ridiculous. That can really mess with your mind and we MUST get a grip on it before it gets a death grip on us.

Finding a healthy balance

I’m not saying that every fitness peep out there with sculpted physiques are obsessed and mentally unhealthy. All I’m suggesting is we ALL take a deeper look into our OVERALL health and beware not to focus only what can be seen in a mirror.

It is too easy to compare ourselves with 5% of America that enters figure competitions and pose for magazines and forget that even if we don’t have our body fat below 16% that we still can be fit & healthy. We can be fitness enthusiasts and fitness leaders without being shredded and living a life centered on our own selfish ambitions.

It’s SO easy to see what everyone else has and forget that there are others wishing they had what WE have. There will ALWAYS be someone who looks better, who is wealthier, who seems happier, who is more successful, who is stronger, faster, leaner… The question is, can you just be satisfied being you? Can I be satisfied just being me? And can we just be satisfied with trying to improve all areas of our life – and not focus only on our physical body that is only one small part of what makes us who we are?

This is a question that I can honestly say will take time for me to work on myself. The pressures of being a “fitness leader” can be overwhelming. I can’t even go get a burger without someone commenting or facebooking about it. I often wonder how people look at me and, if I’m not photograph ready, if they think “wow she’s let herself go”. However, I still workout and try to maintain good health all the while. That’s a lot of pressure and that pressure alone is unhealthy.

Staying balanced will help improve how I see myself.

It’s easy to focus on what you spend the most energy on. The more I can focus on other areas of my life, I can also enjoy other victories aside from a thinner waistline.
I need to look at how much time I’m working on ME – the WHOLE ME. I am often more disappointed in my body fat than in my attitude. I’m more upset when I skip a workout than when I miss a birthday.

Lord help me to stay focused on YOUR desires. Help me look past my flesh and into my soul for changes that need to be made. Help me find balance and convict me to make more time for people that matter and YOUR will – not mine. I want to be healthy inside and out – not physically fit but dying on the inside. I want to be truly FIT, not just appear to be fit.

Join me on the quest for whole health – beauty inside and out.

If you liked my blog today, don’t forget to subscribe to my blog and share it with your friends. 🙂