The road to nowhere - why 'instant gratification' doesn't work in health and fitness

We hear often that obesity is the leading health concern among adults and children in the U.S. With over 2/3 of American adults obese and 17% of children in the U.S. also obese, it is true we have a growing problem.

But obesity is not the only concern related to health and wellness.

Each week, I get more and more requests for coaching, assistance and help from people who have gone to nutrition and fitness extremes to reach a goal and now cannot seem to get their bodies healthy. The issues include everything from: inability to lose body fat, inability to regulate hormones, sleep issues, loss of sex drive, extreme fatigue, poor immune system and recurring sickness/cold (to name a few).

How are we so far extreme on both ends? We have a country of people who are extremely overweight and at risk for so many diseases and even death and on the other end, people who have gone to such extremes to reach a certain aesthetic or health/fitness goal and have damaged their hormones, immune system and metabolism.

Is there any gray area anymore?

America is a culture of instant gratification: we no longer live in the present but in photos of the present on our social media. We no longer need to read a book when we can simply turn on the tv and get wrapped up in a story and finish by bed time. This need for instant gratification has also trickled in to the health and wellness world where people want instant success and results and will try anything to get there.

The problem?

Taking extreme measures a la caloric intake and exercise is NOT sustainable and therefore your body will not maintain any results attained from the extreme period.

Not only will your results from extremes not last -> all of the health issues discussed above: inability to lose body fat, inability to regulate hormones, loss of sex drive, extreme fatigue, poor immune system and recurring illness, on and on and on....will likely occur from not adequately fueling, recovering and caring for your body.

So why even GO to extremes in the first place? Why be in such a rush? Your body took time to get where it is today and it WILL. TAKE. TIME. TO. CHANGE.

Don't take shortcuts in health and fitness: they will only lead you right back to where you started and odds are, you will likely end up with MORE body fat and be plagued with other health issues in the end.

If you aren't sure how to go about reaching your goals the safe and effective way, seek out coaches and professionals that can help. I highly recommend Naturopathic Doctors that will work with you to regulate your hormones and get to the root cause of your health issues and coaches that are focused more on your overall health and metabolic function than your aesthetics.

It is time to focus on true HEALTH rather than the perfect ab selfie. You owe this to your body.

In Health,

tNutritionista