Metabolic Damage

Before you read this, please click here and read this article by Joe Donnelly.

Okay. So you're done reading it? Well, I think it is AWESOME.

I really want to get into the fitness industry. It's been one of my goals for a long time and there's no doubt that my career one day will inevitably involve fitness in some way. However, I think these days, the fitness industry is a bunch of bullshit. There, I said it. Sorry not sorry.

I think fitness competitions are more than just 'winning' or presenting the tightest body on the stage to show everybody "Hey I look freaking AMAZING!!!" Honestly, if your only motivation to compete is to look hot, I'd say reevaluate your goals because for me, personally, that's bogus. I would understand if someone lost half their body weight and wanted to show off their hard work, but that's about it.

I really can't even fathom how some women can do 2 one-hour long cardio sessions per day, on top of their weight training and then juggle their life that hasn't already been consumed by fitness. I'm not shaming them, because I think that takes a lot of dedication. But ultimately, I think it would wear not only on their physical health, but their mental health as well.

I don't think it's worth it to damage one's metabolic rate for the sake of looking shredded on stage. After a show, Joe mentions that some women's metabolic rates go from around 1,500 calories (about average) to an astounding 200-300 calories ]because the weeks of excess cardio and food deprivation has really taken its toll on the body.

Sometimes it takes years to improve the damaged metabolic rate. Seriously, is it worth it? I would argue against that. I really want to compete one day, but I plan on breaking the "norm" of endless cardio and living off of tilapia and asparagus and proving that you can get stage-shredded by not overdoing it. One thing my mom always told me while growing up is that "less is more." I believe it.

Joe mentioned that his girlfriend, famous fitness model and competitor Chady Dunmore, doesn't do two hours of cardio per day and deprive herself pre-show. I love that. I agree with Joe's assertions about how to get shredded and avoid metabolic damage: doing 1-2 sessions of all-out HIIT per week (and I'm talking all out, to the point where breathing is the only thing that is desired in that moment), keeping calories at a level where the body is not deprived of the nutrition that it needs but still enough to stimulate fat loss, and hitting the weights hard, which in the end is the most important exercise component. Screw cardio!

Chady Dunmore is a stunner. (Source)

I know there's this cycle where girls will have a "cheat meal" (oh, how I LOATHE that term) and they may go a *little* overboard, so they get this sense of overwhelming guilt and decide to deprive themselves of food for the next few days completely, so as to correct the overindulgence that had occurred because life happens. Then, they decide that they absolutely *MUST* do at least an hour or two of cardio to burn it all off. This WILL destroy your metabolic rate. You give your body a lot of excess calories, so your metabolism has to work hard to burn through it all, then BAM, all of a sudden it's getting next to nothing so it slows down significantly. Don't do this!!! When you indulge, because NO ONE CAN LIVE OFF OF VEGETABLES FOREVER, the next day, get right back on to your normal eating habits, drink a lot of water, and ***MOVE ON***. 

I know that's easier said than done because let's face it, I experience the guilt too. And I may wake up in the morning feeling like an overstuffed pig. But then I think about how I should NOT fall into that trap that so many women fall into, because it's mentally dangerous. THAT's how eating disorders develop. Some fitness competitors develop EDs post-show because they hold themselves up to this expectation of always being shredded, because they were shredded on stage for that one specific time. That is simply not okay.

It's important to know that one's body cannot look like a Greek statue 24/7. I understand this. When I compete, I know these mental barriers are going to be a lot harder to understand than trying to now, but I will know that two hours doing cardio and eating next to nothing is NOT the life for me. If you knew me in person, you would know I have a BIG appetite (I could probably not one, but TWO deep dish pizzas to myself) and I despise cardio unless I'm in the mood, which is a rare occurrence.

I hate to see some seasoned fitness competitors and models show this image of health and wellness when doing excess cardio and not eating enough is honestly far from healthy. And destroying one's metabolic rate? Definitely not healthy.

I may be the minority in this viewpoint along with Joe Donnelly and Chady Dunmore, but that's okay. I have a lot of opinions, so there's that. :)

Have a great day!

Pin It