Walk a mile...

[HOOT]

See I read the article as a kick you in the ass article to get those who aren't or can't be motivated to actually do it. I guess it could come off smug but I think he is trying to reach those people that will take that challenge not the ones that need to held like a little baby the whole way through.

[ben voyonsdonc]

Society sends mixed messages to people about weight.
- We are bombarded by fast food commercials that cater to young people. However, our society's view of beauty is considered to be these unattainably and often unhealthily thin models and celebrities.
- We expect people to stay fit but the first courses that are cut are often physical education classes.
- Often the most available food to kids at school is pretty unhealthy because it often comes from sponsorships with vending machine companies and Coke/Pepsi.
- We live in a society that lives to work and puts a significant premium on earning more and more money which takes away from our time to get out and exercise.

Our society needs to slow down a bit and value the benefits of a healthy lifestyle just a little bit more. We are so caught up in trying to keep up with the Jones' that we lose sight of how unhealthy we are becoming.

[ben voyonsdonc]

Originally Posted by HOOT

See I read the article as a kick you in the ass article to get those who aren't or can't be motivated to actually do it. I guess it could come off smug but I think he is trying to reach those people that will take that challenge not the ones that need to held like a little baby the whole way through.

Everything in that article seemed focused on the vanity part of going to the gym. It was all about degrading another human being and self-aggrandizing. Going to the gym especially for people who are heavy should be about being healthy and any vanity arguments should be secondary...at least in my opinion.

[moon]

Originally Posted by HOOT

Someone got beat up by the jocks in high school.

Likely the guy in the article that now has to base his whole self worth on the fact that he not only works out but does so above anything else in his life.

I have no problem with people who workout and enjoy it, but those that think that they are superior to anyone who is as "committed" as they are and who seem to base their whole lives on working out are losers.

[moon]

Originally Posted by Azure

The article still does have a point though.

I hear complaints daily about people who are tired, sore, lack energy, lack motivation, hate life, hate their job, hate everything basically about their life....and the majority of them are overweight.

But, they don't understand the 'overweight' part....its as if society has made it 'okay' for people to be 'fat.'

Walking around Lethbridge on a normal day is starting to scare me. Almost 75% of the people I see are overweight.

I know plenty of skinny folks that feel the same way so I don't know if we just hang out with different folks or if you tend to notice the overweight whiners more than the skinny ones, but I have a real hard time seeing how being overweight is linked to how much you like your job or not.

Why isn't it okay for people to be fat if thats what they want?

[moon]

Originally Posted by HOOT

See I read the article as a kick you in the ass article to get those who aren't or can't be motivated to actually do it. I guess it could come off smug but I think he is trying to reach those people that will take that challenge not the ones that need to held like a little baby the whole way through.

I guess I don't see how anyone could be motivated by some self righteous jackass who seems to need to put other people down to feel good about themselves.

How does that guy telling us how great he is and how terrible other people are motivate anyone?

[Azure]

Originally Posted by moon

I know plenty of skinny folks that feel the same way so I don't know if we just hang out with different folks or if you tend to notice the overweight whiners more than the skinny ones, but I have a real hard time seeing how being overweight is linked to how much you like your job or not.

Why isn't it okay for people to be fat if thats what they want?

Because being 'fat' is not healthy. And outside of the people who have a medical condition, there is no excuse for being overweight.

All it takes is a will to exercise, eat right and control yourself.

The majority of the people are lacking that. Partly because society is telling them its okay to be 'fat.'

[Azure]

Originally Posted by moon

I guess I don't see how anyone could be motivated by some self righteous jackass who seems to need to put other people down to feel good about themselves.

How does that guy telling us how great he is and how terrible other people are motivate anyone?

Articles like that were motivating for me back in the day.

Sure, he's being an arrogant ass, but I still see his point.

[jammies]

And 100 years from now we'll all be dead.

Being healthy is nice, but in the grand scheme of things Stephen Hawking is a hell of lot more important than Arnold Schwarzenegger. To me, it's another example of a society interested in the superficial over everything else.

Some guy - or worse, some woman - standing all oiled up on a stage in Vegas showing what endless hours of useless sweat can produce doesn't impress me, whereas someone who has gained their muscles by working in a demanding physical job IS impressive. Working out to stay healthy is good, working out as an end in itself is not.

[Shazam]

Gee, I just want to be healthy so I can take care of my children.

Anyhow, I've lost about 20lbs since April. I started a weight-loss training routine from the Men's Health Gym Bible book at the start of May, and have lost 11 in three weeks on it. I like it because it's very intense and take me about 50 minutes to do. The cardio is HIIT, so it only takes 12 minutes.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by jammies

And 100 years from now we'll all be dead.

Being healthy is nice, but in the grand scheme of things Stephen Hawking is a hell of lot more important than Arnold Schwarzenegger. To me, it's another example of a society interested in the superficial over everything else.

Some guy - or worse, some woman - standing all oiled up on a stage in Vegas showing what endless hours of useless sweat can produce doesn't impress me, whereas someone who has gained their muscles by working in a demanding physical job IS impressive. Working out to stay healthy is good, working out as an end in itself is not.

And there we go with the stereotype that everyone who lifts weight is like those oiled up bodybuilders who juice themselves up to look good.

Didn't take long either.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Azure

And there we go with the stereotype that everyone who lifts weight is like those oiled up bodybuilders who juice themselves up to look good.

Didn't take long either.

You said it, not him.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by 4X4

You said it, not him.

Huh?

Where?

If anything, I've always been trying to stress the importance of lifting weights as a normal part of any fitness routine, regardless of what your job is.

There is a HUGE difference between people like me and HOOT, and the people who are featured in the ads of a bodybuilding magazine.

[4X4]

Chillax, dude. He was giving his opinion that spending hours in the gym to stand on a stage doesn't impress him. He did not say that everyone who lifts weight is like those oiled up bodybuilders who juice themselves up to look good. You did.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Chillax, dude. He was giving his opinion that spending hours in the gym to stand on a stage doesn't impress him. He did not say that everyone who lifts weight is like those oiled up bodybuilders who juice themselves up to look good. You did.

Well, whatever....but his comments almost seemed stereotypical to me.

Considering anyone who works out has 'endless hours of sweat'.....

I lift weights to be healthy. Just like a lot of other people.

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by Azure

And there we go with the stereotype that everyone who lifts weight is like those oiled up bodybuilders who juice themselves up to look good.

Didn't take long either.

Azure you don't oil yourself up after every workout? I thought that was the whole point of lifting weights

[Shazam]

Nope, actually Azure and I oil each other up.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by HOOT

Azure you don't oil yourself up after every workout? I thought that was the whole point of lifting weights

Originally Posted by Shazam

Nope, actually Azure and I oil each other up.

Just like them bodybuilders on teevee.

[jammies]

Originally Posted by Azure

I lift weights to be healthy. Just like a lot of other people.

That's good. But the guy in the article you posted clearly wasn't about working out to stay healthy, he was about working out to expand his already inflated self-image. That kind of person isn't inspiring at all, IMO. He also sounds like the kind of guy that *does* end up on a stage in Vegas thinking that he has accomplished something other than to turn himself into a freak.

Originally Posted by jammies

Working out to stay healthy is good, working out as an end in itself is not.

If you don't disagree with the above I think we are on the same page.

[Azure]

Eventually, lifting weights becomes about setting 'physical' goals, and attaining them.

One can lift strictly for cardiovascular health, or one can lift to become bigger, faster and stronger. Not everyone who does the latter has an inflated self-image. But a lot of people have formed the stereotype that people who lift heavy weights are on steroids and look like the bodybuilders in a bodybuilding magazine.

I've seen it a lot over the past 2 years.