"House poor".. now, "fitness poor" is a word to describe how young Koreans are spending so much money on "fitness" that they are broke.. how can that be so?
a PT here in my area costs $1800 for 3 months (gym memberships are on the pricey side here to begin with) Ridiculous price! For a small gym and untrained guys without creds. I was stoned. It's no wonder kids are going broke. They have no idea how they're getting ripped off!
Even on Korean TV...you will hardly see "normal healthy looking people" - but pencil thin female stars..singers, and even men.. when kids and young adults see this, that's what they think they should be. Since those "stars" are so praised for looking "great".
We have no TV right now. Not even the basic channels. We're experimenting with undoing media as much as we can. Going in 2 weeks, so far, I feel much happier. All that "news/newest/junk" is not filled in my head over taking what matters most in life, spending good time right now and not worrying about who, what, where, whatever is going around me - 90% of it does not apply to me. (We just watch re-runs of Seinfeld, Arrested Development, & Jjang-gu..)
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| get strong ladies - it will only makes you curvy and sexy |
Less is more.
Do strength training for a short time with heavy weights (until 12 rep is "hard") - do that any day you're not sore (rest when you're sore). Drink milk instead of protein shakes (save money). ***I am not a doctor or an expert - please do your own research - our bodies are all different - what works for me may not always work for you***
Eat normally (don't complicate eating) - a good burger does not hurt, enjoy it. I think all this "fitness" stuff is getting so complicated - it's just another money maker market.
I would highly recommend reading, "fitness(workout) minimalism" if you enjoying reading Korean books. It simplifies what "fitness" should be.
Take my case: 31 yr old female.
My history would go back from being in high school and fasting to lose weight, skipping "fat" and complaining on dinner tables of the "fatty" food. Obsessed with fat-free version of everything. I was obsessed with the wrong body image (anorexic models).
College came, and my hips/lower back were hurting so much (most likely due to bad posture and sitting too long) that I became obsessed with painkiller pills to kill the pain. I knew something was wrong. I stopped popping them pills and started yoga. Then, my pain stopped. I got into being more health conscious. But I was still cautious of what I was eating. I had to go to bed "hungry". I didn't want to eat burgers unless I really wanted them. I was obsessed with being "skinny" - to a point where I wanted my arms to be stick skinny..(sad).
I hit mid 20s and I was still obsessed about being "skinny" - but I was too busy to care much - I ate a lot of junk (processed food). I didn't workout regularly. I did yoga and occasional gym memberships that came and went. I felt healthy enough not to care much. I was still cautious of not eating too much or fatty food.
Late 20s came.. I started obsessing about different diets to "get skinny" even though I was never "unhealthy weight". I tried being a vegetarian, didn't work for me. I was not diligent enough to make my own "meat" and get creative. I tried paleo diet - I loved it, but it was a lot of work - and expensive here in Korea. I also missed eating a good chocolate cake. I tried a lot of different things in between, but nothing really stuck. I maintained my weight from college, but noticed more fat around my body.
So I've been "nuts" about "being skinny" for a while..
What really changed for me was this year. I started having a hard time "getting up" - I was making "grunt" noises to pull the laundry basket up! I knew I was in trouble. I didn't want to sound like a 60 yr old at age 31!
That's when I knew I had to find a way to getting healthier and to stop being so TIRED and WEAK!
It all led to, getting strong. Gaining my strength back. I read and read. I didn't want a personal trainer telling me what to do (not my style). I read some things and stuff. It made sense. Our bodies will naturally lose muscle and strength over time. And I was no longer my prime 20s.. I had to work to be strong.
Cut the story short, I lift 4 kg dumbbells right now. That's all I have. I do everything I can with them for now, squats..etc, until I invest in good quality stuff.
There are plenty of videos and resources to help you online. I'm slowly letting my body be strong without pushing it too much (I was sore for 2 days and it was not fun).
I'm not worried about "getting too big" - we really can't get that big! Maybe Maybe if you're chugging protein shakes and gaining a lot of weight with it - you won't get scary big (remember, even the male species can't get "big" without the right effort). We don't have enough testosterone for it.
Getting toned and muscular will keep those "stubborn areas" (stomach, love handles?, thighs..) toned, while the areas that need to be curvy (breasts, hips..) stay womanly. It's all meant to be. We were meant to be curvy! Let's not get obsessed with the unhealthy skinny image. It's fine to be skinny if you're okay, but over time, it will catch up to you - not having enough muscle mass will make you weaker - sicker - and in pain. You need muscle mass to support your body (hence me being in pain trying to lift a laundry basket!)
My goal is to be able to lift really heavy weights eventually (=be really strong), and get one of these in our house in the future (I also love gorillas, win win!)
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| - from "primal kettlebells" |
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| feel good prescription = lift weights |
The result already is that, I feel great (sun shining tropical happy)! Really awesome! The endorphins must have something to do with it. My skin is actually much brighter and clearer. I just had an egg and bacon breakfast and don't feel "guilty" about it. Because I know my body will use it well. All that fat will go into making my body curvy in the right places :) For men, cholesterol is a must for testosterone.
Do you notice I'm not mentioning about how I look, how much I lost? I actually gained weight (and aim to gain more = muscle) - but I feel so much healthier, stronger, and not to mention more toned ^^ Looking good is just a bonus.
I got my husband into lifting again. It's amazing how fast he is showing. He's getting stronger and bigger in just a short time. He was once an athlete and it shows. I guess we all just need a little "pumping" as if our bodies were a balloon. I want to be sexy curvy strong healthy balloon :)
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| yeah, I'm not skinny bitch! |
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When you're younger, maybe the person on TV or magazine is what you want to look like, but you don't know why really.. looking good maybe a big reason. To be healthy is probably the last reason why some kids get obsessed with dieting, I was one of them.
I hope this one sticks and I will work really hard. It's my way of documenting my journey here in my blog. I hope I can post a picture of my "guns" later down the road..teehe
photo credit: Abdullah AL-Naser via photopin cc
photo credit: jillmotts via photopin cc photo credit: mandolin davis via photopin cc
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