Is being lean really worth?
For me, it isn’t.
Check out these images of me a couple of years ago when I was super lean.
Rocking a body fat of below 10% 24/7. These aren’t me dehydrated or going low/no carbs (both used to look ripped by models and physique competitors) to get a lean look. I looked like this waking up, during the day and going to bed.
I loved it. Every minute of it. Well, every minute I saw myself half naked in the mirror.
How often do you do that?
Once, maybe twice a day. I’m not talking about checking yourself out in the mirror, I’m talking in the buff.
The rest of the time was hell. In fact, I looked like hell in clothes. Look at how lean my face is in one of the photos. Not good!
Out of clothes, I looked like I could almost jump on stage for a contest. In clothes, I really didn’t look healthy (or feel it).
The fitness industry gets by on selling 6-pack abs/ripped in 6 weeks/toned before 10 am/lean-in-15. It preys on peoples pain of not being good enough.
It’s one of the reasons I very rarely use before and after photos.
Health and fitness is so much more than that!
I said I felt like hell being that lean so here’s the cost of living that way.
I didn’t sleep very well
I was constantly hungry
I couldn’t stop thinking about food
I measured my food at every meal
I lost strength
I lost muscle mass
I couldn’t perform as well in the gym and fatigued quickly
I regularly got injuries which took forever to heal
I said no to social occasions in my calendar as that would mean I’d have to eat or drink calories or at least be that guy that orders the healthy option every time.
I trained pretty much every day
I cycled and walked everywhere to help me burn more calories
I had to keep this up for months and months to stay as lean as I was.
You may think its worth it. For me, at that time it was too but not anymore. I’ve moved on and I have other goals/priorities.
Some of you out there may strive for the lean look so here are some the things to consider when trying to get there.
1. Being super lean can be really stressful on your body
Did you see the list of symptoms I gave earlier? These sorts of issues don’t usually appear (in mass) when you’re healthy.
Your body loves maintaining homeostasis. It wants to have everything in your body system wise level and constant. If you are trying to maintain low levels of leanness more than likely your body will fight back to get you to what it thinks is normal and comfortable.
Those heavy limbs, general fatigue etc. could very well be your body’s way of slowing you down to help you burn fewer calories and rest.
These symptoms can then lead to other long-term issues especially if you’re a women. Amenorrhea may occur if/when your body is unsure of whether you have enough sustenance available to support a pregnancy.
Externally you may look like a Greek God(dess) but inside you could be falling apart.
2. Everyone is different
You know the person, the friend who can eat whatever they want and still stay lean. Yeah, we love to hate them! They tend to be the ones that are really good at everything. These people are the fitness models of the world and are few and far between.
Everyone else is the complete opposite. These people no matter how hard they train, restrict their calories, get enough sleep, exercise every day etc. still won’t look as lean as they want.
We have no control over our genetics (this isn’t an excuse to be the best shape you can though).
We get what we get!
I’m not saying you can’t be lean but you may find it is a lot harder than you think it is.
I agree it isn’t fair, but hey, that's life!
I’m 5’7 and would love to be 6 foot but its never going to happen. I got over that years ago. Some things never change so maybe its time to realise somethings aren’t meant to be.
And you know what….THATS OK! You don’t need to be super lean to be an awesome person.
I’m not saying give up, you’ll never get there. I’m saying the one thing that you have full control over is you can work hard(er) with what you’ve got and do the best you can. That’s all you can do. No one is perfect anyway.
3. It’s really hard to stay lean all of the time
We tend to think that anyone with a defined body and six-pack abs is super healthy.
Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. It's hard for us to separate the two as we are constantly bombarded daily with images of ultra-fit individuals on social media. They have us believe that being this lean all the time is normal for everyone.
We are lead to believe these people (models most probably and promoting something) look like this all the time. Everyday day of the year. 24/7
These people don’t even look like the photos they promote. Well placed lighting and photo editing software make an amazing difference to the average person never mind a model that is already lean.
These people work hard for weeks/months up to a photo shoot, peaking on the day ready for that perfect shot. They look ripped for a couple of hours or maybe days at the most. When they’re away from the camera they look more normal. Ok, I’m not saying they don’t look lean but they certainly don’t look as lean day to day.
Even if they aren’t a fitness model, Instagram’s filters and clever angles in photos change a body that looks ok to OMG they’re soooo lean.
4. You have to change your whole life around to get the lean look
I trained every day. Tough long sessions. I walked and cycled everywhere. I was pretty much moving constantly. I’d sometimes train twice a day. I went to bed early every night to ensure I was well rested for training. My diet was very restrictive. It wasn’t just low calorie I had no variety in my meals. Eggs, chicken, rice, veggies etc. Very boring!
You have to say no to your social life on a regular basis and isolate yourself from the world. You think about food and exercise 24/7. You’ve got to be willing to say no to a lot of things.
If this makes sense for you, great, go for it. But think really hard, is it the life for you.
That choice is yours. Either way that's OK too.
5. You may still be unhappy with the way you look when you do get lean
When I was as lean as I was in those photos earlier I wasn’t happy with myself.
I wanted to be leaner.
I wanted more muscle
I was never good enough for me
I wanted to have my cake and eat it (well technically I couldn’t eat cake)
Striving for excellence and perfection in everything you do is awesome but you’ll never get there. You’ll never be good enough and you’ll always want more. Trying to be happy in the moment will help you get perspective and hopefully lead to a happier you.
Look, I love the fact that you want to change your body. I feel everyone should take pride in their appearance but you don’t have to go to extremes to get there. Looking like the best version of you is awesome!
I’ve chosen to have higher body fat now. Yeah, I know I’m still pretty slim but I’m not the same leanness as I had in those photos. Would I like to look that lean again? Err maybe but I’m so much happier with the way I feel about myself I can’t see that happening. Being lean just isn’t worth it for me.