Are You Girl Mathing Your Weight Loss?
What is more effective than iron-fist willpower when it comes to building a healthy body?
Have you heard about “Girl Math”? I have actually heard about it from three different media sources: radio, social media, and most recently, I read about it in the Wall Street Journal. Essentially, the concept of Girl Math involves an explanation of spending and saving money that doesn’t make much sense except to the person who created this ‘logic,’ and all her followers. For example, the followers of Girl Math believe that when you are budgeting money, you round down all money spent (waaay down: the sweater that costs $95.99 would only cost $90 according to Girl Math), saving is earning in every scenario, anything under $5 is free, and a refund is like making new money. After reading this article, I said to myself, “Well, this sounds just like Fitness Math when we try to lose weight.” God bless these Girl Math followers, but their naivetey will prevent them from earning financial freedom because they will never be able to save enough money. They are like hamsters spinning in their wheels. And the same is true when we try to defend the ‘fat acceptance’ and the bad food choices (please read my article: Is It Wise to Promote “Fat Acceptance” for Body Positivity Movement?). The commonality among all these acts is the justification of our own weaknesses. Instead of facing reality and natural consequences, we are lowering the bar so that we can feel better.
But this article is not about the logic behind the ‘Girl Math’ of counting calories when we try to lose weight and build a strong and healthy body. I actually want to talk about a much bigger and more effective/powerful implement than just logic: I want to talk about High Health and Wellness Intellect.
But first, let me explain what I mean by High Intellect for Health and Wellness. It has nothing to do with your educational diploma, your background, where you come from, where you live now, and it definitely has nothing to do with who your parents are. The word High describes the altitude of your vantage point and the view you have when you look down on your daily choices and actions. The higher you are, the broader and fuller your view can be. However, the lower you stay, the more limited your view and the harder it will be to see a full picture of life’s puzzle. So, as you can imagine, the higher you can get, the better.
Why and how does the Higher view/Intellect help you to shape your body?
I will use the example of teaching my kids to make their own beds. I have been making my own bed all my life, and that’s what I have taught my kids; however, I do not want them to make their beds just to make me happy (or, on the not-so-good days, to avoid turning me into a crazy, yelling mother). I want them to do it because of all the other (positive) consequences of having their rooms organized and clean. For example, after coming home from school, it feels so much better to walk into an organized room. Studying is much more efficient because you do not have to search for every book and paper in a messy room. The energy of the room reflects your inner vibes; chaos and mess will result in chaotic, unfocused studying. If you study better, your grades are better. If you perform better, you feel more satisfied. If you are happier, your life becomes what you desire instead of causing you to feel like a victim of life’s events…and so on. But the truth is, only with the Higher Inner Intelect are you able to see beyond the room itself to all the benefits of the one simple act of making your own bed every morning. However, if you are not able to understand from that higher point, I agree that it would be very hard to make your bed every day (or anything else, for that matter) just to please your mom.
This High Intellect is even more important when it comes to shaping our bodies. By being able to see all the consequences of unhealthy food choices (high cholesterol, heart and cardiovascular illness, strenuous impact on back, hip, and knee joints, lack of energy, limited mobility, and fertility complications because the quantity and distribution of body fat affects the menstrual cycle through a range of hormonal mechanisms and therefore excess weight and more abdominal fat increase the risk of fertility difficulties)…you will be able to compensate for weak willpower. During conversations with my clients, I often come across the same line: “But I deserve the cake.” Let me be clear: yes, we all deserve the cake; however, we have a hard time seeing the line when the cake starts to become a health issue for our bodies. Just carrying an extra 10 to 20 pounds increases the risk of death, particularly among adults aged 30 to 64 years. Individuals who are obese (BMI > 30) have a 50 to 100% increased risk of premature death from all causes, compared to individuals with a healthy weight. I am sure you get my point. I don’t want to take your cake away, and I do not want to be the food police; however, I DO CARE for your bodily health and mental wellbeing.
Let me give you one more example, a couple in their early 80s. The husband was diagnosed with diabetes when he was 60, and he was advised by the doctor to stay away from sugar as much as possible. However, his weaknesses were wine and desserts, and he ignored his wife’s reminders every time he reached out for the cake or the glass of wine. Now, twenty years later, he is completely dependent upon his wife because he can’t move on his own. However, it is not his poor health that frustrates him the most; instead, it is his loss of freedom to do the things he loves (travel, play with the grandchildren, play golf). If he had used his Higher Health Intellect, he would have foreseen the likely consequences and followed the doctor’s advice to stay away from a life full of daily frustration.
So, I prefer to rely on my Higher Health Intellect rather than iron-fist willpower to keep my body healthy and strong. I take into account the view of the next day and many days after my daily choices: salads vs. pizzas, working out vs. being inactive (sitting on the sofa), feeling energized vs. sluggish, being confident vs. insecure, and being happy vs. being miserable. This broad view is my main tool or map for navigating not just my health, but also my life.
If you can raise yourself up from that place where all you can see is the immediate pleasure of the cake, you can put yourself into a much higher place where you can see your dreams and the final destinations. Then, you will have the strength and wisdom to steer through the food choices that will take you to the places you wish and dream to be.
You see, I want my kids to make the bed not just when they are in my house, but also when they go to college and for the rest of their lives, because I want them to value themselves and keep a high standard for themselves. You take a shower, you keep your hair clean, you put on clean clothes — not for others, but for yourself. You eat healthy and exercise, you keep your body healthy and well — not for others, but because you value yourself, and you know your body has more value than junk food and a sofa lifestyle.
It is too hard, and life is too short, to spend your time doing something because someone else has said it’s important. You must feel the thing to yourself. ~Isidor I.Rabi, Nobel Prize winner in Physics
You see, with a High Health Intellect and high vantage point, you see how far you can go and how far your healthy and vital body can take you, if you take care of it.
When you cultivate your Health Intellect, I promise you, everything else will fall into itself to create the life you have been wishing for but never actually dared to reach.
Getting back to the Girl Math, if those followers would just climb a little higher, they would be able to see that, instead of moving ahead, they are just digging their own holes as time goes by.
For more tips or personalized coaching please contact me at: heavenlybodyafter40@gmail.com
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