“Are
you beach body ready?” the advert asks. (There has been much protest about this poster on the London Underground walls). I
'follow' The Body Coach on Facebook, who I reckon is going to make it
big time on our television screens very soon, but his 'posts' has its positives and
negatives. His food – clean, lean and
ready in 15, looks simple to cook and tasty to eat. It is nutritious and healthy, no fat, no
sugar, no additives. Brilliant, we could
all do with meals in a hurry sometimes, and fast food does not have to equal
unhealthy choices.
The
not so positive messages are photos of mainly females, comparing their tummies
before and after a 90 day challenge. As
yet he doesn’t seem to reveal his ‘programme’ of exercise alongside the mini
clips of him cooking foods, but there is no doubt that the participants have
undertaken rigorous exercise to change the shape of their tums. The photos are impressive and I can tell they
are all younger than my senior years. I
expect the photos motivate some people, as do the before and after Slimming
World photos. But for some I guess it
will be a dampening of spirit and an “I could never look like that”
thought. So some people will, not doubt, scroll on past.
Do
I need to be beach body ready? I am not
‘on the pull’ as youngsters see the beach area; I am not ‘body conscious’ or
shy. If you don’t like my body that is
your problem, not mine. Don’t get me
wrong, I have fell prey to wanting to
look better and have exercised and eaten healthily for many a year but there
comes a stage in life where self-acceptance of ALL that you are comes into
play. It doesn’t mean I will cease self-improvement,
both mentally and physically, but I actually am ‘at home’ in my body.
I
do look in the mirror at my tummy and sigh but I love my tummy. It is the
place that held a precious baby that grew and stretched my skin and organs to
capacity. She grew into a lovely girl
and self-confident young woman. My tummy
bears the scars also of three operations in that area. A small one below my belly button where a laparoscopy
was performed by keyhole surgery; a medium sized one to remove my appendix and
a long bikini line scar that signifies the end of my childbearing days and
which threw me into the menopause. My
tummy, or muffin top, does hang over this long ‘zip-like’ scar and no amount of
pulling in; tightening muscles etc. will change that fact. It is
literally a ‘life line’. I have pampered
my tummy with creams and cared for it as much as I know how to. It bloats and subsides as does other peoples,
it would seem.
I
blame the additives in foods, the chemicals we unknowingly put into our bodies
but feel powerless when food merchants tempt us with chocolate éclairs; ice creams
that evoke good; childhood memories; fish and chips - our English traditional seaside
meal etc. etc. etc. We cannot deny
ourselves these pleasures forever and shouldn’t have too. When will someone address the gluten in bread
and cakes, when will I be able to buy things rather than have to make things
myself knowing they are chemical, sugar or fat free? So many people these days have allergies –
when I was young I only knew one person with eczema and one with hay fever. Now I am older skin complaints and allergic
reactions are so popular. What changed?
Anyway,
you will be wondering what all this has to do with my big adventure. Well it was the original question. Am I beach body ready? Yes of course I am, like it or lump it, it is
the only body I have. However, I will be
going the next 21 days without bread (again) as I swear this is my main
culprit. Then two whole weeks of a
Mediterranean diet will be wonderful.
Bring it on.
No comments:
Post a Comment