Standing in your fitness truth

I recently read an article on this celebrity/sex/fashion blog that I like to read, which has a feminist, somewhat cheeky lean to it which I love. The opinion piece was in response to a self-proclaimed feminist blogger's plea for forgiveness from her readers for not being a "true" feminist: she admits in the article to her struggle with starving herself and having a poor body image. She wrote that while she is in recovery, she felt obligated to atone to her readers for misleading them, for not being enough of a feminist. 

The author of the opinion piece I read argues the point: what is a real feminist, and what makes someone so? She writes that she empathizes with this woman for her struggles, but thinks that she's enabling this impossible stereotype of the "perfect feminist" to continue to exist. By pleading with her readers for forgiveness, she is perpetuating that there was something wrong and bad with her when she felt insecure and uncomfortable in her skin, which is something all women--feminists and non-feminists alike--experience from time to time. Does struggling with body image make you less of a feminist? Does the confidence to parade around topless in protest make you more of a feminist? 

This article and reaction piece got me thinking about the fitness industry and how there is this "ideal" image that fitness professionals are supposed to fit. I thought about what role we as consumers and folks on our own weight loss journeys play in the perpetuation of these myths, and realized, much to my chagrin: a pretty big one. 

First of all, what have we come to expect from our fitness idols? For one, it's that the individual has faced and overcome obstacles, setbacks, failures, being overweight, having an eating disorder, struggled with depression or other mental illness. In other words, experience is what an expert is made of, and the field of fitness and health is no different. 

When you think about it, it's almost as if one's credibility is only earned through having struggled through what the rest of us consider daily life. You have to earn your stripes in the industry in order to be taken seriously; you need to be relatable yet enigmatic--that is, the girl's girl or the guy's guy yet be encapsulated in this aura of perfection that makes you worthy of admiration and sometimes pushes you to the point of guru/expert/idol/ideal that is almost impossible to live up to. It's a bit of a double standard, if you ask me!

Upon further reflection, I think this is something that is pervasive and unfair and as damaging to our idols as it is to us.  Think about it: if we can't accept the flaws in those who we go to for help and guidance and inspiration on what will likely be the toughest journey of our lives, how can we expect to accept our own flaws? How does one ever take responsibility for ones own journey towards health if we're constantly trying to live up to this unrealistic ideal in the image of our idol? They have to be flawed but nor too much, perfect but not too much, and God forbid if they ever get roiled in a scandal and "fall from grace" immediately, everything they practiced/stood for/believed in is tainted somehow and we're left feeling empty. Why? Because our confidence was a fleeting image that they reflected back on us, not something that comes from within.

I'll step off my soapbox momentarily, but...this dichotomy really needs to stop.  Idealizing our fitness idols takes our focus away from our own journey, our unique struggles towards self acceptance. It makes the end goal of fitting an idealized image more important than the journey. And isn't that what builds character? Isn't that what fortifies a solid and lasting foundation of self love? I don't think you can really argue with that, so I challenge you: focus on you. See your fitness idols as guides, but don't put them on a pedestal. I'm sure they would agree that they did not get into this industry to be idolized, but to share what they know and inspire you along the way. They understand there will be setbacks, but want you to stand confidently knowing that you have developed the skills to reach your goals. Let them have the same freedom; let them live truthfully, too.