Wednesday 27 August 2008

Difference Between the Fit and the Fat - Genetics or Attitude?

How does one end up fit? Why is it that some people are superfit, while others are so superfat and unhealthy? Is it purely genetic? Or is it based on lifestyle and habits? Or is it possibly all in the mindset?

Mesomorphs...
There are these guys who can keep eating all the junk in the world, and they look like they've got some magical machines that convert that junk to good clean muscle mass! They're the !
(I hate em!)

Ectomorphs...
Then there are those skinny guys that can keep eating crap all day long, and they look like they've got some worms that just make all the fat vanish. (I don't hate them , but they can get annoying when they whine about not being able to put on weight, no matter how much they eat!)
There are also those women, that eat whatever they feel like and everything they eat gets deposited in just the right shapes in the just the right places in just the right amounts! (I love em!) If you happen to be one... email me! And don't forget to send pics!... ; )

Endomorphs...
And then there's the rest of the lot... Somewhere between skinny legs with a nice rounded beer belly to chubby to downright obese... The minute they eat something it shows up as fat...

Now these are stereotypes, and people have two one major tendency and another...
For eg. I think I'm a mix of endomorph and mesomorph.

As you can see, genetics, or ones physical body type, does play a role, but all endomorphs aren't obese and unfit are they? And there sure as hell are a LOT of unfit mesomorphs out there as well.

Body type doesnt matter!
If you want to become a bodybuilder, or a swim suit model, then maybe it does matter... but for the remaining 99% of people, it doesn't matter!

Then what does matter? What is it, that makes a difference between healthy people and unhealthy people?

Attitude is everything...
I daresay, it's attitude...
More precisely, its associations...

I know a lot of people, both fit and unfit... And the one fundamental difference between the two is their associations with food and exercise...

One very close friend of mine S, is absolutely beautiful! But she loves food... more than food... she love eating... and, she hates exercising...
She loves the idea of being slim and healthy, wearing sexy designer clothes, having high energy and stamina... but not nearly as much as she hates exercise, and loves (over)eating.

And look at me... I'm super fit, compared to her. I really enjoy exercising... The idea of working out or playing sport makes me feel good, I look forward to it. I am totally repulsed by oily fried junk, and chips and things like that... (though I love sweets! : ) )

I used to overeat when I was a kid, but that dirty feeling of having bricks in your stomach is just too painful for me. (Not to mention the khatta dhakaars that follow... yuck!)

Its like we're facing 2 opposite directions... She's facing the south, while I'm facing the north... Its just natural for me to go forward towards the north and for her, the natural thing is to go further down south.

Even if she diets or joins a gym, or resolves to lose weight, its like walking backwards for her... its awkward, and requires constant focus and discipline... it's simply impossible to sustain.

If she's gotta be fit, instead of painfully walking backwards, she needs to slow down, and work on changing her basic direction. Once she's facing the right direction, everything else will naturally flow from there. Being fit will become as natural, easy, and absolutely effortless as walking...

(Yes you're still going to have to take the steps and walk though!)