Cannot even tell you how many times I’ve either given a baggie like this or gotten one. And it makes me giggle. Every. Time. (My fave was when Deb the Smoothie Girl sent me a whole package of baggies of different white powders! I can only imagine what FedEx thought. But I still love xantham gum to this day so thank you, Deb!)
“Nope, never tried it. But I bet Charlotte has!” Turbo Jennie waved at me over her shoulder, still talking to the girl in the tank top about some supplement or another.
“Tried what?” I asked, before realizing that her answer didn’t really matter. It didn’t matter because the sad truth – and in truth I really am sad about this – is that I probably have tried it. Illegal drugs hold no interest for me. Legal drugs terrify me. But call it a vitamin or slap a “proven by research” label on it and I’m a serious sucker.
This has gotten me into trouble in the past. You may have seen the recent news about the FDA warning about a supplement called dimethylamylamine (also known as DMAA or Chinese geranium) – it’s the active ingredient of popular workout boosters like Oxyelite Pro and Jack3d and it functions like an amphetamine. Remember the race a few years ago where I took an unknown supplement from a friend and ended up puking my way through an entire 10-mile race, only to collapse at home thinking I was dying? (Spoiler alert: I didn’t die.) I found out later what I had taken was these two. Together. And after reading the FDA briefing, I think I’m lucky to be alive. Lots of people will argue with me about this. Heck, lots of people have – my previous post about the dangers of DMAA has gotten a lot of really negative comments from people who think I’m impugning the greatest supplement on the market – and for some people it probably does work and is safe. The combo worked great for my friend who gave it to me. But it did not work, nor was it safe for me. And it wasn’t safe for these people either – and they’re dead because of it.
But the real question for me isn’t whether or not DMAA is safe. (Truly, I’m not telling you what to do. And I’m not reopening that argument. All I know is my personal experience.) The real question that I can’t stop asking myself is Why did I take the pill/powder in the first place? Indeed, Why do I feel so compelled to keep trying all these supplements, vitamins, boosters and whatevers at all?
Because I want an edge.
But that’s not the whole answer. Why would I want an edge? At first I wondered if this was just my Type A, competitive instinct coming out but no matter how I tried that one on, it just didn’t fit right. I’m a moderately-fit suburban mother of five. I’m never going to win a race or anything else and moreover I’ve never even been close. And I know that. I’m not even the fastest or the strongest among the Gym Buddies (Megan and Allison are, respectively). It was then I realized it is the opposite: It’s because I have never, ever felt like I am on the same level as everyone else. I’ve never been enough.
No matter how much I workout, how (comparatively) strong or fast I get, or how much work I do on myself, I still feel like the gawky high schooler who only made the mile run because her teacher taunted her and threw footballs at her the entire way. I remember praying for rain or my period or another presidential impeachment – anything so I wouldn’t have to go to gym class. Because all of them would laugh at me. And talk about me. And I would feel like a total failure, again. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think I was a special case or that I had it any worse than any other gawky high schooler. High school is pretty much known for being the seventh circle of hell. But what I told myself, to make myself feel better, was that I couldn’t keep up with them because I physically couldn’t do it. Maybe my metabolism was slower or I had undiagnosed asthma or a bum thyroid or maybe I was born with a heart with only three ventricles and no one knew it but when I dropped dead on the track then they’d all feel really bad, by golly! I wanted this to be true so badly because that would mean my failure wasn’t because I didn’t try hard enough. It would mean it wasn’t my fault that I wasn’t living up to my potential.
Of course none of those things were true. I mean yeah, my metabolism is slightly slower than most people’s and I wasn’t born with a heart capacity like Michael Phelps but all things considered I’m fine. In fact, I’m pretty normal. And yet, I’m still that girl who feels less than normal. I didn’t take those pills because I wanted to be better than everyone else. I took those pills because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to keep up with everyone else. On my own, un-“supplemented” Charlotte, I’m not good enough. Again.
This, as you may understand, was a particularly uncomfortable realization. You know, ’cause, I’m not, like, in high school, and stuff. I’m supposed to be past all this kind of angst. But before this gets any more depressing, I have another confession: I haven’t taken any supplements other than magnesium (I swear it helps my wicked cramps) and vitamin D (because I live in the land the sun forgot) in over six months. I don’t even take a multi-vitamin anymore. (Side note: those can kill you, “proven by research” and all that.) I’m not sure what the breaking point was. I think it was when I got a big ol’ box of “free” supplements from a bodybuilding company to try out and I just knew – I knew – that they weren’t going to work. Even without trying them. Even if they did build muscle, rev my metabolism or turn me into a Lisa Frank Pegasus with rainbow poop, they still wouldn’t work. Because I’d be taking them to finally make myself “enough.” And no supplement can do that.
So I started thinking. And because I still am honestly not sure how to see myself as enough, I started considering all the women I know, love and admire. The ones who, to me, are more than enough. And this is what I’ve concluded:
1. Athletes come in all shapes, sizes, colors, abilities and ages. Through my life and my work I’ve had the privilege of meeting a cadre of women who are crazy talented, not in spite of their differing bodies, but because of them.
2. You don’t have to be athletic or even “fit” to be an amazing person. You don’t have to be skinny to be good or beautiful to be kind or young to be relevant.
3. They won’t let themselves be defined by the ones who hate them, criticize them or are jealous of them. They also won’t be defined by the ones who love them. The only one who shapes them is the one who made them in the first place.
(Side note: I think that is what bothers me about that new Dove “Real Beauty” commercial/campaign making the rounds. It’s a sweet video with a touching message but… why are other people’s assessments inherently more valuable than our own? Just because they’re nicer? Doesn’t that mean the cruel ones are valuable too? I would have preferred it if the sketch artist had taught the women how to draw themselves, create their own beauty, rather than letting a stranger draw them over.)
4. “Enough” is a choice. And it’s not something you decide once and be done with it. At least not for most of us. It’s something you decide on a daily basis. For me, the first step was choosing to ditch* all the “performance enhancers” (which makes me sound like I need Viagra or something, egads, no).
The thing is, even if you reject the idea that women need to be skinny to be attractive and worthy of love, there are still so many ways we are told we are less than. You’re not strong enough, you care too much about your looks, you care too little, you need a makeover, you have a lame job, your house isn’t pretty, your kids aren’t achieving enough… First they sell us on all our defects and then they sell us all the “fixes.” (Including, you know, Dove.) But you’ll never be able to buy “enough.” The great irony is that probably the best way to fix yourself is to stop fixing things. You’re not broken. I’m not broken. Sure, I can improve. Of course I can. I hope I can. But seeking to refine yourself is different than seeing yourself as inherently flawed.
I’ll never be that fast. I’ll always have thighs that touch (making it impossible to wear all those cute little running shorts because they ride up into my business until I look like I’m wearing giant polyester panties). But the race will be my own and I’ll love the legs that ran it.
Have you ever used any “workout enhancers”? Anyone else a total sucker for supplements? Does that new Dove campaign/ad bother anyone else at all??
Coming back to add: Having typed all that out now it all seems so terribly obvious. See those four points above? I already knew every one of them. I bet you did too. So why can’t I remember them? I can’t decide if this is the cheesiest, tritest post I’ve ever written or if there’s substance in here. Take the good from it if you will and return the rest with patience:)
*Note: I’m not advocating you ditch yours. If you take supplements, vitamins or medications that are vital to your health then stay with it.
Great points about the supplements, Charlotte. My appreciation of the Dove campaign is simply that, sure, our own view of our beauty is vital, but in reality, if we are the only one who ever saw ourselves, beauty would be fairly irrelevant. Beauty really only exists as a structure of comparison, in my opinion. I appreciated the sentiment that we are always more gentle on each other than we are on ourselves, and the reminder that we are trained to dislike our own looks. Perhaps a combination would have been ideal – at the end, he taught them how to draw themselves.
This: ” Beauty really only exists as a structure of comparison, in my opinion.” is so interesting to me. For some reason I’ve always thought beauty existed as some universal construct, independent of comparison. But you make a good point: how do you know that something is beautiful unless you know something else is ugly?
I’ve never used a supplement besides one attempt at using a protein powder. There was no second time because I remembered that I’d rather eat my calories. I do drink coffee before my workout, but anything else is superfluous. I think I’m in great shape, and I’m not a serious athlete enough to be in need of anything stronger than caffeine.
I don’t like the Dove campaigns, I find them rather patronizing and ironic, since most of their models are still conventionally attractive. There’s a parody that I found hilarious, though. I’m using an iPhone to post this so I don’t know if it’ll show correctly, but here goes.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T8Jiwo3u6Vo
This parody was so hilarious, that I choked on my hot cocoa! Made my day!
Buwhahah- that was funny! A little uncomfortable to watch too… “I’d describe him as… a lawn gnome.” Ah thanks for the link Katie!
I’m not a big fan of supplements either.
The Dove campaign didn’t bother me. I didn’t find it particularly amazing like so many people apparently did on FB but I can appreciate that they are at least trying to send a better message than most beauty products even if they are still trying to sell me something.
True. It’s definitely much better in comparison! Like I said, I thought it was sweet – there was just something that bothered me a little bit about it. Still trying to figure out exactly what that is…
It won’t make me buy Dove, but I did like the advertisement, because it highlights how women particularly are focused in a negative way on their looks, which I think does impact our lives overall. We don’t live a vacuum – we live in a society that is hyper focused on physical traits. We can work on our own priorities so we aren’t vulnerable to that type of valuation, and we should, but we can’t escape from it entirely. So then, if we can see ourselves how others see us every now and then, it is useful. One woman in the ad talks about how much open and happier her face looked when described by someone else, not just about how young, or whatever, she looked. There is some truth in the idea that iif we think we are something, it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. And all to often, unfortunately, how we feel about ourselves internally is reflected in our opinions of our physical selves. And the value in having a relative stranger describe us as lovely, without the ‘distortion’ of personal feelings for us – we now our moms or family love us and thinks we are beautiful (I hope!) – can make us feel better, and perhaps can also give us pause to reconsider our own self perception. And I think that is the root the message, or at least how I interpret it…
Jennifer
This: ” We don’t live a vacuum” is so true. And I love the way you put this. I do think what you wrote was the main takeaway message from the vid (and I agree with it!). It still is a little concerning to me though that if you allow that strangers’ assessments of you are valid then does that mean you have to accept the negative ones as well as the positive too? It just seems like a slippery slope… Like I said, I liked it – there was just something about it that left me a little unsettled and I can’t quite figure it out yet.
HATE HATE
HATE
H
A
T
E
the DOVE.
🙂 Reading your FB post yesterday was actually what got me thinking about what exactly it is that leaves me feeling unsettled by it.
THANK YOU!!!! I H-A-T-E the Dove campaign, I have always hated it, and I think I finally figured out why. For all of the (false) empowerment message they claim to be preaching, it is STILL all about being found beautiful.
It’s JUST an add and does not affect me because its just ANOTHER ADD! Maybe I’m too simple minded, but I’d rather live the wonderful life I’ve have been given than to analyze every single thought or emotion I get from advertisements.
Haha, good point Shannon!
Not just athletic performance — every self-help book for every purpose lists 5-10 slightly different supplements, many based on small sample size trials, sometimes not even randomized. I added the latest last week — coenzyme Q-10 and 2 cups of green tea daily — and the scale shows an increase of 3 pounds since last week: wrong way! Some purposes, like getting pregnant or curing a chronic disease, people are more desperate for than others, so willing to try supplements.
Excellent point about the many different reasons behind supplementing! And interesting about your experiment about teh CoQ10. I’ve heard a lot about that one…
I have tried different vitamins, supplements, natural remedies for different reasons and the only ones I have stuck with over the years are my calcium + magnesium before bed (for RLS) and right now still taking iron. Way back, I tried Hydroxycut and it made me jittery so I stopped. Oh, I tried green tea capsules (I don’t really like tea that much and green tea is supposed to have all these health benefits) but it also made me jittery, so I had to stop.
The new Dove ad…I found it interesting. I do agree that most of us probably don’t see ourselves as others see us, and that we can be our own harshest critic. What they did with the sketch artist is an interesting way to demonstrate that. But I can’t say that I found it empowering or life changing.
Yes, I do think some supplements help (and now I’m wondering if I should add some calcium to my mag? Do you take a combo product or just two pills?).
I have done separate pills, but most of the time I use a combo – it’s just easier.
I just recently picked up a book at the library called Body Sacred (which I would not suggest for everyone as it is a religion specific book), but it hits on the points you mentioned. We are trained to hate ourselves, I’ve met almost no one that has never been picked on or who has hated some part of their body. And health ads and beauty ads don’t help. They’re trying to sell us something for how “terrible” we are.
I don’t get my recommended amount of protein and other meat-based vitamins as I don’t eat a lot of meat, so I take a supplement. I also take an iron supplement a couple times a month. I can’t do other supplements, even though my workout buddies do. My body is capable of getting to great places by itself.
This: “My body is capable of getting to great places by itself.” totally made me smile:))
Loved your post Charlotte. Like always, your posts get me thinking.
My thoughts waiver all the time, but this morning I am taking the higher ground. So here goes:
Life is too precious to compare ourselves to the best all around us. When we die and laying in a casket, do you think it would a great thing to have the mourners say….”My, she has a great six pack”.? Nope….me neither.
I would want to people saying….”What a wonderful and warm woman she was”. And/or “What a loving and good person she was who helped me realize that I was worthy and who loved me unconditionally”.
I know, I know….a little sappy perhaps, but really, isn’t life about loving and serving and lifting and allowing ourselves to be lifted by another kind soul who is ready to offer her soothing balm?
In reality, I personally feel more comfortable and at ease with the person who exudes love, warmth and a kind smile, then I am a firm and fit and flawless person.
So much I love about this comment! First, this: ” isn’t life about loving and serving and lifting and allowing ourselves to be lifted by another kind soul who is ready to offer her soothing balm” is SO true. I firmly believe that’s why we’re here:) Second, this, “I personally feel more comfortable and at ease with the person who exudes love, warmth and a kind smile, then I am a firm and fit and flawless person.” makes me just smile and smile. I totally agree.
Great post! I’m a fitness-research junkie….love reading all of the random ideas provided by 101 ‘fitness experts’ about the BEST MOST EFFECTIVE! way to lose fat and gain muscle. I am very cautious about adding supplements – I keep finding that I have too many intolerances – but I read about them all…..waiting for the one thing that everyone can agree is the magic (organic, glutenfree, dairyfree, stimulantfree) bullet for every fitness routine. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want a pill that will do the work for me – I want something that enhances all of the work I already put into the gym!
On the Dove campaign – The point of the ad is solid, and I watch my teenage daughter struggle to understand her own beauty each day! What bothers me SO much is how objective the whole experiment is (and isn’t that the point, I guess??). The artist interviews the women, and he only has to slant his drawing a couple of degrees towards ‘ugly’ for those sketches to look unattractive. Then, when he interviews the observer, he has only the slant his sketch a couple of degrees towards ‘pretty’ in order for the the drawing to look attractive. Honestly, it’s all in the hands of the artist. HE is the one who skews the image the most. It bothers me because it feels like they are intentionally forcing the issue – “SEE how ugly you think you are?”
Ah this: ” Honestly, it’s all in the hands of the artist. HE is the one who skews the image the most.” is an excellent post. I wonder how much the experiment skewed his drawings, even just subconsciously. I want to hug your daughter. I want to hug every teenage girl I see! (No, that’s not creepy at all, lol) I just want them to know it gets easier and better.
Have you seen this? About why it makes this woman uncomfortable about the Dove campaign? http://jazzylittledrops.tumblr.com/post/48118645174/why-doves-real-beauty-sketches-video-makes-me
Also, I’ve tried taking supplements but since I’m so sensitive to smells, I can’t gag them down. Which is why I had to take children vitamins during my pregnancy. :/
Ah that’s it!! She nailed why I have that niggling little sense of discomfort every time I see someone repost that vid. It’s this: “It doesn’t really push back against the constant objectification of women. All it’s really saying is that you’re actually not quite as far off from the narrow definition as you might think that you are (if you look like the featured women, I guess).” and her summation pointing out that they are still saying beauty is our most powerful asset. When it ISN’T. Thank you for this link!!!
One of the reasons I love to bellydance is because it is an accepting sisterhood. Granted, I know of troupes that are not so accepting, but I feel blessed to have found a group of women who are more interested in enjoying the creative and physical process together than getting caught up in societally-imposed definitions of beauty or talent. We accept each other’s body shape, dance skill, coordination, etc because those are part of what make each of us unique…and we each have value. I guess my point is: as women, we need to not just to accept ourselves but also short eachother…and I hope that we all can find a sisterhood like that! …as for supplements: I’m addicted to my green drink! It makes me feel less guilty when my day gets busy and I am eating on the run.
I love that you’ve found a group like that! All of the bellydancing classes I’ve tried (not that many but more than a couple!) have been very body positive and woman-affirming. It’s an interesting juxtaposition to me since the way the dancing is often performed makes the woman an object for the male gaze but the way it is taught is very different.
A little history on bellydancing that you might find interesting: It is dated back to very earliest civilization. And it was started for women by women. Initially it was handed down from mother to daughter as techniques to assist in child birth. Then it evolved into entertainment that women would do amongst their female relatives in their gender-segregated societies. The movements are very feminine because they were created specifically for the female’s unique body structure. It wasn’t really until it came to America in the last 120 years that men really ever saw it. Leave to America to sexualize it! Hey, it’s what we do best..right?!
This is great timing for this article Charlotte. I just created a weight loss video tip for my blog on a similar topic. In this month’s Fitness magazine issue, Isla Fisher said that she felt women were too critical when they looked in the mirror. I believe the first step to curing our “I’m not enough” thoughts is to look in the mirror each morning and identify three things we like/love about ourselves. When we look in the mirror, it’s not only about what we see on the outside, we can also pick out the parts we like on the inside. With the positive energy this exercise will bring, we can achieve great things every day. WE NEED POSITIVE ENERGY TO FUEL POSITIVE RESULTS!
I love your comments about the new Dove commercial. I heard of a great exercise where we work to re-name parts of our bodies or our descriptions of them–kinda like your previous post, where perhaps my fat calves become my hard-working, always carrying me, nicely round legs. I think other people’s descriptions of us can sometimes help us in this process, but in the end they aren’t worth much if we can’t internalize them.
Yes, maybe that’s the key – just using other people’s opinion as a tool and not allowing it to supercede our own judgement!
Whenever I watch ads including the Dove ad I can feel the used car salesmen trying to manipulate me. Occasionally it is interesting as I look at how I am being sold to but I rarely pay to much attention to the message. The only one that works on me is the new and different gadget ads. My curiosity gets the better of me.
I loathe the new Dove campaign. I get the message — that we’re much harder on ourselves than others are — but for real? I know my face: every line, every forming wrinkle, every insanely fun eye-color shift, every newly-arrived sun damage spot… and I can tell you where each of these items are, because I obsess over them.
The casual observer (i.e., someone who’s just met me for maybe an hour or so) is not likely to notice the darkened pigment on my chin, nor will they bring it up in a sketch-artist type setting. But for me, when I’m differentiating myself from the thousands of other forty-somethings with blonde-highlighted hair, fair skin, and blue-green-grey eyes, those little lines and marks are what differentiate me. So yeah, of course I”m going to mention them. Even that wretched splotch on my chin that plagues me… or the spot on my right jaw.
I’m also okay with them. I know I’m more than the ravages of time on my face, minimal though they may be. And truth be told I rather like my smile crinkles by my eyes (some might call them crow’s feet 😛 ) and the little c-shaped mark on the left side of my smile, because I have this little lopsided half-smile thing I do that has worn a groove into my face. They mark me as “me”. They show where I’ve come from and where I am now.
And I’m in a pretty good place, others’ opinions be hanged.
This: “And truth be told I rather like my smile crinkles by my eyes (some might call them crow’s feet ) and the little c-shaped mark on the left side of my smile, because I have this little lopsided half-smile thing I do that has worn a groove into my face. They mark me as “me”. They show where I’ve come from and where I am now.” is so powerful! I love it! And good point about the societal motivation behind what both the women and the observers were saying.
Oh, just as a warning if anyone clicks on that recent post link, that’s to my “weird pets I own” blog. If you want to see my normal blog, this post should link to it. Lordy.
Not that anyone’s going to click, but I figured I’d pipe up so no one would freak out over the slithery things that share my house.
Well now I MUST check out your weird pets hahah!
It is super interesting hearing everyone’s different interpretations of the new Dove ad…
It struck a note with me because I do believe we are our own harshest critics and tend to focus a lot on small flaws we see instead of appreciating all of the great things and beauty that we possess.
I didn’t even consider the ad as someone else telling us what to believe about ourselves. But that is a super good point. If we want to be happy, we have to change how we think about ourselves.
I think being good enough is about focusing on the small victories instead of all the small flaws. I think personally I’m hardwired to always want to be better…nothing is ever quite enough….I’m always thinking…”What’s next?”
But that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate how far I’ve already come. We need to celebrate the little victories. If we accomplish something, we need to take time to recognize it before we move on.
I think we can be “good enough” yet still always want to learn and get better!
you have given me so much to think about that I want to be able to write this really insightful comment. and my mind is just whirring – so that will just have to wait. I think I really needed to read this right now as I have been in a motivation slump. Not sure what has happened when I was all gung ho and feeling great about myself – something happened and now I am just meh. Unmotivated to make it to the gym consistently – unmotivated to eat right – and just plain unfocused. And there is something way too powerful in the thinking that I need help just to measure up. And in some ways that I feel I am failing in that – it just makes me give up. This won’t last but it is really hard to lift out of it. I have so much more I want to write but I am at work and this is long enough. maybe I will submit a part 2. in essence I posted a comment to say Thanks because I really think I needed to read this and reevaluate how I feel about myself and how I look at those that I admire.
I seriously posted this on facebook the other day after seeing everyone post about the dove campaign:
I imagine that Dove sketch artist promotion would have gone very differently if they used internet dating profile descriptions of themselves for one sketch and had their date describe them for the other sketch.
Having just read a bunch of death/assault threats toward another woman who dared to have an opinion and speak it out loud, seeing the Dove ad makes me sad. I understand the point they’re going for, but it’s still all about physical beauty and how others see us. It still reinforces the messages that those are the most important things about us. We have so, so far to go.
On a much happier note, I went back to a yoga class that I hadn’t been to in nearly a year. The teacher asked what I’ve been doing because, in her words, “You look strong and healthy and great!” She didn’t say anything about weight, just strength and health. I LOVE that! So much so that I texted Hubby and asked him to take me to his rock climbing gym. After 16 years, I’m finally ready to try again. 🙂
I take vitamins and a fiber supplement. ‘Cause, y’know…
I haven’t ever taken supplements, and I haven’t seen the Dove campaign, but your musings on high school resonated a bit. I have a few childhood memories of being picked last (or close to last) for the neighborhood pick-up games. I wasn’t really into sports in high school (and it showed in my skill, or lack thereof), but it didn’t define me. Maybe because I didn’t care enough? I will say that sometimes I think of particularly hurtful moments from high school for some extra kick-ass motivation when I’m working out, but otherwise I don’t give it much thought! Anyway, these days I’m pretty darn proud of my body and what it can do. I’m so much stronger as I approach 40 than I have every been in my entire life! I feel awesome! I’ll never be the best. I’ll never be the fastest or the strongest, but I’m a better “me” than I was a year ago, or a decade ago, or than I was in high school! I don’t care to meet someone’s (or society’s) standard of “perfect”, “ideal” or “beautiful”. It’s so arbitrary, meaningless, and once it’s actually attained, what do you have to do to maintain it? Sell your soul? 😉 Anyway, once I actually shifted my thinking, I really did start to love myself more. And lately people have been asking me if I just got back from vacation (nope!), I think because I am HEALTHY and HAPPY! 🙂
After reading Carla’s FB about Dove – it really got me thinking & not liking it… I have enough issues already! 😉
This was NOT trite. This is why I read your blog, even though today I was deleting all non-urgent mail. This realization is what my mother-in-law has never managed, and why she’s a terribly trying person to be around. She is 74 years old and still believes she’s not enough, so she tears others down, denigrates their achievements, refuses to try new things and pulls a very high school ‘that’s not cool’ attitude about anything undeniably good that she didn’t do first. At a certain point this is called vulnerable narcissism, and it will eat you and your relationships alive. Pondering through this list, writing it out, and remembering it (sometimes, we’re all human) is a great step to being all kinds of healthy for you and anyone who reads this and finds it resonates with them.
And Charlotte? I think “moderately fit” is a serious underestimation of your physical capabilities. My junior-high gym teacher said fitness was being able to witness an accident, run two blocks to a pay phone and make a useful call for help, and return to be helpful. The scenario is obsolete, but I’d say that’s a test you’d pass pretty easily.
I love your posts, they always hit home. Just one thing, the normal human heart only has 2 ventricles. 4 chambers, ( 2 atria and 2 ventricles). So be happy you were not born with three!
Great post Charlotte!
I always looked at it this way;
My fitness gains are the result of gut busting work. Work that makes me sweat, stress, strain, get out of breath and end up giggling like a star fish on the floor afterward. In short, I put my body and mind through a bit of pain and suffering. If a pill or powder is going to help me see gains, of any kind, it’s going to have to make me experience more of the same. It would have to cause sore muscles, labored breathing, and sweating.
Who would ever want a pill that does all that?
I have taken a few supplements over the years, but usually just for 3 days or so. Then I come to my senses, (having wasted X amount of money) and ditch them, because I’m basically afraid of them. They are not reviewed by the FDA and God only knows what’s in most of them. I haven’t bought any in over a year, (my most recent waste of money was on raspberry ketones after Dr. Oz promoted them.) Why the purchase in the first place? Usually it stems from a combination of lack of patience/ desperation to see results faster. Of last I am experiencing a period of great maturity and am being so sensible in my diet and exercise routine that I hardly recognize myself! And it only took 5 decades to get me there!
Gaye
I just spent 10 minutes laughing about your spoiler alert. I’ll be stealing that line one day.
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