In my work as an eating disorder's specialist and Registered Psychologist, I frequent the dark side of our culture's obsession with physical appearance. It is not a nice place to see so often. "Health, fitness, weight loss, leaning down, etc." all about becoming a 'better you.' Really? Is it actually 'better' to be obsessed with one's physical appearance and adhering to our culture's tremendous imbalance of what dictates beauty? Research is finally getting past the pharmaceutical companies and multimillion dollar diet industry to release true statistics about physical health.
Let's review some of these facts: 1. Diets don't work (yet what is the topic of frequent conversations with friends in our lives?!). The sad thing is it's proven! Diets DON'T work!! In fact, they create what is now formally called 'weight cycling' which is proven to be very destructive and damaging to our physical bodies, let alone what it does to our self-esteem and mental health. Frequent dieting causes the body to actually move it's weight set-point higher and higher, which leads to additional weight gain after recurring bouts of harsh/extreme weight loss attempts driven by imbalance in diet or exercise.
2. Being leaner doesn't necessarily make you more healthy. This argument falls right back into the place of balance and moderation. Optimum health is found in a place of balance, within your body's natural weight range, not in morbid obesity and not in a place of extreme leanness, even if you don't meet the criteria for anorexia. Being too lean can damage the body's organs and lead to other forms of illness, including increased infertility in women and problems with reproduction.
3. Being in one's best health is not confined to physical fitness! If that is the focus of all that you do...daily obsession with food, fitness and what you're doing with your body in pursuit of 'health,' then you are incredibly out of balance! The care of body needs to be in balance with the amount of time, energy, focus and resource you put towards the care of your mind, soul and spirit! Think about it being a pie -- does your physical care take up more than 25% of your time, focus and energy? If so, your life is out of balance and you may be in danger of developing orthorexia nervosa -- a mental disorder that focuses on 'being healthy' to an extreme. One's extreme practices with food and exercise are buffered with the plea that you are 'just being healthy.' But it controls your life -- imbalanced focus on exercise, 'healthy eating' (which enforces the misbelief that there are good foods vs. bad foods rather than the truth that food is just fuel and there are bad portion sizes and bad frequency, but everything is okay within the scope of moderation!).
4. Having more muscle than fat/being 'leaner' and more fit does NOT make you a 'better' person. In all likelihood it gives you a puffed up sense of self-importance and superiority over those who aren't as 'fit,' possibly even judging the hearts of those who don't 'measure up' to your standard of fitness/food obsession -- thinking that they are somehow lacking in self-discipline or are 'weak minded.' This tends to lead to a place where judgment becomes the filter by which you compare yourself to others (which becomes a losing battle all on its own as there will always be someone more muscular, more lean, more anorexic, etc). Obsession with anything leads to imbalance. Judging people based on physical appearance and the externals is not only wrong according to Biblical standards, it turns you into a self-absorbed person who starts to base their self-worth on keeping up their own appearances. A dangerous place to 'store' the basis for your worth and value!
5. Moderation works. Period. The Bible directs us continually towards moderation and balance. Moderate eating, moderate levels of physical activity, moderate work, moderate rest, moderate spending of resources, etc. The only problem with moderation is that it doesn't sell! People want quick fixes -- they want instant gratification and 'microwave convenience.' They want to correct a lifetime of poor choices with a simple plan -- 'can't I just fix everything in my life in one easy step?! A personal trainer? A therapist? A gym membership? A diet program?' Well, have we got a deal for you! That's why health and wellness is literally the largest, multibillion dollar industry -- feeding on the lie that pursuit of physical fitness/external appearance is the highest pursuit! Someone is making a good living from you struggling with the same lie that they are perpetuating. Clever!
The other problem is that moderation takes time and requires process. As human beings we typically cringe at having to tolerate distress and work through process. Moderation is actually the most cost effective and sustainable method of change. It almost sounds too easy. It moves you away from all or nothing thinking and into 'some.' From years of working with eating disordered clients I can honestly profess to you and endorse that the correction to binge eating, emotional eating, over exercise, restriction with food, and every other form of food/exercise imbalance is to practice moderation. Don't swing to the opposite end of the pendulum only to the middle. Moderation IS the correction! Make your physical activity something enjoyable -- walking, swimming, playing volleyball/soccer, play with little kids, walk the dog, do housework, gardening, yard work, etc. Enjoyment increases sustainability. Moderation truly brings about the most sustainable and effective method of change.
2 Corinthians 4:10-11 says, "Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the
life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the
life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies." What if we focused on how Jesus can be seen through us? Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit - "Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?" I Corinthians 6:19. The focus is not to adorn the temple and worship the temple! This is idolatry! We are to use the temple to 'honour God with your body.' (6:20).
Our bodies are the carrying case for our spirit. Wouldn't it be more wise to invest our time and energy and resource into the part of us that is eternal rather than scrambling about madly as though we can fight our own mortality? Our bodies are dying. They are perishable goods. Take care of your body in appropriate, MODERATE means. Then use that vessel to give honour and glory to God -- by pursuing wholeness and wellness in body, mind, soul and spirit.
