Is Skinny Healthier? Find Out!
By Genevieve Cunningham
Weight loss is a common goal among almost all people. We want to feel good in our bodies. We want to be healthy. But most of the time, our initial desire to drop some pounds has everything to do with appearance. We want to look good, and there's nothing wrong with that. Weight loss only becomes a problem when we see and work toward the wrong goal. Instead of health, we focus on looking skinny in a swimsuit. But is skinny always better? Or are we fooling ourselves with this perspective? If you're trying to lose some weight, take a look at whether skinny should be the goal, or whether you need to find a new measure of success.
Why Do We Obsess Over Skinny?
It's pretty easy to see why we have such an obsession with being thin. Have you ever picked up a magazine? Turned on the TV? Seen an advertisement in a mall or shopping center? Thin is marketed as the best. We have role models who are low-fat and toned. And while celebrating health is certainly good, celebrating weight only is a slippery slope.
Is Skinny Better?
Though it's easy to assume that skinny is better, that's not always the case. If you're thin, but you have high blood pressure and heart disease, then you're not healthy. If you dropped 50 pounds but you did it by starving yourself, that's not good. Keeping an optimal body fat percentage is certainly a good idea, but obsessing over inches, pounds, or physical appearance isn't the best way to boost your health.
What Are Better Measuring Sticks?
If you're serious about getting in better health, find some other ways to measure success. While you can still look at overall weight loss, you should also be looking at cholesterol, blood pressure, heart rate, and even energy levels. Measure your health by how you feel and how well you can function. If you take this route first, the boost in confidence and happiness with appearance will come on its own.
Being thin might sound good, and in a lot of ways, it may indicate good health. But it shouldn't be the ultimate goal or only measuring stick. Find other ways to measure both health and success, and you'll start healing and improving your body from the inside out. Better health? Do it the right way and you'll have better health for years to come.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Lake Worth, Fla.