Anorexia to Arm Curl…The aftermath. Physique to Fat.
Following on from the blog I did earlier in the year, I expected that by now (5 months down the line) that life would have returned to normal.
Yet it hasn’t, and this is exactly why I wanted to do the blog in the first place:
To raise awareness for those who were seeking the bodies of physique athletes. To prove how closely linked the pressure with dropping body fat over muscle could be for those who are generally trying to lose large amounts of weight…such as with anorexia.
They often say after a physique modelling competition – people, especially women, rebound. They put on lots of weight. Why?
Because the body, not meant to drop to such low body fat percentages (especially in women,) clings on to fat as the athletes begin to eat a little more reasonably.
After the famine, the body prepares for the next famine by increasing its storage potential….that being increasing its fat content.
PLUS, the mind jumps in to assist. It encourages the athlete to potentially overeat, maybe even binge. Again – an action which occurs to prepare the body for an upcoming famine in the future.
We can’t even necessarily override this cycle with the use of will power. The body is much smarter than our own conscious thought. Eventually the internal warrior for ‘preservation of our health’ will win.
This is incredibly traumatic. From physique to fat in the blink of an eye. It may encourage extreme methods for weight loss, possibly even compensation techniques such as skipping means, intermittent fasting, weight loss medication, abusing laxatives, thyroxine tablets – taking someone from a deprived state to a more bulimic type state.
This is seen with chronic anorexics too. Again, a parallel in behaviours between the ‘mentally unwell’ and those who are supposedly ‘super healthy’ with the ‘body of a temple.’
For me, I gained the appropriate rebound weight but am stuck in a dilemma of not being sure to try to lose weight, frightening to lose muscle, but not aesthetically liking some of the muscle I do have, embarrassed at people seeing me post blog, complete lack of enthusiasm for the gym after loving it most of my life (following complete saturation of training and running on empty) and just generally wishing myself back to the mind and body I had before I even started the blog.
So 5 months on, my motto and outcomes are the same. Train for health, train because it is good for you, train for life. Don’t train to drop to dangerous levels of body fat or to sustain unhealthy body images.
#traininmoderation #anorexiatoarmcurl #wellness #holisitic #life #steadyeddie
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