Why Lean Does Not Equal Healthy
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I know when you see women with shredded abs, extremely defined muscles, and just an overall lean physique, you automatically think “#goals!” Am I right or am I right? Not so fast, sister! Just because someone’s body is super lean doesn’t mean that is a body you want to strive for. Why? Because lean does not always equal healthy! Want to know what I mean by that? Tune into this episode of Embrace Your Real where I break down one of the biggest fitness misconceptions out there. My hope for this episode is to shine a new light on those bodies by helping you understand the drastic measures it takes to get there, the dangerous mentality it creates, and ultimately why it shouldn’t be something you are striving towards.
TRANSCRIPT:
Hey there, beautiful human. You're listening to Embrace Your Real with me, Julie Ledbetter, a podcast where I empower you to just be you. With each episode, I dish you a dose of real talk and actionable advice for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned if you're ready to embrace your real. Let's get and let's go.
Hello. Welcome back to the Embrace Your Real Podcast. So excited that you are here. First of all, thank you for spending a couple of moments with me today. If you haven't already subscribed to the podcast, it would mean the absolute world to me if you just click pause for a second, subscribe to the podcast, and if you haven't rated and reviewed the podcast on Apple podcast, that means the absolute world to me. It really does help the podcast get out there. And if you do, please, please, please take a screenshot of it and send me a DM so that I can personally send you a voice message back. I want to connect with you. I want to personally thank you for doing so because like I said, it really does help us out.
All right. Without further ado, let's dive right into today's episode. I'm about to spit fire on you for a second. So let me go. Okay. Five, four, three, two, one. There is a major misconception that I need to address with you and that is that lean does not equal healthy. To be transparent with you, I think so many of us are completely oblivious to this. I think that we spend our days scrolling on Instagram, we spend our days scrolling on Facebook, on TikTok, and we see these fits pose, we see these healthy influencers all over social media doing their little workout, showing their abs, showing their booty, showing their very, very, very lean physiques and we think that that is the ultimate thing on our quest for health. Like, we look at those physiques and we think that that defines health.
I remember those days. I remember those days that I aim to be the leanest, the most shredded, and I genuinely thought that that would make me the healthiest I would ever be. I thought that once I got the visible six pack and there was one point you guys I was frustrated I couldn't get an eight pack. Like, what? What am I thinking? It was crazy. It was crazy and I thought that I would have peaked on my health journey like once I got that, I would have been like at the top of my health journey. And it couldn't be further from the truth.
I think this is the biggest misconception because we constantly see these very, very lean physiques and that is what we're shown as the health star on the cover of a magazine. That is what we're shown as the health star leading a workout on TV. I want to be clear, and I don't want to just generalize because there are in some cases people who are very lean and they are healthy, but more times than not, the ones who are very, very lean are not going about it in a healthy way.
You have to understand that those magazine covers that you are seeing all over or those women that you are seeing that are very, very, very lean, a lot of times, it takes a lot to get there and it's not sustainable. They're drastically restricting their calories. They're focusing on the lowest calories possible that they can be eating. They're overexercising. They're not listening to their bodies and they're forcing their body to be something that's completely not natural to what it needs to be. There are more and more women now, and I think it's a beautiful aspect of just being vulnerable and transparent, there's so many women now coming out saying that they had put their bodies through so much stress and it's actually creating like longterm damage to their health, like serious hormonal issues, digestive issues, severe depression, weight gain and so, so, so many more.
So I have to remind you that those things that people are struggling with, like it's taking them years to heal from it because they've put their bodies in such a low caloric deficit, they have put their bodies in such extreme things that their bodies need that time to heal. So I need to repeat it again to you, that lean does not always equal healthy.
In fact, the definition of health in the dictionary literally says the condition of being sound in body, mind, and soul. So why is it that most of society equates health as lean? Because I can tell you straight up when I was lean and when I was shredded, I was literally the furthest thing away from being sound in my body, mind, and soul. There was nothing sound about me in that moment. I was constantly starving. My mood swings were crazy. They were very unpredictable. I had very low energy most of the time. My brain was foggy. I did not have a lot of confidence. I was not enjoying my life.
I remember looking, like I said, I remember looking at my visible six pack abs being like, "What would it take for me to get an eight pack? Or I just need to lose a little pudge here." And it was like this crazy, crazy mind pick that I was in, for lack of a better word. I was so far from healthy. I was so far from healthy.
Currently, 2020, I am carrying more body fat than when I was at my leanest physique. I'm talking when I was at my leanest, I think I was at maybe 14% body fat, 12 to 14% body fat. I'm now, I mean, I don't know. I would venture to guess I'm like anywhere from 18 to 22% body fat, but I can tell you that I am more okay with that and I honestly don't care about body fat because I believe that I am truly in my healthiest self right now and I can tell you that I've never felt healthier. I've never felt healthier mentally, physically, emotionally in my life. And as the dictionary defines health, the condition of being sound in body, mind and soul, I am the healthiest I have ever been and ultimately that is most important.
Now again, I'm not saying that every single person with a lean physique is not healthy. There are so many genetics that are different. People are different. But what I am saying is that you have to stop looking at a lean physique and immediately thinking that that is health, immediately thinking that that is your goal, or that you would have peaked in your health journey when you're lean. Because I can promise you, speaking from experience, it's not worth it.
I don't want you to idolize these lean physiques because I know what it's like to have a person say hashtag goals to me when I was in my leanest physique and me wanting to scream back through that phone saying, "You don't understand. If I could only feel more confident in my body. I don't care about this lean physique." So that's why I've committed the last four plus years of my life to really learning what does it look like for me to have a sustainable relationship with food and with movement and really creating a healthy mindset. I want that for you.
So I want to challenge you to redefine what health looks like to you. I want to ask you three questions, and I want you to be able to say yes to all three questions because I truly believe if you say yes to each of these three questions that I'm about to ask you, that you are pursuing a healthy and maintainable and sustainable lifestyle and that's truly what's going to give you ultimate health.
Number one, is it possible for you to maintain this lifestyle, the training and nutrition that you're doing for longer than two years? Number two, do you feel sound in what you're doing? Like do you feel like this is something that you look forward to daily? The third question, like do you truly feel good? Do you feel really good in your life? Do you just feel happy? Do you feel confident? If you can answer yes to those three questions, I believe that you are on a quest of pursuing your health in a maintainable and sustainable way.
I hope that you were able to take something from this episode. Be sure to share it with your girlfriends. Remember that lean does not always equal healthy. I just want you to feel your healthiest today, this week, this month, this year, and constantly go back to that definition, the definition of health, the condition of being sound in your body, your mind and your soul.
Be sure to screenshot this episode, tag me, juliealedbetter. I love connecting with you guys on Instagram. I will talk to you guys in the next episode.
All right, sister. That's all I got for you today, but I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you are not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so juliealedbetter, yes, it's with an a in the middle, for that daily post-workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing, be sure to subscribe to Apple podcast to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world. I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace your real because you're worth it.