Buzz
While some individuals exercise for health benefits, others are driven by competition or the desire to achieve personal goals. However, the most common motivation for gym-goers is to enhance their physical appearance—whether it's shedding pounds, building muscle, or achieving a toned look. Yet, I propose that this shouldn't be your sole focus.
Caring about your appearance isn't inherently wrong. We all face internal and societal pressures regarding how we look. These include external expectations, self-confidence, and even your emotions about your body image—topics often better suited for therapy than a workout session. Your body remains constant, but your perception of it is intricate. Due to this complexity, altering your body's shape alone is unlikely to transform how you truly feel about it. Here's why.
Achieving fitness goals takes time
Starting a body transformation journey means waiting weeks—or even months—before noticing any visible changes in the mirror. While fat loss might show results relatively quickly, building muscle feels like an endless process. And honestly, it kind of is.
If your goal is to both gain muscle and lose fat, prepare for an even longer journey. You’ll need to eat more to build muscle, then cut calories to shed fat, repeating the cycle. Alternatively, maintaining your current diet and waiting for muscle to replace fat is an even slower approach than tackling one goal at a time.
It’s important to note that the muscle you can realistically gain in a few months—or even a year—is less than you might expect. For instance, gaining four to seven pounds of muscle in your first three months of training, with slower progress afterward, might feel disappointing. Spread those few pounds across your body, and you might see a slightly larger butt, but it won’t be dramatically bigger—nor will your shoulders, biceps, or other target areas.
Your dream physique might remain out of reach
But suppose you persevere. You lose fat, build muscle, dedicate years of effort, and finally achieve that larger butt, defined abs, or whatever you initially dreamed of. The question is: will you truly be satisfied?
For many, the answer is no. You might achieve visible abs but still dislike your “blocky” waist. Your butt may grow, yet it feels insufficient. Toned arms might come at the cost of ill-fitting jackets. Comparing your progress to an influencer or celebrity you admire often leaves you feeling inadequate.
The reality is, if you started exercising out of self-loathing, you’ll likely always find something to dislike about your body. Overcoming an eating disorder isn’t about reaching a certain weight and declaring perfection. The issue was never the body itself.
Bringing up eating disorders might seem extreme, but viewing body image as a mental health concern is crucial. Even without a clinical diagnosis, unhealthy thoughts about your body can dominate your mind. According to the National Eating Disorders Association,
Body dissatisfaction involves feelings of shame, anxiety, and self-consciousness. Those with high levels of body dissatisfaction often perceive their bodies as flawed compared to others, leading to depression, isolation, low self-esteem, and eating disorders. While eating disorders have no single cause, body dissatisfaction is the most significant factor in developing anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa...
Recognizing yourself in this description doesn’t mean quitting the gym. Exercise benefits physical health, and you can address mental health issues while enjoying activities like weightlifting or running, especially if your struggles are mild. (Find resources, including a helpline, from NEDA here.) However, shifting your gym focus toward healthier goals is essential.
What if you shifted your focus to what your body is capable of achieving?
Even if weight loss or body image concerns initially brought you to the gym, they don’t have to define your journey forever. Many people start exercising to improve their appearance but end up captivated by the sense of achievement that comes from discovering their body’s potential.
This could mean becoming the bench press champion at your gym, mastering advanced gymnastics moves at CrossFit, or falling in love with Zumba so much that you transition into dancing. You might even explore a new sport or compete in events related to your gym activities, like running 5k races or participating in powerlifting competitions.
You don’t need to abandon your desire to change your appearance. After all, we’re human. However, focusing on enjoying yourself in a healthy way can make physical changes a natural byproduct of your efforts.
