Are you Healthy or are you just Vain and does it really matter?

Think about why you reach for celery over pita or water over juice or popcorn over Doritos.  Is it because you would rather the healthy option because you feel great and it tastes great or is it because you measure and weigh yourself every week? 

What drives us to be healthy? Is it vanity or do we truly care about our health?    Maybe you do it for the health reasons but also weigh yourself every week.  Is that a middle ground or is that vanity?  Do you care more about your health than you appearance? You might get the same results from caring about your health or just being vain but does it matter? If you get the same healthy, fit body then is what drives it an issue? 

Most women would say that they are somewhere in the middle, health for health but not opposed to an occasional crash diet or extra workout to fit into a party dress or a tropical vacation swimsuit. But what do you think is a good balance or should we just be healthy for only health reasons and so long as we are healthy then how we look should not be a concern?  Obviously!  Well I hear you scoff, in an ideal world yes but the reality is that there is an entire industry built around this, a few actually.  The gyms, the fad diets, the fashion, they all put sexy bodies as the end goal.  I love the gym and there are lots of amazing ones out there and I have a slightly special diet in that I eat more veggies than anything else and all those cute summer dresses that I can't wait to wear, well I want to look good in them.

We are living in a time right now where healthy bodies and body image is fashionable, which is amazing and I for one am loving it, but this hasn't always been the case.  Some of us older milienials will remember a time when models were painfully thin; heroine chic it was called (I am not kidding).  Models were who embodied this look were pale skinned, had dark undereye circles, and were very thin and androgynous.  Kate Moss was the leader of the gang and she is beautiful but it left very room for girls with curves and I will tell you that I was wearing hipster pants for years before I realized that high waisted jeans were actually my friend.  So does it really matter if you end up with the same results, you're a healthy weight and fitness level, you are eating healthy foods in healthy portions and you're active regularly.  I think that health needs to come first and few people would probably disagree but women are impressionable, especially when we are young and the reality is that a high number of us do or have put vanity before health in an unhealthy way.  Yes we look great but we got the banging body by starving ourselves and hitting the gym too much.  

There are obvious signs that vanity isn’t healthy and that is definitely not ok but would we really reach for the celery, water and popcorn if we didn’t care quite so much how we looked and would we really just do it because it was healthy?  Do we really love ourselves that much?

I am going to leave it at that, a little something to think about in your quiet moments this week...at the gym or eating some kale.  ;)