Are YOU in a Fitness Cult? Part 2
Posted by BEAST Sports on
Last Monday I talked about the cults and groups within the fitness and health industry, and today we'll go over a few more.
We've already mentioned the Crossfitters and Paleo groups and now we'll go over IIFYM peeps. If you don't know what IIFYM stands for, it's "If It Fits Your Macros". Which means that their diets are solely based around hitting their macronutrient numbers. So if they have room at the end of the day to fulfill their caloric/nutrient intake they'll eat Pop-Tarts, Ice Cream, Candy, etc. While I will say that, to get in shape and shredded come shows, it can work and work really well for some people. Is it healthy as a whole? No, you can refer back to my Paleo grouping in part 1 to see that I encourage whole and natural foods for overall health. Yet, my main problem with the IIFYM people are that a lot of them look down upon other fitness folks that keep their diets more natural and mock them by posting pics of some of their meals and saying stuff like "Ice Cream Sundae..2 weeks out...still shredding". That's awesome that you decide and are able to do it that way, but there isn't a need to look down upon others that decide to go a different route.
And lastly are the Vegetarians and Vegans. To each his or her own, I myself eat meat, love meat, and will never stop. The whole "Pink Slime" stuff doesn't scare me as I try to eat the best sources possible. I do not believe that meat is bad for you, I actually believe that when it comes from natural wholesome sources (the way it is intended to be) it comes with plenty of benefits. My BEEEEF with the Vegans and Vegetarians are that some take these bogus news reports and awfully done studies and use them to not only persuade others but also to try to prosecute people for eating animals.
My point of these last two blogs were not to encourage people to lean one way or another about taking sides when it comes to these groups, but more of having an opened mind. It's easy to say "Oh you do Crossfit and eat Vegan? Well that's just dumb, you should do Zumba and eat burgers to fit your macros"...
The only thing I ask is that before you say something ridiculous like that, take a step back, and look at some of the positives such as...that person who never worked out before has now found a workout that he or she enjoys, and also is at least somewhat aware of what they are putting in their mouth.
Stephen Obar (@OBARmuscle) is a writer for various fitness publications, a personal trainer, diet coach and a cancer survivor. Stephen currently spends his time hitting the weights as well as continuing to soak up all he can on the newest and latest bodybuilding and nutrition studies and news. When he is 'relaxing', you can find him in the kitchen, and overseeing his little brother's nutrition and training as he is a sponsored Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athlete.