5 tips to rid belly fat. 7 exercises for shapely arms. Get the booty you want!
The health and fitness industry has grown at an exorbitant rate over the past ten years. A lot of my friends have gym memberships and our conversations often revolve around choosing which fitness class we will participate in this week, or discussing 'healthy options' at a local cafe. Our social media is flooded with pictures of scantily clad bodies and colourful meals with carefully chosen filters, tagged things like #instafit #summerbody #fitfam #livingthedream ...you get the idea.
In fact, if you are a Generation Y female, your social media feeds and home pages are probably quite similar. We have been sucked in by the notion that if we make our lives healthier, it will ultimately result in happiness.
Cue the quick fix!
This 10 day detox will change my life! This 5 week boot camp will have me beach-ready by Christmas! People will admire me, and I will be HAPPY.
'Health equals happiness' is the 2014 version of the get-rich quick scheme. If only you have this, become this, or believe this, happiness will be present in bucket-loads. There's no denying the psychological and physical benefits of good health: quality sleep, better skin, healthier digestive system, less stress, and a more positive outlook on life (to name just a few). But does it bring happiness?
Society tells me that if I have six figures in my bank account, happiness will come to the party. If I have six pack abs and fill out some booty shorts, happiness will be chillin' on my couch. If I order cruelty-free, organic, fair-trade, vegan lattes with a dash of artificial sweetener, happiness will turn up like a trophy to award my social conscience and healthy lifestyle.
But health, or wealth, or behaving with a social conscience does not bring the happiness we want. It is an illusion.
Solomon's "perfect" woman
Since creation, humans have been looking for that elusive state of being, that feeling called 'happiness' that is always tantalisingly beyond our reach. And due to our fallen nature, we search harder and harder for it in the world around us.
As King Solomon described the "perfect" woman in Proverbs 31, here's an adaption for society today.
"Who can find a healthy, wealthy woman with a social conscience? She is more precious than vanishing polar ice.
Her friends can admire her, and she will greatly enrich their social media newsfeed. She brings animals good, and not harm, all the days of her life; she buys her vegetables from organic stores, and avoids pesticides and chemicals.
She gets up before dawn to attend bootcamp, and checks her smartphone calendar for the day's schedule. She inspects her Instagram feed, and shares carefully staged selfies for her friends.
She dresses in stylish gym wear on weekends, and is a yoga advocate. Her local coffee shop rises up and calls her their favourite customer; her personal trainer praises her. "There are many fit, healthy women, but you surpass them all!
Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a successful woman will be greatly praised."
What's wrong with bootcamps?!
Before you get in a twist, I am not dismissing this kind of lifestyle: in fact I'm a regular gym-goer, love my comfy workout clothes, buy fair trade coffee, and (mostly!) choose the 'healthy option'. I'm a huge advocate of wholesome nutrition to promote wellbeing.
But I'm a firm believer that it will not bring happiness.
Happiness isn't in the things I do, the situation I am in, the lifestyle I live, or the person I am. It is not a product of success, or a measure of success.
Happiness comes from knowing who I am in Christ Jesus. It is a result of knowing I am precious in His sight regardless of my weight, my bank account or whether my apples were sprayed with pesticides.
So stop and consider, are you happy in Christ?
Are YOU happy? "Rejoice in the Lord, and again I say, rejoice." Philippians 4 verse 4
Claire Debrois grew up in Feilding, NZ, and holds a communications degree in public relations from Massey University. She lives with her husband in Wellington and works in digital communications for the Bible Society. She enjoys keeping fit and active, and is a field engineer in the Army Reserves.
Claire Debrois previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/claire-debrois.html