This topic has come up time and time again around the refeed table. While munching on forbidden fare with my fellow bodybuilders (or fantasizing about it), we ask ourselves the question, "Why can't we live like normal people?"
Normal people go about their daily lives, eating when they want, where they want, and what they want. Normal people eat at Taco Bell, Arby's, and KFC. Normal people go to movies and snack on buckets of buttery popcorn and boxes of Milk Duds. Normal people can go to any restaurant at any time and order anything they want.
Normal people don't think in terms of clean menus and planned meals. Normal people don't precook chicken breasts, boil dozens of eggs, discover strange concoctions of herbs to season with, and pack coolers everytime they leave the house. Normal people don't eat so that they can maximize their gains in the gym; they eat because it's entertaining and comforting.
And normal people don't look like us.
It sounds prideful, doesn't it? Well, maybe it is. Or maybe it's the truth. I made a decision to live this way; and it's my own fault, really. I could live like everyone else, but it would be unsatisfying now. Now that I know what it's like to have a fit physique and feel energy like never before, I could never go back to the life I once lived. Yeah, I dream about it; and yeah, I indulge on occasion. But I always come back to my simple life: eating clean, eating often, and eating like an athlete.
Normal doesn't exist. And if it did, I wouldn't want to be normal. Normal is boring. Normal is unhealthy. Normal is nontransforming.
I love to be challenged. Don't you? I love to see what my body can do when I feed it the right stuff at the right time. Yeah, it's not always fun. But the results more than make up for what I'm "missing."
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20 comments:
"And normal people don't look like us." After all the sacrifice, discipline, and workouts, you should look different! If you didn't then what would be the point?
Wow Kim! I need to read this right now. Thanks so much for telling it like it is. I have to keep all this stiff in check if I want to have the body of an athlete.
Great entry Kim. I love reading your blog.
Normal in our society is overweight and unhealthy. Thats why healthcare is soo expensive. i love the challenge too.
Excellent blog Kim!
Hi Kim,
Congratulations on all your successes! You are so right,I believe we have forgotten what "normal" means though,200 years ago food in a box,fast food and watching TV all day did not exist and we ate for "normal growth". Now we are lazy and choose to eat crap and that is not "normal to our bodies" -people are abnormally abusing bad food and are getting sick. We are living normal as it is supposed to be but we are not your "common fast food junkies"!
Normal is defined as "Conforming with, adhering to, or constituting a norm, standard, pattern, level, or type; typical" In America, the norm is, 32.7% of Americans are overweight & 34% are obese. Praise God that "normal" has been left in your past!! *wink* :D
So true Kim; as you know I just blogged about this the other day too! But I'm liking what clean eating is doing to my body!!!!
Thanks for all of your help & support!
I have thought this 100x but still need to keep it in check. As usual, you put it out there when I needed to hear it.
i agree. normal people are boring and come by the dozen. It's funny you bring this up because just last night I was looking at pictures of myself from when I ate fast food all the time and didn't work out. I was not fat, but my body was "sloppy" I had no tone at all. Now I look at my body and see how much of an accomplishment I am as a person. Those muscles were built by ME and that fat was burnt off by ME eating right. There is no better reward.
Normal?? No thanks!! If everyone keeps eating "normal" it's no wonder the obesity rate keeps rising!!
I will not be normal!! I will carry a cooler bag, I will premake my meals for the week, I will eat chicken and sweet potatoes......ha!
I'm normal. Well, I eat normal and it's not that we don't like you. We just want to look like you without doing any of the work. Thanks for all the great tips and congratulations on all you have accomplished.
Your right Kim, and I think it takes courage to change.
Only when you are striving to be what you want will you find happiness, and even though we may slip up we get right back to the challenge.
i love this post!
Very well written. :)
I'm a normal person. BUT...I'm fighting it tooth and nail. I want to be AB-normal....:)
Great post...I have the normal or be like all the rest talk all the time, but I can't do it, wouldn't want to do it and it's great to be abnormal together :)
Again kim, you are somehow reading my mind!! I did a show in april..and have been struggling with coming away from 'contest' diet into what we athletes would call normal clean eating, but not contest diet. I don't want crap I don't like crap...but I am over eating the 'good" stuff and am finding it difficult being 'normal' ie eating good carbs, fruit and more quantity than usual. I agree and disagree with you. Eating clean is where its at...!! Buuut as competitors it can be very easy to lose sight of that and become overly obsessed w what we are putting in our mouths,when not on comp mode which can breed unhealthy body images and diet problems... Its about balance...and applying principles learned and making good choices..and being good to our bodies and minds...
Kim you continue to be an inspiration and I really appreciate your frankness while going through the process!! Trisha
I love that you blogged about this. "And normal people don't look like us." This makes all the meal & training planning and execution ALL WORTH IT! =) So cool that you want to get into body building competitions too! I want BOTH for myself =) Hahaha! Anyway, I don't want to be part of obese /overweight % anymore. I don't want to be NORMAL...I want to be EXTRAORDINARY! Thank you for telling it as it is. YOU ROCK, KIM! Fit for Life, Baby! xoxo
Sweet*Trina
Hey Kim - I so needed to read this right now. I have been struggling with this the past couple of days. I went to a wedding last night and everyone was having wine, dinner rolls, and cake, while I ate my cooler packed dinner of chicken and veggies. As I was eating I was thinking about what it would feel like to have a glass of wine and a piece of cake (maybe even 2 pieces of cake like everyone else). I don't even know what it's like to eat and live a "normal" life. Sometimes I become very frustrated with it and want to throw the towel in, but then I remember how good it feels to be strong, lean, healthy, energic and fit. I wouldn't trade eating clean and living a life of discpline for anything, but some days are just easier than others. It's comforting to know I'm not the only one who thinks about this stuff!
Keep up the great work. You look amazing and are truly an inspiration!!
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