WHAT BEING DEAD HAS GOT TO DO WITH FITNESS AND FASHION

Let me introduce you to my friend Jane.  Young, strong willed, extremely gorgeous looking lady with statistics that would make any man’s jaw drop. The kind of lady you would think MUST have won the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria (MBGN) crown some 3 or 4 odd years ago.  Yes my friend Jane was a knocker; you know that kind of girl who looked like all outfits were made just for her.  Everything and I mean everything looked good on Jane.  So this story is set at the birthday bash my other friend Moji held at some posh hideaway in Lekki Phase 1 last year, with some Lagos big boys in attendance cause Moji is kind of high profile.  Who was I to refuse such an invite?  So awesome Jane and I arrive together and make our grand entrance looking all spruced up, with my beauty queen strutting those curves like oh... and am a girl o...lol.  All eyes were on Jane and not me, annoyingly, but you know how men are with curves.  She takes a seat smiling and taunting the men folks like “so which one of you has the “balls” to come ask me for a dance”.  A couple of minutes later this dapper dude walks up to save the pride of the male specie, picks Jane up and heads to the dance floor to gyrate those hips, and that gorgeous body... My eyes wander to the rest of the men, seeing as the queen was not seated, I guessed I was next in line to the throne right? ...what’s up with these blokes...then just as suddenly pandemonium struck!  There was a fracas on the dance floor. At first I thought some drunken “money miss road” had started embarrassing himself again. Then that dress caught my eyes hugging that beautiful creation of God...lying on the dance floor.  The rush for the nearest hospital. What a tragedy.

 “A fit and healthy body is the best type of fashion statement” – Jess C. Scott

 

We’ve already defined what fashion is in my previous post ‘Fashion Intro’ and highlighted some fashion tips in the ‘choosing an outfit to wear as a wedding guest’ post.  Well Fitness in this context is defined as ‘the quality or state of being fit’ i.e. to be sound physically and mentally – health wise. 

Fat Accumulations and the Threat to our Health

I remember when I was much younger with my slim figure and flat tummy. I could wear just about any kind of body hugging dress or miniskirt, and eat just about anything too.  But as I grew older, that slim body left without a warning and I didn’t even know when or why. Truth is we all desire that flat tummy we all had as teens growing up but as we get older nature MUST take its cause and fat accumulation around different corners of our body would come with an enlargement of that gut; that ugly gut that takes away our six packs or flat tummy and makes it more difficult to fit into those lovely outfits we find. This post is however not just about the outfit we wear, but about being fit and healthy too. Did you know that there are two types of fat that accumulates around the tummy? There is the subcutaneous fat and the visceral fat.

Visceral fat aside from the fact that it prevents you from fitting into that dress or suit, can cause you a heart attack, like my dear friend Jane. Yes Jane had excessive visceral fat.  And yes it’s a new word to me too.  Somewhere beneath that curvy shape was a tummy-trimming girdle that hid the truth about Jane from the rest of the world.  Her tummy was big...massive was the word, just hidden away by her equally massive hips and moderate boobs with the girdle completing that hourglass look.  Jane was just a mere mortal like you and I, and like Jane we are all susceptible to the dangers inherent in not keeping fit by exercising regularly and worse off not eating healthy. We all know health is wealth right? I wonder why we take these issues for granted? This is the premise upon which I made this post to highlight the relationship between keeping fit and the fashionable look we so so desire.

Note that in fitness I do not refer to size, after all some huge people are much more fit than slim ones e.g Professional Wrestlers.  Additionally, for women having fat deposit in your bum is much safer than having fat deposits in your tummy. I'm sure the guys will like this news...Lol. Invariably you can be curvy and still be fit...for the ladies. It's all about you the individual, and taking care of those excesses that makes the fashionable you in your mind not to be projected outwards in the exterior as we discussed in Rule 1 of Giorgio Armani’s 7 Rules of Style. Health wise keeping your body mass index (BMI) and your body fat ratio (BFR) low will not only prolong your life but also aid In giving you that fit look you require.  So in conclusion, am going to give you just 7 simple tips that can help you maintain a good fitness level. One for each day of the week lol.

 

7 Simple Tips to Keeping Fit

1.            Always try as often as you can to exercise and eat healthy.

2.            Never skip breakfast, eat a healthy breakfast every morning before leaving home for your daily routine.

3.             Always eat a balanced diet.  Your meals should contain lots of vegetables, protein and a small portion of carbohydrates. Reduce your carbs intake. Like seriously.

4.             Eat fruits, loads of them. Snack on them instead of biscuits and chocolates, and drink fresh juices instead of processed or carbonated drinks.

5.             Eat foods rich in fibre. E.g wheat, oats, black berries, cranberries, broccoli, mushrooms, red cabbages, basically vegetables.

6.             Avoid red meat, eat more of white meat like chicken and fish. Fish for Omega 3 fatty acids good for the heart.

7.             Most importantly drink lots of water daily. 7 to 8 glasses daily.

These are simple tips we can live by each day and have little or less work to do fighting fat or trying to shed it. All our focus will now be on keeping fit and living a healthy life to always show off those good curves and lovely body. Keeping fit doesn’t require breaking the bank to pay for one expensive gym session that you’ll hardly have time to go to. Few sit ups before your morning shower and 30 minutes walk in the evenings can do the magic. Yes after sitting in that ‘Third Mainland Bridge’ traffic lol.

By the way, Jane is ALIVE and well, living in that posh part of my brain where I created her from.  LOL.  The whole story was a figment of my imagination meant to put the point succinctly across to you.  Did I succeed?  I really hope this was useful information for you as it was for me.  Who’s going to choose our next topic on Musings of Luch?