How Fitspiration is Killing Our Health
Back pain is the most common reason people try acupuncture, but a growing second reason is infertility. Start talking to people about acupuncture, and you'll be surprised how many people will chime in to say "oh, that's how we got pregnant!".
In case you're not familiar with the term "fitspiration", it's the idea of using photos of really lean, muscular people as motivation to get yourself moving. At face value, that's not a bad thing, but what's actually happening is much more concerning. As a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, a (former) studio owner and fitness instructor, and as someone who's been athletic for most of my life, I've seen some really concerning things in the fitness realm.
It's not a secret that a lot of athletic women stop having their periods. I, myself, missed a period when I was training for a Half Ironman, but fortunately, after my training ended, it returned. For those who engage in high volume training year round, though, amenorrhea (absent periods) is often considered a positive. Except, it's really a sign of pathology.
If you're a woman of "child bearing age", you should be having a pretty regular menstrual cycle, because that's how the female body is designed. Now, please DO NOT read into this that I am saying a woman's biology is her destiny; I actually couldn't disagree more with that statement! I absolutely do NOT believe that a woman's primary role in life should be that of a mother unless that is what she chooses for herself.
What I AM saying is that it is healthy and normal (a word that IS ok to use in physiological discussions) for women to have regular periods and that the absence of periods (amenorrhea) is definitely not desirable.
In the fitness world, there's a constant chorus of "mind over matter", and while I agree that mindset and mental state are crucial (to almost anything), mind over matter is often not good for the matter. Matter is yin, and yin is necessary for a menstrual cycle. While it's possible to ovulate without having a period, it's not likely, and if you're not ovulating, you definitely can't get pregnant.
Fitspiration is killing our health, especially women's health and fertility, by creating ridiculously unrealistic images of what "healthy" looks like. Read on to help you understand both why and what you can do about it.
The basis of Chinese medicine is that we need a balance of yin (rest) and yang (activity). I bet it took you two seconds to realize that you (and most of us) don't have great balance when it comes to rest and activity. We don't sleep enough, we rush around all the time, we have limited vacation time, maternity/paternity leave, we see how much we can pack in to one weekend, etc. Add to this an intense workout regimen, a diet very low in animal fat, and you have a recipe for pathology.
But that's not what the cover of Fitness magazine tells you.
When amenorrhea happens, women who are concerned understandably see their OBGYN's for all sorts of tests, only to come back with "normal" results, which is so frustrating, because we all know it's not normal--plus, for a woman who wants to get pregnant, she knows she needs a period in order to do so. And without a diagnosis of what's wrong, how can she go about fixing the problem?
The absence of a period reflects a significant lack of yin, and because "yin" is such a foreign concept in our culture, a lot of folks don't take it seriously. While more superficial, something I've found to be helpful and more immediately relevant in explaining the importance of yin is that how well you age is related to how well you conserve your yin. This can be seen more clearly in menopause, where many women suddenly notice more visible signs of yin deficiency like increasing wrinkles, dry skin, and weight gain, especially in the midsection, but also invisible signs like insomnia, headaches, low libido, painful sex due to dryness, and hot flashes.
These are all symptoms of a lack of yin, and as I have discovered, people often prioritize what others can see, so getting people to focus on the visible changes sometimes helps me help them change the invisible signs.
I have a colleague who has been specializing in women's health for 15 years, and he says he can think of one patient who wasn't able to get pregnant. And she wasn't willing to make the lifestyle changes he suggested--diet, activity level adjustments, and taking herbs. In a much smaller amount of time, I've experienced the same. I've had a patient who engages in very high volume training, wants to get pregnant, does not have a period, but yet, she has no plans to modify her training. Another patient who was willing to comply with lifestyle changes--changes made to build the matter, the yin--resulted in the return of her period in about two and a half months. But because she didn't like taking herbs and reducing her time at the gym made her feel "fat", her period has not returned.
Sure, it's possible that uber fit women continue having periods and have no trouble getting pregnant, and that's wonderful for them! Everyone is a little different, and the human body is not quite the system that we've been convinced it is. There is variation. And sure, is it frustrating to watch other uber fit women be able to get pregnant while continuing to run distance, boot camp, practice hot yoga, or crossfit when that's not working for you? Hell yes, it is. But comparison is truly the thief of joy.
My concern, and reason for writing this article, is that we have become a country of such extremes. While we have a tremendous problem with obesity and excess weight in America, we also have a significant problem with eating disorders and body dimorphic disorder, fueled by yes, fitspiration. These days, women (& some men, as well) think that if they don't have a six pack (of abs), they're fat, and in the case of so many women, it's backfiring on their health.
Exercise is something we know is good for our health, no doubt about it. But at the point a woman no longer has a period, exercise is no longer improving health. It's a detriment. And while exercise produces endorphins that make us feel good, the work out itself often makes us feel accomplished, and yes, better about our bodies, (I feel all of these things too) if we are doing it to the point that it is causing a negative side effect (for example, a loss of menstruation), then the lifestyle has effectively become an addiction.
If we're so attached to the way we eat, that we're not willing to take our doctor's advice that's genuinely meant to help the problem, we first need to address the first problem, which is the unhealthy mindset that was created by unrealistic expectations.
I follow a lot of "fitness influencers" on Instagram for the sole purpose of observing their fitness and nutrition advice, the pictures they post, and how they talk about their own setbacks, like overuse injuries, autoimmune disease, fatigue, migraines, and PCOS--all yin deficiency problems. I always appreciate when people share their struggles as a way to encourage others, but I also cringe because it's the very lifestyle they are promoting that is causing the problem.
I feel so fortunate to know Chinese Medicine, and I genuinely wish others did too. That's why I write. I heard someone say that you don't write books for the money; you write them to have a say in the conversation.
That's what I'm trying to do, as I see more and more people struggle with health problems that have a solution. I want to have a say in the conversation about how we care for people's health, and that conversation has got to start considering our social and emotional well being and the factors that influence it.
