The myths of wellness. Discover, investigate, experiment and find our own formula
By Leticia Trejo
Here I am, listening to “Hold the Line,” a song by the famous band Toto, included in their first debut album, and I see that it was released in 1978! This brought back some memories that I want to share with you.
I wasn’t quite 15, but I remember that my father went to the gym almost every day, played soccer and rode his bicycle from México City to Puebla. He was my idol: strong and lean, very muscular. I also remember that people in the exercise guild had ideas about physical activity like: «if it doesn’t hurt it doesn’t work», and that to be «advanced» was to be the one who carried the most weight on the discs and bars in the gym (Arnold Schwarzenegger comes to mind).
When a woman or a man goes from childhood to adolescence, they usually experience difficult changes in their body, and my case was no exception. Accumulation of abdominal fat, love “handles” and a huge bust made me feel uncomfortable and inadequate. The advice from those «in the know» was that when I exercised, I should wrap my body in plastic (they sold a sports pants type suit). They also recommended the use of girdles made of bandages. Some were like the casts used for fractured bones. All to make the waist thinner. I was told that women should not do weights because the back would become wide, and we would look like men.
Readers born after the 90’s are probably laughing at these beliefs or myths. If you follow this column, you probably read the one in which I told you that another common myth is that if you sweat a lot, you are burning a lot of fat. Which has been proven not to be true; sweat is water, and yes, it carries some toxins, but it is not fat. I could write a book with all the myths about health and wellness that we believed to be true. Look at the damage done for years by «drugs to lose weight and burn fat.” Those drugs had negative effects on the mood of the people who consumed them, generating anxiety, depression and irritability.
Fortunately, scientific advances and discoveries show us irrefutable evidence of how our organism can be more efficient, and I love that. We are not talking about being right or wrong, but about being efficient. You know what, dear reader? Thanks to these advances we know that each one of us has different needs. Each person must discover and decipher their own formula for health and wellness. The only thing we must do is have an adventurous spirit, feel passion to discover the whole world of possibilities that exist on the planet, to live more years with better quality of life and happiness. With so many tools, we have access to reliable sources of knowledge, and we can analyze different points of view and be able to make a safe decision.
Listening to this song by Toto also reminded me that in the past we did not check the credentials of the authors giving us advice in magazines and other media. So, my best advice is to discover, investigate, experiment and find your own formula to live in wellness. Meanwhile, I invite you to listen to the 1978 TOTO album and you too will enjoy realizing how much you have learned and how much you can continue to grow and mature in your mind, body and spirit.
Translated by Nita Rudy
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