During woodworking class at my high school back when the dinosaurs stomped around the earth, I was told to sand with the grain of the wood. Going against the wood grain would scratch the surface and leave it with a rough finish. Nobody likes a rough piece of wood. Now, a smooth piece of wood, that’s where it’s at.
But is it always good to go with the grain? While sanding wood, yes, regarding health and fitness and how it’s currently regarded, I feel that going against the grain is needed. Why? Because in the age of convenience, with almost everything at your fingertips, that’s not always in your health’s best interest.
Living in a capitalistic society (USA), money and making more of it is usually put before health. When you get ill because you haven’t got time to look after yourself, don’t worry, there is a pill for that.
Oh, I feel a soapbox moment coming on. Wanna go for a ride?
The Grain Is
If you go against the grain to be your healthy and fittest self, then you will need to know what the grain is in the world of Shane.
Here are my thoughts on society’s importance of health and fitness. Remember that my informed opinion was formed by training clients for 13 years and reading and consuming tons of content.
Here it goes.
Why diet and exercise when you can pay over $400 monthly to inject Semaglutide?
Diet and exercise quick fixes are all over your social media and TV feeds, saying they can undo years of laziness and neglect in six short weeks.
Can’t you take a pill to simulate exercise because I haven’t got time for that?
A society that plays on your insecurities to get you to buy health and fitness stuff because you are not enough.
Carbs, protein, fat, or all three macronutrients make you fat
Isn’t there a pill or app for that?
The selling of the health and fitness dream ( glossy models on magazine covers) without the reality of how it takes to get there.
Going on and on is pointless because you probably have the picture. There’s a line of thinking that health and fitness are convenient; there’s a quick fix: take a pill and inject your way into your desired body.
Download the app, buy the toy, and go on the diet for six weeks, and your problems will be solved. Never mind if it doesn’t work; it must be your fault. Move on to the next thing and fork over your hard-earned cash because this will work for you. How’s that for a soap box statement?
Yeah, it’s time to step down from it.
Here’s How You Go Against The Grain
Here’s how a go-against-the-grain person is regarded. As a non-conformist, Free-thinker, Maverick (and Goose), and a renegade. Using my examples above, it does take much to go against the grain, but it will improve your health, fitness, waistline, and wallet. Here are a few Shane facts to save money and look sexier.
Too many calories make you fat. Not an excess of carbs, fat, or protein. People who demonize food groups either have something to sell, an agenda, or both.
Semaglutide works but is expensive, and its long-term effects are yet to be determined. Long-term health, fat loss, and weight maintenance are achieved through old-school diet and exercise. It’s not convenient, but it works.
Health and fitness marketers like to put a time frame on results because you’re most likely to buy it- before and after photoshoots back this up. But please remember you cannot undo years of doing nothing by jumping on a six-week diet and exercise plan to reverse it all. You may get results, but long-term maintenance and results need to be backed up by, guess what?
Diet and exercise.
You are not a failure if your plan doesn’t work for you. Some like to place the blame on the consumer because of the results some genetic freaks get. Not all things work for all people because we’re all put together a little differently. You have found one thing that hasn’t worked for you, and there is no reason to quit.
Insecurities are natural, and what marketers and the media engage in to make you buy stuff. If products and services play to your emotions, are backed by shaky science, and make you feel less than others, run away, Go against the grain, and find a long-term diet and exercise program that works for you.
Wrapping Up
I understand that there are many hacks, shortcuts, and quick fixes in the health and fitness world. Some work and some don’t, and that has nothing to do with you when you follow the plan. Just don’t forget that a sensible diet and exercise program followed consistently are game changers and will not sell well. Why?
Because it goes against the grain.
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