No trophy is ever going to be worth giving up your physical and emotional health

Today I heard form a concerned friend about a woman in his life.

– She has competed in a number of consecutive shows without taking a break from dieting.

– She’s been in a caloric deficit for more than a year and hasn’t had a period in almost a year and a half.

– She is struggling with fatigue and possible depression.

– And she’s got at least one more show planned before possibly considering taking a break from a deficit.

Although this might sound sound like a specific individual case, I can assure you that this is only one of many such cases I hear about each week that could apply to a number of people who might be reading this.

So let me tell you this…a plastic trophy and the momentary recognition that winning a show might grant you are not worth the long-term effects of what you are doing to your body.

Because, along with that trophy, you’re also going to end up with a host of hormonal issues and a blunted metabolism.

Not to mention that when you do finally decide to increase your intake it isn’t totally abnormal for someone in this situation to gain a disproportionate amount of weight for any given amount of food they consume. This in itself can lead to a lot of psychological frustration and the intense desire to go back into a deficit to prevent the gain.

However, the only way to fix the problem is to stay at maintenance because begin in a deficit will only make the problem worse.

So let me tell you this…if this story resonates with you and you feel that this woman could just as easily be you…then you need to stop what you are doing and move out of a deficit NOW.