You Have A Right To Be Strong

“For women, their whole perspective is based around what they want to get rid of. They want their bodies to be less than what they currently are, not more. The whole female side of the fitness industry has historically been built upon “getting rid” of everything about their bodies that makes them unhappy, which is generally everything.

This has to STOP. I’m tired of women thinking they are supposed to be weak. I don’t know who taught them this. I don’t know if it was their mothers, the media, and/or their friends. I don’t know how this started or who started it, but I do know that it needs to end. You are not supposed to be weak. You have the right to be strong.

The body you want is more than what you are, not less. You have the right to make progress. You have the to right to have muscles. Your training is not confined to counting how many calories two hours of cardio can burn. You have the right to add plates to the bar. You have the right to use something heavier than 10s. You have the right to be strong.

You’re supposed to have curves. You’re supposed to have an a**. You’re supposed to look like a woman. Being a woman does NOT mean you are automatically weak. It doesn’t mean you can’t be physically capable. Being happy with yourself will never come from the process of hating yourself. I can’t say how to go about this—it’s different for everyone. But I can tell you that until this change happens mentally, don’t expect anything positive to happen physically.

Your body is not something you are in battle against. It’s not a war that you fight and say, “I won” on the day you’ve dieted down to nothing. Nobody truly “wins” a war. One side just dies more than the other side. Your body is not something you are supposed to set out and kill. You construct something greater out of what you have, not destroy and lessen what you are.

You have the right to enjoy food. Food keeps you alive. You have the right to eat and not feel guilty. You have the right to know that there is no magic diet or special pill or dark secret. The magic number on the scale doesn’t matter if it takes black magic to get it. You don’t learn anything this way, and nothing changes other than an irrational number.

You have the right to be happy with what you are. You have the right to make gains. You have the right to have the same training and education that men have. And more than anything else, you have the RIGHT to be STRONG.”

Source:
A Lion in Iron: Women – Be More, Not Less