Like a coin, everything has two sides. Body transformation is an excellent choice if you decide to make yourself healthy, but there is also a dark side behind that, which is more trendy, and people try to pursue that side more.
To clarify, body transformation is making a change in the physical appearance of our body. Usually, when people transform from obese to a healthy weight or from skinny to a healthy weight, it is called body transformation.
Isn’t that a good thing? Then, I am saying there is a dark side to that.
Yes, body transformation is indeed a good thing to do if you are unhealthy, but there is a good way of doing it and also a lousy way of doing it.
It can be considered a good choice if you are working hard or training to eliminate unhealthiness. By this, I mean maintaining a good diet, doing physical exercises, sleeping adequately, and, most importantly, being consistent and maintaining patience throughout the journey, as building something good takes time and hard work.
However, social media exposure does just the opposite. I am sure you have seen videos or pictures of people who went from very fat to shredded with six packs in two or three months by following a specific diet or taking a plan. In almost 90% of the cases, that is pure BS, as you cannot go from being very fat to a beach body model physique within that span of time. All of this is just marketing for selling their products.
Don’t believe me? Then, see the following video.
Contents
The Dark Reality
Two people can never look the same even if they do the same thing. We will look very different if you and I are given the same program and diet. The reasons behind that are:
Genetics
Every person carries different genes. Your muscle insertions, limb size, and hormonal profile are all pre-installed in your DNA. No matter how hard you train or how good you eat, you will always look different from any other person.
Some people tend to carry less body fat, and others do more even if they eat less than skinny guys. It is hard for me to sustain a deficient body fat percentage as my body tends to carry more size. You will see many people have 10% or less body fat very easily without staving themselves very easily.
Goals
In fitness transformation, you will always see before and after photos, where you will see that a person’s before photo looks terrible, but in the after photo, they look like models.
In reality, does everyone want to transform only like that?
The answer is no; it varies from person to person. If someone wants to become a cyclist or a marathon runner, would you like to make them muscular? No, as their sports will desire them to be lean with lesser muscle. A marathon runner and a bodybuilder who carries 10% fat will look very different as their body composition will differ.
Environmental factors
Environment often determines many things. Your diet is mainly based on the climate you live in. The things that grow there are primarily added to your diet. Also, it provides some physical advantages. In African regions, people have excellent endurance, so they excel in sports like running.
Fix body composition
Body composition is the amount of fat a person carries. It is measured by measuring one person’s fat percentage relative to that person’s fat-free mass. Usually, a healthy man should carry 10%—20% body fat; for a woman, it is 15%—25%.
If you can fix your body composition, you will automatically transform. Still, I am telling you to emphasize that because it promotes healthy and sustainable ways to achieve a healthy weight.
Measuring fat percentage is difficult. The most accurate way to learn about body fat is by doing “MRI,” but it is costly, and you will not find MRI machines without hospitals or special facilities. After that, the “Dexa Scan” is considered the gold standard for body fat measurement, but it is also very costly, and the facility is not available easily. Do not worry. There are other ways to get a good guess of your current body fat percentage. Check this article, “Fat Loss Vs. Weight Loss.”
How can you fix your body composition?
It is not very difficult to do so. It just needs patience and persistence. If you simply follow the steps, I am saying I can guarantee you that you can easily become unfit to a healthy person.
Step 1: Measure your current weight and estimate your body fat using the picture given below as a reference.
Step 2: Do not try to rush things. Start tracking your meals. You can use myfitnesspal app, which can give you a rough estimate of your daily calorie consumption. Suppose you are overweight. Start by cutting 200-300 calories from your diet. Not more than that. It will be vice versa for underweight people. Buy a food and body weight weighing scale. Measure your weight daily after you wake up in the morning. Use this Excel sheet to write each day’s weight. You are on the right track if the mean number goes down 1 pound in one or two weeks. Otherwise, cut an additional 200 calories.
Step 3: Start doing weight training at home or gym. We have all the required articles related to each body part, which you can check—at least do three weekly weightlifting sessions, which may last 30 to 60 minutes.
Do 150 minutes of cardio weekly. Go for cardio exercises that are easy for joints, like cycling or walking.
Step 4: Try to avoid ultra-processed food. You do not need to eat bland foods; just cook tasty and healthy foods at home, as you can control the calories of those foods. Increase your protein intake. Try to eat 1 to 1.2 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Protein is more filling and perfect for muscle building and recovery.
Step 5: The most important thing that almost everybody has messed up in recent times is not having adequate quality sleep. At least sleep for 8 hours. Sleep helps in recovery and maintains the hormonal balance. If your hormones are unhappy, sticking to a fitness journey will be tough.
Keep in mind that the steps I provided are a generalized guideline. They will work for most people. Give yourself some time and stick to the steps. Give it at least 6 to 12 months and see the change. I lost 30 kg following the same steps. In 2022, I was 110 kg; by early 2023, I weighed 80 kg with a body fat percentage below 20%.
Body transformation is a great thing to do, but you need to know the pros and cons so as not to fall for the glamorous tricks that social media or companies put on the show. It empties your pocket. There is no secret to a healthy body the only secret is your dedication and persistence.