Mrs Sting, Trudie Styler is releasing an exercise video. Nowt wrong with that you might say and we'd agree – good luck to her, she looks great. But she credits her dramatic change in body shape to her personal trainer and the 4 hour workout they do everyday – 4 hours a day!How many of us have that much time to devote to our bodies? Selling a 40 minute DVD workout on the premise that you too could get a body like Trudy's is a sham. There's no way the occasional 40 minute workout is going to equate to a body that's honed for 4 hours every day. Trudie is on a win/win - she's losing the pounds and making them as well.
We've taken a few pops at celebrities here on Make it and Mend it - but our problem is less with the Slebs themselves than with the way society has become obsessed with them. We are raising a generation of children to believe everything they see and hear about celebrities, to think that they need a size zero body and to go into debt to buy the same designer outfits and bags.
Most celebrities earn a darn site more in a month than many of their fans will earn in a lifetime. And they're paid to wear these designer outfits and are airbrushed to within an inch of their lives. We're selling our kids a myth of perfection that they can never hope to achieve or afford. Celebrities' bodies are their business and they have to invest in them. We don’t!
This doesn't mean we shouldn’t bother to look after ourselves, but looking at Trudie in her Tuscan villa, selling us this myth of perfection, one can’t help but think how much happier she'd be with a more balanced lifestyle. Few of us can afford 4 hours a day to exercise and even if we could, what a waste of a life that would be. Think of all the things that you'd miss out on if you did? It's like a form of celebrity slavery! Poor Trudie!
It can be a struggle for us mere mortals to find the time to visit the gym, but do we really need to? There are other ways of keeping fit. Housework is one of the best ways to burn off the fat. Cleaning is a necessary evil, but it won’t seem nearly as tiresome if you crank up the volume, throw yourself into it and think about all that fat you're burning off.
Still need more exercise? Buy a dog and get out into the countryside. Not only will you get loads of fresh air, but dog owners are usually slimmer and fitter and have lower blood pressure (patting a dog can apparently lower our heart rate and blood pressure).
Or get out into the garden. The benefits of gardening are manifold. There are the physical benefits of digging holes, pushing a mower, weeding and carrying soil; all of which use the same muscle groups as lifting weights in the gym and can increase heart rate, oxygen intake and energy expenditure.
Then there are the psychological benefits of gardening. Growing things makes us feel good and increases self esteem; the process of planning your garden can strengthen neural pathways and increase your memory and hand-eye coordination. Even the actual soil is good for us – there are microbes in the soil that have been found to alleviate depression.
So don’t be disheartened if you find it difficult to fit in a daily workout. It's time to get a little perspective and accept yourself for who you are.
Next time you have to do the vacuuming, instead of huffing and puffing and wishing your were doing something else, think about how much good you're doing your heart and how much fat you're burning off! And you'll also have a clean house and a beautiful garden to enjoy.
Poor old Trudy might as well be a hamster in a treadmill
>> Gardening is a tonic
>> Cleaning is the new therapy
>> Take a breath of fresh air
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