Adolescents and young adults in today's society deem thin females and tough muscular males like popular models or film stars as their ideals and strive to emulate them. In this effort, they firmly believe that body shape and size are totally under a person's control and feverishly follow diet and exercise programs with terribly unrealistic goals and tremendous expectations. What they fail to realize is that not all of us can ever get to a fashionable model size even if we follow all rules imposed on us by our guides. By striving continually to achieve such a socially imposed ideal figure, you will find that you can never get rid of your insecurities or your self-consciousness. You must learn to accept the fact that there will be limitations that you cannot overcome because they are beyond your control.

Understand that our body size and basic structure reflects not just our eating or exercise habits. It goes far beyond this and actually is also a reflection of your genetics. And the role played by genetics in determining you weight varies greatly between individuals. Our parents have handed down to us certain characteristics over which we have no say. So whether we are endowed with a light build, a muscular build or a heavy, rounded build, we have to understand and appreciate our bodies and learn to work with them and not against them.

A complete understanding of our body types will help us know whether we are justified in attempting to gain a model-like body. We realise, wisely, that we can never become what we are not. This is not to say that one should give up dieting or a proper exercise regimen. On the contrary, it is within everyone's reach to improve appearance, health and performance levels by implementing a safe and effective eating and exercise program.

GA_googleFillSlot("sitagitarectanglebottom"); So, what happens if you discover that you have a genetic disposition to putting on flab? Sorry! No excuses ! Your body reflects only your unhealthy eating habits and lack of regular exercise. If your lifestyle is unhealthy, your body reflects it by becoming unhealthy and overweight.

We cannot all be fashionably thin. But surely, all of us can be healthy! You may not become pencil-thin, but certainly by monitoring what you eat, you can achieve optimum fitness and good health. Accepting your body for what it is does not mean sitting back and saying that it is something you cannot do anything about! It only means that you accept your limitations and will strive to be as healthy and fit as you possibly can be - and this does not mean you become like your fashion ideal. It also means that you feel good about yourself, you want to be the very best you can be, never mind the genetics or the society standards.

Just build up a positive self image. Stop telling yourself, "If only I were thinner or more muscular, I might have landed the job.... impressed my boss....meet the right person for me...." etc. This is just a self-defeating habit and only gets reinforced by what we see in ads. This way, your body only becomes an easy target and cause for everything that goes wrong in your life. A positive life image can only lead to a healthy lifestyle and you will find your body automatically responding to being appreciated and treated well.

So, go ahead and adopt a healthy positive image of yourself - and let this be the first critical factor in your fitness success. Make strong rational decisions about your health aided by your self worth, stay positive and soon you will be enjoying all the great benefits of a healthy and active lifestyle without hankering after impossible results.

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