I was speaking with a woman today who has been on a “journey” for a few years now. The “journey” is her path to losing fat, feeling better physically and mentally about herself, eating better, and making it a lifestyle.

She mentioned that she was getting fed up with her friend. Her friend, who was also trying to “lose weight,” talked about how she just wasn't eating much (she said she wasn’t hungry) and would basically eat half a hamburger all day. Oh, and if she got hungry, she would drink some coffee.

The woman I was speaking to wouldn’t have it any other way. She knows she’s doing things the right way, but she gets so frustrated that her friend is losing weight, albeit the wrong way, and pretty much bragging about it and bragging about not eating anything almost all day. Who wants to live that way?!

Seriously. This woman is lost. What this woman doesn’t realize is that if she continues to do this, she will destroy her metabolism, which will halt any weight/fat loss down the road and make recovering from it very difficult. Recovering from thyroid and metabolic issues typically starts off with weight gain (getting the thyroid to function again), but people start eating “normally” again, gain a few pounds on the scale, and think, “Hmm…see, my approach of barely eating anything worked before, so I’ll just go back to that.”

And the dreaded cycle continues. I’m not sure why someone would want to eat less and less. Is it really that enjoyable?

As I talked to this woman about metabolism and thyroid function, she learned a few things. Hopefully, it's something she can pass along to her friend. In the end, it isn’t always about being the strongest or the leanest or the fittest or the hottest. It’s about feeling good about yourself. It’s about feeding your body foods because this is the only body you have. It’s about being able to function and live because you fuel your body properly.

Too often, women think about it the other way around. They think "I have to exercise because I ate (junk)" instead of "I get to train because I ate (quality)."

I want my body to be a fully functioning organism that can do, think, and be. I want my body to become anything I want it to be—a mom who runs around the playground with her kids, a wife who helps take care of the home, a strong woman in the workforce, a powerlifter, a bodybuilder, an athlete playing on a recreational flag football team. Whatever I want to do, I’ll be able to do it because I’ve taken care of my body.

As a bonus and because of those decisions that I make, I'll be confident with the body I have and I’ll get to enjoy food as well. I'll have my cake and eat it, too!

P.S. While this seems pretty much like a rant, my goal and job is to educate women on these things to get them to treat their bodies with respect and show them that they're capable of so much more when they fuel their bodies properly. Guys, if you’re reading this, your girl may not be into lifting (yet). I often get asked, “How do I get my girl into training?” It’s about empowering her to make small decisions that make her feel better. Each small decision will snow ball into more and more.