FITSpiration VS THINSpiration

It's literally all. Over. The. Place.  The "motivational" pictures of women with 10% body fat, followed by "100 crunches, 30 push-ups, etc" or "nothing tastes as good as fit feels" hmmmm...

Probably my ideal...

I can do all the abs and core I want! My booty aint ever going to look like that.

really?!?!

One of the quotes under this picture began with "I love this body..."  I'm not saying I DON'T but at 5'2 I'll never have it.

 

 source

Isn't this basically the same stuff that got BANNED all over the internet awhile back? You know the pictures of the girls with 10% body fat that weighed 90 lbs?  I know that all of this "fit"spiration is supposed to motivate us to eat better, exercise more, and love ourselves?  But, don't these images of an ideal most of us cannot achieve propagate the same negative connotations as the girls who have the narrow hips and thighs that don't touch?
More than likely the fitness models in these pictures spent the months, weeks, and days leading up to their photo shoot doing some un-healthy things to lean out.  Carb-cycling, twice a days at the gym, calorie and carb cutting, no water days before, ultimately dropping to an unhealthy body fat level to take a picture.  Much like a fashion model does. 
The truth is these women look great.  Better than great, but they way they look is not something most of us can maintain without extreme sacrifice and/or health consequences. As a society were trying to move forward with the "fit is the new skinny" mentality.  But, were still flooded with images that are not realistic, were still striving to be something that doesn't exist.  A person who is tanned, dehydrated, air brushed, in perfect lighting, at a perfect angle, holding her breath.  It's  a gorgeous picture, but we would all drop dead if we tried to walk around like that.

Being healthy and happy is not a number on a scale. It is not inches on a tape measure. It is not a percentage on a skin caliper.  It cannot be quantified by any measurement or number.  Being healthy and happy is being active, eating well, feeling good, and most importantly being comfortable in your own skin. 

Now don't get me wrong, I do find some of this stuff very motivational.  However, I am 28 years old, I am 100% dedicated to being active and eating healthfully.  I am no longer insecure and impressionable and I have enough knowledge to know, that women that look like that don't really exist in real life.

Everyone needs to find their happy place.  I know a lot of people who regularly do twice a days (heck I'm one of them) and eat 100% clean (not one of them).  But that is not necessarily the perfect lifestyle, it works for them. It takes sacrifice.  We need to stop ping ponging from one extreme to the other.  There is a perfectly lovely area in between 12% and 30%.
Were all women whether we have meat on our bones, 6 packs abs, thighs that don't touch, saggy skin, stretch marks, or belly pouches that will ALWAYS be there. We need to celebrate the inbetween.