Shortly after the start of the year, actor Álex González uploaded a video to his social media accounts with an invitation: “Beers today? I can’t, I have plans.” He then made it clear that his plans were none other than working out, eating healthy food, and soaking in bathtubs filled with ice cubes. “Discipline is the greatest act of self-love. YOU ONLY HAVE ONE BODY,” he added. At 45, the Spanish actor maintains an athletic and youthful physique—the kind that many people show their personal trainers and say “I want to look like that.” His social media presence includes a succession of recordings of all kinds of workouts. He recently posted a video with Jorge Darek, a content creator and trainer, who, during a conversation with the actor, asserted that he prefers eating and exercising to having sex.
In April, Darek is organizing the second edition of a seven-day retreat in Bali that, he warns, is not your standard tourist retreat. “There are no processed food buffets or filler activities. There’s butter from grass-fed cows, building discipline, and committing to consistency, I transformed not just my fitness but my life.”
The addiction to healthy living
Improvement ceases to be improvement when it becomes obsessive. Luis Miguel Real, author of La Mentira de la Fuerza de Voluntad (The Lie of Willpower),talks about people who have given up alcohol, tobacco, ultra-processed food and any substance that minimally alters their natural state. “These are people who eat perfectly (if such a thing exists), train every day, sleep their eight hours as if it were a commandment, and know by heart the list of forbidden ingredients in any product. But they don’t just do it, they preach it. And they preach it loudly. They don’t drink a single glass of wine, they look down on anyone who asks for a slice of cake, and they never miss a gym session. On the surface, they are the epitome of willpower, discipline, and self-care. But in practice, they often behave like addicts who have simply substituted one set of addictions for another. And be careful, because behind all that health, there may be a problem,” he says.
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