Raise the Hammer

A theory of my own: Is it possible that, even aside from your stated bias as "a bit of a fitness freak", advertising might be an outlier in the creative industries?

After all, and please correct me here if I'm being reductive, this is a sector that deals in appearances, perception, aspirational goals, brand equity and holistic messaging. Moreover, it seems (from the outside) to be a pretty driven field in many regards, one that was competitive enough before the recession hit. That competition, whether inside firms or between firms, seems as if it might lead to a performance arms race. Hence the boot camps/competitive sports.

I don't know if you'd find that among other creative workers (eg. architects, fashion designers, writers, radio hosts, software engineers, web designers, animators, film editors) to the same degree. Not that I'm suggesting that any of those groups are inherently lardy 'n' lazy. (There are certainly more than a few bands made up of nothing but jocks, for example.) Just that their innate culture, when and if it becomes a group pursuit, may be more keyed to collaboration than competition.

"My theory is being able to express (even minimally) our inherent desire as humans to be creative leads to higher life-satisfaction scores. Hence, the desire for personal improvement."

Not to be cheeky, but is it possible that achieving greater life-satisfaction might reduce the drive for self-improvement? (eg. What if you fervently believed that "Big Is Beautiful"?)

Alternately, how might we determine whether life-dissatisfaction is a consequence or determinant
of inappropriate eating behaviour/negative body image?

I agree that it's a complex dynamic, but Hamiltonians are blessed with an abundance of great trails that provide low- to no-cost opportunities to restore balance to mind and body.