Exercise
This was me, 4 years ago. I had spent all Spring and Summer running 5 miles a day. I was attempting to follow the standard prescription for weight loss “Eat Less, Move More”. I had not yet learned that carrying extra weight is a hormonal not caloric disorder. I was trying to outrun a bad (or should I say S.A.D. (Standard American Diet diet), and this just doesn’t work.
By the way, I did lose a whopping 2 pounds by running 5 miles/6 days a week during those 6 months.
Exercise is amazing. It is great for mental health. It also lowers your risk of disease, and increases your longevity. I highly recommend you exercise, but I don’t want you to exercise to try to lose weight. We’ve been conditioned to believe that exercise is a key ingredient to weight loss. However, the latest research has found that while it’s great for our health, exercise doesn’t really impact weight loss very significantly. We highly overestimate how much exercise impacts our bodies and our weight loss, but we highly underestimate how useful exercise is for us mentally and emotionally. Author Jason Fung (The Obesity Code) has said it’s like brushing your teeth. It should be done daily, but don’t expect to lose weight doing it. With that being said, when you get down to the last few pounds, exercise will be a great way for you to tone up your body, but it isn’t going to be the tool that gets you to your goal weight.
*P.S.- I feel very vulnerable posting this picture. I hope by doing so it will bring my point across.
2 Comments
Kris Keele
Hi Rachel. I love what you are doing here. Unfortunately, my busy work schedule prevents me from reading your articles every day. For example I can’t find that hormone one. 🙂 Still, this post made me laugh because that’s so true! It is so frustrating! I have done exactly that! Run and run and run and not lost anything! And you look amazing! We are our own worst critics! In the therapy work I do the hardest job is helping victimized men and women learn to love themselves. Anyway keep up the good work this is great
love you, Kris
admin
Thank you Kris! I think that the emotional part of losing weight is the biggest issue for most people. The food is only about 20% of it. We totally are our own worst critics -unfortunately! Dealing with all the emotional baggage is so critical.
Next Saturday, all the posts will be available again for a short time. Hopefully you’ll be able to catch the ones you’ve missed. You might also want to check out Dr. Deb Butler http://drdebbutler.com/ . She is amazing at working with women who are menopausal.