I use to be one of these people that avoided exercise like the plague. I have a heart condition, so basically after 7th grade, I never took another P.E. class. OK, I took bowling in college. I thought it would be an easy A. It turned into a B that I had to earn. Who knew there was so much calculus in bowling? Seriously, our final involved graphs and charts on how to properly approach the lane and get spin on the ball. The good news is I’m a pretty good bowler to this day. The bad news is that bowling doesn’t demand respect and admiration, nor does it leave one knee deep in benjamins and babes.
So back to my point, I use to avoid exercise. I also use to smoke and eat whole pizzas. These were the kind of things you could get away with as a teenager and in your early twenties. Eventually it starts to catch up with you and one day you notice your pants don’t fit. I’ve never been skinny and have always lived with the knowledge I could loose a few pounds. What I couldn’t accept was having to purchase new clothes. I’m poor and getting a new wardrobe just because my metabolism has announced its retirement was not an option.
So here I am as the anti-fitness guru. I don’t know that my advice will help anyone. Who knows if anyone will read it? What I have discovered is that a lot of what we are told about health and weight loss is total BS. Sure you can do the Atkins Diet and drop 40 lbs, but at what price and how long can you maintain eating meat all the time? I know the diet allows for more than meat, but the truth is you’re going to be putting some slab of beef, pork, poultry or seafood at the center of everything you eat until you die or decide the diet is ridiculous.
Here are two things that will shock the American public. I don’t want to say it because it is earth shattering, but (now might be a good time to grab a pen) the only way to loose weight and maintain it is to eat less and exercise. Its true. Trust me, I have loss the same 10-15 pounds enough times to swear by this. The best part is when it comes to eating less, you have the best tool possible already built into your body. Trust your feelings. If you feel tired or bloated after a meal, chances are you ate too much. The truth is our stomachs are about the size of a clenched fist. I don’t know about you, but the average value meal takes about 4 of my fists.
The truth is a restrictive diet isn’t going to work. I was a vegetarian for over a year and I walked around hungry all the time. I’m not saying you need meat to survive, but I failed to make proper arrangements to have my protein needs met. The healthiest part about being a vegetarian is it automatically reduces your fat intake. That is if you don’t go around having veggie subs with lots of mayo or eat an egg sandwich for breakfast. If you feel deprived, your will power will only get you so far.
The same can be said for the high protein regimen. You don’t know what cravings feel like until you have had a headache for 72 hours straight and would kill someone to eat an Oreo if you thought you could get away with either. Eventually the “you only live once” mentality takes over and you find something breaded, sugary and fried. Preferably all three. I recommend the Monte Cristo at Bennigans.
If you have a craving… indulge it. Yes, in our super sized modern world, you have to be mindful of your portions. A few Pringles will not hurt you. A whole canister will. Maybe you’ve noticed too that once you stuff your face and get that rush of endorphins it doesn’t take long before you are ready to down another handful. It becomes a never ending cycle for some people. I guess in many ways I was lucky being a fat kid. It made me mindful of what I ate. It seems a lot of folks my age are finding their metabolism getting sluggish and they’ve never had to execute control over what they ate.
The truth is diet might be more important than exercise. I know plenty of skinny people that don’t exercise and plenty of fat people that hit the gym every day. I fell victim to the idea that going to the gym gave me a free license to eat whatever I want. Then one day I noticed that 45 minutes on the exercise bike was burning off about 140 calories. That’s barely a can of Coke. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to work that hard to indulge in one stupid Coke and I’m pretty addicted to the sugar water.
If you do decide to hit the gym, know that if can be your worst enemy. Not only does exercising not give you a free pass to eat as much as you want, but what you do at the gym can bless or curse you. When I started my membership back in January of 2003, I started out doing the exercise bike. Mainly I did the exercise bike, because it was the one thing I could do. It didn’t take long before I realized I was no longer breaking a sweat doing 45 minutes on the bike. Not to mention 45 minutes is a long time to work to burn off 140 calories.
So I recently took another shot at running. I have tried a few times in my life to get into running because it seems to enthrall people in this cult-like following. All these rail thin people who get up at 5 AM must know something I don’t, because they certainly aren’t out there to sweat off extra pounds. As best as I can tell, the appeal of running is when it ends. It is miserable while you do it and sometimes it even gets painful, but when you’ve done a good workout and you spend the rest of the day sore, you know you didn’t waste your time at the gym. 20 minutes on the treadmill burns more calories and gives you a better workout than an hour of most other cardio routines.
Yes, I know, running is awful. It hurts and it winds you and really doesn’t feel good while you do it nor does it feel great afterwards. I made several ill fated attempts at running myself, including a 5K where I proudly finished right after some elderly people and a guy with crutches. What an embarrassment at 25 and it was enough to keep me away from the sport for over 2 years. Yet in all this time I have had a longing to get back on the bandwagon, or better yet to stride proudly beside it.
So a few weeks back I decided to run a little every time I go to the gym. I announced this to my cousin and brother and the bartender who was apparently listening in on our conversation. When my brother asked me how far I planned to run, I said I was using time as a guideline. So he asked me how long and I said 1 minute. The bartender had to go to the break room she was laughing so hard. Talk about an ego boost.
My goal was well calculated. I knew I could run a minute. In fact, on good days I had run up to 5 minutes. So 1 minute would be nothing and on that fateful day I ran 1 minute. Two days later I ran two and two days after that I ran three. As I have gotten to actual distance markers (like a ½ miles and miles) I have actually had to hold myself back. Otherwise, I’d be tearing up my knees and joints. So I set out on a simple goal. I just wanted to be able to run for 20 minutes non stop. I’m almost there.
I haven’t lost tons of weight, nor am I setting land speed records. I am proud that over that last couple of years I have learned to exercise and eat in moderation. It has paid off, since I managed to quit smoking and not gain a lot of weight from that. I’m pretty proud to say I have managed to stay in the same size pants the last 5 years. They’ve waffled between tight and almost falling off, but I have resolved no matter what that I will not allow myself to move up to the next size. I’ve also resolved that going down a size is a nice goal, but there are other rewards to being healthy.
So back to my point, I use to avoid exercise. I also use to smoke and eat whole pizzas. These were the kind of things you could get away with as a teenager and in your early twenties. Eventually it starts to catch up with you and one day you notice your pants don’t fit. I’ve never been skinny and have always lived with the knowledge I could loose a few pounds. What I couldn’t accept was having to purchase new clothes. I’m poor and getting a new wardrobe just because my metabolism has announced its retirement was not an option.
So here I am as the anti-fitness guru. I don’t know that my advice will help anyone. Who knows if anyone will read it? What I have discovered is that a lot of what we are told about health and weight loss is total BS. Sure you can do the Atkins Diet and drop 40 lbs, but at what price and how long can you maintain eating meat all the time? I know the diet allows for more than meat, but the truth is you’re going to be putting some slab of beef, pork, poultry or seafood at the center of everything you eat until you die or decide the diet is ridiculous.
Here are two things that will shock the American public. I don’t want to say it because it is earth shattering, but (now might be a good time to grab a pen) the only way to loose weight and maintain it is to eat less and exercise. Its true. Trust me, I have loss the same 10-15 pounds enough times to swear by this. The best part is when it comes to eating less, you have the best tool possible already built into your body. Trust your feelings. If you feel tired or bloated after a meal, chances are you ate too much. The truth is our stomachs are about the size of a clenched fist. I don’t know about you, but the average value meal takes about 4 of my fists.
The truth is a restrictive diet isn’t going to work. I was a vegetarian for over a year and I walked around hungry all the time. I’m not saying you need meat to survive, but I failed to make proper arrangements to have my protein needs met. The healthiest part about being a vegetarian is it automatically reduces your fat intake. That is if you don’t go around having veggie subs with lots of mayo or eat an egg sandwich for breakfast. If you feel deprived, your will power will only get you so far.
The same can be said for the high protein regimen. You don’t know what cravings feel like until you have had a headache for 72 hours straight and would kill someone to eat an Oreo if you thought you could get away with either. Eventually the “you only live once” mentality takes over and you find something breaded, sugary and fried. Preferably all three. I recommend the Monte Cristo at Bennigans.
If you have a craving… indulge it. Yes, in our super sized modern world, you have to be mindful of your portions. A few Pringles will not hurt you. A whole canister will. Maybe you’ve noticed too that once you stuff your face and get that rush of endorphins it doesn’t take long before you are ready to down another handful. It becomes a never ending cycle for some people. I guess in many ways I was lucky being a fat kid. It made me mindful of what I ate. It seems a lot of folks my age are finding their metabolism getting sluggish and they’ve never had to execute control over what they ate.
The truth is diet might be more important than exercise. I know plenty of skinny people that don’t exercise and plenty of fat people that hit the gym every day. I fell victim to the idea that going to the gym gave me a free license to eat whatever I want. Then one day I noticed that 45 minutes on the exercise bike was burning off about 140 calories. That’s barely a can of Coke. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to work that hard to indulge in one stupid Coke and I’m pretty addicted to the sugar water.
If you do decide to hit the gym, know that if can be your worst enemy. Not only does exercising not give you a free pass to eat as much as you want, but what you do at the gym can bless or curse you. When I started my membership back in January of 2003, I started out doing the exercise bike. Mainly I did the exercise bike, because it was the one thing I could do. It didn’t take long before I realized I was no longer breaking a sweat doing 45 minutes on the bike. Not to mention 45 minutes is a long time to work to burn off 140 calories.
So I recently took another shot at running. I have tried a few times in my life to get into running because it seems to enthrall people in this cult-like following. All these rail thin people who get up at 5 AM must know something I don’t, because they certainly aren’t out there to sweat off extra pounds. As best as I can tell, the appeal of running is when it ends. It is miserable while you do it and sometimes it even gets painful, but when you’ve done a good workout and you spend the rest of the day sore, you know you didn’t waste your time at the gym. 20 minutes on the treadmill burns more calories and gives you a better workout than an hour of most other cardio routines.
Yes, I know, running is awful. It hurts and it winds you and really doesn’t feel good while you do it nor does it feel great afterwards. I made several ill fated attempts at running myself, including a 5K where I proudly finished right after some elderly people and a guy with crutches. What an embarrassment at 25 and it was enough to keep me away from the sport for over 2 years. Yet in all this time I have had a longing to get back on the bandwagon, or better yet to stride proudly beside it.
So a few weeks back I decided to run a little every time I go to the gym. I announced this to my cousin and brother and the bartender who was apparently listening in on our conversation. When my brother asked me how far I planned to run, I said I was using time as a guideline. So he asked me how long and I said 1 minute. The bartender had to go to the break room she was laughing so hard. Talk about an ego boost.
My goal was well calculated. I knew I could run a minute. In fact, on good days I had run up to 5 minutes. So 1 minute would be nothing and on that fateful day I ran 1 minute. Two days later I ran two and two days after that I ran three. As I have gotten to actual distance markers (like a ½ miles and miles) I have actually had to hold myself back. Otherwise, I’d be tearing up my knees and joints. So I set out on a simple goal. I just wanted to be able to run for 20 minutes non stop. I’m almost there.
I haven’t lost tons of weight, nor am I setting land speed records. I am proud that over that last couple of years I have learned to exercise and eat in moderation. It has paid off, since I managed to quit smoking and not gain a lot of weight from that. I’m pretty proud to say I have managed to stay in the same size pants the last 5 years. They’ve waffled between tight and almost falling off, but I have resolved no matter what that I will not allow myself to move up to the next size. I’ve also resolved that going down a size is a nice goal, but there are other rewards to being healthy.
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