The continuance of the media misleading people about health and fitness
The good ole 'diet' industry... I saw the article below quite a while ago and probably should have been more surprised than I was at the tone. In this day and age where we're all getting lazier, slower, fatter, sicker, the implication that exercise does not play a part in weight loss and can, in fact, make you fatter, is of major concern. The media misleading people does nothing to assist those of us trying to do something to educate and rehabilitate those people who really do want and need our help.
What it does do is brush quite significantly over one of the most important facts of the entire article - it's not the exercise that's making you fat, it's what you put in your mouth before and after the exercise that aids in weight increase. People need education and part of that is education on the direct relationship between food, exercise and weight loss. More importantly, the phrase 'weight loss' is really a misnomer. We should be calling it 'body fat loss', because that's what it's all about. Not your BMI, but the percentage of body fat you carry.
And while I'm at it, let's just clear up one bit of endless confusion. One kilo of muscle DOES NOT weigh more than one kilo of fat. Just like one kilo of apples does not weigh more than one kilo of oranges. Muscle is more dense than fat. If you put on a kilo of muscle and lose a kilo of fat, do you weigh more or less? You weigh the same. But...your body may change; you'll look different...you'll probably have also lost centimetres or inches somewhere.
Exercise, moving your body, walking, going to the gym, using a personal trainer....it's all recommended and it will all do you good. But there are a couple of things to remember that will assist in your weight/body fat loss. The first is the desire to lose it in the first place. Its' all well and good to drag yourself to a gym, or the park, or to see a trainer, but if you're not mentally committed, as with any goal, you won't commit to your training and you'll probably quit. Just like a smoker can only quit for themselves, when they're ready, nor should anyone feel obliged to work out or get some form of exercise to please anyone else. You HAVE to do it for yourself. And when you do, you will see results. However, if you don't add the second part of the equation, you'll have a harder time reaching your goals. That second part is what you put into your mouth.
It's all well and good to see a trainer for an hour three times a week, or go to gym every second day, but you have another 165 hours in that week when you're on your own to stuff up all that hard work, simply by not paying attention to what you're putting in your mouth, whether it be food or beverage. There are a number of reasons why exercising makes you hungrier, but it's how you feed that hunger that makes the difference. The key is to learn what foods will satiate that hunger without damaging the work you've done and that will, instead, enhance the work you've done.
Your gym, your trainer, your partner, nobody can run for you, lift weights for you, or do your push ups for you. Nor can anyone but you put that food or that drink into your mouth. Exercise can and does lead to weight/body fat loss. What you put in your mouth can and does make you fat.
I'd be interested to see your comments.
