Exercise and Proper Nutrition vs. Fad Diets (lift, yoga, treadmills)
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I am really saddend and disturbed from some of the posts Ive seen here about fad diets and quick fix ways to lose weight and have rarely seen anyone say anything about what his/her doctor recommends or advises regarding these diets. I think more times than not, people just post hoping to get some type of positive reinforcement on whatever cure they are trying for whatever ailment they may have.
DIETS DO NOT WORK!!! Even if they did, they may work for only the short run and as soon as youre off of it, all of your weight and more than likely extra will come back and you'll find yourself back to where you started. You need a lifestyle change. Most of you who are overweight are overweight because of your lifestyle and eating habits. And more times than not, you have years and years of being overweight so do not expect any "get slim" method to work for you overnight. It will take months or possibly years for you to get healthy again. Skipping meals because you had a big lunch/breakfast is NOT dieting and is also NOT HEALTHY.
TAKE TIME TO EXERCISE - I say B.S. to anyone who says "I dont have time to exercise". Total B.S. You can take 20-40 minutes out of your time per day to do something that will help your HEALTH. I have a friend who is a single father of two who works a full time job and is ALSO a parapalegic due to a base jumping accident who still finds time to work out.
LIFT WEIGHTS AND DO CARDIO - You want to get in shape and lose weight, you must do resistance training (weight training) and cardio. No more of this "I do stepping to the oldies once a week", "I walk my dog" or "I ran so many errands today" B.S. and calling it exercise. It ISNT. Doesnt matter if youre over 50 you can still do it. If youre unable to lift weights and do cardio and fantastic alternative is YOGA. Not a yoga DVD that you may watch a couple of times, I mean signing up and actually taking a real live yoga class. I have never seen a yoga practitioner who is unhealthy or in poor health.
So people should stop making excuses and take responsibility for your health and lives. There should no accepting of "Well, Ive been overweight/unhealthy all my life so its just how it is...". Do something about it.
People who eat nothing but unhealthy fatty, fried, processed, bleached, fast food and know that its bad for them but continue to eat it, are not too far removed from those with similar eating disorders who force themselves to throw up after eating. Some of these fad unhealthy diets are similar as well.
DaBeez, what a true straight forward post! If I could give you some more reps I would!
I'll just add a few things:
If you are older or injured many exercises will help you. For example, my mom is in her 50's and has an injury prone back due to sitting in one place on the job for too many years. She has been doing yoga and pilates twice a week for the past few years and her back pain has become infrequent if almost nonexistent! She also walks on a treadmill or outside if its nice several days a week. She says if she quits her yoga her back problems start back up- so obviously she is sticking to it.
Being on fad diets is not a healthy long term method of weight loss. Most gain the weight soon after the fad diet is over. This yoyo dieting contributes to weakened immune systems and other negative long term health effects.
Listen to DaBeez, exercise consisting of cardio and strength training, combined with proper healthy nutrition is the only successful route to weight loss and good health.
In this day and age of instant gratification, do not skimp on your health by trying fad diets.
I guess it's all about priorities. And doing all we can to be in good health should be a main one. It affects everything else in our lives.
I think no matter where we are in life there's always something we can do.
24 hours in a day. Everyone has the same amount of time. I know we all have busy lives, but we can all fit exercise in if we make it a priority. And eating better is just a lifestyle change. We all need to eat. It's just about choices. Personal responsibility. That's what it comes down to. And if you're feeding and caring for children, we need to be even more diligent, for their sakes, to pass good habits onto them. Eating well and exercising.
Exercise just makes me feel good. So does eating the right things. I'm not perfect at it, I have good days and not so good days. But I exercise 5-6 days a week most weeks, and do my best to get those veggies and fruits and whole grains and lean meats and calcium and plenty of water in. And when I don't eat as well as I know I can, I just try to do better.
I'm with you on the dieting thing. I've never dieted. I've always tuned out any commercial or advertisement on diets or pills that are supposed to be some miracle for you. They have always seemed to me like a way of harming your body instead. The best way is always the authentic way. If something requires work (exercise, planning and eating well) then that usually means it's the right way to go. Don't cheat yourself. Work is good for us.
Yeah, skipping meals isn't good either. You gotta make time to get that good stuff in. If you are in the habit of skipping breakfast (which slows down your metabolism - not good), try and start out by eating some fruit at least. Later add a whole grain. Much better for you.
Good post in support of eating and exercising the right way. It really does make a difference.
I think women especially are martyrs and put everyone/everything else first and use the excuse of not having time. They feel it is selfish of themselves if they take half hour/hour of the day to do something good for themselves.
In the long run, it benefits the whole family, kids included, if they have a mom/parents that are in good health, good mental state (because exercise is good for that too) and just feels good about themselves in general. Not to mention, being an example to your kids!
Great post-I agree. I totally agree with you about people claiming that they do not have the time. That is B.S. It is just an excuse. Your friend makes time and I know people who work 2 jobs with families that also exercise regulary-one man is in a running club I am in and he is training for a marathon. My husband and I both worked two jobs years ago and would workout 10:00 at night in the basement of our apt before going to bed to get up and work two jobs all over again. We were not alone- we know other people who have done it as well.
When I hear people make an excuse that they have kids-to me that is wrong. If you are too lazy to exercise just say so-don't say it is because you have kids. Don't use them as an excuse for your unhealthy lifestyle.
To me if you don't want to make it a priority to exercise-just say so. Don't blame it on kids, work, lack of $$, etc.
This is a great post, DaBeez.
I was the queen of fad diets and pills. I've tried just about everything. I finally did the portioning food and the exercise thing and lost a bunch of weight. I still have to watch what I eat.
I'm not always perfect in my eating habits but the majority of the time, I eat healthy. I'm also not a big fan of exercise until someone told me to find something I like to do and do it. I'm not one that likes treadmills for instance but I like being in an aerobics and strength training class. I also enjoy dancing and water aerobics.
So, what I would like to add to everyones posting here is to find an activity/activities that you enjoy and will stick with and do them.
The more cardio, the better.
1)genetics
2)calories in vs calories out.......BH.CPT.
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