"Every positive change, every jump to a higher level of energy and awareness, involves a rite of passage. Each time we ascend to a higher rung on the ladder of personal evolution, we must go through a period of discomfort, of initiation. I have never found an exception." ~Dan Millman
(yes, I'm completely wrapped up in my final essays for this semester and exam, and thus, using other people's words instead of my own. Bear with me, I'm almost done with the semester from h-e-double-hockey-sticks.)
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Quotage
"A man can fail many time, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else." ~John Burroughs
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Exercise and Nutrition, Part 7 - Wrapping It Up
I started this little series with a trip down memory lane on why I changed my view of activity and exercise and then morphed on over to why I'm making changes in my dietary lifestyle and nutritional point of view. What's left?
Rest and Recovery.
They are important as well. As somone who has taken the mantle of improved fitness and started incorporating movement into my life, I have learned that rest and recovery are critical to making improvements in fitness and overall lifestyle changes. When I first started exercising, it was no problem at all to take a rest day. No. Problem. I was all, "Hell yeah, rest day!!" and used that as an excuse to be a slug for a day. Now, I have learned that I need to focus on both rest and recovery.
When you stress yourself - with your food choices or with exercise, it is in the rest and recovery stage that adaption and growth occurs. This is why when you are lifting weights you don't focus on the same muscle groups every day. You need to allow for the adaptation. You stress it, then you recover it - hopefully with the desired adaptation over time.
Rest and Recover are frequently used interchangably, but they are not the same thing. Rest is becoming idle - allowing for stillness. We rest when we kick back on the couch and do some light reading or when we sleep. Recovery is to restore to a normal state; to get back. We need to do both.
We need sufficient rest in order to allow for recovery. Our bodies repair themselves at night. In my case, this is when my body would let it's elevated cortisol levels come back down. This is when my body could use that extra cholesterol to repair the cells that were inflammed. Without sufficient sleep, I am not allowing my body to do it's work. I am thus, making sleep a priority to me. Even if it means I have to give up other things like watching a movie in order to go to bed early. I'm doing things like doing breathing and relaxation activities at night. I'm making my room very dark as light prevents you from releasing the repair hormones.
I start recovery activities the minute I stop exercising. After a long run, for example, I make a point of doing some easy stretching afterwards. I don't allow myself to sit for too long that afternoon/evening so I don't stiffen up. I use a foam roller either later that night (OUCH!) or the next day - or both. I typically do my long run on Sunday, so Monday is always a rest or light activity day; something like yoga, recreational swimming or mobility exercises. Nothing too taxing and no pounding.
I'm also learning a bit about how to fuel for rest and recovery. I'm trying to eat dinner a bit earlier so I go to bed emptier. Your body has to use up to 60% of it's blood for digestion. If it's tied up digesting, then its not as able to remove toxins and focus on repair while I'm resting. I also try to eat a bit of fruit immediately after a run, for example, which starts the recovery process. I am certain I will continue to learn and grow in this area as I have much to learn.
I hope you have enjoyed the series. My goal was to lay out some of what I've learned based on my own personal health challenges and concerns and hopefully get you thinking about actions you can take or research you can do for your own situation. Or at least allow you to sleep well and thus get good rest by boring you to sleep. :)
Rest and Recovery.
They are important as well. As somone who has taken the mantle of improved fitness and started incorporating movement into my life, I have learned that rest and recovery are critical to making improvements in fitness and overall lifestyle changes. When I first started exercising, it was no problem at all to take a rest day. No. Problem. I was all, "Hell yeah, rest day!!" and used that as an excuse to be a slug for a day. Now, I have learned that I need to focus on both rest and recovery.
When you stress yourself - with your food choices or with exercise, it is in the rest and recovery stage that adaption and growth occurs. This is why when you are lifting weights you don't focus on the same muscle groups every day. You need to allow for the adaptation. You stress it, then you recover it - hopefully with the desired adaptation over time.
Rest and Recover are frequently used interchangably, but they are not the same thing. Rest is becoming idle - allowing for stillness. We rest when we kick back on the couch and do some light reading or when we sleep. Recovery is to restore to a normal state; to get back. We need to do both.
We need sufficient rest in order to allow for recovery. Our bodies repair themselves at night. In my case, this is when my body would let it's elevated cortisol levels come back down. This is when my body could use that extra cholesterol to repair the cells that were inflammed. Without sufficient sleep, I am not allowing my body to do it's work. I am thus, making sleep a priority to me. Even if it means I have to give up other things like watching a movie in order to go to bed early. I'm doing things like doing breathing and relaxation activities at night. I'm making my room very dark as light prevents you from releasing the repair hormones.
I start recovery activities the minute I stop exercising. After a long run, for example, I make a point of doing some easy stretching afterwards. I don't allow myself to sit for too long that afternoon/evening so I don't stiffen up. I use a foam roller either later that night (OUCH!) or the next day - or both. I typically do my long run on Sunday, so Monday is always a rest or light activity day; something like yoga, recreational swimming or mobility exercises. Nothing too taxing and no pounding.
I'm also learning a bit about how to fuel for rest and recovery. I'm trying to eat dinner a bit earlier so I go to bed emptier. Your body has to use up to 60% of it's blood for digestion. If it's tied up digesting, then its not as able to remove toxins and focus on repair while I'm resting. I also try to eat a bit of fruit immediately after a run, for example, which starts the recovery process. I am certain I will continue to learn and grow in this area as I have much to learn.
I hope you have enjoyed the series. My goal was to lay out some of what I've learned based on my own personal health challenges and concerns and hopefully get you thinking about actions you can take or research you can do for your own situation. Or at least allow you to sleep well and thus get good rest by boring you to sleep. :)
Monday, May 28, 2012
Exercise and Nutrition, part 6
I mentioned in the last post that I have cleaned gluten out of my diet to help with inflammation. Before I move on to other stuff, I want to highlight that the reason I chose to do that was because of the many, many symptoms I was dealing with that indicated a sensitivity to gluten. I need to stress that the result of that particular sensitivity is inflammation. Put another way, if you are not sensitive to gluten, than removing it from your diet will not reduce inflammation for you. It may have other impacts, but it will not help with reducing inflammation unless you are sensitive to it. I mentioned it more to provide understanding of my personal issues than to suggest anyone take the same action. I do not expect any other person to eat the way I do, and all of my research suggests that would be a mistake. Each of us have a different body and it will respond differently for different stimulus.
I am hoping that it will reduce inflammation and thereby cholesterol for me, but don't know yet. Not enough time has gone by without it for me to know, and only bloodwork will determine if the cholesteral is improved by this change. I do know that I am already experiencing good things as a result, which indicate that it is working, but the verdict is out still and will be for several months.
Moving on, I have been learning about food and our food supply. How our body uses, absorbs and processes the food we consume. What vitamins and minerals we get from what foods? How does exercise come into play? And so on. Questions beget questions and I believe I will be on a journey towards gleaning information on these things for a long time to come, perhaps forever. I've read books (the library is an awesome tool), done tons of Internet research, read blogs, listened to audiobooks and podcasts and still have research to do.
To use an analogy that works well for me as the daughter of a mechanic: how we maintain our vehicle determines the life we'll get out of the vehicle. Regular maintainance is critical. We need to change the oil, check the brakes, provide fuel, wash it, wax it, change the tires, etc. We also must use it or it will start to rot and rust. These things all apply to our bodies too.
I mentioned in a previous installment that my thoughts on food are changing and it's true. I've been quite deliberately changing my thoughts. I'm shifting from "food is entertainment" to "food is fuel". This is a big shift and I am not certain how successful I will be with it, but I want to increase my awareness from the short-term "entertainment" to the more robust and healthful term, "fuel". How we fuel our bodies is so important in terms of the results we achieve. Energy comes from the food we consume. Exercise and movement is part of the maintenance equation.
I have always preferred vegetables, so it will come as no surprise to readers who know me IRL that I am trending toward vegetarian options. I have always leaned about 80% vegetarian, these days I am much farther toward that path - more like 98%, and most days it's vegan. I am moving farther away from processed foods and farther toward whole foods. Our blood pH is typically just slightly alkaline. Overly processed and animal foods tend to bring the blood into acidity, which isn't great for someone with cholesterol issues.
Once I realized I didn't have to feed all three of us the exact same plates of food, that trended me toward vegetarian options quite easily. Remember - P and E don't have the same troubles I do with cholesterol, so they don't have eat the same that I do. Now, to avoid having a lot of extra work making three different meals, I generally make my food and add to their plates with an item or two to make it more palatable for them; but in fairness, I'm fortunate that P is very open to eating what I prepare and most of the time we eat the same. They are also eating a lot more fruits and veggies just as a byproduct of there being more of them in the house to choose from and my consciously highlighting them as a snack option.
We are all very different and our bodies respond differently to it's intake. Where I may fair well and see positive results eating no gluten, you might struggle with energy and sleep if you remove it. Where I can easily give up consuming animal proteins and be happy and content getting the amino acids I need from a plant-based diet, you might not be quite so happy to. So, to wrap this up, I would ask you... what information do you need to find in order to have the best fueling strategy for you? What research will you do to find out?
I am hoping that it will reduce inflammation and thereby cholesterol for me, but don't know yet. Not enough time has gone by without it for me to know, and only bloodwork will determine if the cholesteral is improved by this change. I do know that I am already experiencing good things as a result, which indicate that it is working, but the verdict is out still and will be for several months.
Moving on, I have been learning about food and our food supply. How our body uses, absorbs and processes the food we consume. What vitamins and minerals we get from what foods? How does exercise come into play? And so on. Questions beget questions and I believe I will be on a journey towards gleaning information on these things for a long time to come, perhaps forever. I've read books (the library is an awesome tool), done tons of Internet research, read blogs, listened to audiobooks and podcasts and still have research to do.
To use an analogy that works well for me as the daughter of a mechanic: how we maintain our vehicle determines the life we'll get out of the vehicle. Regular maintainance is critical. We need to change the oil, check the brakes, provide fuel, wash it, wax it, change the tires, etc. We also must use it or it will start to rot and rust. These things all apply to our bodies too.
I mentioned in a previous installment that my thoughts on food are changing and it's true. I've been quite deliberately changing my thoughts. I'm shifting from "food is entertainment" to "food is fuel". This is a big shift and I am not certain how successful I will be with it, but I want to increase my awareness from the short-term "entertainment" to the more robust and healthful term, "fuel". How we fuel our bodies is so important in terms of the results we achieve. Energy comes from the food we consume. Exercise and movement is part of the maintenance equation.
I have always preferred vegetables, so it will come as no surprise to readers who know me IRL that I am trending toward vegetarian options. I have always leaned about 80% vegetarian, these days I am much farther toward that path - more like 98%, and most days it's vegan. I am moving farther away from processed foods and farther toward whole foods. Our blood pH is typically just slightly alkaline. Overly processed and animal foods tend to bring the blood into acidity, which isn't great for someone with cholesterol issues.
Once I realized I didn't have to feed all three of us the exact same plates of food, that trended me toward vegetarian options quite easily. Remember - P and E don't have the same troubles I do with cholesterol, so they don't have eat the same that I do. Now, to avoid having a lot of extra work making three different meals, I generally make my food and add to their plates with an item or two to make it more palatable for them; but in fairness, I'm fortunate that P is very open to eating what I prepare and most of the time we eat the same. They are also eating a lot more fruits and veggies just as a byproduct of there being more of them in the house to choose from and my consciously highlighting them as a snack option.
We are all very different and our bodies respond differently to it's intake. Where I may fair well and see positive results eating no gluten, you might struggle with energy and sleep if you remove it. Where I can easily give up consuming animal proteins and be happy and content getting the amino acids I need from a plant-based diet, you might not be quite so happy to. So, to wrap this up, I would ask you... what information do you need to find in order to have the best fueling strategy for you? What research will you do to find out?
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Random Roundup
All the weeks mishmash that isn't enough for it's own post in handy bullet format. Here goes:
- E is graduating Kindergarten in a few weeks. Eeek. That means my First Grader-in-training will be an actual First Grader. Eeek.
- I've been enjoying writing the series. It's nice to have an opportunity to share some of the stuff that's been taking up enormous amounts of my time and energy focus. Thanks for all the feedback.
- I'm entering the final week in the class from h-e-double-hockey-sticks. Yay.
- This week's long run in the early hours is brought to you by heat and humidy. Blergh.
- I'm grateful for family and friends. Every moment we have is precious and I'm thankful for them.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Exercise and Nutrition, Part 5
So, if you can't outrun your fork, what to do about eating? For me, over the last few weeks, I've been shifting my thoughts about food. Let me back up a little so you can get there with me. This one is going to be long, grab a glass of water and put your feet up. :)
A little over a year ago, I had bloodwork done as part of a regular checkup at the doctor. I went into the test all arrogant because I had lost weight and was exercising regularly and I believed I ate fairly healthfully. I thought I was going to get all kinds of good results - I was going to ace this exam, because I had been doing the homework.
I was stunned at the results. Stunned. I literally cried. I called C and was sobbing. How could my bloodwork be so freakin' bad? By my total cholesterol count, it is not an hyperbole to say that I could expect to be dead or severely impacted by heart disease before 45. I immediately went to the Internet and found examples of "extremely high cholesterol" at the American Heart Association's website... mine was more than a hundred points over their listed number for extremely high. It was that bad. I felt like I'd been handed a death sentence. I was ashamed of these results and haven't told anyone but P and C.
So, after my "ugly cry" got out of my system, I began to put the Internet to work for me. In every spare moment I had, I began researching what the results of my bloodwork meant. I began a slow, sometimes tedious but always methodical journey. I am a very analytical person and learning via research is something I have refined because of my job. I know I can absorb highly technical and complex things if I bend my mind toward it, so why not use this to hopefully save my own life? I had bought a temporary reprieve from my doc to attempt to get things under control without medicines because once you start taking them, you can't stop and I frankly wasn't ready to deal with that. I'm still not. I always tend to reject the "treat the symptoms" approach that we use for everything and wanted to find the source (the root) and fix the cause. I do this in every other aspect of life, why wouldn't I with this?
I opened my mind and just started consuming information about blood, biochemistry and then food. I asked myself the question, "How does my body and blood work?" and set about finding the answer. I didn't make any huge changes to what I was consuming because I felt paralyzed with what to do there. I kept exercising, but not really changing anything yet. I was on hold while I researched. My research taught me a lot. One of the biggest things it taught me is that there is a massive amount of conflict out there about how we should eat and what.
But even with all the conflict and mixed signals, I started narrowing down my research and finding things that I felt had reality and science behind it and also, things that felt real to me. I did consider my own preferences in this, as well as what my bloodwork had shown based on how I had been eating and some other things I was experiencing - that until I began my research I hadn't really understood to be affects of my diet. Just things I thought were part of my daily life, like the headache I got every afternoon. EVERY afternoon. I thought I was just someone who got headaches and I usually blamed it on stress or allergies. Sometimes I blamed it on the weather. I'm going to try to keep things very basic and down to the essentials, it's too much to recreate here and not the point.
After about eight to ten months of researching and learning, I began to believe that my system was suffering from chronic inflammation; my bloodwork suggested it and so did my symptoms, such as the daily headache, difficulty digesting food, difficulty sleeping, joint achiness and skin problems. My body has leaned out at my appendages (for example, my rings will now go flying off my hands because my fingers are thinner), but I'm storing fat at my core. My belly fat is pretty serious stuff. I think there are muscles under there somewhere, but darn if I'd know it from all my jiggle, but you can see muscles in my forearems and calves for example.
This belly fat vs. lean appendages is a tendency for people with lots of cortisol, which is a hormone released when under stress (the "fight or flight" hormone). My body was under stress and trying to help. The fat around the core is the body trying to protect vital organs when the body us under attack. Elevated cholesterol is often found with elevated cortisol. Cholesterol is like the ambulance, your body uses it to help heal cells. So what elevates cortisol and cholesterol? Stress and inflammation.
My questions for research became, "what to do to reduce the stress and inflammation?" Well these are two different questions. Stress comes in lots of forms... inflammation has triggers and also, the inflammation triggers stress and guess what? Stress triggers inflammation. So, while I am tackling my stress in general, I'm putting a higher priority on tackling the inflammation.
Eventually you have to chirp or get off the stick, so after much research, I have put together a plan and am executing it. I have begun the process of testing the things I've learned. My research suggested to me that I was inflammed due to a gluten sensitivity. I must state that I adore pasta and bread, so you can imagine how much I have resisted this and how much research I did to try to be wrong about this. Anyway to test and hopefully help with reducing the inflammation, I have eliminated gluten from my diet. It has been almost miraculous. I haven't had a headache in three weeks. My allergy symptoms are almost completely gone. My skin is a little clearer and a lot less flaky. My joints aren't as swollen and achy. My nails are stronger and growing weirdly fast, they aren't flaking and chipping as much. I sleep better. My digestive experience is amazingly better. My monthly cycle this last go round was stunningly a non-event. Sorry if that's TMI.
I started working toward other changes as well, prior to the gluten removal. All things aimed at reducing stress and inflammation with the end goal of reducing my overall cholesterol numbers. For example, I took the pressure off with graduating at school in the spring (my original plan) and pushed off a couple of classes to lighten my workload a little. I'm trying to practice yoga more frequently. I'm continuing to exercise with running and I'm doing mobility and strength building exercises. I'm letting some of the work stress roll off a bit and easing up my ambitions there. These efforts are designed to help me with overall stress reduction.
I had the opportunity for a free health screening at work last week and am happy to report that even my non-fasting numbers have improved. My total cholesterol (in a non-fasted state) dropped by 34 points. That's a huge number since I've only just begun to make the changes to improve my situation and reinforces some of what I'm doing.
As I said at the beginning of this entry, I have begun to shift my thoughts on food. Next time, I'll discuss other dietary changes I've been making in addition to the gluten removal. Stay tuned.
A little over a year ago, I had bloodwork done as part of a regular checkup at the doctor. I went into the test all arrogant because I had lost weight and was exercising regularly and I believed I ate fairly healthfully. I thought I was going to get all kinds of good results - I was going to ace this exam, because I had been doing the homework.
I was stunned at the results. Stunned. I literally cried. I called C and was sobbing. How could my bloodwork be so freakin' bad? By my total cholesterol count, it is not an hyperbole to say that I could expect to be dead or severely impacted by heart disease before 45. I immediately went to the Internet and found examples of "extremely high cholesterol" at the American Heart Association's website... mine was more than a hundred points over their listed number for extremely high. It was that bad. I felt like I'd been handed a death sentence. I was ashamed of these results and haven't told anyone but P and C.
So, after my "ugly cry" got out of my system, I began to put the Internet to work for me. In every spare moment I had, I began researching what the results of my bloodwork meant. I began a slow, sometimes tedious but always methodical journey. I am a very analytical person and learning via research is something I have refined because of my job. I know I can absorb highly technical and complex things if I bend my mind toward it, so why not use this to hopefully save my own life? I had bought a temporary reprieve from my doc to attempt to get things under control without medicines because once you start taking them, you can't stop and I frankly wasn't ready to deal with that. I'm still not. I always tend to reject the "treat the symptoms" approach that we use for everything and wanted to find the source (the root) and fix the cause. I do this in every other aspect of life, why wouldn't I with this?
I opened my mind and just started consuming information about blood, biochemistry and then food. I asked myself the question, "How does my body and blood work?" and set about finding the answer. I didn't make any huge changes to what I was consuming because I felt paralyzed with what to do there. I kept exercising, but not really changing anything yet. I was on hold while I researched. My research taught me a lot. One of the biggest things it taught me is that there is a massive amount of conflict out there about how we should eat and what.
But even with all the conflict and mixed signals, I started narrowing down my research and finding things that I felt had reality and science behind it and also, things that felt real to me. I did consider my own preferences in this, as well as what my bloodwork had shown based on how I had been eating and some other things I was experiencing - that until I began my research I hadn't really understood to be affects of my diet. Just things I thought were part of my daily life, like the headache I got every afternoon. EVERY afternoon. I thought I was just someone who got headaches and I usually blamed it on stress or allergies. Sometimes I blamed it on the weather. I'm going to try to keep things very basic and down to the essentials, it's too much to recreate here and not the point.
After about eight to ten months of researching and learning, I began to believe that my system was suffering from chronic inflammation; my bloodwork suggested it and so did my symptoms, such as the daily headache, difficulty digesting food, difficulty sleeping, joint achiness and skin problems. My body has leaned out at my appendages (for example, my rings will now go flying off my hands because my fingers are thinner), but I'm storing fat at my core. My belly fat is pretty serious stuff. I think there are muscles under there somewhere, but darn if I'd know it from all my jiggle, but you can see muscles in my forearems and calves for example.
This belly fat vs. lean appendages is a tendency for people with lots of cortisol, which is a hormone released when under stress (the "fight or flight" hormone). My body was under stress and trying to help. The fat around the core is the body trying to protect vital organs when the body us under attack. Elevated cholesterol is often found with elevated cortisol. Cholesterol is like the ambulance, your body uses it to help heal cells. So what elevates cortisol and cholesterol? Stress and inflammation.
My questions for research became, "what to do to reduce the stress and inflammation?" Well these are two different questions. Stress comes in lots of forms... inflammation has triggers and also, the inflammation triggers stress and guess what? Stress triggers inflammation. So, while I am tackling my stress in general, I'm putting a higher priority on tackling the inflammation.
Eventually you have to chirp or get off the stick, so after much research, I have put together a plan and am executing it. I have begun the process of testing the things I've learned. My research suggested to me that I was inflammed due to a gluten sensitivity. I must state that I adore pasta and bread, so you can imagine how much I have resisted this and how much research I did to try to be wrong about this. Anyway to test and hopefully help with reducing the inflammation, I have eliminated gluten from my diet. It has been almost miraculous. I haven't had a headache in three weeks. My allergy symptoms are almost completely gone. My skin is a little clearer and a lot less flaky. My joints aren't as swollen and achy. My nails are stronger and growing weirdly fast, they aren't flaking and chipping as much. I sleep better. My digestive experience is amazingly better. My monthly cycle this last go round was stunningly a non-event. Sorry if that's TMI.
I started working toward other changes as well, prior to the gluten removal. All things aimed at reducing stress and inflammation with the end goal of reducing my overall cholesterol numbers. For example, I took the pressure off with graduating at school in the spring (my original plan) and pushed off a couple of classes to lighten my workload a little. I'm trying to practice yoga more frequently. I'm continuing to exercise with running and I'm doing mobility and strength building exercises. I'm letting some of the work stress roll off a bit and easing up my ambitions there. These efforts are designed to help me with overall stress reduction.
I had the opportunity for a free health screening at work last week and am happy to report that even my non-fasting numbers have improved. My total cholesterol (in a non-fasted state) dropped by 34 points. That's a huge number since I've only just begun to make the changes to improve my situation and reinforces some of what I'm doing.
As I said at the beginning of this entry, I have begun to shift my thoughts on food. Next time, I'll discuss other dietary changes I've been making in addition to the gluten removal. Stay tuned.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Exercise and Nutrition, Part 4
Continuing on my little path, here is something I have learned from incorporating regular exercise into my life. You ready for this gem?
You can't outrun your fork.
Mhmm. I know, right?! It sounds all simplistic, but it's so freakin' huge of a statement! Huge I say.
Let's face it, movement (a/k/a, exercise) is important from a dietary perspective, but not from an "I'm dieting" perspective. Yes, if you move more, it will help you lose and/or maintain a healthy weight. But. BUT! Generally speaking, exercise alone will not help you lose weight. You must alter your dietary approach as well. I say this as much to my readers as to myself. I have to remind myself of this regularly.
People do this in lots of ways and for a lot of reasons. For me, I want to be healthier than I am and I want to alter my predisposition for certain diseases - which I've mentioned before in this series of posts. I want to be leaner because that will help me in this prevention effort. Yes, I also want to look better. I also think being lighter will make running and being active easier. Gravity and all that.
Back to "you can't outrun your fork." Frustrating, but true. When I first starting walking, then running, I noticed a bit of a weight drop. Then I plataued something fierce. Why? Because I didn't change my diet much. You can easily out-eat what you can burn exercising. It sucks, but it's true. I have to remind myself of this whenever I'm feeling frustrated in my efforts on this front.
Very generally, you can count one hour of exercise as being worth 600 calories. Now, there is a TON of variability there that includes weight and level of exertion, but for this purpose, it serves. If you want to know your specific data, the Internet is a valuable tool.
600 calories for an HOUR. That's so easy to eat and it certainly won't take an hour to eat it. One Big-n-Toasted breakfast sandwich at Dunkin Donuts and you've almost eaten all of that back. Finding the energy and the time to exercise for an hour is a lot harder for most of us than eating that one breakfast sandwhich would be.
I didn't say any of that to discourage anyone from exercising because really, there are so many health benefits to doing so. But, I wanted to make the point about the diet needing to be addressed. And thus, nutrition is the topic of the next set of posts.
You can't outrun your fork.
Mhmm. I know, right?! It sounds all simplistic, but it's so freakin' huge of a statement! Huge I say.
Let's face it, movement (a/k/a, exercise) is important from a dietary perspective, but not from an "I'm dieting" perspective. Yes, if you move more, it will help you lose and/or maintain a healthy weight. But. BUT! Generally speaking, exercise alone will not help you lose weight. You must alter your dietary approach as well. I say this as much to my readers as to myself. I have to remind myself of this regularly.
People do this in lots of ways and for a lot of reasons. For me, I want to be healthier than I am and I want to alter my predisposition for certain diseases - which I've mentioned before in this series of posts. I want to be leaner because that will help me in this prevention effort. Yes, I also want to look better. I also think being lighter will make running and being active easier. Gravity and all that.
Back to "you can't outrun your fork." Frustrating, but true. When I first starting walking, then running, I noticed a bit of a weight drop. Then I plataued something fierce. Why? Because I didn't change my diet much. You can easily out-eat what you can burn exercising. It sucks, but it's true. I have to remind myself of this whenever I'm feeling frustrated in my efforts on this front.
Very generally, you can count one hour of exercise as being worth 600 calories. Now, there is a TON of variability there that includes weight and level of exertion, but for this purpose, it serves. If you want to know your specific data, the Internet is a valuable tool.
600 calories for an HOUR. That's so easy to eat and it certainly won't take an hour to eat it. One Big-n-Toasted breakfast sandwich at Dunkin Donuts and you've almost eaten all of that back. Finding the energy and the time to exercise for an hour is a lot harder for most of us than eating that one breakfast sandwhich would be.
I didn't say any of that to discourage anyone from exercising because really, there are so many health benefits to doing so. But, I wanted to make the point about the diet needing to be addressed. And thus, nutrition is the topic of the next set of posts.
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