Dieting vs. Exercise

Obese should exercise not 'diet'

Women who are clinically obese don't need to diet to improve their health, say UK researchers.

A programme which encouraged women not to diet but to take part in exercise classes found significant improvements in health and mental well-being.

The women in the study were also taught about good eating habits, such as how to cook, and received social support.

After a year, the women had only lost a little weight but were significantly fitter and happier with themselves.

...and after another year, I would bet these women will still be happy and still losing weight. Wouldn't you think they would be better off than those who lost a larger amount of weight but were still feeling lousy and thus more likely to gain it all back? The key is in the activity.

It's not just the obese who should exercise. It's everybody who needs to exercise, in order to feel normal or great. "Dieting" is a sham and has turned into a disgraceful money-making endeavor for those profiting from people not exercising; contributing to the myth that physical activity is optional. It's not. Look around. Do fad diets and weight-loss centers work for longer than the short-term? If they really worked, wouldn't these sorts of 'services' begin disappearing from a lack of demand? Are these people giving out (selling) fish or teaching people how to fish for themselves? Weyt Watchers and NootriSystems have figured out that they can get people to depend on them and pay them for all their food, at every meal. It sounds nuts, but that's all they do. They feed people false beliefs that they "don't have time" to cook or exercise instead of pointing out that they simply never bothered to try. It's a Jedi mind trick.

Most people who diet gain all the weight back, plus an additional 2 lbs. Dieting is crock.

Exercise is not optional it just appears that way these days. Ask the right questions. The right question is not "which diet do I choose?" The right question is, "what activities will help me lose weight and that I will enjoy and have fun doing?"

You don't have to run! Personally, I don't like the pounding my body takes from all the jarring foot planting from running for long periods. I like to row (rowing is mostly a leg exercise that burns more calories than running). Pick something that's fun and that'll make it easier to keep coming back. Then focus on how great you're gonna look and how good it feels to be moving and alive.

Don't imagine/hallucinate/fear that people are looking at your butt in baggy sweats today. I think most people who imagine exercise as dreadful or think it's not fun, spend most of their exercise time focusing on things that are not worth thinking about. What most people see: a person who has just realized how fed up they are, got disturbed enough to do something, and is on the road to achieving their goals.

Focus on your goals consistently and you will get there, even if you forget why you're doing it.