Thought people might find this article interesting. It's nothing really new, but nicely presented in a "get up and get moving" sort of way. No excuses.

This article makes it seem harder than it is. If I was obese reading this, I would immediately say "oh I'm f'ed." All it takes is eating less than you consume, exercise will add to your calorie deficit, it's that simple. I do like number 9 though, people reffer to eating healthy as a "diet" when that's how they should have been eating in the first place.

Yeah, I'm with Matt... the article carries a defeatist tone, and I understand the authors intent to dispel "myths" (I disagree with 6 and 8, more on that later) but it makes it seem like it's impossible and almost unnecessary to lose weight and be healthier.



I generally agree with the article, most of those myths are the kinds of things that obese people who do nothing about their weight or health like to repeat and spout as if to justify the fact that they're seeing no progress on the scale or in the mirror (ie. "I JUST need to go for a walk to burn off this brownie") However, I disagree with the implication in number 8: "Maybe you don't need to lose weight" mainly in principle. I agree that the standards of "obesity" are skewed and uninformed... BMI is a horrible measure of fitness and overall health, but in Western society there are more people classified as being overweight because they have excessive amounts of fat in their body than there are people who are lean and healthy, but heavy from muscle mass which seems to be the folks that the author (and Gina Kolata) are talking about. Are there people who probably don't need to lose weight? Yes, but they're in the minority.



I also disagree with the notion that your body is working against you. Your body is stupid, without a brain and will to power it all it knows is what it's doing and how to get better at it. I don't honestly believe that it's encoded at a genetic level that we're meant to gain weight and retain fat. You can train your body to do whatever you want, and if it's not doing what you want, it's more about number 7 (cultural influence) than genetic predisposition.



The bottom-of-the-line, honest-to-god, <insert other cliches here> truth is that it's hard. It's hard because we all have bad habits and very few of us make it part of our DAILY routine to live healthy. It's hard because you have to push yourself 110% every time you go to the gym or go for a run or ride on the trail. You have to push yourself; you have to punish yourself and sweat and bleed and that's what people are afraid of. That it's hard. We can write all the articles we want or make all the excuses that we know are BS to ourselves, but until we commit to it and REALLY accept that it will be hard... it's HARD as all Hell.



The beauty of it is that once we accept it, truly accept that it's going to be that hard... it stops feeling that way.

And in fact eventually, (for me at least), actually becomes the enjoyable norm.



And with that, I'm off for a run in the sun.

Sometimes we don't realize this until we lose it for a bit!!



I liked the article, it had some good info. It did seem a little defeatist, but it's not easy and people need to understand that.

DAVE!!! How are you doing?? I've been thinking about you a lot lately! So glad to see you posting!!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY, DAVE'S POSTIN' AGAIN!!!



Count me in as traineo-ette number 2 who's REAL HAPPY TO SEE YOU ON BOARD(S) AGAIN!!!



Hope your rehab is moving along grandly, sir!



Yaaaaaaaaaayyyy, Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaave.

the whole article other than 3 and 9 is pretty close to poppycock.



I know because it never really mentions actually eating healthy. It says, don't eat that brownie and just eating "healthy foods" doesn't help. It also fails to take diet into account when talking about 1.



If you've got that 4000cal average daily diet of course it's going to take more than 30 minutes of exercise. . . Maybe if you took as much time as you do stuffing bacon double cheeseburgers down your gullet to move around a little. . .



6, 7, and 8 just make me RAGE like you wouldn't believe. That's right, tell someone who probably has confidence/self control issues that "it's your genetics," or "society doesn't want you to lose weight," or "you don't need to lose weight, you should be accepted for who you are" is an extremely terrible idea. Even just insinuating those points is a great way to shut a person down.

Hm. It didn't give me such a negative impression, maybe because I'm negative and competitive anyway. It just kinda made me think, ok if you're going to do it, then do it, but it's hard. And it was hard to do, and I made a lot of mistakes on my way down.



But I win.

I strongly agree with number 3 - my friends are always saying "I wish I could workout but I don't have time" meanwhile I'm dragging my ass out of bed at 6 AM and hitting the gym daily. There are 24 hours in a day, you can make time. Even just getting up early and going for a thirty minute jog is a good start.



Also, number 9 is very true. You can't go on a fad diet, lose 15 lbs, go back to eating normally and keep the weight off. You have to eat clean and exercise regularly for life.

Yeah, those are pretty idiotic... again harping on 6 and 8 more than 7 because those two are just justifications. The simple fact is that we're in control of our lives and our destinies and when we start accepting these OPINIONS as FACT then we're surrendering any power we have over our own situations. For me, I do look at number 7 and western society and accept that it is EASY to eat a lot of crappy food in massive abundance in western culture, but I also look at it as a challenge not to. That's more about recognizing a real situation (fast food joints on every corner for like 10 miles around me) and identifying it for what it is, a problem, then doing something about it.







Well, that was my initial response too, it fires me up when people get negative and defeatist on me, and that's kind of the response I had to the article, but you have to recognize that not everyone is like us in that regard, in fact most people who battle self esteem issues (which is common in the obese) would have the opposite response (ie. "Oh fine, nevermind... it's too hard...") because they've already been there mentally and psychologically already.



Personally, when I lift with friends or help people out, I'm a "tough guy" coach. I'm the guy that challenges you and makes you angry so you push harder when you lift with me, but a lot of "obese" people don't respond to that, as I'm noticing.







No... I win!



Ok, fine. We both win.

I'm not sure what I think about this. Whether or not someone needs to lose weight, this is an important question - and where you find that answer is in determining if you're fit and healthy. If you look at American Society, not the attitudes you see expressed in a forum such as this or perhaps within your social circle, I think the first two may be somewhat accurate.



The target audience for this article is the obese. In that sense, your body would be working against you. It's like inertia, you've created this set-point that your body has adapted to and it tries to maintain that stasis. And, in an unhealthy manner, it is much easier to gain weight than to lose it. I could make terrible food choices and not exercise and in 3 months be right up around 300lbs again, putting on the weight that it took me a year to remove.



In terms of our cultural environment, this may be improving, but it is still working against being healthy. It costs more, takes more time, and isn't marketed properly. Do you see advertisements for eating healthy and exercising properly, with realistic expectations? No, you see ads for gimmicks and fads, with claims that are ridiculous and downright impossible to achieve in a healthy way.



The intent of the article, and especially items 6 & 7, is to prepare people that might be overwhelmed with the task. If you know what to expect, what frustrations you're going to have and what roadblocks will be there, even if they're only mental or implied, you will be better able to prepare yourself for success and to overcome them. Like when quitting smoking, it's important to recognize your triggers and come up with ways of dealing with them.



There's my 4 cents

And thanks for the "Welcome Backs"



It's nice to be home, and though I can't be all that physically active for quite a while, I'm going to be getting back in the groove. I need to figure out some sort of cardio I can do w/ one working leg!

Maybe some swimmin' is just what the doc, (and Dave ; ), ordered then?

Yep, do some pulls in the pool, with a buoy tucked in.



Dave, it's really good to see you. You've been in my thoughts.