08/20/06

            Exercise.         

Fat people hate that word, don’t we?

Don’t think that just by cutting your calories that you will lose weight, when you lose weight by dieting alone, muscle is the first thing to go.

Most fitness experts agree that the way to burn fat is through sustained aerobic exercise, preferable four to five times a week for a minimum of 20 minutes. When I started my weight loss journey, I couldn’t do this. I could barely do 5 – 10 minutes four or five times a week. As you exercise, it will become easier and more enjoyable to you. You will start to grave the feeling that you get after you have busted your butt for an hour and you know that your doing great.

We have such a narrow mind when it comes to exercise. You say that word and people automatically think of running, push ups, set ups and pain. I use to think of pain mostly because of the old saying “no pain, no gain;” well, that old saying is bullshit; excuse my French.

You don’t have to be in pain to gain the benefits from exercise. Exercise is very hard for me to write about because it’s such a broad topic. Exercise can be anything, any type of movement.

If you like to shop, then go shopping for the day. Go to a local mall and just walk around shopping. You will eat less and you will be moving; moving is the key. The best way to stick to exercise is to find something that you like to do. This is where getting your mind right comes into play again. We don’t exercise because our mind tells us that it’s going to hurt and then we start making excuses; I’m too tired is a huge excuse.

Here is a fact that I have learned; exercising gives me energy. I can be tired and then I start riding my bike and when I get done, I’m hyped up and no longer tired. This is proven and there is medical evidence to back it up, but I’m not going into it because it will only bore you and honestly, I don’t understand a lot of it. All I know is that when I’m done exercising, I feel great.

I started riding my exercise bike, but I could only ride for about 5 minutes. I weighed 412.8 lbs. and had not moved a lot for a long time, so it was very hard. I didn’t want to do it, I didn’t like it and my mind gave me all types of reasons for not doing it.

I kept pushing myself and making myself do it and each time I would push myself a little longer. Now I’m up to riding my bike for 1.5 hours in the evening. I actually look forward to it, which is something that I never thought would happen. I make riding my bike fun. I pull the bike in front of the television and watch a few shows or play some Playstation 2 and before I know it, I’m done. It actually helps to push me further because I’ll be in the middle of a game and will want to finish it, so I continue to exercise. I have placed my Playstation far enough away from the couch that the only way I can play it is to be sitting on my exercise bike. Sometimes you have to force your self to exercise, but it’s worth it. Television can be an alley or an enemy on your weight loss journey.

The bike takes care of my cardio for the day. Every other day I lift weights. At first I didn’t lift weights because muscle weighs more than fat and I was trying to lose weight, but with research, I realized that I was wrong. Muscle burns fat, so therefore, the more muscle you have; the more fat you burn. Cardio is great to get your heart rate up and burn calories but the great thing about working out with weights is that you continue to burn fat while you’re sitting on the couch or lying in the bed. I usually ride my bike to get my heart rate up and burn some calories, then lift weights to keep my metabolism burning fat while I sleep. This may work for you and it may not, the key is to find what works for you by trying different things.

Variety is huge when it comes to exercise, no one wants to do the same thing over and over, you get bored and frustrated and you quit. I have a few workout DVD’s, I recommend “The Biggest Loser Workout”; I have include my own review of the DVD on this page. I also have a Tae Bo DVD along with an air filled punching bag. I even bought an actual punching bag so I could exercise and relieve stress. There is nothing better than taking all your frustration out after a long day at work.

In the summertime I play tennis, basketball and walk. You don’t have to be an athlete to play sports. My fiancé and I played tennis and I weighed around 360 lbs. at the time. You don’t have to be good at something to do it; we both are terrible at tennis. You don’t have to go out and get into a basketball game and run a full court press to get some exercise, just get a basketball and go out by yourself or with a friend and just shot some hoops. Just shooting and chasing the ball will give you plenty of exercise.

You can go to the gym if you want but personally, I have chosen not too. I understand how hard it is for a fat person to go to a gym full of skinny people. You think people are watching you and making fun of you. I invested some money into a few pieces of equipment and it’s just as good. You don’t have to spend thousands on equipment though. My mom bought my weight set for $50 as a Christmas present. Tell your family and friends that your trying to be healthier and to get you some type of exercise equipment for Christmas and birthday presents instead of that tie that will hang in your closet for the next year. Check newspapers and even your local Wal-Mart will have some exercise equipment.

I realize that women may not want to lift weights and look like a body builder, but you too can benefit from weight lifting, instead of lifting for strength, left to sculpt your body. You can find some great workouts on the internet and in Women’s Health that are perfect for you. Always remember that the more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn. Muscle burns 40 calories per pound per day just for maintenance. Put on 5 pounds of extra muscle and you will burn 200 extra calories a day. This is one of the reasons it’s easier for men to lose weight than women.

Another type of exercising that you can try is dancing. You don’t even have to know how; just turn some music up and dance around the house for 30-minutes, you will be surprised how many calories that will burn and you will feel great afterwards, of course, if someone walks in on you, you may be a bit embarrassed.

Getting your mind right is a huge part of exercising. If you tell yourself that you can’t do it, then you will not be able to do it. If you tell yourself how much you hate it and how easier it is just to sit back on the couch, then that is what you will do. You have to talk yourself into exercising and the more you exercise, the more you will like it and the less you will have to argue with yourself about doing it. You have to force yourself to understand that you will not lose weight without exercise, even those little diet pills, that some of us have taken, say (in small print) – “with exercise and a healthy diet”. So if you have to eat healthy and exercise for those little pills to work, why exactly do you need them?

Get up and get moving.