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June 19, 2009
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Weight Loss
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Reasons society has difficulty with weight loss:
- We want immediate feedback. Humans are not
patient creatures, and we like to see the fruits of our labors early on.
If we don't see the results, we become discouraged.
- Lets take an analogy. Suppose we are on a
ship, sailing from New York City to London. Let's say it is an old
sail boat, with primitive navigational equipment. We had to use a
compass and a sextant. Two weeks passes, and we were
becoming concerned. All we saw was blue water. We might lose
confidence and turn back. We didn't get the feedback we wanted,
results. We might have been doing very well, and may have been in
fact halfway there, but we had no gauges by which to judge our progress.
For all we knew, we could be headed toward Marseilles, France (that
might not be so bad), and we wouldn't even know.
Now, take another scenario, and suppose that we were on the same ship,
but that every two hundred miles, we passes a buoy, which said "you are
on the right course, only 1400 miles left" or "you are five degrees off
course: suggest changing bearings to 84 degrees." Then, we would
be much more content, our minds would be eased, and we would be seeing
progress. Even when I am sitting on a chair lift on a ski slope,
ascending the mountain, I like to watch for the progress as I watch the
descending numbers I pass on the poles holding up the chairlift.
In addition to monitoring progress, we like feedback telling us when we
are doing the wrong thing.
Next, take a third scenario. We are back on the ship, there are no
signs or buoys, but our friend is sitting in a satellite over the
Atlantic Ocean, and is telling us we are either on the right or wrong
course. That is again reassuring to us, as long as we trust our
friend.
When it comes to weight loss, it is no different
than crossing the Atlantic Ocean in an old ship, with primitive
navigational capabilities. It will take patience and time, guidance,
reassurance, and the inexperienced sailor will need to listen the the
seasoned, experienced sailor, as to what to do, what to look for, and what
to change. Also realize, nothing develops confidence like
success, and nothing destroys it like failure. A novice
attempting weight loss, without the guidance and experience of a trained
individual, is setting themself up for failure, and for discouragement to
try again.
- We want easy results. We want to take a pill
to lose the weight, we want surgical liposuction to lose the weight, we
want to go on a crash diet for fifteen days to lose the weight. Lets
go back to the old sailing ship. We've been on the ocean for one
week, and don't know where we are going. A tug boat full of all the
latest and greatest equipment passes us, and tells us that for $24.95 on a
three month payment plan, we can subscribe to his service of 6 days of
towing. He is convincing, and has all the right testemonials
(he has pictures and statements of hobie cats, sunfish boats, and
catamarans which he "saved"), and we take a tow. After six days, he
releases us, but still we see just blue water, but our wallets are
lighter. We wanted a quick fix. We didn't want to learn a
method, we didn't want to learn to skills necessacy to get us to London
("give a man a fish, and feed him for a day; teach him to fish, and
feed him for a lifetime') . Let's learn a method, which we can use
for life. Let's not take the free ride. Life generally proves that
free rides are the most costly, in the long run.
- We don't have the will power. In life, if the
pleasure you get from doing something outweighs the satisfaction you get
in the long run from not doing it, you will inevitably do it. If it
does not, you won't. How much do you want to lose weight? How much
do you want that cheesecake? Is the momentary pleasure worth it?
Generally we find that one effort in weight loss and fitness builds upon
another. If one is not participating in diet, strength training or
cardiovascular activity, then one is more prone to eating with abandon.
But we find that most people who exercise tend to think in terms of
activity substitutes. If you just ran three miles this morning, and
lifted doing a chest and biceps workout as well, you are less likely to
have the cheesecake. We find this philosophy occurs over and over.
You will think to yourself "I have to run another three miles just to undo
the cake" and we find that most people will pass on the cake.
- No time. Diet and exercise take time.
There is no question about that. But we all have to eat, so
why not eat right. Our bodies are like machines, and you wouldn't
put inappropriate fuel into your car, so don't put it into your body.
Most us watch the news or other shows on television, so why not do that
while on a stairmaster, treadmill or elliptical trainer. Instead of
meeting the boss for a dinner meeting, why not have a meeting at the gym,
and summarize the meeting over a cold protein drink. What about your
next date? Why not a date at the gym, along with a protein bar?
- Too expensive. It's not cheap. Eating the
proper food, with low fat, high protein, is not inexpensive.
Membership to a gym, use of a personal trainer, or other experts to offer
guidance, are not cheap. Quality is never cheap. But remember
this, when they were asked, most elderly people list among their greatest
regrets that they did not invest more in their health. That means time
as well as money. Each and every one of us can make the most of what
they have, and it is never to late to get on the road to weight loss and
fitness.
Expert Opinion on Fat Loss
Dangers of Excess Body Fat
Diet: There's no such thing as cheating
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