I dieted myself fat ~Amanda Salis
Disclaimer: I am not against exercising; in fact I have exercised most of my adult life and I believe it is the reason I am healthy today. It is good for the blood, brain, skin, mood, hormones and all the vital organs. It gives us physical strength, tones muscles and helps us fight disease. But it is not designed to make us lose weight.
I confess that I take up more space on this planet than other people--something that I've struggled to change, without success, using a formula that I know today is flawed. Really it was a simple plan if it had worked: Calories in and calories out. We all have been taught that if we watch what we eat and exercise we will lose weight. Burn more calories than you eat and voile! You get skinny! Right? This philosophy is so ingrained into society that people still believe it and invariably someone will counsel me to just take a walk; the best form of exercise, right?. That happened to me today.
A lovely well-meaning lady tried to convince me that I need to started walking even though I told her I have exercised all my life and WALKED 3 - 5 miles a day for 8 years. All that did was wear out my knees so that they both had to be replaced (remember heavier people are harder on their knees), and it never made me lose weight. I've always hated walking and had to force myself to do it; I believe now that my body was telling me "This is not good for you, Maxie!" yet I ignored my intuition, following the advice of others: doctors, Oprah, diet gurus and lovely well meaning ladies. Today my new friend, after hearing my story, persisted and asked me if I would walk if she went with me. I told her no. I don't like to take walks. This was so FRUSTRATING! CAN'T ANY ONE HEAR ME?
I was a chronic dieter and an obsessive exerciser for most of my life. In the end I realized that dieting only slows down the metabolism so that when I returned to a more relaxed eating plan the weight came back with reinforcements, which was devastating to my self -esteem; I felt like such a failure. I did this over and over again. The truth is that the body is designed to save your life when there is little food, and that fight to survive kicks in when we put ourselves in starvation mode so all that hunger and deprivation only made me fatter.
I saw a Fitbit ad showing a fat cartoon character getting skinny in three months by walking 10,000 steps a day. That is such false advertising. Certainly if a sedentary person starts an exercise program or goes to work as a mail carrier she might lost some weight initially, but the human body doesn't want to waste away to nothing, so it slows down its metabolism so that it stops losing weight. That is a truth of it.
God didn't use a cookie cutter when he created us. If you like to walk and feel that it benefits you then by all means walk! But don't insist that it is the best way for everyone. And perhaps you have been blessed with a strong metabolism and a daily routine seems to keep you in good shape, don't assume that your routine will work for everyone.
I still exercise, but I do my own routine which is a combination of yoga, dance and a little weight training, concentrating on core and leg strength and balance. I exercise 15 to 20 minute several times a week and don't even try to do cardio. I am still researching and learning how to get healthier and stronger. After years of disability I am super grateful for the gift of being able to move freely, but I still don't take walks.
Learn more about it starting with this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3ghP-26CLg
https://www.aarp.org/health/healthy-living/info-2018/metabolism-myths-weight-loss.html
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