The Fitness Lab

Existential Fitness

It is January 2012, and like so many people in this country, you have made a resolution to get yourself into better shape, lose some weight, join a gym, and get yourself a better diet. These are all laudable goals, and we would be better off as a country if the majority of Americans would follow through and accomplish these goals. We would be healthier, spend less on medical expenses, maybe spend more on new wardrobes for our newer, sleeker selves and just generally feel better about ourselves in ways that could change the way we treat others, bringing about a harmony that has been greatly lacking in the past few years.

But it isn’t going to happen this year, just like it didn’t happen last year or the year before that. Like so many before you, and probably including you, you will trudge off to a gym, sign up for a membership, maybe even go a couple of times but not really know what you want to do or how to do it. You’ll probably have to fight the January crowds of fellow well intentioned exercisers, competing to get onto machines that may or may not be appropriate for your needs and wants. And after a few frustrating attempts to get a new fitness regimen going, you will throw in the towel, stop going to the gym and settling back into the same life patterns that got you the shape you are currently in, with the prospect that it will just continue to get worse. And it probably will and you will find yourself doing the same thing a year from now.

And there will be a lot of voices telling you that it is not your fault. I just had several people point out an article in the New York Times Magazine entitled "The Fat Trap", which talks about a study done in Australia on weight loss through dieting, and states “For years, the advice to the overweight and obese has been that we simply need to eat less and exercise more. While there is truth to this guidance, it fails to take into account that the human body continues to fight against weight loss long after dieting has stopped. This translates into a sobering reality: once we become fat, most of us, despite our best efforts, will probably stay fat.”

Well, after reading the article, I would have to agree. If you take the approach that they did for weight loss, you will, in all probability, fail to lose weight and keep it off.  And you will not be increasing the quality of your health or your life.
Read more... Link