So Monday and Tuesday's discussions were just the lead up ...

To the discussion I really set out to have:

The idea that really inspired me this week was Weight Maven's statement:

"When it's time to give diet and exercise a rest"

Okay -- let's be clear:

I'm not going to tell you its okay to sit on your couch and eat whatever garbage food happens across your path for an indefinate period of time....ever.  Because IT'S JUST NOT!

However, let's dial back the scope of Weight Maven's statement.

Let's think about giving up dieting as the "fix" to our weight solution.  How many of you tried Atkin's and swore you could live this way?  I literally heard no less than 50 people tell me that very thing.  And how many of them are still following the Atkin's plan?  None that I know of. 

Weight Watchers works.  How many of you reached lifetime member status?  And why are you reading this blog?  Because Weight Watchers wasn't the whole solution for you?  Because it's limiting to have to count calories your whole life?  Yup, I think so too.

Dieting implies that you're doing something get to the results you want so you can then do what you like.  That's not the way weight managment works.  Unless you want to diet forever, you're going to have to find another solution you can live with forever.

So what about exercise?  Maybe instead of dieting you should substitute exercise? 

Well....first off, if you don't like exercise and only plan on doing it long enough to lose the weight -- this is the dieting mentality all over again. 

Second, do you know how many calories are stored as potential energy in one pound of fat? 3500. (give or take a few).

I did a fairly intense 30 minute stint on the Arc Trainer at the FC the other day.  Guess how many calories I burned?  400.  (and I wouldn't necessarily imply that the Arc is that accurate with it's calories burned feature -- wouldn't it make sense for the manufacture to err on the side of reporting a higher number of calories burned so I feel really motivated by that number and want to use their machines because I seem to burn so many more calories on the Arc instead of say a treadmill? )

But for the sake of argument, let's say the Arc calories burned tracker is accurate and I did, indeed, burn 400 calories in 30 minutes.  If I do that 7 days a week 1 pound a week.  And I'm trading 210 minutes of my life per week for the experience.  Worth it?  You decide.

I want you to give serious thought to giving up the "Diet and Exercise as punishment to beat your body into shape" mentality.  Give it, and yourself, a rest.

How many of you say you hate exercise but love taking a stroll along the lakeshore or through the woods?  How many of you like going on a bike ride with friends?  Mowing the lawn? Gardening?

If you like any of those things, you don't hate exercise -- you just may not have developed an appreciation for leaving work, driving to a gym, and sweating it out with others inside where there's nothing to think about except how much longer you've got until you can leave. 

How many of you look at a plate of "diet" food and sigh because you've got 4, 17, or 52 more pounds to go before you can eat things you like again?  How long can you survive on willpower alone?

So diet foods are boring, limiting, and, let's face it, kind of sad.  How sad did you feel last time you had a big, fresh, salad full of garden tomatoes, fresh greens, snap peas, feta, bleu cheese or some great gorgonzola topped with slices of steak hot off the grill?

What if you aren't tired of movement and healthy food?  What if you're just tired of the framework you put around those things and how that framework makes your world look and feel?

Maybe it is time to give "diet" and "exercise" (and yourself) a rest.