Exercise and Dieting...Why I Hate Exercise

After much struggle with my own weight loss issues and a lot of reading on the topic as well as discussions with multiple doctors, the truth about weight loss boils down to a simple short sentence:

Losing weight means taking in fewer calories than you're burning.

In other words, eat less or burn more calories. Adjust as necessary.

Whenever my weight loss stalls or I discuss issues with other people they inevitably start telling me that I need to "Exercise more! You need to exercise!"

Somehow that's the magic cure for everything.

The depressing batwings forming under my arms? "Exercise will tone that up." No, it won't. If I had lost a little weight, yes. When I've lost over a hundred pounds, no. The connective tissue is damaged. It will improve slightly and building muscle will contribute to helping, but dreams of looking like a studmuffin on the beach will not be in the cards. Plus as I established in an earlier post you need to take in more calories than your "maintenance" metabolic rate in order to build muscle...that's kind of against everything we're currently working towards.

I am a person that also needs simple routine and I live in an area that has variable weather. We have snowy Winters, sweaty Summers, and chilly Falls. Perhaps most people can't understand this but I simply cannot stand the thought of getting into a routine of walking along a riverside path for 3 of 4 seasons then get stuck in the house for the Winter months. I'd fall out of habit and never get back on the saddle. It's my nature...look for the asperger label for more.

Of course there is the old standby that I just don't like exercise.

However the real reason is that I am looking for exercise to enhance weight maintenance, not as a necessity. How many people do you know hang up the walking shoes for Winter and gain weight, or stop some activity that's work- or hobby-related and over the next several months gain the pounds? A shift in lifestyle suddenly means they become a lot tubbier? See the kids that went from high school sports stars to college tubbers and write it off as "Freshman Fifteen"?

I need to find a caloric intake that will maintain a more healthy weight. Then exercise can help me while not damaging my mental state. I am not denying the studies that conclude exercise helps in other ways, such as enhancing mood, helping metabolism, etc...simply that I, personally, need to find and maintain a healthy relationship with food before turning to the religion of abs and glutes. Preferably without bandying about terms like carbs, abs, and glutes.

I'm a big believer in The Hacker's Diet; available free online. The author states that he supports exercise for the benefits it offers but not for weight loss.

Maybe it's the psychiatrist effect; it often seems that when a person goes to see a therapist, suddenly everyone needs a therapist. They start to evangelize how their friends and family could use therapy and encourage others because of how it works wonders for them. Perhaps exercise has the same effect on them.

That being said I burrowed into the basement last night and use the air pump to re-fill the completely flat tires on my old bike. My son is getting a Hot Wheels 16-inch training bike for his birthday...we had to order it from Wal-Mart online...and I thought it could be fun to try riding around with him at school playgrounds, plus I used to enjoy riding bikes. My poor old bike has rusted rims and a missing spedometer computer and probably will need a chain replaced and greased, and the brakes are probably not in the best shape after being in storage...I'm really in need of a new bike. I don't even know how to properly work the gears. I'm a total bikenoramus. I'd say ignoramus but I don't count myself as such since I'm aware of how much I don't know about properly maintaining my bike. I managed to ride it around the front yard for a couple circuits...my son chased me on foot giggling the whole way...before putting it into the shed to see if the tires hold the air pressure.

Now I just wait and see.