It's the mantra of many fitness competitors, and it's so true.
A friend of mine quoted it back to me last night. A few months ago, he lost quite a few pounds by eating clean and exercising. (He eventually stopped doing both, and has now regained the weight.) He was talking about his love for food... and how difficult it was for him to eat healthy. I mentioned that, a few months ago, he had been eating very healthy--packing his lunch, watching his fats and unhealthy starches, eating more veggies...
He responded: "That's because you told me, Midnight, that 80% of our body is based on what we eat, and only 20% is based on exercise. So I ate healthy because I wanted to change my body."
It was like the heavens opened up and a choir of angels floated over my head. Hallelujah! Someone had listened to my preaching!
Unfortunately, I belong firmly in the camp of "Do what I say, not what I do."
A few months ago--around mid-November--I finally started exercising again after a 5-month hiatus. Since that time, I've significantly increased my physical activity. And, in fact, am training for a Half Marathon.
My diet, however, is only slightly better than it was during that 5-month break. Sure, I eat more clean meals now, and I'm a little more conscious about portion sizes. But for the most part, my diet hasn't changed dramatically.
And my weight? My weight has stayed exactly the same (within 2-3 pounds).
So all that extra exercise--which amounts to at least an hour per day, 5-6 days per week--hasn't helped me drop any of my extra fat. Indeed, my pants fit just a snugly as they did in the past.
The lesson: Bodies really are made in the kitchen. And if I hope to really drop this weight around my middle, I'm going to have to kick it up a notch when it comes to my diet.
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5 comments:
Sometimes it's hard to change the one thing that is the problem. For some reason it is easier to exercise than to eat right. I guess we just have to work harder at that, huh?
I totally agree! I used to go to the gym alot (probably the same as you) and all it did was help me "maintain" my weight! It wasn't until I changed my diet that the weight started to come off. Although I did feel 100% beter just from working out for 45min everyday, my clothes still fit the same and the scale never budged! I do enjoy going to the gym but I don't think it helps you loose weight, it only helps you maintain your weight or tone your body. What you do in the kitchen is way more important then what you do in the gym - if your planning on loosing weight! ;)
I fully agree - I busted my a**e at the gym for months. I was regaining my fitness and pretty happy. I jumped on the scales and I hadn't lost a thing! So I got discouraged and gave it away.
Thinking back there was a really good reason why I wasn't losing weight despite all my hard work. It was because I was dowing upto 2 litres of coke a day.
Keep up the good work
My husband is at the gym right now, but when he comes back I'm going to point your post out to him. "Bodies are made in the kitchen" is the pithiest thing I've read in a long time.
Thanks for posting this!
I agree that what we eat (and how much we eat of it) is terribly important. And I'm also of the "do what I say" camp--I'm so great at figuring out _____'s problems! (Then I remind myself I should focus on my own.)
At the same time, if you're busting your butt at the gym and building muscle there, you must be losing some fat, or your weight would increase from the bulk of the muscle, right?
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