Don't Hurt Yourself

Everyone seems to know, on some level, that moderation is the best method for losing weight.  It's a pretty good strategy for life in general.  The problem is that moderation is not easy.  If it was easy, everyone would do it and there would be no market for gimmicks and tricks.  Moderation is downright hard to do.  

That's where all the fad diets and exercise programs come in.  Most of them are, in their own right, good in moderation.  The extremes are what bothers me.  

I want to focus on exercise for this particular post.  Moderate exercise is hard to do.  

Why is that?  By definition, moderate exercise should be easier than extreme exercise...

It is harder because it doesn't give us the dramatic results that we're craving.  The hard part about exercising in moderation is having the willpower to stick with it when the rewards are small and slow to materialize.  

I have personally seen people get hurt doing too much too soon.  It doesn't matter if it's cardio, weight-lifting, cross-fit, or whatever else.  You have to know your limits.

The most dangerous thing to a fat person in a gym is someone with good intentions who doesn't know the line between ' helpful encouragement' and 'dangerous peer pressure.' 

My most recent personal encounter with this was in a '30 minute intense fitness' workout that I tried at a gym a while back.  The instructor (and several of the students) kept pushing me to do exercises that I know are unsafe for someone of my size who hasn't worked out regularly.  This time, I didn't listen to them, but another guy in the class did.  He sprained his wrist, stopped going to the gym, and gained back all of the weight he had lost plus some.  

Another friend of mine went way overboard doing pull-ups in a cross-fit class.  He knew he had passed the point where he needed to stop, but he kept going because the trainer and the entire class were pushing him not to quit.  He damaged his shoulder so badly that he will need surgery to correct it.  

Here's the bottom line.  You are not a professional athlete.  When you are in pain, you should probably slow down.  I'm not talking about soreness and discomfort.  I'm talking about those times when you know something isn't right, but you keep pushing yourself because "pain is just weakness leaving the body."  

No.  Pain exists to motivate us to withdraw from damaging situations, and to protect a damaged body part while it heals.  

I'm not saying that you shouldn't push yourself, but I am saying that you shouldn't push yourself too far.  More importantly, you shouldn't push other people, especially strangers, in situations where they might injure themselves.  

In other words, let me walk and stop telling me to run!  I'll run when I'm ready.  I am NOT ready.  

Click here to read a great article about the dangers of the Biggest Loser for more info on this subject.

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Last week, I averaged about 2300 calories per day, and I walked about 21,000 steps.  I lost 2.0 pounds!

I have lost 34.2 pounds total (in 105 days).