Reflections - Weight Loss and Exercise Walking

This is going to be a potpourri of miscellaneous thoughts - nothing particularly profound, but hopefully some helpful things. I have to leave it to any readers to know what is healthy for them and what works for them (e.g., if you're a diabetic, I'm not giving you the OK to go nuts with some carbohydrate-laden food or beverage).

Losing weight is simple on the level of concept. Over time, if you systematically burn off more calories every day that you eat, you'll lose weight. Now, your body plays tricks during that time, so the weight loss won't be a nice smooth-sloped line or curve that exactly tracks your net burn-off, but over time it will happen just as it should. The hard part is doing it, systematically, over a long time, not letting one's progress or lack of progress affect what one eats and does. It's very "simple", you just have to eat carefully and work your butt off.

Being careful how much you eat is likely to work better than trying to utter stop something you love. If you love Coca Cola or cheddar cheese, trying to cut those out entirely is likely to set you up for going nuts and giving up. Having the something you love with appropriate frequency and in appropriate amount for how much you should eat is better - in the near term, as you are less likely to go nuts or give up, and in the long term, as you are forming new habits for the rest of your life.

Potatoes are good - in proper amount a frequency. Similarly, being a potato - a couch potato - is something that should be done appropriately (Is that fitness heresy?). Make couch-potatoing something you do for occasional relaxation, not your way of life. And move …

Moving more is a euphemism for “exercise”. But pretend you didn't hear that, and don't think of what you do as the E-Word. Your moving can be a lot of different things, and the biggest thing is to do what works for you, what you can do several times a week, and won't put you in the hospital or bankruptcy. So, running, walking, kick-boxing, stationary bicycle … what works for you? I'm not young, my starting point was being very out-of-shape, and I'm not rich. And the climate where I live is fairly mild. Put those together, and walking works for me. It's almost free (do get good shoes!). I walk in the neighborhood where I live. Preparation is quick - change clothes and go out the front door. Walking time is easily changeable as I get better or have other things to do.

You can lose weight by eating more carefully. Or you can lose weight by moving more. You'll do better by doing both. And it's important to realize and remember that this is not just something you do for a few weeks or months. You should be forming new habits - eating and “moving”, because you don't want to go back to where you were. Develop the proper balance of enjoying what you eat while being careful of how much. Develop new interests – sports, working out, doing things with friends, whatever works and interests you. I've gone from walking as something I can do 20 or 30 minutes at a time 3-5 days a week to much longer walks and walking in “runs” as long as a 10K or a half-marathon.