OK, Let's Get One Thing Straight!

First off, let me start out by saying a big THANK YOU to those of you that commented on my post yesterday.  Those of you that were showing your support, that is.  It really meant a lot to me to know that after all this time, I still have people that have my back and are rooting for me.  Not everyone has given up on me... and that is a big deal.

With that being said, I had to also receive a comment that was basically what I was expecting.  The whole "you can't just lose weight with exercise, you have to eat right" comment.  To be fair, and not blow the whole thing out of proportion, I'm going to clarify myself today with that comment.

Here's the comment I'm speaking about:

"No workout can out-work a poor diet. You're a not-exactly-young female with a history of being overweight/obese. Your weight is determined by 80% diet, 10% exercise, 10% genetics. Your health is influenced tremendously by your diet...as are your children's choices. Eating what you feel like and thinking you can burn it off doesn't work, 1) because of physiology and 2) because if you're like the vast majority of people, the workouts happen sporadically, if at all, while the food intake is steady and voluminous. The only "plan" you need is to eat real food that contributes nutrition to your body. The portions will adjust themselves shortly as you find that you are much more easily and continuously satiated by eating whole foods and drinking plenty of water (a gallon a day). Exercise is to increase fitness; i.e., strength, flexibility, cardiovascular endurance, etc. --not to burn off crap you ate or buy you permission to eat crap/eat more."

No work-out can out-work a poor diet.  Let's start there.  First off, in yesterday's post I made several remarks about refusing a diet "plan".  Meaning I wasn't going to count calories, eliminate certain foods, or follow some diet plan that has been made very lucrative in the weight loss world.

Now, what I didn't mean by that statement was that I'd be working out and then stuffing myself full of cheeseburgers and fries.  I'm not going to go at this with the mentality that I can have my cake, run a mile, and then eat the whole damn thing.  I'm not the smartest person in the world, but I do know that just because I do some exercise, I won't be able to eat tons of junk food.  

I'm a not-exactly-young female with a history of being overweight/obese.  Ouch!  But, the truth hurts, so I'll give you that one.

My weight is determined by 80% diet, 10% exercise, 10% genetics.  This is one of those statements I love hearing.  I've heard it a THOUSAND times.  Well, make that 1001 now.  But you know what?  That statement is a generalized statement fed to the masses.  In fact, the past two years, my diet is all I've thought about.  I've given 99% to diet, and 1% to exercise...and you know what's happened?  Nothing.  I'm still the same weight I was 2 years ago.  The year before that, my life revolved around about 60% exercise and 40% diet.  I was told to eat better but exercise MUCH MORE.  I lost 80lbs.  I stopped exercising so much, but didn't really sway that far off from the "healthy" meal plans I'd been focusing on...and what do you know?  Gained it all back.

My health is influenced tremendously by my diet... as is my children's.  First off, please don't bring my kids in to this.  All three are in a healthy range.  They are active in sports, eat well, and have normal body weights.  My kids LOVE healthy foods, and don't just sit around all day snacking on junk food.  My youngest, for example, would much rather eat a bowl of carrots than a bowl of chips any day.  Just last night, we had homemade burritos for dinner.  She pulled out the lettuce, salsa, and cheese and ate that with a tortilla.  She also asked for a side of baby carrots to go with it.  She had a small spoonful of the meat, but was perfectly content with just eating the veggies.  Hardly sounds like a kid on the fast track to Obese Central.  My oldest is an avid volleyball player and track participant.  On her off seasons, it's very important for her to maintain her fitness and diet.  Which she does.  My son, who is a football player, has been a little overweight his whole life.  Until this last year, when he hit a growth spurt and evened stuff out.  My kids are given healthy, nutritious foods in my house.  So, don't judge my kids based on my fat behind.

Eating what you feel like and thinking you can burn it off doesn't work, 1) because of physiology and 2) because if you're like the vast majority of people, the workouts happen sporadically, if at all, while the food intake is steady and voluminous.  

I guess this all depends on how you interpret "eating what I feel like" (see next point).  

The only "plan" you need is to eat real food that contributes nutrition to your body. The portions will adjust themselves shortly as you find that you are much more easily and continuously satiated by eating whole foods and drinking plenty of water (a gallon a day)

Again, it's my bad for you interpreting that my not wanting to follow a diet plan automatically means I'm going to be eating a constant supply of McDonald's and Chocolate Eclairs.  I couldn't possibly be saying anything other than that, right?  I mean, when a person who wants to lose weight declares she's not going to diet, that automatically has to translate in to her continuing the binge high-life.  Big Macs?  Bags of chips?  Candy bars?  Cakes and pies?  OF COURSE!!  

For your information, I very rarely eat junk food.  I know, you probably don't believe me.  How on earth could an obese woman be obese and not stuff her face full of junk 24/7... right?  I mean, it's just not scientifically possible that an obese woman who focuses her life on three squares a day, drinks nothing but water and coffee, and even without counting knows that her calorie intake each day is between 1500-2000 (and very rarely does it go near the 2000 range)... because it's been the same kind of food/portions for the past two years while she's focused on nothing but her "diet" be this overweight, right?  

Exercise is to increase fitness; i.e., strength, flexibility, cardiovascular endurance, etc. --not to burn off crap you ate or buy you permission to eat crap/eat more.

Again, thanks for making the automatic assumption that my not wanting to "diet" and focus more on exercise is just my way of giving myself an excuse to load up on more crap.  That's totally understandable to assume.  Even though I made the point that I'm going to continue eating the way I am, you automatically assume - once again - that I'll be relying on my "best friends" Fat and Sugar, right?

Once again, I'd like to point out that I don't really eat that much 'crap'.  Over the past two years, I've actually got myself in to a pretty good mindset when it comes to eating.  The meals in my house are always freshly made, with fresh ingredients.  Veggies are a large portion of our meals.  Protein comes from lean cuts.  Grains are always of the whole-grain variety.  

Now, I'm not going to sit up here on my soapbox and declare that I never put junk in my mouth.  Once in a while, I'll eat some pizza.  Once in a blue moon, my family enjoys burgers and fries at a local restaurant.  I'll even confess that over the Christmas break I ate some chocolate and cookies and pie.  But, that's not my "normal" eating habits.  My problem is mostly on skipping meals.  I admit, I'll skip breakfast once in a while.  If I'm at home I can go an entire day without eating... until dinner time comes around.  But, even those situations have improved immensely over the past year.   Because I knew that I had to eat at least three small meals a day in order to lose weight.

But, again, how is it possible that I am able to maintain not eating that much junk food, eating pretty healthy meals, and not loading myself up with fat and sugar that I'm not losing.. and sometimes even gaining weight?

I'll tell you how... BECAUSE I DON'T EXERCISE!!

Which brings me right back around to where I wanted to be.

You automatically assume that with my declaration yesterday, I'd be another "fatty" who wants to stuff her face full of junk food, make the half-hearted pledge to move a little more, and then expect to drop 100lbs.  Am I right?

Do I have to explain the whole "Ass-u-me" scenario?

Had you taken even the tiniest morsel of time to understand about me is that eating really isn't the problem.  I've been on this diet rollercoaster for so long, that I'm tired of it.  Plan this, log that, count this, subtract that.  It's enough to make my head explode!! And I've been doing it for YEARS!!!  What do I have to show for it?  Nothing.

Well, that's not true.  I have an understanding about what foods I should be eating.  I can now eye up a piece of meat and know how much is a correct "portion".  I can know, to a error margin of 10, how many calories I'm consuming in a day without having to write a single thing down.  I have fully changed my mindset on good carbs versus bad carbs, the value of multi-grain and whole grain varieties, how to select lean protein, and how many calories my body is burning at rest.  

Yet, nothing has changed with my body!!

It's missing one very important factor... and that's the exercise.  I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that I can't lose the weight I want to lose by just eating right.  I'm already there.  I already do that.  Have I let myself go too many times?  Sure.  But, I still know how to get right back up on that Healthy Food Horse without books, and apps, and expensive supplements. 

When I lost 80lbs, it wasn't the eating right that did it.  It was the exercise.  Leaning up my muscle, burning the excess fat that's stored up on my body over the years, giving me the rush of adrenaline to make me stronger, giving me pride in accomplishing stuff I didn't think my fat body was capable of, and giving me the notion that I need to fuel my body with healthy stuff.. because why go through all that work just to waste it on a donut?

So, before you judge me or my plans, take a second to read through the lines, sista.  I'm not a beginner.  I'm not walking down this road for the first time. I have tasted the sweet taste of success.  I have trained my brain to know what "fuel" it needs.  But I'm filling up a gas tank that hasn't left the garage in WAY too long.  

Don't tell me stuff I already know.  I appreciate and respect your opinion, but just needed to clear up a few facts.

I in no way, shape, or form plan on giving up the "diet" to eat nothing but junk and expect exercise to swoop in and save me.  I know what the numbers and statistics and all that jazz are.  I am not going to diet.  Period.  I'm going to keep doing what I've been doing with my nutrition... because it's not at all how you assume it to be.  I'm just going to get back up on that exercise pony and ride myself back in to success.  

I've made it a routine to eat right.  Better, at least.  Now, I have to work on making exercise the routine.  That's my focus.  That's the "plan".  If I fail, it will be because I didn't get off that couch and follow through.  It won't be because I just continued eating my way in to oblivion.  

Thanks for the comment, though.

And hopefully, this clears up some of the missing pieces I left out from yesterday's post.