Exercise Whether You Lose Weight or Not – WSJ

As I have written hundreds of times here: eat less; move more; live longer. Notice there is nothing in that statement about losing weight. I know that with almost 70 percent of the population overweight or obese, there is a lot of worry about weight loss. I wish folks would lighten up. No pun intended. If you eat right and exercise, you will be healthy and live longer.

42-16978656

I found a Wall Street Journal article  from early this year on that very subject. Rachel Bachman cited, “A recent study underscores that there are significant health benefits to overweight and obese people being physically active, even if they don’t lose a pound. The study, of 334,000 Europeans over 12 years, recorded twice as many deaths due to a lack of physical activity as due to obesity.”

I have time and again written that the reason most people fail at losing weight and keeping it off is that they have the superficial goal of looking sexy or something like that. If you are healthy you will be sexy whether you appear that way to the object of your affection or not.

She makes another good point with, “Some doctors say the diet industry and popular culture overemphasize weight loss and underemphasize the benefits of exercise for people of any size. Health clubs and fitness studios advertise with images of lean bodies. Many people stop exercising if they’re not losing weight.”

The sooner you can get the superficial appearance thing out of your head the better off you will be.

A good example is Jeanette Patie a certified fitness instructor in Duarte, Calif., speaker and author of “The Fat Chick Works Out!” About 16 years ago, she read a book critical of the diet industry and had an epiphany: “I’m not the only one that fails at this. Almost everyone fails at this.”

“She began seeking out exercise that she enjoyed, and now teaches three or four dance-based exercise classes a week, in addition to walking, biking and doing yoga. She finds that she sleeps better, has more stable moods and gets sick less often.”

There you have it. How many readers can boast sleeping well, stable moods and getting sick less often?

I think it is fascinating that the physical problem of being overweight can best be handled first by making the mental decision to get healthy through good eating and exercise and letting the chips fall where they may.

I wrote Why you should quit trying to lose weight early last year. Check it out. You might find out something worthwhile. One last important point I need to make is that your brain benefits from exercise. Check out my Page – Important facts about your brain – and exercise benefits.

Tony