Weight Loss, Old-School Style

There is so much nonsense out there about the latest research and so-called breakthoughs on how we can lose the battle of the bulge. Each one promises to be easier, simpler, and faster than last week's blockbusting, earth-changing groundbreaker. Granted, some of them have a bit of truth, even in theory, but most of it in my opinion is inaccurate, if not wholly misleading.

The sad part is that we want to believe it. We want to believe that a couple of pills, a new revolutionary system, or some bizarre plastic gadget will, in a few short weeks, repair the damage we have been inflicting daily on our bodies for many years. An entire industry has been built on this little hope, that something new will come along and rescue us from the unbending error of our ways.

In my own search years ago, I found something very old. And it works.
Are you ready?

Diet Plus Exercise.

You might have uttered two words in response: (1)Ho and (2) Hum. It's not exactly wildfire-popular, is it? You've heard of those before, right? That's because they have been around for such a long time, and that when properly applied, work incredibly well.

They are not new, at least not to your television or magazine rack. For the most of us, they are strangers in our own lifestyles. We seem to vaguely know in the back of our minds that we have to exercise and eat right, but at the end of each day, the most popular time to start a diet or exercise plan is still, "Tomorrow".

Once I decided to change that day to "today", all sorts of changes took place, such as my bodyfat --and not just my weight-- falling quickly, my energy levels on a constant high during the day, and my personal self-esteem from such an accomplishment was something no surgery or pill could replace. I know it sounds like an infomercial, but it really happened.

Why is it not as popular as the latest pill or diet system? Because of the downside of almost every old-fashioned solution : it's not easy, and nobody thinks it's convenient. We live in a pill-for-everything society, one that wants a quick fix for what's broken, and one that looks down on physical labor, to the point of installing electronic window controls in our cars.

Exercise:
And it turns out that physical activity is not only good for us, it's necessary. For example, our lymphatic system pumps fluid, nutrients and waste materials throughout our body between tissue and the bloodstream via one method: that's right, physical movement!
The more we walk, run or pump our arms, the more lymphatic fluid is able to do its job. This is an important part of our immune system, and the less we exercise, the less waste products and nutrients it can process for us, to keep us from getting sick.
And that's just one thing that benefits from exercise!

Many of you may be saying that you have tried exercise, and that it doesn't work. For many years the same has happened to me. Then I decided to educate myself. It turns out that the quality of exercise matters when you have a specific result in mind: anaerobic exercise increases strength and power, while aerobic exercise works on endurance and stamina. While both are essential to any program, I found that putting a greater emphasis on aerobics burns more fat!

But it's not a magic pill to take with your eyes closed: At one time I was putting in 12 to 20 minutes a day of aerobics (walking/jogging)in my workouts, but several months passed without any results. After some experimentation I discovered that bumping up the intensity and duration of the exercise to make it a bit more challenging kept my progress going. I worked up to 30 minutes of jogging, building up to as much as 90 minutes on alternate days. Over the following eight months or so, the fat fell off my body like my old oversized pajamas.

"But who has 90 minutes in their day for aerobics alone?" you might ask. My answer is: You do! If this was a doctor or dentist appointment, a religious obligation or an emergency at work, you'd probably find a way to arrange your schedule. Why? Probably because you think they were important. Few things are as important as our own bodies, yet we cancel workouts as if we could make them up later. Treat daily workouts as if they are important, because they are.

You can probably find pockets of time here or there to use for exercise; I found mine by simply waking up earlier. The advantage is that you get it out of the way, no matter what happens later in your day. The disadvantage is that it's not practical for everybody's particular lifestyle.

Some may find it better to go after work. This has the advantage of serving as additional stress relief to look forawrd to at the end of your day. However, I wouldn't readily suggest it for those who already work at very physical jobs
unless you have no ther time to do it. Others use their regular lunch break to squeeze in a jog or walk. This is great when your job can allow this.

To sum up the exercise section, Aerobic exercise is by far the most effective and efficient means with which to shed fat pounds, but it is not the easiest or most convenient. However, the benefit of the results outweigh the challenges, making a journey like this worth it.

In the next article, I will address diet and its unique and confusing chellenges. Hang in there and don't give up!