Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Good Sweat

hello all! i seem to have lost a follower! oh well. im pretty sure my sister is the only one of my followers who actually reads my blog, so it doesnt really matter. anyway, thats not what i am going to write about today. instead, i am going to mention again my fondness for blogging blobs, especially since they have inspired me to write a post. in case you are just tuning in to the relevance of blogging blobs, this is a diet non support group of some american plus sizers whose blog i find both entertaining and informative. entertaining because they spend a lot of time making fun of each other and accusing some guy named bret of being a closet case and informative because as my regular readers know, i am immensely fascinated with the goings on in the heads of the world's obese.
so why am i mentioning this again? because now that these wide loads have been on their diets for a couple of weeks, it has occurred to approximately half of them that they might actually have some hope of losing weight if they actually darkened the doors of a gym once in a while. bravo for them! the interesting corollary of this is that they are learning all about the fantastic world of exercise and hitting a few road bumps along the way. this, dear readers, is what has inspired this post. i would henceforth like to offer the following tips for people who are new to exercise to make the process a little less painful.
1) it isnt how much you eat, its what you eat. losing weight and getting healthy has very little to do with the volume of food you are eating. when you are overweight and start working out, it can be frustrating to feel even hungrier than before when you are trying to eat less so you can lose weight. dont get frustrated, because you dont have to eat less! you just have to eat better! the fact that you are getting hungry is a good sign because it means that you are actually burning off some of those calories during your work out. try to focus on eating a little bit all day long instead of three large meals and learn to snack smart. reach for an apple instead of a chocolate bar and some raw unsalted nuts instead of those chips. go ahead, you can do it. youll like it.
2) how to not fall off the elliptical trainer. i know using the elliptical trainer can feel more like a near death experience than a workout. here is what i suggest: if you bend slightly at the waist as the crossramp is increased, you will change your centre of gravity enough that you wont feel so top heavy and wont have the sensation that you are about to fall. if you feel like the only choice the machine is giving you is to go super duper fast (a complaint from one of the blobs) try increasing the resistance. also, remember, weight loss and overall health is all about cardio. you should be trying to stay in your target heart rate for at least 15 minutes every day in order to build cardiac muscle and lose weight. for most people in their 20s the target is somewhere in the 170-180 beats per minute range, but for the blobs if they can get themselves over 120 to start with they will get good results.
3) dont get hung up on numbers. its easy to fall victim to your scale. just dont do it. numbers are mostly irrelevant because all of us are different. for example, i am 20 pounds heavier than i was a year ago even though im two sizes smaller. why? because i have speed skater thighs and i bulk up easy. since im a woman you cant really see how much muscle mass ive gained but its a lot. dont let the scale tell you how to feel about yourself. thats what mirrors are for.
i guess thats all i have to say on this subject for now, but i do look forward to getting more inspiration from my favourite fat friends.

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