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December 2007
Biggest Loser Finale- What you can Learn!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tonight is the finale of Biggest Loser. Though I don’t watch much T.V., with the help of my DVR I have been watching this show on the weekend. Not too long ago, I pointed out some of the flaws (Warning about Biggest Loser) of watching the Biggest Loser, however, there are some things you can learn too.
Unlike the other reality shows, this one is positive for all participants and many of them continue a productive life. Not just their journey of weight loss, but in remarkable journey to gain health.
The most prevalent commonality of the contestants is how they lost the weight. They did not use pills and powders. They did not suck it out or misdirect their digestive system (e.g. gastric bypass). There was not one special exercise gadget that promised weight loss. There wasn’t any sort of special exercise class or dietary program.
What they did was simple. It was a combination of the basics of physical conditioning which included resistant training, cardiovascular exercise, and proper eating habits. They also entrusted in fitness experts that know what they are doing and truly care about their outcomes. Experts who provided them motivation and education, even when it was something the participants didn’t want to hear.
The second and foremost important thing they had in common is that they didn’t just lose weight. They got their “life back,” as many of them stated. They had vigor and energy. They worked hard. They got there confidence back, or in some cases discovered a confidence they never knew they could have. They got stronger. They got healthier. Their relationships improved. They could play with their kids again.
Do you get the point? Weight loss itself is not enough. I am stressing this to you because you may only be focused on weight loss, now or this upcoming New Year (if that is your resolution). However, what you need to focus on is what you can gain that isn’t weight. You can take a pill to suppress appetite, therefore, losing weight. However, you are not going to feel any less stressed, get stronger, or decrease cardiovascular disease, just by losing weight. Even your healthcare professional may tell you to “just lose some weight.” However, it takes more than that if you want to change your life.
I am warning you that the pseudo-experts of weight loss and fitness will be in abundance at the beginning of the year. Don’t trust them! Don’t seek quick fixes to lose weight, but change your life. You have seen in real people, who were extremely obese and on national television make such positive life changes. There were no drugs, one-dimensional exercise programs, or diets involved.
You have to believe. You have a simple choice to make. You can either continually be fooled by the weight loss and fitness hustlers, or you can really make a change by doing what really works for long term health and vitality. You also have to accept that it is not going to be cheap and easy. Cheap and easy things don’t last. You will have to invest time (mainly time) and money, plus understand that you have to sweat a little.
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Eat to Live, Don’t Live to Eat
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The word DIET is now a “four-letter” word. When you hear it, you think of the agonizing decrease in caloric consumption, cutting out carbs, lowering fat, and maybe eating nothing at all. The fact is, that you are always on a diet. The question is: On a diet of what? If it’s hamburgers and French fries, that’s not a good thing. If it’s whole foods like vegetables and lean meats, that’s a very good thing. When you speak of other species of life, such as a birds, you would say they are on a diet of worms and seeds. A hundred years from now, how would someone describe the typical American diet? Let’s stop and think about how people used to eat about 150+ years ago (on back). Back then, human beings lived like all other creatures of the Earth. You ate what was born, what was grown, or came from the sky or ground.
Our staples of food came from naturally grown or farmed vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, and leaves. During those times, there was no pasta, corn flakes, potato chips, or cheese cake.
Instead, you would either grow your plant foods in your gardens and fields or picked it from the wild. Eating whole foods like tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, and sunflower seeds came from your gardens. You might have picked berries, nuts, and strawberries from trees, vines, and bushes.
When you needed meat, you hunted, fished, and/or raised farm animals. Your ancestors cleaned and prepared the meat themselves (leaving almost nothing to waste, even the fat). Yet, the meat had less fat as it was not tainted with modern day farming practices (like the use of steroids). You sure as heck didn’t deep-fry meat and add tons sugar (curing practices might have been used for preservation, but not to increase taste).
Even the water you drank was not carbonated, colored, and filled full of sugar or articial sweetners. No aluminum cans or plastic bottles to put it in either. You would have to drink, simple, non-tasting fresh water. Hard to believe isn’t it?
To add in a little extra, you also exercised to retrieve those foods. You had to push the plow, walk and run to go hunting, pick the berries, and so on. You got exercise just to survive. Now, you need to exercise to survive.
Now, look at the modern day, Western civilized diet. Go in the grocery store and what do you see? Foods are packaged in boxes, jars, bottles, plastic wrappers, cans, Styrofoam, etc. The foods in these containers are processed grains, vegetables, meats, and fruits. They are dried, pumped up with fat (hydrogenation), sugar (usually high fructose corn syrup), depleted of vitamins and minerals, sprinkled with salt, etc.
Drive down the road, you have fast-food restaurants giving you their “meal of the day.” You can get more with a “value size” or “super size.” (If you haven’t seen the movie Supersize Me, go check it out). In the grocery stores and fast food restaurants you are given rewards like buy 2 get 1 free. Buy this “happy meal” and get this toy. Or, buy this soda you might win a million dollars, just look in the cap to see if you have won.
As a society, we have become gullible and ignorant to what is happening. Obesity and being overweight is now an epidemic, nearly 65% of the U.S. population is over “fat”. We are eating bad food and we don’t exercise. If you don’t care how it is affecting you, then look at your children. I must also compel you to think about the stress it is putting on the economy (both nationally and your own pocket) in health care costs and quality of life.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that you need to start hunting your own food and growing gardens. What I am saying, is that it is up to you to make wise choices and to eat a diet of moderation, variety, and balance. It’s no longer a question of whether you eat to survive, you have to eat. However, you must ask yourself, how do you survive to eat the way you do?
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Stay on Track this Holiday Season
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If you’re already into fitness, or just getting started, the holiday season poses its challenges. Not only are you confronted with sweet treats on a weekly (if not daily basis), you’re schedule becomes more hectic as you try to schedule trips, tend to relatives, buy gifts, etc.
Let’s face it, there is a lot going on during the holidays that can throw you off track. However, that does not mean you have to quit altogether. If you miss a workout one day, postpone it to the next day. If the boss throws in a last minute meeting during the time you were going to go workout, make-up for it by coming in at a different time another day. When you’re used to getting three sessions in, don’t throw in the towel if you are only able to get two in this week.
What matters is that you keep moving forward. Getting fit and losing weight are lifetime goals. Remember that one of the reasons you exercise is to also “beat up” some stress. This is especially true during the holidays
What matters most is consistency. So, if you have an “all are nothing” attitude, be very careful as you may be setting yourself up for failure. Keep doing what you know you need to do and don’t let anyone stand in your way.
Do you have any tips to stay motivated during the holiday season? If so, please share.
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