This weeks theme is lack of common sense
I must have received around 14 different emails and message the past couple of days because of the Time article published this week on exercise. Not to mention the countless board posts, facebook reposts, etc.
To me, most of the article was a big “um yeah, where you been?” The other parts where faceplant worthy. I love how once a mainstream media source says something people (already aware) stand up and take notice. This is great when it it is a awesome band you love, not so great when it is still full of holes and 10 weeks from now we are going to be reading about the evils of corn again.
Them – “What, what are you saying?! Are you saying I can’t outrain a bad diet? Are you saying that my all day activity matters? This is insanity!?
I can’t say why, but something about the reaction and response to this article as the 2nd coming left me annoyed. No, it wasn’t an ego thing, I know I am awesome. I think at the core of the problem is the “half open ear” that most people hold out to good information. Mix that with the lack of common sense they use on a daily basis because that muscle is a bit untrained.
It isn’t their fault really if you look at the traditional course that life takes you through, especially our educational system. It would blow most minds to realize how many things you casually take for granted as truths that are complete lies,. What makes it worse is how easy it is to realize by simply thinking about it. Not even investigating, just by logically trying to break it down.
Here is a little spin on the article
Not exercising is going to harm you in big ways the way our society is. If you think that a diet alone is going to make you feel good and healthy, think again.
Fat loss may be about diet, yes. Health is a different story, and pain is even a bigger one. Connect the dots and the complications grow even bigger.
The problem with articles like this, and ones that spin in the other direction, is this isn’t a one night stand answer. This is a collection of variables, life factors, health background, and quality of life issues. Exercise, and I have said this a 1001 times, should never be about fat loss. It should be about your life, and there is a difference.
Keep a look out for more on this in a later article.
I am less fat this week
This week has been insane busy. I have started putting into motion the launch process and “business” side of the Body By Eats program. Trailers, pictures, interviews, etc. It has been fun and I am really excited and pumped for it, but on the flip side, I am very stressed. It is good stress, but still stress on the body is stress no matter how positive you are about it.
There is a saying of “There is a time and a place for everything.” If I had to be truly honest I would say that this is in no way the time for fat loss. I need to be focused, I need to be alert, I need lots of sleep, I need to feel like I can give 210% and nothing less. What I have to do for this launch is a short term thing. I could easily toss aside this till after the launch. So why I am still trucking away?
It’s always something
There will always be a reason to put things off. In fact, I could probably find reasons for you that you never even thought about. I have one hell of an imagination that can be a curse and a friend.
When I got hurt not losing fat was an “excuse” that I had to bow down. Had I tried to bust through it could have left me damaged more so than I already am. I did what I had to at that time to take care of myself, even though it was a much more ideal time to be in a fat loss phase.
Right now, this is the worst time. I am traveling all over the place which means I am also sitting a lot more than I normally do by simply driving. With all this teaching I am training with clients less than I normally do. I have seen a huge drop in activity points. Add this on top of work upon work and not an ideal situation.
Any number of you would easily understand if I said “Look, guys I love you and all, and I want to be a role model, but I can’t, I need to eat tonight.” I won’t do it though. Not because I want to be awesome and strong. Not because I think that it is what I have to do. Not because I like to play my tiny violin. No, I am trucking through because I want to be done. I want once this launch happens, and once it is all said and done, that I won’t ever have to do this again.
I will take these few month so that I don’t have to take years. I am doing it for me.
What are you doing for you today?
I was waiting for your “breath of fresh air” response to that article. Thank you!! Looking forward to the article about exercise, not for fat loss, but health.
And yes, you are awesome and strong, because it would it be SO easy to postpone the fat loss until the BodyByEats is launched. Kudos to you for sticking through with it cause I probably could not!!
Can’t wait for BodyByEats!!
Well said! These news stories tend to recycle themselves every few months or so. My issue is the blanket statement-ry of it all. Somehow, the message has been watered down from “not as effective as once thought” or “not useful in the absence of dietary change” or “has a modest impact” to “useless”…., “waste of time”…, “innefective….”.
The result is (as usual) a gross oversimplification of the issue.
I agree that exercise is way more about health – always has been – always will be, but I might add to those seeking aesthetically-pleasing bodies – good luck feeling and LOOKING good with diet alone.
hmmm…it’s refreshing to hear others who have a “healthy” perspective on how to approach fitness.
in fact i am going to mention this site on my next video posting on my blog.
i find that most people don’t really want to change their daily activities, which tells me that they haven’t really changed their mind about who they want to be, or how they see themselves.
for my clients who have changed their mind about who they want to be everything changes, most notably their daily activites. for them looking good and feeling good becomes a by product of their daily activities.
By the way Great comment Mike H. I couldn’t agree more.
If it would help anyone trying to lose weight, you can visit my fitness training site.
Great Work Leigh!
You just know everyone is going to start following that taubes bullshit.
Leigh do you have a membership to Mike Boyles forum? If you did you need to check out some of the newest threads. *rolls eyes*
Great update Leigh. I was hoping you weren’t stopping these.
Love the AIC!
Thanks for the little “speech” at the end Leigh. I needed that today. Muffin eating averted!
Leigh I love your personal posts. I know that this is something that I am stuggling with right now. I have lost so much weight and am so proud of myself and not i am having a hard time getting back on to finish what I started. Thanks for the inspiration.
Missy-Thanks a lot. I hope it didn’t come off as cocky (not that you implyed it, but reading back it kind of read that way). I know sometimes putting your head down and just doing it can seem that way. Luckily today is a eat day, but I have been struggling that is for sure. Today on the Fitcast I think I might have been there, I am not quite sure though
I appreciate any support I can get from people.
Mike-I really think based on what you put that you will like the article. It is going to really dissect the problems of that article.
James-Are talking about Optimumperformance?
http://forums.jpfitness.com/fat-loss-troubleshoot/36311-arthritis.html
Obviously we haven’t gotten along in the past. That is about all I know though. I don’t (obviously) agree with what he said on Boyle’s.
Sarah-Thanks! Yeah I wasn’t stopping. Last week I was so caught up in trying to make sure people were getting their podcasts. I am crossing my fingers that this next release will go well.
Jeanne-Glad it helped.
Jillibean-Thank you very much.
HAHA
“Japan called, you missed something while there.” Priceless.
Wow what a joke. Yeah they are talking about this over at Lyle’s. This guy takes scam to a whole new level.
Well played Leigh.
Yep, that is him.
As for them talking about it over at Lyle’s I wouldn’t know, he banned me. Real funny for a guy who talks big about not censoring people.
It’s getting to the point to where I don’t want to be apart of any of this bullshit anymore. It is just too much trouble to deal with.
Keith-You know I threw out very valid studies and points during that. There was so much logic and reasoning there, yet all of it was ignored. I can take disagreeing and a intelligent debate. Hell, I can even take someone being a prick as long as I can tell that they are listening to what I am saying and respecting that I have a view.
What I can’t take is is just someone blindly fighting me just because that seems almost unbalanced and trying to throw out cheap arguments like that aren’t even relevant to the topic at hand. What’s the point?
Still I think it turned out to be a good thread overall.
James-Just do your thing the best you can. Getting so angry all the time isn’t going to get you anywhere.
Good post. You know, when DH’s copy of Time came, he brought it to me and said, ‘hey, didn’t you tell me something like that a while ago?’ and my answer was, “yep, thanks to Leigh!” I still haven’t read the article, but you were my first thought when I saw the title!
Great post Leigh. I think it is important to talk about how difficult and inconveniencing fat loss can be. If we wait for life to calm down so we can focus on ourselves, we’ll never get to where we want to be. There is really never a best time to plan to tackle anything life-changing that forces you to live outside your comfort zone. If you forget about the planning and control and just attack it like there is no other time to get it done, you also lose that procrastinating part of you that always wants to push things off until tomorrow.
Nice post! I love the line, “Not exercising is going to harm you in big ways the way our society is.”
It reminds me of an article I read years ago about unusually long-lived people in Sardinia. (Because of good Italian birth records, they can actually verify elderly people’s true age there, unlike some debunked longevity areas like the Caucausus mountains.) Anyway, the researchers described in the article asked one 95-year-old who looked and acted like a fit 70 what he did for exercise. His response was, “Exercise? I have never exercised – I work!”. He worked herding sheep, and his pasture lands were a a hilly five mile walk from his house. Since most of us today have jobs that require little more physical movement than clicking a mouse and occasional getting up from a desk to retrieve something from a printer or to use the bathroom, exercise does become essential for our society.
As for weightloss through dieting alone, I know from my own previous experience that it leads to proportionate loss of both fat and lean tissue. So, in other words, if I had a squishy middle with no visible abs and lost 10 pounds through diet alone, I would end up with a smaller but pretty much equally squishy middle. Throw in exercise and equation seems to change in the direction of mostly fat loss. This experience may be unique to me, but my Common Sense tells me it’s probably not, regardless of what the prevailing research shows.
As for your efforts, Leigh, they are appreciated!
Sinead-Ha think he will start listening
Amy-”If you forget about the planning and control and just attack it like there is no other time to get it done, you also lose that procrastinating part of you that always wants to push things off until tomorrow.”
Very well said.
Bob-All great points Bob. People forget those “it” factors. Why its so hard to just understand there is a balance to it all is the birth of most of my daily frustrations.
When you say Taubes bullshit are you talking about his book Good Calories, Bad Calories?
I read this post Sunday and wondered how many times I would hear it this week…tweaked, spun, and mis-reported without any analysis. Well, it didn’t take long. My husband came home and said he heard on “Bob and Tom” (his only source of news, bless his hillbilly heart) that exercise makes you fat because it makes you eat more. That’s it. End of story.
I did explain the premise of the TIME article, how it wasn’t as quite cut-and-dried as what those moron’s were reporting, and how fat loss, exercise, weight loss, and diet all intermingle, co-exist, and diverge from time to time, depending one’s goals. I was glad I read your piece so I could respon in an intelligent way, and not just with BLARGLE GARRARHHH!
Oh, and when he asked “Do these shorts make me look fat?” I replied “No, but your fat does.”
Amy
Hey Leigh,
Great post, I haven’t read the Time article yet but I heard you guys talking about it on the FitCast and saw the IHRSA’s e-mail response to it.
More mass confusion.
If I would..could… you?
A-I-C For The Win!