January 1st, 2009 — Weight Loss Journal, diet, exercise, motivation, weight loss, wellness
(ie: if thin people don't exercise they aren't healthy)
Do you know what it means to be skinny fat? Just because you are not obviously visually overweight, that does not mean that you are healthy by any means. There are many people that appear to be thin and healthy, but the truth is, unless they are eating a healthy diet and regularly exercising, there is nothing healthy about them. Some people have faster metabolisms and can eat fast food and processed junk without seeing it appear on their thighs or midsection, but does this mean they are in good shape or healthy? The truth is, you can be "skinny fat", which means that despite appearing to be healthy and in shape, you are actually in poor health and not in shape at all.
Products and advertisements that promise a loss of weight without exercise or dieting are really only telling you part of the story. Those diet pills and chemical products that do work, though most do not, really only eat away the fat without making you healthy or really doing anything natural at all. There is a big difference between fitness and weight that most people do not comprehend. To the people who design these advertisements, losing the weight is all that matters, no matter how you reach that ideal weight. The truth is, fitness and health are what really matter, and if you are not trying to obtain fitness and health, then you are doing something wrong.
The truth is this: Weight does not equal fitness.
Losing weight without obtaining health and fitness is not doing it right. Just because you are thin, that simply does not mean that you are fit. The world is full of people who are "skinny fat". What really matters when it comes to getting healthy and losing weight is being fit, in shape, and taking good care of your body in the process. It is actually entirely possible for a thin person to have a high percentage of body fat, higher in some cases than people who are visually overweight.
Simply losing weight does not mean you have a healthy heart. Getting fit and eating healthfully on the other hand can guarantee an improvement in heart health. Losing weight alone does not lower your cholesterol, but regular exercise and healthy eating will. Simply losing weight is not going to lower your risk of contracting certain types of cancers, but regularly exercising and eating healthfully certainly can. Losing weight cannot prevent osteoporosis, boost your immune system, lead to healthier pregnancies and childbirth, help you keep your weight off for life, improve your physical performance or prevent the loss of muscle, but by exercising regularly and eating healthfully, you absolutely can.
So what does this mean? Losing weight is not the important part of getting healthy - The important things to consider are eating healthfully, exercising regularly and taking care of your health. Skinny Fat or Fat Fat your #1 New Years resolution should be get fit!
Photo Credit: 1
Related Posts - Memorial Holiday Weekend Roundup and Weight Ladder on AllTop With Memorial Day this Monday I just wanted to take the time to say just how grateful I am for the service of our country's Veterans. God bless. All links to Alltop removed because of L.P. "Neenz" Faleafine with alltop. Without going into details let's just say that it was not......
- Weekend Reading Roundup Weekend reading from the Fitness Health Network: Working out with the Misses, I love her by Fat Man Unleashed is an excellent post to remind us that working out with partners (spouses, friends, family members) is a great way to get motivated. Mr. Low Body Fat writes “The 1000 Calorie......
- How to Find the Diet That Works For You Once you're ready to take that step and go on a diet, there will literally be thousands of options available to you. There are a myriad of different diets out there and most claim that they have the secret to fast weight loss. It can be very frustrating to keep......
- The Rice Diet Solution This is one of the oldest diets that is still followed today, and thousands of people swear by it. There is a clinic in North Carolina for those that really want to take this diet to the next level, but the rest of it can get almost the same benefit......
- Are Carbs Really That Bad? Out of every food on earth, in the past few years, there has been no other food as demonized as the ones that contain carbs. There are so many fad diets that focus on completely removing carbs from your life - but is this a smart solution? The simple answer......
Online Stores
October 3rd, 2008 — Book Review, calories, carbohydrates
Good Calories, Bad Calories took the author five years to write, and it contains some groundbreaking information that will undoubtedly be the cause of much controversy. Whether or not you agree with Taubes assertions, the book is certainly well worth the read and it is obvious that he did put a lot of research into it as well as time.
The main assertion of the book is that we become fat due in a large part to the types of calories that we eat. By focusing on good calories and cutting out the bad calories in our lives, Taubes insists that it is much easier to lose weight and stay healthy. He is against, for an example, carbohydrates, stating that due to the fact they raise insulin levels, they make it impossible to lose weight. There is a lot of strong science to back that up, and to the author’s credit, he does mention good carbs.
Our main issue with the book was the author’s stance on exercise. He maintains that exercise can actually help you gain weight instead of losing it. The basic premise here is that because you are doing more, you are hungrier and will eat more. Again, it sounds good on paper, but there are many other reasons and scientific assertions that back up the fact that exercise is vital. Granted, it can make you hungrier, but if you are eating the right foods and making sure to fuel up before and after exercise, this can be prevented.
It’s difficult to wholeheartedly recommend a book that is so anti-exercise. While there is a lot of truth to what Taubes says, at the end of the day, there is no substitute for adding a healthy workout plan to your diet. With care, you can avoid falling into the trap of eating too much after exercising, and it just makes sense that burning calories will help you lose weight.
That said, the book is still a fascinating read, if for no other reason than it discusses the different types of foods that can actually promote weight loss, while bringing up the foods that you should avoid. Beginning dieters may be thrown off track by some of the advice however, but those interested in learning more about nutrition, or those that are well versed in dieting would be able to get quite a lot out of this book.
It has some flaws, but it is still an interesting take on the whole diet equation. If for no other reason, the book has value in that it exposes a lot of the diet industry foibles and poor research that is rampant in the industry. Read it if you’re looking for more information on health in general, or how to eat right, but don’t take it as gospel when it comes to finding an effective way to lose weight. If for nothing else, you’ll be able to learn a lot about the food you eat.
Related Posts - Lose Weight in the Snow Just as we consume calories every day, we also burn them in everything that we do. Sleeping, breathing, talking, chewing, walking, even sitting burns calories, so we are constantly burning calories even when we aren't moving at all. Some activities burn more calories than others, however, so if you are......
- Surfing and Wakeboarding for Weight Loss Are you looking for a way to lose weight that doesn't involve running, walking, aerobics or going to the gym? Most people would categorize surfing and wakeboarding as fun activities rather than weight loss activities, but this is not necessarily the case, because you can easily lose weight through surfing,......
- The Karl Lagerfeld Diet Few names are as well known in the fashion world as Karl Lagerfeld, but unbeknownst to many people, Karl has had a problem with his weight for many years. He finally sought help for his issue and once he successfully lost the weight, he decided to develop a new diet......
- Tennis for Weight Loss When most people think of weight loss, they immediately start to think about running mile after mile, sweating to outdated aerobics videos, or otherwise engaging in activities that they simply do not enjoy. This is not necessarily the case anymore, however, as people are beginning to see the virtue in......
- 3 Ways to Avoid Middle Age Weight Gain For years, many people have labored under the impression that middle aged weight gain is inescapable. Middle aged spread as it is commonly called is usually accepted as just hormonal, especially for women, and many people don't take the steps that can actually prevent it. While there are some......
September 7th, 2008 — Weight Loss Journal
Weekend reading from the Fitness Health Network:
From our readers and those that linked to us this last week:
Related Posts - Carnival of Weight Loss #2 -- Halloween Edition Welcome to the November 1, 2008 edition of carnival of weight loss. The Day after Halloween edition. diet NickIrons presents Top 5 weight loss myths posted at Get Results! Fitness Blog, saying, "These days you can’t go anywhere without hearing about a new weight loss breakthrough. A pill, a......
- 5 Ways to Avoid Cheating on Your Diet Starting a diet can be a momentous event and most of us going into it with the best intentions. We want to lose weight and we want to look and feel better, at least for the first few days. Three days in however, and you may be ready to......
- The Pritikin Weight Loss Breakthrough by Nathan Pritikin When Nathan Pritikin found out that he had heart disease, back in the 1950’s, most dietary concepts were pretty basic. He was one of the first to try out a low fat, high fiber diet to improve heart health and his results were pretty amazing. Fast forward to today and......
- Fads Every Dieter Should Ignore Even the most sensible dieter can be lured into a fad diet by outrageous claims and seemingly easy results. However, there are a few fads out there that can be incredibly dangerous, especially if you are not in good physical condition. While some fad diets are harmless and are designed......
- My Biggest Health or Fitness Vice -- Portion Control I was tagged by Deflabbify (great human name for a blog btw) who claims beer as his biggest vice. My vice is portion control... I eat/drink too much unless I am paying very close attention... One of the best things about the diet I am on is that it is......
Online Stores
