Another way to think about exercise when you are losing weight.
"It’s the season of sore bodies."
I was outrageously sore in a yoga class (years ago) and the instructor said this to me. “It’s the season of sore bodies.” I remember thinking, “what am I doing here surrounded by people who talk like this… I clearly do not belong here haha.” For some reason that memory has stuck with me.
I was gardening the other day and if anything makes you sore, it’s moving wheelbarrows full of compost and spending two hours weeding your garden bed in that awkward bent down position. You guys already know I don’t exercise much, so gardening wakes up muscle groups that I don’t engage on a regular basis to put it gently.
You know what else all this manual labor does? It makes me hungry. I noticed the last couple of days I have been so much more hungry. Sure I’m expending more energy, but my appetite has increased well beyond the amount of energy I’ve expended.
I mention this because, I find things like gardening and exercise, both make you more hungry and make you desire food more. The more hunger and desire you have for food, the harder it can be to lose weight. Don’t get me wrong. I have a few clients who exercise regularly and are losing weight, but I also have plenty of clients who have lost weight and exercise has nothing to do with it. Personally, I was in this boat.
Exercise like walking, yoga, and weight lifting all are recommended while trying to lose weight, but intense cardiovascular exercise can actually make it HARDER for you to lose weight. My mind was BLOWN when I found this out since I’ve spent a majority of my life exercising in the name of weight loss. It makes perfect sense. I was exercising, I was more hungry, more tired, and taking in more energy than my body needed even with exercise being considered.
I am here and I have this page, to help you lose weight. So here is my recommendation. Pick a goal. If your goal is to drop 60 pounds, focus on that. I know you want to be the person who is fit and has lost weight, but trying to do both at once can make it hard. Ask yourself how it has been serving you thus far, and is it worth trying a different approach?
If you are the person who is already exercising because you truly love it and it makes you feel amazing, this is phenomenal and I am so happy that you have a great relationship with exercise. Let’s keep doing what you are doing and see how it goes.
If you are like I was, and didn’t have a baseline exercise routine, I would suggest walking, doing yoga, or weight lifting if you get itchy to move your body. Once the weight starts falling off, and it will, eventually you might find yourself actually wanting to exercise because you enjoy it and it makes you feel good, when that happens, go for it. By then you will have a baseline to work from, you will know what has been working for you to lose weight and what hasn’t, you might realize the exercise might be making it harder.
If you’ve been battling with your weight for years and exercise hasn’t been a huge part of your life, what is 6 more months of waiting to efficiently get the weight off? Once you get closer to your goal, which will happen, then I would focus on toning up and increasing your cardiovascular strength if that’s what you desire.
Picture of me below, learning to enjoy exercise with my son and puppy, as I approached my weight loss goal.
Watch My "Exercise Doesn't Help You Lose Weight" Video Below for Even More Tips
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