Diets and gluttony

Yes you can. You can compare what you see as others failures against what you see as your success, and it is easy to fall into the trap thinking if you can do it anyone can.

 

Well, we need to eat more good carbs and less bad carbs. Most of the white stuff just doesn't have any nutritional value (even though it's fun to eat). I lost 50 pounds about six years ago going low carb and then slowly added the good carbs -- brown rice, fresh fruits and veggies back in while cutting back on the meats and fats. I eat meat less than once a week now. I've managed to keep the extra pounds off doing this. Everyone is so incredibly different. I have a wheat allergy which really limits my diet anyway, so unless the stuff is made with rice flour (or a few other alternatives) I can't eat it anyway.

I don't like to excercise. I do because I know I need to, but I always think of the other things I could be doing -- working on my grad class, writing lessons, scrapbooking, cleaning . . . Of course having season 1 & 2 of Lost on DVD helps :tongue3:

 

On that same note it's also easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you're one of the ones who CAN'T do it and just stay overweight. Funny how some of the people in my class complain that they can't lose weight and they get all hung up about "carbs", then I catch them at church socials with an entire plate full of desserts and other similar things.

There is a fine line yet a big difference between being judgmental/holier-than though, and motivational. It's just too hard to portray that difference online. Anyway, whatever...

Weight loss isn't rocket science people. Burn more calories than you take in, and you lose weight. Period. Take that however you want, but it's the truth, whether you want to recognize it or not. Dismiss it as the ramblings of a crazy judgmental guy if it makes you feel better, but you're only hurting yourself. Eat healthy and burn more than you take in and I promise you'll be very successful.

 

How does one burn calories when one can't exercise?

 

I've heard you mention that several times so I've just got to ask, what kind of condition do you have? You probably mentioned it before but I can't remember.

 

I have a heart condition which walking would benefit greatly, but I also have COPD (incurable) which prohibits walking and a great many other things. I simply cannot breathe when I'm exerting myself. At times, I get winded walking from one room to the other and have to hook up the oxygen.

I am also very suseptible to pneumonia and acute acerbation, requiring a very hurried trip to the ER to revive me.

Some days are better than others, but regular exercise (as I think of it) is out of the question.

 

Actually it sounds to me like exercise is exactly what you need more than anything:

------------------

Nutritional Guidelines for people woth COPD:

http://www.clevelandclinic.org/health/health-info/docs/2400/2411.asp?index=9451

"To achieve your ideal body weight, exercise regularly and limit your total daily calories."

------------------

Exercising safely with COPD:

http://www.aarc.org/patient_education/tips/exercise.html

"Exercise, at most any level, improves the oxygen utilization, work capacity, and state of mind of COPD patients. Low-impact activities place minimum stress on joints and are easier to perform than high-intensity activities. Some COPD patients may also benefit from exercise programs that target the upper body and are designed to increase strength of the respiratory muscles."

------------------

COPD and exercise:

http://www.healthsmart.org/ibreathe/3_0_copd/3_3_5_exercise.htm

"No matter how mild or severe your COPD is, exercise is still possible in some shape or form. "

------------------


So basically, don't tell me you "can't exercise" unless you're a quadrilplegic.

 

Thanks for the links.

 

Bottom line is (for most people, I know there is always a rare exception) ...ya gotta be willing to pay the price.

 

On a related note... TIME magazine just released an article that claims that heart disease due to cholesterol in our food will kill 700,000 Americans this year.

For comparison, there were:

168,140 cancer deaths due to tobacco use in 2005

16,972 drunk driving deaths in 2005


Why do people worry about and denounce these things while completely ignoring what they eat?

Look at this chart... scary.

http://www.drugwarfacts.org/causes.htm

The exact figures may be off but just ponder some of them just for a minute, it's quite shocking.

This country is going down the tubes and getting worse daily. I'm about sick of it. Maybe that's why I started drinking soy milk this morning.

 

CNN is saying over 910,000 this year now:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/10/30/heart.overview/index.html

Heart disease still the most likely reason you'll die

"Prevention is key, the experts agree, and Americans know what to do: Eat a healthy diet, keep their weight in check, exercise and don't smoke. But instead, obesity and diabetes rates continue to rise. Roughly two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. And the epidemic is spreading to teenagers and children. "

 

I thought I'd better clear this up. I don't sit in a recliner all day. I cook, clean house, do laundry, homeschool the grandson I'm raising, do dishes, grocery shop, etc.

But I don't exercise (as in a regular routine). For some reason, it is harder to breathe that way. I guess maybe because I take breaks when I'm doing my 'chores'.

 

All of those normal seeming chores actually burn more than you think they do. I've heard estimates that say that typical housewives back in the 1940's would often burn 3,000 to 4,000 calories per day due to all their chores. Simply staying highly active and not eating more than you're actually burning is the trick, no matter what your level of activity actually is. You don't have to do a traditional exercise routine to burn calories, cardio exercises just happen to burn at a higher rate.

As for the "harder to breathe" comment, I realize you have a condition, but really, most any cardio exercise makes it harder to breathe for everybody. That's the point. If it's not harder to breathe while exercising, you're not doing it right. It's just funny how many people even without a condition will shy away due to exercise making it "harder to breathe". The whole idea is to stress your cardio system so that it will recover and become stronger so as long as you don't over-do it and do something dangerous, this is a good thing. From what little I read about it, it sounds like this would actually help your condition too. You just have to be mentally strong enough to endure some discomfort, but then you would feel better afterwards. Just don't do anything dangerous.

 

I guess I'm a little 'gun shy' about pushing my breathing after a flying trip to the ER for Acute Acerbation and 5 days in the hospital...

Actually, I'm not supposed to 'push' my breathing since I'm on 3 heart medications and have had a heart attack.

Only under supervision am I allowed to do anything stressful (like life isn't stressful?).

 

I supose you have a medical license so that you can say who can and can not easily lose weight, and what medical conditions they might have that prevents it?

 

Once again, medical advice, which goes against her doctors advice, and you with no medical license.

 

I am wondering how many people know that handing out medical advice without a license is illegal, and if soemone gets hurt becasue of that advice you can be sued.

 

I'll be happy to check with my attorney wife and research the ramifications of posting the links of the first few pages that come up after doing a search on "COPD exercise" on Google.

I'm not telling anybody to do anything really strenous. Actually I never even said to do anything specific at all. Quite honestly it sounded like she was in fact vegging out on the couch all day. Most any activity at all can be considered exercise.

 

1. I never said it was easy. In fact, it's rather hard, and takes alot of motivation, which I attempt to provide, but all that happens is that people like you get all defensive and whiney and come up with every excuse possible. All I said was that the formula for success was simple, nothing more. It's not easy.

2. Most people DON'T have a medical condition that prevents them from losing weight, and even less people have a condition that prevents them from having no calorie-burning activity at all. They do in fact have a boatload of excuses though. Obviously this woman is a special case, but yes, quite honestly, before she "cleared things up" her posts did in fact make it sound like she was doing absolutely nothing at all.

 

I have to agree corndoggy. We are all good at making excuses, and I have done that most of my life. I know that not all people are the same tho, but I think most people who truly are willing to, can lose weight and become healthy successfully.