One thing I am adamant about is making sure people understand that you don’t need to spend hours a week in a gym to lose weight. That’s one of the top fallacies when it comes to weight loss that most people fall prey to. Gym memberships are, in large part, due to this misinformation. What makes it especially sad to me is when I see people working out, doing good, solid, hard work and then not seeing the results they crave. Most people give up and stop trying, while the persistent few keep going and going. Some in the last group will even see some success because they continue to raise their level of physical activity until they see some results only to eventually realize that the extreme amount of physical activity is not sustainable. Then, they succumb to their poor diet and gain the weight back (and in most cases, even more than before). That’s why I advocate changing your diet; it works.

I lost 130 lbs in a year without a single step of exercise. However, for me to get the last 20 lbs, I needed to do some exercise. I ran for 30 minutes three times a week and did a single set of push-ups prior to each run. That’s it. That got me 20 lbs more lost.

What happened to my weight when I was unable to exercise due to a knee injury? It went up 20 lbs. Literally the extra weight I lost with exercise came back. It seems that with a lack of physical activity coupled with the amount of food I feel comfortable eating, my weight will hover in the low 180’s. But that’s not where I want to be. I like the 160’s better (and so does the military, whose standards I need to adhere to).

Enter physical activity. Coupled with a GOOD diet (in my case, that means low-carb Paleo), losing weight happens readily. In my case, adding physical activity back to my daily routine has already given me the results I’m looking for and even a bonus: better sleep. I typically sleep well, but the nights after a run, I sleep solid through the night. I don’t wake up at 3 am looking at the clock and wondering why my brain won’t stop. I sleep WELL.

As for my weight loss, I am scheduled for another run today after work. My legs are VERY sore, as the three-mile run I did on Monday was likely too far too soon, but the pain is just muscle soreness, not actual injury pain, so I’ll try to run again this afternoon. If I make it past 2 miles, I’ll be happy. In the past, running with sore legs typically starts off rough but after 1/4-1/2 mile, the pain goes away until after the run. I’m hoping for that today.

But please understand: you don’t need to exercise to lose weight, but exercising with a good diet will lead to better/faster weight loss, and in my case, it led to weight loss+.