Category: Scoop

I was talking to someone about the run I had earlier in the day when they said, “Oh, that’s how you stay so thin.” Well two things: First, I’m not thin (yet) and second, no, it’s not how I stay so ‘thin.’ I do that be eating good food.

Let there be no mistake: I am a runner. I do not run fast, nor do I run super long distances, but I do run regularly, and I do enjoy it. However, I do not run to lose weight. That’s not how this works.

I know there are those who exercise huge amounts for long periods of time. These people try to burn enough calories to create a deficit that causes them to lose weight. They think that by burning calories, they’re burning fat. That’s not how it works, either. But I digress. These people spend 2 or even 3 hours (and some even more!) in the gym sweating and being miserable to lose weight. In the end, if they are eating sensibly and burning through calories like that, then sure; they will lose weight. However, it’s easier (at least it was to me) to just eat normally and let your body lose the weight naturally.

I run because I want to be fit. I want to be more active, and I want to be able to run, climb, hike, jump, etc without causing injury or without getting winded. I’m also preparing for a return to military service (reserves) and I need to be in top shape physically. I also run because I enjoy feeling fit, I enjoy running, and I enjoy how I feel the rest of the day after a run.

And now, the twist: A 4 mile run for me burns around 550 calories. That’s equivalent to more than one regular meal for me. To put that into perspective, that’s the same amount of calories as a Big Mac. I eat two eggs and two/three slices of bacon for breakfast which comes to 275 calories. So basically, I’m wiping out the calories I take in for breakfast and about 2/3 of lunch. So, that logic says it should help me lose weight, right? Well sure; very simply, calories in minus calories out/used. If the calories in are fewer than used, then we lose weight. So exercise helps. But it’s not an end-all to lose weight.

Can you lose weight through exercise and eating like crap? Sure, if you exercise enough (and by enough, I mean A LOT). Can you lose weight by eating well without exercise? Absolutely, and in my opinion, it’s MUCH easier this way. The best is to use both; diet and exercise.

To assume that I have lost weight because I run is erroneous. It’s an easy trap for people to fall into based on the bad information we’ve been fed for the past 30 years by our government. The new research over the past 5 years or so has solidly shown that diet is more important, and that the food we eat is directly responsible for our obesity epidemic, and the cure is to eat well. Exercise helps get you fit, but won’t necessarily make you lose weight.

The answer is easy: Eat right.

I did a Whole30 and transitioned into Paleo. How much weight did I lose? How is over 100 lbs in 12 months? Here’s the cherry on top of that cake: I did it without exercise.

You read that right. I’ll say it again: I lost over 100 lbs in 12 months without exercise.

Now, I will say that eating right is harder than it sounds, because we’ve been taught to eat the wrong things. We were taught that low-fat and grains were good for us while in reality, they are the root of the obesity epidemic in the US (and most of the developed world). To add insult to injury, almost anything pre-prepared and packaged for our consumption contains either grains or sugar (or both!). The true enemies of our health is the food industry.

The difficult part of eating right is finding foods without sugar, grains, soy, beans, or dairy. That will typically mean having to eat whole foods like meats, vegetables, and fruits which translates into having to prepare food the old fashioned way: from scratch. This is neither easy nor cheap. Cheap food is typically very bad for us from a nutrition standpoint because it’s mostly filler, and filler is cheap (and mostly either sugar or grains).

The other part people wrestle with is the mindset to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Notice I didn’t say anything about exercise. That will come later for most, but it doesn’t need to. You can lose weight without exercise. I did it; I know it can be done. Once you set your mind to changing your relationship with food and eating right while avoiding those foods that are bad for you, the rest becomes easy. Sure, the first few months are tough avoiding foods you’ve been eating your entire life, but once you learn the healthy alternatives and start feeling the benefits of eating right, you won’t want the old/bad foods anymore. Again, I know this, because I have experienced it as has my wife and many of our close friends who have also went Paleo.

Easy rules to follow below.

Avoid the following:

• Sugar
• Grains
• Beans
• Soy
• Dairy

Eat more of the following:

• Meat
• Vegetables
• Fruit (in moderation)

If you want more information on how you can lose weight without exercise, go to Whole30.com or thepaleodiet.com.  I recommend you visit both. You will find a lifestyle that keeps you filled up, has delicious and satisfying food, and will help you lose weight and get healthy.

As of this morning, I’ve lost more than 135 lbs since I weighed my heaviest in 2014. Of that 135 lbs, 113 lbs of it has been lost since September 1 of last year. Of that 113 lbs, 110 lbs of it was lost without exercise. Since I began running on September 10th of this year, I’ve only lost 3 lbs.

When people find out that I’ve lost over 100 lbs in a year, they immediately assume that I’ve been working out like a madman. They couldn’t be more wrong. When I tell them that I did it through a change in lifestyle alone, they seem almost disappointed. They would rather learn that I did it through exercise than through diet alone, because then, they have no excuse. Changing what you put into your mouth to fuel your body is something we each have 100% control over (unless you’re in a coma, and in that case, how are you reading this?).

135 lbs.

I have a hard time getting my head around that. I have lost more than 1/3 of my former weight, and I did it safely and improved my health and blood chemistry at the same time. I did it all without anything more than eating smart. If I can do this, anyone can. I feel like I really did stumble upon the secret to weight loss, and while it’s not easy or painless, it’s doable with some perseverance.

We sacrifice for those we love. We sacrifice to reach goals. We sacrifice for others all the time. Isn’t it time you sacrifice a little for your self? Aren’t you worth it?

I’ve been saying for months now that I eat more protein and meats than vegetables and fruits, and I’ve achieved some great weight loss while doing so. It turns out that a few studies and this article may explain why this has been the case.

I have been eating at least one or two sides of vegetables with my meals which consist of at least a main portion of some kind of meat, but rarely have I been eating fruits due to the sugars contained in them.

I’m not saying eat protein only. I’m just saying that a diet heavy in protein may be better in reducing hunger between meals and help your body process the food better and aid in weight loss. The link is worth taking a look at.

You know those commercials on TV that tell you that if you buy their ab-roller, it’ll flatten your stomach by removing fat? How about those who think that using dumbbells will take the fat off their arms? I have bad news for them; it’s all a myth. You cannot exercise a certain part of your body to reduce the fat there. You WILL build muscle, but you will not remove fat there. That’s not how it works.

Your body burns away, or more precisely, flushes away the fat after the fat cells are no longer needed and the fat content of the cells are depleted for a period of time (around 45 days). Exercising a certain muscle doesn’t necessarily draw the fat from these storage cells directly adjacent to the muscles. That’s just not how the body works. The body pulls energy from all the cells on a pretty much equal basis from your entire body at the same time. The energy in these cells is drawn into the blood which then carries the energy where its needed. Muscles can’t directly pull from the fat cells.

Problem area with lots of fat? Sorry; you have to continue to lose the fat and let the body use up the fat there on its own. Nothing you do will make that one target area lose its fat. Nothing. No pill, no specific exercise, nothing. Now, exercise WILL build muscle, and building good, strong muscles under fat areas will help that area look better, and once the fat goes away, you will have glorious and beautiful muscles to show, but you won’t get rid of the fat on your arms by using dumbbells all day. It just doesn’t work that way.