“I can’t lose weight unless I start eating right and exercising. But I can’t exercise because I’m so heavy that everything hurts when I do anything. But if I can’t exercise, what’s the point of eating right?”
That’s the cycle I used to be in. On some level I knew that eating healthy was even more important if I couldn’t exercise, but I got caught up in the all-or-nothing mentality that is so pervasive these days. If I can’t limit myself to 1200 calories a day and get a good 45-minute workout in every morning, I’m never going to successfully lose weight and keep it off. And since the exercise thing ain’t gonna happen, I’m not even gonna try on the eating right.
Here’s something I want everyone reading this to know about my journey so far: I lost the first 45 pounds with zero exercise. None. Never once did my shadow darken the doorway of our exercise room. And yet I lost 45 pounds in less than three months.
Here are two key points that you absolutely need to understand, especially if you’re in the same boat I was when it comes to exercise:
- For weight loss, 90% of your success will be the result of what you eat.
- It gets a lot easier to exercise as you lose weight. Your joints feel better, your lungs feel better, everything feels better.
Don’t get me wrong — exercise is important. Diet controls weight loss, but exercise is crucial to overall health. But which approach is more effective, the guy who never does anything because he can’t do everything, or the guy who successfully loses weight until he gets to the point that his body can handle exercise? Spoiler alert: I’ve been both guys, and the first one sucks.
On Thanksgiving morning of last year, I went and played a game of flag football (the annual Turkey Bowl). We played for about 90 minutes. This was 24 days after I started the Slow-Carb Diet, and I had lost about 24 pounds. In 90 minutes of playing flag football, I was never once as out of breath as I had been a month earlier walking up one flight of stairs at work. That’s after only three weeks and 24 pounds!
Does exercise hurt? Are you discouraged because you will never be a marathon runner? Do you think it’s entirely overwhelming to have to eat right and exercise? I’ve been there, and the answer is baby steps. Don’t try to do everything. Just do something. And as luck would have it, the something that is easiest to do — eat better — also has the greatest results.
Later on, once you’ve lost some weight and your body is ready, you can start working some exercise in. And who knows? Maybe we’ll make a marathon runner out of you yet.
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