I think about weight management, weight loss, and muscle gain quite a bit.
I train people, physically and mentally to move more and eat less. Eating less is always a challenge, but now I see and realize that llfe gives us many opportunities to move less. This is becoming a bigger challenge for me as well.
I see my clients between 2-3x per week. What I am thinking is what do they do with their time physically the other 168 hours in the week? Sure fat loss happens 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, but most people’s diet are not between 85-100% perfect all the time. With great nutrition you can get away with your trainings 3-4x per week, and getting some good results. But now that is even becoming a challenge. People want to be able to move 3-4 hours per week only, and spend the rest of the time sitting at their desk or computer working away with the only time they get up to go to the bathroom.
I am thinking the obesity epidemic is more of a lack movement issue as much as it is a food issue.
Think about how many things you don’t have to do during the day that even as little as 20 years ago you had to do.
Some examples:
- Turing on the faucet – (recently I was in Italy and when the lady in the bathroom when to put her hands under the faucet, it did not turn on. She asked me what to do – and I showed her you had to actually turn “on” the faucet)
- Flushing the toilet
- Getting paper towel from a dispenser
- Going to the bank (online banking)
- Grocery shopping (you can now order online)
- X box now has a voice control so you don’t even have to set up the machine
- PVR or DVR the TV
- Getting a movie – you don’t even have to leave your house or computer
- Remote control – you actually had to get up and change the channel and only watch one program at a time.
- The phone – before you had to dial the phone, rotery – and I had one as a kid, then it went to push buttons, and then wireless – where you did not have to get up to answer the phone, and now cellular with smart phones.
- Cooking – just pop something into the microwave – done. You don’t actually have to ‘cook’ your food. All that chopping requires you move more.
- Even walking or taking public transit – once you get a car – I know I have found this – I had to adjust my nutrition as I was moving less without realizing it.
- Elevators vs stairs
- Laundry – wash, dry, fold, put away – it is a process with a lot of movement.
- Automatic doors, and electronic lock systems on cars
- Email vs walking to give someone a message
- How about this one – you drive to the gym to walk on the treadmill – walk outside – it is free!
- Use the money to hire a personal trainer to get you moving well again.
Schools – I had gym everyday when I was in my public school system as a child. Children were just ‘active’ and that was accepted, now they are immediately thought of as having some disorder in order to treat. Maybe kids are supposed to be full of energy – they are kids!
Now schools barely have gym twice every two weeks. My son is in kindergarden where he has movement class – no regular gym. I have heard of schools banning running.
Some schools have even gone so far to ban recess – banning recess? Banning Tag?
http://www.positivearticles.com/Article/No-Running-in-School/6649
http://school.familyeducation.com/educational-innovation/growth-and-development/38674.html
http://www.pta.org/topic_decline_of_physical_activity.asp
Banning the use of the game tag –
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/31/marengo-elementary-school-ban_n_869460.html
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-06-26-recess-bans_x.htm
They sit at their desks, in some cases in front of a computer. So we are training our next generation to move less, and sit more. Sounds like a positive step towards the future?
My whole point is that life has now given use every opportunity to move less, and eat more.
You need to be more vigilant. Conscious in your life about food and exercise. The weight gain is slow – see my post here.
Prevention magazine has posted on their site was to ‘get moving’ without adding more scheduled exercise to your daily activity. Here are a link to the #87 to #100.
Enjoy.
A.
