You shouldn’t diet or exercise

I don’t diet.  I don’t exercise.  Neither should you.

When people hear the word diet, they immediately think about some restrictive eating that involves sacrifice and displeasure.  It congers up thoughts of bland chicken, dry fish, broccoli, and water, water, water, drink more water.

Then there’s exercise.  Hours on the treadmill going nowhere.  Maybe the elliptical trainer while reading your People magazine?  Doesn’t this sound exciting?

This is why I neither diet nor exercise.

I eat and train.

I eat chicken, fish, whey protein and red meat.  I eat oatmeal, rice, and sweet potatoes.  I eat butter, olive oil, and coconut oil.  I also eat ice cream, donuts, potato chips, diet cola, coffee with cream and sugar, bagels with cream cheese, and all kinds of other “junk food.”  The difference between eating and dieting is dieting is restrictive.  See, the vast majority of the time, I’m eating “clean.”  This allows me to have the junk food on occasion and not feel guilty about it.  Because I have oatmeal and protein powder for breakfast, chicken and rice for lunch, a couple of high-protein snacks with quality carbohydrates, I won’t feel guilty about going out to dinner a couple times a week with friends.  I don’t feel guilty about eating a donut or five before Church Sunday morning.  Dieting would remove me from going out with friends and those delicious Krispy Kreme donuts that God has made just for me.  I don’t diet.

I train at a gym.  I lift heavy weights.  I write down what I do in a little notebook.  I try to lift heavier each time I go.  I also relax on the couch and watch TV.  I play video games with my boys.  I take extended time off from the gym just because I don’t “feel” like going.  I’ll train hard for months in a row.  I’ll take my body to a level of “fitness” it has never seen.  Then, when I get bored, I’ll stop.  I’ll stop for a couple weeks, maybe a couple months, before I go back.  I don’t feel guilty about putting my training on hold because I know when I go back, I’ll be rejuvenated and ready to hit the weights harder than ever.

Training is much different than exercising.  Training has a goal.  Training has a purpose.  Training is regimented.  I am training for something.  Exercising is just plodding through the motions.  Exercising has no goal, no purpose, no regimen.

To get into shape, to get healthy, to feel good, to look great, stop dieting and exercising.  Start by eating better and training.  There’s no secret to eating well, you instinctively know how to eat better.  Chose a meal with the calories coming from 1/3 protein, 1/3 carbohydrates, and 1/3 fat.  Train with a purpose by lifting weights.  Weight lifting is the most efficient way of burning calories and shaping your body.  Write things down, you’ll forget what you did last time.  Increase your weight, increase your repetitions, and decrease your rest between sets.  Get your hormones checked.  Get your hormones balanced.  High estrogen and low thyroid are rampant in our world.  This makes it very difficult for your body to use fat for energy.  Get this fixed.  Get on a schedule.  Get to the gym.  Prepare your week’s food on Sunday so you always have something ready to eat.  Take your food to work.  Be ready to answer questions from coworkers about what you’re eating.  Be ready to be sore (it feels good, trust me).  Be ready for your clothes to fit differently.  Don’t look at that scale more than once every couple weeks.  Even then, disregard your body weight.  Get up, get going.