Well, as I was online surfing for great deals on used Stairmasters (a gal can dream) I came across an article that intrigued me, because its sentiment and conclusion seemed to support something I'd asserted for years but also found a bit baffling...exercise has never once made me thin. No matter how much I do, no matter how insanely hard I train. There were long stretches in my life where I'd hop onto a treadmill and run throughout the entire duration of a movie, a long one like The Abyss (lol), and do it 5 days per week, sometimes 6 days, and I was at my heaviest and largest size ever then. How could I run for almost 2 hours per day and not lose a damn ounce?
Scientists would say that it's more about what you're eating than how much you exercise. Of course, this isn't to say exercise should be dropped, not at all. But strapping oneself to a machine or becoming a gym rat in the hopes of obtaining that coveted size 4 is a futile endeavor in and of itself. Exercise will certainly boost your energy, when done properly and safely, and will obviously give you better overall strength and endurance. On a psychological level it boosts self esteem, but as the article touches upon briefly, THAT is a cultural phenomenon it seems, and they cite the French paradox to support that claim. The French seem to enjoy lives of rich food, daily wine, sometimes with each meal, and they do NOT chain themselves to treadmills or Stairmasters and yet the overall health and size of the nation is quite admirable. It's always baffled scientists, but it seems that some of it should be obvious.
First, while they do eat rich foods loaded with butter and cream and all sorts of yummy things we Americans view as "treats" or outright taboo, they eat very small portions. Second, the act of eating is a whole other experience for the French...they sit, they talk, they sip magnificent wine, they savor, and they allow a meal of small portioned rich food to take quite a while...eating slowly is an art, a joy and not only allows the brain time to receive those chemical signals that the body is satisfied, but it tends to accompany proper digestion. And looking at the emotional component, a decadent souffle eaten slowly with wine while conversing and laughing with friends and family brings pure joy without a shred of guilt. The French do not generally sit and think, as they sip their pinot noir, that they will have to run a few extra miles the next say. Sacre bleu! LOL No, they enjoy every morsel, every nuance of flavor and every long moment of a decadent meal...hence, the food and wine become elixirs of joy and life, not burdens.
What I can personally attest to as an American with a lifelong and horrible connection to both food and my own body, which I am working on every day of my life consciously, is that no amount of exercise has ever or will ever make me thin. The times in my life when I have been at my leanest and smallest in size have been when I was both eating the best way for me, which tends to be little to no sugars or starches and properly combined food sans wheat, dairy, soy or meat...AND when I've been incredibly happy and in love. No mystery there, but growing up I was fed the fitness craze myth that if you worked out hard enough, long enough and often enough you could whittle away pound after pound...and I have never found that to be so. Certainly when I'd find myself shedding weight and toxins by eating well and opening the heart to love that would usually prompt me to WANT to move more and gather even more energy through exercise, and then it becomes a joy, like recess for grown ups rather than penance. But when I'd share these experiences and views with people I'd get arguments, defenses and puzzled looks. They'd assure me I was either eating too much or exercising too little...it was neither. During those crazy long runs I'd be eating about 1200 calories per day, so mathematically speaking I should have been dropping pounds like mad. Sure, the metabolism slows down when you starve, I know, but it also should rev up from running for 2 hours per day. But it's WHAT I was eating and how I was feeling that was keeping the weight on.
And now here I see a twenty year study essentially confirming what I'd already learned by my own experience...exercise will never make me thin. Only eating in a way that's healthy and right for me and truly being a happy gal can I have the light, supple, youthful and energetic body I love to have and BE.
I also realized that when I was a young child, traveling quite a bit with my mother and living abroad for part of that time, I never gave a moment's thought to my body or what I ate...we ate very healthy, very well and I was incredibly active...a fit and glowing child. But within coming back to the U.S. and being exposed to TV and media, being conditioned to hate my body and believe I should look a certain way while simultaneously being sold the standard american diet of pure crap...well, is it any wonder a lifelong cycle of confusion and eating disorders had begun in full swing by the time I was 7 years old? Sad, but true.
So cast off the guilt and the conditioned beliefs that a) your body is ugly or wrong, b) that you can lose weight by "going for the burn" and working your tookus off on a machine and c) that the act of eating needs to be complicated and about deprivation. Stop shoveling food in mindlessly and eating processed crap...eat slowly, with joy and presence and reverence...laugh and smile and be amongst people you admire and adore while you eat...move your body out of joy and a desire to connect to MORE energy and more radiance...bask in the beauty of YOU, as you are, right this very moment...close your eyes, even if only for 60 seconds at your computer, and honestly radiate love to yourself, from yourself...even say it out loud, softly if you feel silly, but say it until you feel it and MEAN it.
Self love, joy, peace, presence and celebrating life with every single sip of wine or bite of a rich, lovely dish...doesn't that sound so much more appealing and meaningful than the way we're doing it now. Time to stop ice skating uphill, methinks. ;)
(ah, here's a link to the New York Magazine article I came across today as well:
http://nymag.com/news/sports/38001/)
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