I agree with you. Implementing a solution before defining the problem can lead to the wrong solution. Many people lose weight only to find that the underlying problem is not solved, e.g. health not measurably improved, self-esteem not raised, etc. I worked with a crazy group of people who lost weight eating steak and pork rinds on the Atkins diet, and they seemed to feel less fit and healthy, more tired and weak, after the weight loss.
I don't want to "lose weight", I want to lower my cholesterol, which my doctor whined about recently. It's not horribly high, it's just "warning" level. Losing body fat would be a useful weapon in this battle. I'm going about it very slowly: mostly I'm just watching my saturated fat intake. But I've lost about 5-10lbs (as you and Scooby say, the scale is notoriously inaccurate) over the past 4 months, which seems like a good thing. I'm supposed to go get retested soonish.
(I hope you don't mind me posting - I came across this entry while plumbing through LJ.)
I agree with you. But...
Sometimes, you need an easily measurable goal. Sometimes, you aren't ready/able to work out.
At my heaviest, I was at 240 lbs. Despite 'working out' on and off for years (basically, doing a circuit on Nautilus machines), I'd never seen much in results. I finally found a diet that made sense to me (the Rotation Diet) and followed on it.
I lost 20 lbs in the first round. 20 lbs in the second round. 50 lbs all told.
The most important thing that I learned was how to eat healthier (which supports what you're saying, of course). But I just blundered into that, really.
The final 25 lbs I lost were due to hiring a trainer and working out hard. I think that would have been a lot harder at my heaviest, and even with the weight I had already lost, measurable results were slow in coming (besides the extra weight loss).
I guess I'd rather see someone do SOMETHING instead of accept that nothing can change.
Just because it's easy to measure doesn't mean that it's useful. There are many things which will give you a smaller number on the scale, and not all of them are increasing your health.
If your goal is to lose fat, then see how your clothes fit after 6 months. If you need intermediate goals, then use something like participation (as in, "I walked for 10 min 3 times a week for a month" or "I skipped dessert 2 times a week for the past two months".
I definitely don't want people to accept the status quo, so I hope that people don't take my posting as saying that they need to either do X or do nothing.
And I hope I didn't come across as saying you were demotivating - in fact, I do think what you said needs to be said occasionally. Losing weight is good - doing it in a healthy way is better.
wait... "X" makes you lose weight? those party drug addicts need to market that!
When I joined the gym the guy asked me what my goal was. I said mostly cardio, I was concerned about heart issues blah blah blah. And he kept pushing so he could fill out his form... how much weight do you want to lose etc etc. Finally I just said "put down 5 pounds" He was dumbfounded that anyone would want to lose just 5 pounds LOL He just couldn't get that what I really cared about was my heart. It was very weird. I noticed he didn't work there very long LOL
I understand that people use LJ for different reasons -- one of mine is to encourage thoughtful discourse. I have never intentionally been condescending. I apologize if you feel that I was.
By taking you off my friends list, I've taken the best approach I can think of to ensure that I don't inadvertently comment inappropriately in your journal. Nothing in my journal is "friends-only", so you can still read and comment in mine if you choose.
Somehow saying "I want to lose weight" just rolls off the tongue (and fingers) more easily than "I want to reduce my body fat content", or "I want to raise my lean body mass percentage". I usually don't assume they're talking about just a number on a scale.
Personally, I want to get rid of some of the body fat I'm carrying around, for health reasons rather than wardrobe or vanity. The knees and ankles are trying to tell me something...
But in your case, if the goal is really to relieve pressure on the knees and ankles, then "weight" (whether muscle or fat) really is the issue for you. Unlike most people who say that they want to lose weight, your knees and ankles wouldn't be happier if you lost 10 pounds of fat on your upper body but gained 20 pounds of muscle -- your knees and ankles would only notice the additional 10 pounds.
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I agree with you. But...
Sometimes, you need an easily measurable goal. Sometimes, you aren't ready/able to work out.
At my heaviest, I was at 240 lbs. Despite 'working out' on and off for years (basically, doing a circuit on Nautilus machines), I'd never seen much in results. I finally found a diet that made sense to me (the Rotation Diet) and followed on it.
I lost 20 lbs in the first round. 20 lbs in the second round. 50 lbs all told.
The most important thing that I learned was how to eat healthier (which supports what you're saying, of course). But I just blundered into that, really.
The final 25 lbs I lost were due to hiring a trainer and working out hard. I think that would have been a lot harder at my heaviest, and even with the weight I had already lost, measurable results were slow in coming (besides the extra weight loss).
I guess I'd rather see someone do SOMETHING instead of accept that nothing can change.
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Just because it's easy to measure doesn't mean that it's useful. There are many things which will give you a smaller number on the scale, and not all of them are increasing your health.
If your goal is to lose fat, then see how your clothes fit after 6 months. If you need intermediate goals, then use something like participation (as in, "I walked for 10 min 3 times a week for a month" or "I skipped dessert 2 times a week for the past two months".
I definitely don't want people to accept the status quo, so I hope that people don't take my posting as saying that they need to either do X or do nothing.
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When I joined the gym the guy asked me what my goal was. I said mostly cardio, I was concerned about heart issues blah blah blah. And he kept pushing so he could fill out his form... how much weight do you want to lose etc etc. Finally I just said "put down 5 pounds" He was dumbfounded that anyone would want to lose just 5 pounds LOL He just couldn't get that what I really cared about was my heart. It was very weird. I noticed he didn't work there very long LOL
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By taking you off my friends list, I've taken the best approach I can think of to ensure that I don't inadvertently comment inappropriately in your journal. Nothing in my journal is "friends-only", so you can still read and comment in mine if you choose.
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Personally, I want to get rid of some of the body fat I'm carrying around, for health reasons rather than wardrobe or vanity. The knees and ankles are trying to tell me something...
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