The Deep Dark Secret About Exercise

The day after Christmas I went for a five-mile run up the road near my house. There were two reasons for this.

1. It gave me a chance to try out the awesome new Garmin running watch I got for Christmas
2. I was able to evaluate just how “out of shape I was” (It took a few steps to find out the answer was “A LOT”)

So as January began I started focusing on getting back into “running shape.”

Since the new year is a time when everyone wants to get in shape, some of my friends will approach me with questions about fitness or exercise. One of them told me last week about her desire to start walking since it would lead to weight loss.

While my friend was right about this, it was my responsibility to share with her a deep dark secret about exercise. One that would dramatically change the way she viewed fitness.

As a public service I’m going to share this secret to all of you, however I won’t be held responsible for your actions.

No seriously if you don’t want to know the secret just scroll down, or better yet just click that back button.

Are you sure you want to know? I mean really sure?

Okay come closer…

Closer…

A little closer…

(whispering) exercise can’t make you skinny

You can’t say I didn’t warn you

Now it’s true that walking, running, or other forms of exercise can lead to weight loss [2]. However you will find two things are true.

1. That weight will be gained back
2. You still suffer from a lack of energy

I could go into a deep explanation but basically being fit (skinny) comes from the amount of calories that you consume instead of how much you exercise

For instance if I’m eating 2,500 calories a day (national average for men is 2,640) and burning 300 through exercise (thirty minutes of exercise , 10,000 total steps a day) then 2,200 is left over.

According to an online calorie counter I would have to eat a maximum of 1,950 a day to lose two pounds a week (the first week is closer to 1,500 a day).  So that’s around 250 calories a day converted to fat, doesn’t seem like a lot I know…but trust me it adds up.

To lose one pound a week individuals are encouraged to cut 500 calories a day.  So unless you want to burn that much through exercise, then a changing of eating habits is necessary.

This kind of information can make people go crazy with diets that starve them or nutritional supplements when they don’t have to.

Are you ready for another secret?

Snacks are where you get almost all of your calories

See we shouldn’t be focusing so much on eating healthy meals (since most of them are already healthy). The real question about weight loss is “what do you reach for when your hungry at 3:00 in the afternoon?”

My core mistake over Thanksgiving and Christmas was eating junk for snacks instead of making a smoothie. It’s a proven fact that eating fruits or vegetables (especially in smoothies) will do a lot more to curb your hunger than something filled with carbs.

Believe it or not getting myself back into a healthy eating plan (when your hungry drink a smoothie) is a huge step towards returning home to Australia. For true ministry demands lots of energy, patience, and extremely hard work.

So last week I broke out the blender again and returned to my healthy eating plan (currently starting week two of what I call a three-week detox program). But this time I think I’ll really stick with it.

Because I drink smoothies not to keep myself fit, I drink smoothies so I can minister to the people I love.