Exercise (Or Lack Thereof)
Let’s be clear. If your health permits you should have regular exercise and pursue an active lifestyle. Aside from weight loss, there are other important health considerations for making sure that you have consistent exercise in your life. Given that I recently underwent back surgery, I was restricted from pursuing regular exercise. As I continue to heal and get stronger, exercise will become a regular component of my lifestyle. During this period of restricted movement I took it as an opportunity to demonstrate that it is possible to achieve what I have without requiring a comprehensive exercise program.
Let me describe the extent of my activity in the past 11 months. I was not permitted any activity beyond walking for the 5 months immediately following my back surgery. I also was not permitted to lift anything over 4-10 lbs (increasing over time). A gallon of milk is 8 lbs as a point of reference. In month 6, I had sessions with my Physical Therapist three times a week. For the remaining 5 months, we went down to twice weekly sessions.
In these sessions, I had about 15 minutes of lumbar stabilization stretches, followed by 25 minutes of propriocentric therapy, and finished with 15 minutes of electronic stimulation (ESTIM). My PT confirms that these activites would not have made a meaningful contribution to my weight loss as I would not have achieved sufficient cardio activity to do so and we did not include any weight beyond that of my own body mass. I further confirmed this using a FitBit, Nike Fuel Band, and a Polar FT60 Heart Rate Monitor Watch. All three measured my caloric consumption at fewer than 250 calories per session and maintaining a heart rate well below aerobic activity.
That’s it. I would venture a guess that unless you roll out of bed and directly onto the couch and remain there for the day, you probably have been way more active than I have been in the past 11 months.
Next: Supplements: All Natural, Baby
Read the rest of my story at:
- Introduction: How I Lost 100 lbs Without Surgery or Exercise
- Mental and Emotional Prep: Face the Root Cause
- Tools: You Can’t Manage What You Don’t Measure
- Quick Start and Morale Boost
- Nutrition: How I Ate 100 lbs Away
- Detour: A Geek’s Explanation (A Hypothesis, Anyway)
- Exercise (Or Lack Thereof)
- Supplements: All Natural, Baby
- Other Helpful Tips
- What’s Next?
- Resources and Thank You’s
September 13, 2012 @ 16:45
This is the page that floors me. I mean, I observe the 4 hour body (mostly) myself, but I haven’t had the success you have. I’m reading your posts to glean info from you. You started out where I am. You eat more than I do, and you exercise less. Maybe I’m doing things backwards. 😉
Thanks for writing all this out! You’re amazingly inspiring.
-j
September 13, 2012 @ 22:35
Because I couldn’t work out I really had to lean on the nutrition. I was really, really strict at the beginning and I did not eat any, and I mean any, non-SCD foods during the week. If you think I am eating more than you, that could also be a culprit. Perhaps you aren’t eating enough (of the right things, mind you) and the body is resisting weight loss because it doesn’t think it will get enough nutrition. I actually corrected some slow progression weeks simply by eating more. I know, counterintuitive. Crazy, right? That’s also why the spike day is so important. For me, timing and consistency was very important. If my schedule was thrown off, if I didn’t eat for long periods, or missed meals it really slowed my progress significantly. Try one of these two thing–eat more ScD foods (bigger portions or throw an extra meal in) or schedule meals strictly for a short while–do that for 3-4 weeks, measuring and tracking all the while, and see if that helps. Come back and let me know how that worked for you. We thick folk gotta’ stick together. You can do it.