You Can’t Outrun Your Fork!

Huh? Here’s the thing. To lose a pound of weight each week through physical activity is pretty much the equivalent of running a marathon. Actually, the calories burned running those 26 miles don’t quite erase a pound, and that also means, not eating what you probably should eat to fuel those miles. It’s a conundrum. (What a great word!)

To be clear, I’m not at all saying physical activity doesn’t count. Where your health is concerned, it’s at the top of the list. But you can’t outrun your fork, and the calories you take in (and don’t take in) are what will ultimately determine how much weight you lose.

This is part of the challenge (and conundrum) people face when starting, or continuing on their weight loss journey, the idea that joining the gym and faithfully attending or running, or walking 5 miles a day will result in weight loss. It won’t, and the downside is, it often discourages physical activity when the scales don’t respond. We tend to give up. We feel we’ve failed, yet again. This is not good.  It’s not good on many levels—personal, societal, and yes, wellness and well-being.

Now, if we take physical activity out of the weight loss equation ... Your diet, the food you choose to eat on a daily basis, is responsible for about 80 percent of your weight (or weight loss) and consequent health. If your goal is to lose weight, the kitchen (and all the other places you find food)  is a better solution than the gym. But, and this is a really big but, for HEALTH, you need both.

It doesn’t seem fair, but then, so many things aren’t. Health, wellness and weight loss are not synonyms, but they are connected. What do you think?