Diet and Exercise Myth

Diet and exercise myth - we've all lived with it. Sometimes myths are OK, but when myth prevents our progress to diet and exercise goals then it's time to know the facts. Diet, exercise and fitness are all related.

The big fitness myth - no gain without pain

As a matter of fact, jumping into strenuous exercise routines from a couch potato lifestyle is a formula for injury and workout failure.

Athletic "ability" is like any other skill - success at every day athletics and fitness is not innate. While we're not all Olympic material we can have personal success in fitness, and that's the most important measure of success.

For instance, in learning how to run starting in a gradual program of slowly increasing intensity avoids the pain, and garners the all the gains of running.

The same is true of any exercise and workout plan, whether is working out with free weights or cycling, rowing, or cross country skiing . Gain your exercise experience and expertise slowly, and avoid the pain!

The big diet myth

A diet is not a temporary fix for fatness. If you're going "on" a diet then at sometime you're going "off" your diet. It's a myth - you can't control weight by on and off discipline.

Here's a few tips for pro-active diet management (yes, that's right, it's diet management - not weight management).

• Be aware of the "energy bill" that comes with convenience foods. A few microwaved chimichangas have enough calories to light up a small city! (There's a reason convenience foods taste sooooo good - it's called fat!)
• Make your own food from as close to raw materials as you can. Good food  can also be convenient food. There's some excellent resources on how to make fast, nutritious meals and snacks.
• Watch portion size. North American food portions are huge. I had a running coach who loved to preach that the stomach is about as big as a closed fist. Unfortunately, she's right. We can survive quite nicely on smaller serving.
• Eat more often. Have you ever enviously worked with a skinny person who seems to snack all day? Eating regularly and being slim are related. Having a snack like an apple, banana or orange every couple of hours keeps blood sugar at a near constant level - and makes portion control at lunch and dinner easier.
  
• Natural foods don't have to be "slow foods", and they don't take a long time to prepare. Check out Doris' advantages of natural foods. Natural food - it's what we used to eat!

The facts about diets are simple: Weight loss, diet, and exercise go together. We need to educate ourselves and create our own long term exercise diet plan - an individual diet plan that works for us.

While we're talking about diet and exercise myth, my buddy Ken Fees at weight-loss-thru-healthy-living has some great tips on what a "diet" really is - you don't have to starve yourself for weight loss!

Summing up...

That's it for diet and exercise myth! And don't forget...

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