I’ve said before I have an obsessive personality. When I do something I go “all in”. Making the decision to lose weight was no different. Once I made the decision, I was obsessed with nutrition information. I read articles. I visited blogs. I stalked weight loss message boards like it was my job. The trouble was, the more I read the less I knew. For each article I read, there were ten more to contradict it. For each philosophy, there were a hundred more. Grain was bad. Grain was good. Fat was bad; but not all fat. Carbs were bad (I can’t eat fruit?). You get my drift. I’m sure you’ve experienced this as well. The more I read the more confused I became. It was incredibly frustrating. My solution – eat in moderation and not give up any food. Not a single one. That worked for me. However, it didn’t make me less obsessed. I still researched and looked and asked questions. I still was unsure, even though my results were showing right there on my body! (Obsessed and hard-headed.)
When I decided to also incorporate exercise it was no different. Running is good. Running is bad. Lift heavy weights with low reps. No, no, lift light weights with tons of reps. Cardio “only” is good enough. Weight lifting “only” is good enough. No, you need both. Cardio should be 30 minutes. Cardio should be 10 minutes. RAAAAAWWWWWWRRRR! SO.FREAKING.FRUSTRATING.
Every thing I read was contradicted by the next thing I read. Then the next thing was contradicted by that. No wonder we have an obesity epidemic in our country. No one knows what the hell to do! When I decided to get my personal trainer certification it was purely for ME. It was so I would have some definitive answers. It was so I would know how I should work out and then I could help others. Guess what? No definitive answers. I was so freaking disappointed. I had done so much research on everything that very little new information was presented (other than the way the body works scientifically speaking, which of course I’m not discounting). I had that beautiful certificate but STILL didn’t know if grains were bad or good. I still didn’t know how much cardio a person should have. Not exact numbers.
So I kept researching and looking. I became a perpetual student of fitness and nutrition and of my own body. I finally realized the reason there is so much information out there is because different things work for different people. Maybe milk bloats you like a pregnant person, but doesn’t bother your sister at all. Perhaps your body responds to 10 minutes of cardio but your co-worker needs 30 minutes. You have to find what works for YOU.
I have learned what my body responds to. I’ve become a great listener to my body. Of course I’m not saying I don’t get discouraged. I recently contacted a fantastic personal trainer to inquire about her training me. I felt like I needed something new. Through a very awesome conversation, I came to realize I already know what to do. I was just in a rut.
All of those magazine articles you read about THE way to finally get the body you want…those are just a base. Those things can work. If you do them consistently. And if it’s something your body responds to. Any personal trainer worth their salt will adjust your workouts to fit YOUR body. You may start out with the workout they gave the last 10 people, but they should be doing constant monitoring to see what works. And what doesn’t.
You also don’t need a trainer for this. Tune in to your body. Understand that you have to do something consistently to truly know how your body will respond to it. If you did squats two days this week and don’t notice a difference, it’s not the squats. You just haven’t given your body time to show any results. Keep squatting!
Become a student of your body. Be aware of how foods make you feel. Be aware of the response you get from specific exercises. Journal it. Find out what works for you and what doesn’t. Soon, you’ll be able to read through all the articles and know what applies to you. Not everything will. Keep learning!
pushing4more.wordpress.com 
You raise such good points. People really need to find what works best for their body and then stick with it. And I’m a big believer in moderation, not deprivation (unless you know you absolutely can’t control yourself around something!)
Thanks for another great post. I always feel a burst of motivation after reading something like this 🙂
I don’t do that whole deprivation thing either, girl. Well, except with powdered donuts. 🙂 Thanks for reading and I truly appreciate your sweet compliments!
I have been going through this process also lately and do believe there is no one magic formula for everyone. It is very confusing though and does leave you wondering if you are doing the right thing in your eating & training. I work with a trainer and have been for awhile now. I have come to the decision to follow his advice, as when I do, it does work for me. 🙂
No magic formula. 😦 Sad, but true. I’m happy you have found a trainer that has great advice though! 🙂
I lost 8 kg in 3 months… and feeling healthier and happy. I was not planning to lose weight… so basically I still had a considerable quantity of ice cream, chocolate and pizza in my menu every week. But I was eating less and making A LOT of exercise… The context: I was for the first time in Japan. So I was following their philosophy of never eating MUCH (my teacher used to say “80% of stomach, good!” (with a VEEEEERY intense japanese accent). and I was all the time walking around the city or riding my bike everywhere because of curiosity to learn everything… Probably I made lots of mistakes in my diet according to some rules, but I’m not aware of those rules and the only thing I know is that I left Japan feeling a lot better than when I arrived!
You raise a great point, Axel. Americans think they need to feel full (as in busting at the seams) in order to stop eating. If we stopped eating at 80% full I bet we would all see a huge difference! 🙂
yes, and there are technical reasons for that, if you have nothing agains evolutionist interpretation… we can control properly our abundance of food only very recently in history…. but during our evolution as animals through the recent millions years, our instincts were shaped in and environment with scarse and difficult food availability, so our instincts will always tell us to eat a lot, they are not properly adapted to an environment where you can get as much food as you want! If you have something agains evolutionist interpretations… then may be now I lost one more virtual friend….. hahhaha just kidding 😉
Best line ever: ‘Be a student of your body’ … love this ! Good stuff here.
Thank you so much, Debra.
Ok, your posts keep getting better and better! I too, have been controlled over and over by what is “right”! It IS annoying!!! i read one thing and think, “ok, that’s it, I’m done eating that!” only to read the next day that it only affects us if this or that is going on in our body etc…..it’s endless!
I recently enrolled in the Institute for Integrative Nutrition where they not only give you every avenue to explore nutritionally but say exactly what you said. “No one thing (diet) works for all people”. I totally believe that…..now. Finally. Some end to the guilt!
Thank you, once again, for being open and honest. I look forward to your blogs!
Sincerely, Robyn
Wow! Thank you, Robyn. What a fantastic compliment. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I have read a lot about IIN and I really believe in their method of teaching. Good luck and I’d love to hear more from you as you progress through your studies.