Okay, this post will lose some of you. That's fine. But there is a post I've wanted to do on my Fitness Facebook page that is just too long. So I suppose I'll put it here.
I'm so tired of hearing from people that it's easier for me, especially because I'm in shape. No. It isn't easier. In fact, it's harder. Much, much harder. But people don't want to hear that. People want to know that their struggle is harder than mine so that if they fail, or fall short, or just plain don't match up it feels better. Guys, I have to be honest because it's me. It only gets harder as you go on your fitness journey. Sure, you'll hit your stride. You can make amazing progress, when you actually get to where you've been trying to reach. I remember the days of 40 minute workouts or less where my body was on point. No calorie counting, just busting a workout and feeling great. I had hit my stride. Once a person gets there, it's an amazing feeling. Until then, the road can suck. However, if you're in good shape, it's even harder. Let's think for a moment. You and I want to lose weight. We each are trying to lose 10 pounds, and by medical standpoints, we are both capable of losing that weight without being underweight or unhealthy. So how do we lose weight? Well, we know there needs to be an imbalance. There needs to be a greater deficit in calories, typically a drop in 500 kCal a day. However, we are learning more and more about how undereating while exercising will cause your body to think that you're starving yourself. So you hold on to more fat and lose muscle, so we up the workouts and eat appropriately. Both of us are using the same system, though numbers will be different because of starting weights. Yada yada yada, we're on the same path. I, however, am more "in shape" due to my history and continual fitness liefstyle. Either way, we need to burn some calories. How do we do this? We raise our heart rates. So we venture off. We do the same workout. My resting heart rate is in the 40's, your's in the 60's. We need to get into the 65% of our max heart rate (upwards of 85%) and stay in that range to burn the most "fat calories." Let's begin. After 5 minutes of work, your heart rate is at 72%, mine is at 56%. Who's burning more fat? After 10 minutes of work, you're heart rate has settled in at about 83%, mine at 74%. Well, I've made it to the fat burning zone, but I missed out on some minutes that you got. After 30 minutes of work, you've burned 573 kCal while I've burned 320 kCal. If the goal was to drop 500 kCal a day, I need to keep working. That workout didn't do it for me. This is one of the big reasons why people plateau. As your body becomes more in shape, and your heart and lungs get used to exercising, it will become less bothered by the exercise. The jolt your body gets will be less. That's great. The feeling post-workout is more excited and ready to go, rather than feeling like you're going to die. BUT your body gets used to it. There has to be that jolt to make a difference. So people like myself, need to get creative. We play different sports, add miles to runs, change how we lift, join classes, and yes, even change our eating habits. I laugh at the couch to 5k app. It's things like that, that make it difficult for people to understand what those in the fitness go through. Not everyone is like me. Not everyone birthed two children, then got a diagnosis that required medicines that make you gain weight and retain water. But this is for those of us that have to work twice as hard as those just getting off the couch for the first time. It isn't easier for us to lose 10 pounds, it's harder. The difference is that we don't tell the world about it. We don't talk about how difficult it is because we know that you'll just say, "But you're already in shape."
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AuthorI have a lot to say about a lot of things. Archives
May 2023
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