Now there's a title that should have grabbed your attention. Especially since one of the main things that you hear promoted about "weight loss" is to go and workout! Well, in this blog I'm going to reveal the problems that usually occur when people choose to "use" working out "only" to lose weight.
First let's discuss "weight loss". What is it? Is it healthy to lose weight? Is a skinny person always healthier than what is considered an obese person? Allow me to give a couple of clarifications on "being skinny" and "being obese" by United States standards. #1. Most crack, meth and heroin addicts are skinny. Are they healthy? #2. By U.S. standards I, Jermaine Andre, am considered "obese" at 5ft 7inches tall and 220 pounds of muscle. Even at my perfect in shape fighting weight of 185lbs I was considered obese for my height. Am I obese? (You better check my current performance & pictures if you think for one second that I am.)
So what this reveals to us is that what is being said by the masses and advertisements isn't always true. A famous saying that I have at my training facility is, "STAY THE #$CK of of that GOT DAMN SCALE! It is a lie!" Now of course most don't listen to me as they're working to "lose weight" so they eventually get on it to see how many pounds they dropped, only to see that they have GAINED 5 pounds. And yes, it is sad to say that many of them have quit because they weren't "losing weight" even though they dropped a pants size, could run a mile which they used to couldn't even walk, could for the first time in their life kick above their waist, and their skin cleared up like a baby's bum! Regardless, people ignore these "healthy" results and allow them to be trumped out by the number readings on an inanimate object.
The reason you gain weight when working out is because you are GETTING HEALTHY! The biggest contributor towards being unhealthy (and truly obese) is DEHYDRATION & MALNOURISHMENT! Muscles, organs, bones, and the brain are deprived. So once you start eating and drinking right, your body absorbs the proper nutrients and sends them to build solid, strong, functioning muscle, tendons, and bones! This leads to a HEALTHY WEIGHT GAIN, not a "starving" weight loss. And please allow me to clarify that starving weight losses can lead to organ damage, soft bones & tendons, weak, dry, inflexible muscles etc... because RECOVERY is deprived after working out. And now that I have clarified all of that, let me get back to "Why you shouldn't workout to lose weight."
When you choose to workout just so you can lose weight, you are setting yourself up for failure for more reasons than what I just pointed out in the above rant and here's why. There's MUCH MORE to gain from working out than just losing weight and these reasons help you to stay dedicated to working out, even if you aren't getting the immediate results that you want. And let's face it! The reason that MOST people fail at losing weight is because they want immediate results, or as soon as they get the results, they go back to the lifestyle that gave them the body that they were trying to get rid of in the first place. This leads to giving up, or worse, ...the introduction of hard core, long term damaging, addictive, supplements or drugs to get the result back.
"Working Out" should be a "lifestyle", not a life sucking task that you have to force yourself to do for a "reward". Find a workout that you enjoy doing regardless of the result and you will get the result while building a new, enjoyable, healthy, life feeding habit! Here are some of the things that you should get out of your workout along with HEALTHY WEIGHT CONTROL.
-friendship with motivating people who will help you to be accountable
-athletic performance to be better at ALL physical activities
-mental wellness & stability that rolls over into your daily life
-confidence in what you do, who you are, & how you look
-strength, endurance & cardio that makes you feel better & perform stronger
-fun, excitement, ambition that you look forward to doing regularly
-flexibility, balance, coordination that gives you an edge in your daily life
So don't WASTE your workout with "just trying to lose weight"! SPEND your workout time getting to the CORRECT, HEALTHY WEIGHT while creating a happier life!