Four Insights That Can Help You Achieve Fitness and Weight Loss

With so much information and advice on fitness and weight loss bombarding us daily, how can we possibly stay informed? If we read everything we find on obesity, we risk reading conflicting advice. If we read nothing, we risk being ill-informed about matters that can affect our health and well-being.

My advice is simple: take the best and leave the rest. In the spirit of selection, here are four insights obtained through research or experience for you to evaluate and consider:

Common Exercise Myths: While the internet and other media abound with helpful weight loss information, surprisingly, some exercise myths have yet to be debunked. For instance, some people perpetuate the myth that moderate-intensity exercise is useless. Yet even 30 minutes of moderate exercise per day, five days a week, can do wonders. Others insist that weight loss results can be achieved by exercise alone. In reality, a successful and healthful weight loss program strikes a balance between exercise and nutrition.

Hidden Weight Gain Factors: Most of us know that eating second helpings followed by a piece of cheesecake won’t forward our weight-loss efforts. But other factors we might not suspect can also lead to weight gain: living in an environment with air pollution, keeping the air conditioning cranked up and not getting enough sleep. Additionally, although it’s not clear why, kids who have their tonsils removed and kids whose mothers work outside the home stand a greater risk of becoming obese.

The Psychology of Weight Loss: The number and diversity of diets seems endless. Most promise that if we follow a specific formula where we avoid “bad” foods and eat “good” foods, we will easily attain the weight loss we desire. In contrast, Yoni Freedhoff, one of Canada’s foremost obesity clinicians, suggests that we need to think more about the psychology and physiology of weight loss.

According to Dr. Freedhoff, the key to successful, sustained weight loss is to “like the life we’re living while we’re actually losing.” In his view, our best weight loss strategy may be to simply enjoy the journey and rejoice in the knowledge that each day we are taking another step on the road toward our best and healthiest self.

Which Diet Is the “Right” Diet? In a recent article in the New York Times, Erik Piepenburg reflects on the conflicting advice he received about the best way to lose weight. His conclusion? To successfully lose weight and keep it off, follow Shakespeare’s advice to “know thyself.” Since each person is different, each of us must find the weight loss and fitness routine that works best for us.

No one, least of all me, has the last word on how to lose weight and achieve the healthy and fit body each of us wants. But through reading what others are finding through research and experience and assessing these truths against our own experience, we can glean bits and pieces of insight and information that forward our own journey.