LizCon's Journal, 18 April 2013

Wow! You go girl. Sometime I would like your opinion on the research looking into exercise and weight loss. 

The basic summary I've seen is that weight loss with just diet is hard, weight loss with just exercise is hard, weight loss with both is effective. Anything that gets the heartbeat up even mildly, like walking or stretching for 20 mins or so will get you pointed in the right direction. That's just a lay-person's overview of a few dozen papers skimmed, but I have yet to see a study that says exercise is bad. Everything we know about the body tends to suggest that except in extreme cases of illness or injury, a bit of activity helps everything. When I was at my worst, health wise, my doctor got me to go swimming 3-4 times a week. I didn't do laps, I just kind of floated around for half an hour, but the activity of just keeping my head above water was enough to drop 5 lbs that month. When I say exercise, I mean ANYTHING that takes a little more effort than sitting or lying down. It doesn't have to be an hour of aerobics, every little bit counts. The more you do, the more you lose, obviously, but killing yourself for a month then swearing off is much worse than a little at a time, but making it a permanent habit. Hope that helps!