Leigh W.'s Journal, 28 August 2007

It seems like you're working out a ton, which is awesome (I'm envious I am still struggling to run 1 mile with all this extra weight!)But I'm reminded of something a trainer I once worked with always used to say when I would get frustrated for all my time in the gym and not enough progress on the scale. He would matter of factly state: "Food is how you LOOK. Exercise is how you FEEL." This was his little mantra to remind me that all my time in the gym was being undone a bit by not sticking directly enough to my diet. Apparently, calorie/fat restriction is 80% of weight loss, despite what we hear all around us from people who run gyms. And I'll probably be drawn and quartered by the gym-rat community for daring to utter this -- but exercise is just not as big of a contributor to weight loss as food management. And, tons of(while admirable!)also makes one hungrier and therefore MORE challenging to keep calories low enough. Everyone's body is different, but in my own experience losing 125 lbs over the course of my life, calorie restriction was definitely the top priority for straight weight loss. Excercise is a wonderful tool for mood, boosting weight loss, and maintaining the weight once you get there. Not that I know anything about maintaining...lol. 

CalorieKiller, You certainly make some valid points. there is certainly a balance that must be achieved or better yet the right combination. I working on finding the right combination. Exercise really helps my mood swings associated with perio-menapause. I need the exercise more than the weight loss. Fat has never generated murderous thoughts, however stress has made me both murderous and fat. Since meditative exercise hasn't worked, I going to have to continue full throttle. Fitness is really my primary goal..if the scale gets there with fitness....GREAT!