Weight Loss: From Dinosaurs to Couch Potatoes
If you’re serious about losing weight, you should be open to changing some lifelong habits that may severely damage your chances of successfully completing a weight loss program. In order for your weight loss goals to be attained, you need to give up what put you in that situation in the first place.
Is it my lifestyle really all that bad?
A recent article that I found on Discovery News proclaimed what so-called health buffs have known for awhile now- ‘Largest Dinosaurs Ate Often, Exercised Little’. Well, okay, maybe they weren’t thinking about dinosaurs per se, but the general idea is there.
In the Mesozoic era the great beasts had eight times the amount of food they needed available to them and since their numbers weren’t all that plentiful to begin with, it was a simple matter of picking a tree and eating from it. Continuously. Throughout the day.
Society in developed countries has similarly become overrun with the consumer mindset. We have been so spoiled by the advances in technology and transportation that we have become impatient for what we consider as our due. If we are hungry, we eat whatever is on hand. If we want a drink, we go to the nearest vending machine. If we want to visit friends three blocks away, we pile into the car instead of bundling up and walking the distance.
We are insistent upon convenience and accessibility. But how does eating whatever we want, whenever we want really affect us? And does pushing a few pedals constitute as exercise? The answer is a resounding NO. It doesn’t.
The comparison of couch potatoes to dinosaurs may be deemed by some to be a bit harsh but perhaps this is a necessary and somewhat overdue fact to present – if we don’t do something to reign in our bad habits (eating junk and not exercising) then we may as well consign our fates to align with those of our former earthly companions. Only this time our diet and lack of exercise will be the ones to kill us off instead of a meteor.
Where do I start?
If you haven’t been living under a rock for most of your existence then you’ve probably heard the terms vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, aerobic exercise, brisk walking and Yoga thrown around quite a bit. These are just some of the things that people have begun to sit up and take notice of. They represent the alternative to living your life as a carnivorous couch warmer.
First, you need to get off your butt and transfer to your computer chair. Start doing some research. I would recommend taking a walk down to the local library to browse the aisles, but let’s start with baby steps shall we? Look up the words that I mentioned above and you will find a plethora of material on how to live a healthy and well-rounded life without sacrificing your taste buds.
There are a lot of things that you can cut back on or replace with tastier and healthier alternatives. Instead of picking up a bag of potato chips which are high in sodium and artificial everything – try snacking on apple, celery or grapes. Alongside of the tasty factor, they also present the added bonus of negative calories – which means that they contain less calories than it takes to digest them.
Second, it’s time to get up from your chair and start exercising. If you prefer to do it from the proverbial safety of your own home, invest in a treadmill or a really good dance workout videos. If you’re the adventurous type, brisk walking would be a good start and would probably mark the beginning of the natural progression to jogging and later on, running. If camaraderie is what you crave, join a gym or enroll in a class.
Exercise can help you burn the calories that you do take in. It also aids in making your system run more smoothly and efficiently.
Ask for Help!
Don’t be afraid to contact local exercise groups or enlist the aid of a health-buff friend to point you in the right direction. Be proactive and reach out if there are some points that need to be clarified. As the endorphin-laden group will probably proclaim, “The more the merrier!”
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