Some Thoughts on Health and Fitness Education

Today I read some comments, okay I was reading the comments on my story that was posted on Huffington post, and it got me thinking about health and fitness education. There were a few people that commented something like "It's nice that she lost the weight, but it would have been better if she was in shape in the first place." Yes, it would have been great if I was in shape in the first place, it would have been great if I didn't have to look back at pictures of myself and be reminded of the person I used to be. But, you can't change the past you can only make decisions in the now. 

  There were a few reasons I realize why I was overweight. First, I accepted what my mom gave to me for food, which were large helpings and often seconds or thirds. I don't blame my mom for this, the same reason I don't blame myself. The reason I was overweight was simply a lack of knowledge. I didn't know how many calories I should be eating, or how many calories were burned through exercise, shoot, I didn't even really know what calories were.  Second, already being overweight meant I really wasn't too enthusiastic about exercise. Especially when that exercise was in front of thinner, more athletic classmates. Third, I think the reason I was overweight was because I just didn't think it was genetically possible for me to lose the weight. My mom would often tell me that as soon as I went through puberty that I would just lose the weight, well I didn't. I would also stick with an exercise program for about two or three weeks, see that there wasn't a big enough change and go back to my old habits. 

   So back to the comment, it would be great if everybody knew about health and fitness and everyone could live a healthier lifestyle, but often times we are sold a quick fix or a fad diet. Something that will get you skinny as fast as possible, and that's exactly what people want, fast results. We don't spend enough time teaching people that you have to change your relationship with food, and change the way you think about exercise. You have to commit to it, and it has to be something you can stick with for the rest of your life. 

  As nice as it is to see quick results, I think we should spend more time teaching people how to be have a healthy relationship with food and exercise. A lot of times it seems like weight loss is this big secret. See how so and so magically lost the weight. I think that if people knew the science behind it they would realize that it isn't this big mystery, and it can be fun and it can change the way you feel about yourself.

  So, hopefully in my upcoming posts I can teach you how I started my journey on educating myself, and learned to have a better relationship with food and exercise. I was able to see people who went before me and lost their weight, and that was a huge motivator for me. I still struggle at times, but I know that getting back on track is better than undoing all the hard work I have achieved so far. Feel free to leave comments about your journey or any questions or suggestions for future blog posts that you may have. And hopefully we can all help each other.