It seems that there's been a lot of discussion lately about exercise and how great it is - for weight loss, for toning, for stress relief, for overall well-being. With all of those voices talking about the benefits of exercise, what's missing for me are the voices of people who, like myself, have chosen not to incorporate exercise into their weight loss plan. I'm writing this just to fill in that gap.
To clarify... I will be the first to stand up and celebrate anyone who is doing something that benefits their mind, body, and soul. If exercising (in whatever form it takes) is something a person enjoys, I'm 100% behind that person exercising. I'm not against exercising and I don't hate exercise, but I think the bigger picture for me is more complicated than the straightforward prescription of "you must exercise to lose weight" can address.
I've lost almost 100lb in the past year or so and I've done it almost entirely without exercise. In the fall of last year I joined a gym for 3 months and worked out for about 3 weeks of that period. The rest of the weight loss came from diet alone.
There are lots of reasons I haven't incorporated exercise into my weight loss plan: I find it exhausting; I'm too large to comfortably do exercises that I would enjoy; I'm not interested in rearranging my schedule to incorporate it into my life.
Over the past 25 years of dieting I've tried to address these problems in different ways. I had my thyroid checked. I tried all sorts of different exercises, sports, and activities. I've taken vitamins. I've cleared out my schedule for months at a time to accommodate exercise. I've taken every suggestion and every piece of advice seriously and acted on it.
My decision to not exercise is not based on a failure to effectively problem solve. At the end of the day, I'm just sick and tired of the cycle of guilt that exercise (and the consequent failure to exercise) produces. For decades I have had some pretty consistent cycles - shame and guilt for being fat, euphoria and excitement at making some positive efforts at weight loss, even more shame and guilt for the failure to sustain that weight loss.
My personal approach to stepping off that guilt/shame merry-go-round has involved deciding to incorporate exercise if and when I decide it's something that I would enjoy and would like to challenge myself with. Feeling like I should exercise and feeling ashamed of myself when I don't... for me that just opens the door up to more guilt and shame.
I think there are lots of ways to find the peace and health and happiness that I know I at least couldn't hang onto very tightly at my highest weight. Whatever choices people make, I hope they're ones that reflect self-love and self-understanding.