This article was fascinating but to me it just proves my body is out to get me and keep me fat. Summary of the article? Diet > Exercise

jilliangetsripped:

chiliwithachanceofnoodles:

I read this article a couple years ago, and I think of it everytime someone tells me, “With as much as you exercise, you should be eating whatever you want.”

•  a) it doesn’t work like that.You can’t out exercise your crappy diet.
•  b) I am eating whatever I want. I want to eat for optimal health. :)

Disclaimer: This doesn’t mean don’t work out, it does have benefits. Just don’t expect it to be your magic bullet to weight loss.

All this helps explain why our herculean exercise over the past 30 years — all the personal trainers, StairMasters and VersaClimbers; all the Pilates classes and yoga retreats and fat camps — hasn’t made us thinner. After we exercise, we often crave sugary calories like those in muffins or in “sports” drinks like Gatorade. A standard 20-oz. bottle of Gatorade contains 130 calories. If you’re hot and thirsty after a 20-minute run in summer heat, it’s easy to guzzle that bottle in 20 seconds, in which case the caloric expenditure and the caloric intake are probably a wash. From a weight-loss perspective, you would have been better off sitting on the sofa knitting

This makes me feel better about taking a few days off of working out here and there. Like… REALLY good about myself actually. Phew.

I see some of the people I follow work out like 6-7 days a week, doing two-a-days. And for what? They are training for “life” they say. It’s just a little obsessive. I just try to make the most out of my days. I’m conscious of what I eat, I make sure it’s not too much, I try to eat lots of fruits and veggies and take my vitamin… and if I didn’t work out that day, I’m not going to cry about it and pinch my belly fat and think about how much of a failure I am. Psh. I’m no failure. I’m in the middle of an extremely BIG life transition now. Graduating, moving in with my boyfriend, working 40 hours a week, prepping for my move out to Cleveland in August, going to be a grad student, etc. Like yeah if I was 16 years old and all I had to worry about was getting my homework done, I’m sure I’d work out every day after school and everything. But life doesn’t really work like that when you’re 22 years old. Things come up. Life happens. You just have to be aware of that, pay attention to what’s going on, and remember to get back on track the minute you’re able to. Which, for me, is hopefully Wednesday.

I will have my whole life to be physically active! This doesn’t mean like, “oh, I’ll just start some other day”. I’ve been doing this for a while. It just means I have no deadline. No weight loss goal. I’m not trying to get skinny for bikini season. I’m trying to fuel my body with nourishment and I’m trying to be as strong and as physically fit as I can be. So… taking a few days off… isn’t going to “melt my muscles” away. It’s only going to give me a clearer head when I start back up in 2 days.

And yeah. For the love of god. It’s only been 3 days since I last worked out. It’s not like I completely gave up or something. I’ve been biking, dancing, moving heavy objects up 3 flights of stairs, cleaning, packing, and walking. I’ve been active. I’ve been eating pretty damn good.

Alright - the end.

(via run-faster-eat-better)