blog banner

blog banner

Thursday, January 3, 2013

The Worst Way to Lose Weight


The Worst Way to Lose Weight: Buy a Gym Membership!

This isn't particularly scientific, but it seems to me that most people I know who buy a gym membership gets fatter instead of thinner.  That's especially true with the January crowd.

Gyms are great at marketing - but the results they show are just as unlikely as the Ab Roller or anything else you might see on a 2am infomercial.

What they don't show:
  • It takes true lifestyle changes (especially diet!) to lose weight
  • By December the people who bought a membership in January are mostly gone
  • The people in the ads are there way more than you will be.  I suspect they live in the back somewhere.
Gyms aren't all bad, I'm sure there are people who genuninely enjoy being there (although I can't imagine why). 

But if you don't actually enjoy it, you won't stick with it.  It's hard enough to stick to exercise and activity you do enjoy. 

In my experience, the dinner plate (and the glass next to it) has had more influence on my weight than exercise.  Increasing your activity level also increases your appetite, so unless you're watching what goes in the time in the gym won't help.

Unfortunately - eat right and exercise are like death and taxes, they are inevitable if you want to lose weight. 

2 comments:

Fat2FitGuy said...

Jono, I agree 100% with you no the gym issue - but, for interest sake, what diet do you follow? Have you tried paleo/low carb and hoe does that effect your energy levels? I do loose weight if I go paleo/low carb/high protein - but my energy seems to be gone much sooner - I am looking for a bit of a middle way...any suugestions? O, and happy new year! I am hoping for a lean, mean 2013.

Jon P said...

Hey! I've only really had success with calorie reduction. The good news is that it works, the bad is that counting calories is tedious. I tried intermittent fasting but no weight loss. Eliminating evening snacks and alcohol seemed to help maintain weight but didn't try long enough to say 100%! Ultimately they're all the same - fewer calories in. Good luck!