There are so many "diets" and magic pills out there that "guarantee" to have you losing weight in no time. But they're all a crock. If you want to be healthy, then you need to eat natural foods and you need to exercise. Simple as that. When you exercise, you have to work hard. 30 minutes of walking or gardening is a nice break from doing absolutely nothing, but it's really only a step or two above napping. If you exercise hard and eat naturally, then you will become strong and lean.
What does eating naturally mean? It means eating fruits, vegetables, and nuts. If you're not vegan then eat fish and lean meats. Eat stuff that has expiration dates that time out within a week or two. If you have something in your cabinet that's good until October of 2011 then toss it..
Think of it this way. Every living organism is designed to survive under a certain set of living conditions. If living conditions change, then the organism evolves to adapt to the new conditions. This takes thousands, if not millions of years.. Our bodies were designed for the hunter/gatherer lifestyle. It's designed for hours of strenuous exercise every day that is fueled by mostly carbohydrates.. I can guarantee you that our ancestors of just a few hundred years ago were not sitting around worrying about getting 30% or more of their calories from protein or restricting their carbohydrate intake because it makes them chubby and have less energy. Our genes are essentially the same as the ones the cavemen had. The problem is, we don't exercise as much as they do and we take in way too many processed carbs and refined sugars. For you Creationist types out there who don't believe in evolution, just remember that Eve tempted Adam with an apple, not a Twinkie. Carbs give you energy. They're not the evil that anybody selling a diet book tries to tell you they are.. If you eat processed crap and refined sugars and drink lots of alcohol then you're filling yourself with empty carbs and you will be fat and lethargic. If you're eating fruits and vegetables to get your carbs then you'll have great energy. I get 60% or more of my calories from carbs. Nobody is going to come into the gym, look at me and say "He's not very energetic.. Must eat too much carbs.".. But I eat natural carbs. I eat 2 or 3 bananas a day. I eat a couple apples and oranges every day. I eat vegetables two or three times a day. I get my protein from nuts, fish and lean meats.. I train hard and I eat well..
As for the training hard part... Obviously we live in a time that makes it impossible for most of us to get hours of strenuous exercise in every day like our ancestors did. If you're a farmer or in certain types of construction then you have the ability to work your body hard all day.. But if you have a sedentary job, you need to find the time to exercise hard.. Going to a chrome and fern palace like Best Fitness and jumping on a treadmill or elliptical machine is pointless. Spending two hours among the chrome and fern while you perform a set of biceps curls every 5 minutes and spend the rest of the time chatting up some fountain of botox is even less useful. You need to train your body at a high intensity for short durations to raise your metabolic rate and give the body the type of exercise it was designed for.. That's what we do here at Dynamic Strength and Conditioning. It doesn't take long either.. 20 or 30 minutes of work like we put in here at the gym will give your body all it can handle. Doing it 4 or 5 times a week will increase your metabolic rate to that of a caveman. Ever seen a fat caveman? Not even in the Geico commercials, right?
Train hard, eat naturally.. Sounds easy, but if it was easy then everybody would be fit.. Come to our gym and we'll help you take care of the training hard part.. We can guide you with the eating naturally part but it's on you to make it happen.
All the best,
Kevin
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