Do I Have to Exercise?

On day one of this diet, I exercised. That was the key right there. If you are on this diet, or any diet for that matter, and are not exercising, do not expect any long term results. That's a fact.

Exercise is essential to any diet. You cannot reduce your calories, not exercise, and expect to lose weight over a period of time. Your body has a very efficient way of dealing with the calories you took away...it takes away your energy. That's right, it goes on strike. You take away the calories, your body's metabolic rate lowers. It learns to work with less calories. It burns your carbohydrates. Then it looks for proteins. A real nice source of protein is any muscle you have. This is something I bet you wanted to have a little more of when you started your diet. It will work on your fat last. One reason the fat burns last is that your body senses the deprivation and the caveman instinct built into our genetics over hundred of thousands of years feels that a long period of starvation may be afoot. So it holds onto the fat for future energy needs. You have officially scared your body into hanging onto the one thing you were hoping to get rid of. Fat.

As your metabolism decreases, you begin to feel exhausted. So you look for things that can give you energy. Most folks will turn to sugary products for that quick boost. You are then putting yourself in a nice glucose/insulin cycle that will have you craving sugar until you fall asleep or induce a glycemic coma, whichever comes first. That isn't a diet, that's self abuse. That is why most people hate diets.

Exercise is essential because if you restrict calories and work out, you keep your metabolic rate at a normal to normal/high level. Your body not only continues to burn calories at its normal rate, but it will burn more during exercise and continue burning more throughout the day. The deficit between the calories you are taking in and the calories you are burning will be much, much greater. You will definitely lose more weight. You will actually feel like you have MORE energy after exercising. When you get done exercising, have a good dose of water and, if you are hungry, have an apple.

This is really not complicated. Eat less, exercise more.

The Optifast Liquid Diet is unique in that it restricts calories severely to about 800-900 calories per day. When you walk at the rate that I was walking (about 2.6 miles per day in 45 minutes) you will burn approximately 350 calories in that 45 minutes. Add that plus a little more to your daily expenditure. I was using about 2000-2200 calories a day just walking around at my height and weight. That plus the 400 I got exercising and from post-exercise burn was about 2500 calories per day. I was taking in 900. I was running a 1600 calorie per day deficit. That is a deficit that will guarantee weight loss.

Take the same person on a 900 calorie per day diet and take away the exercise. Their metabolism slows down so they are burning about 1500 calories per day (about 1300 per day for women due to their smaller stature). Then to get energy they take in sugar. One pack of M&M's...six Oreo cookies...pick your poison here...250-400 calories easy. 1400 burned and 1300 taken in...100 calorie deficit per day. This is why just dieting doesn't work. I have exercised on every diet I have ever done and have lost weight without fail every single time.

Ok. So you need to exercise. What is exercise? This is not a trick question. It cracks me up what some people actually believe exercise is. Someone said to me, "I walk my dog." That was their exercise. Understand something here. Dragging a small furry animal with six inch legs fast enough to make it crap is not exercise. It might be for the dog. It is NOT exercise for you. If you go inside and YOU have to visit the bathroom, we can have a different conversation but for now, let's agree you have to do a little more. Walking is not exercise. It is the way we move about our day. It is natural, but (and I am not talking about the super-overweight and obese) it is not exercise. It is exercise if you are walking at a pace quick enough to make you sweat and if it is done over a long enough period, say 30 minutes at the sweaty pace. For the obese, walking at a natural pace may in fact classify as exercise.

Exercise is a word which can be broken into two parts. "Exer", the derivative of the word exertion, and "cise", uh...the latin form of "size" meaning your size is too damn big. Ok, I made the second part up, but exertion is the essential ingredient here. There is nothing wrong with sweating. You are going to take a shower when you are done exercising anyway, so tear it up! Sweat until it's rolling off you. Think of it as your body surrendering in the form of liquid fat.

So that is my opinion (somewhat educated) on exercise. I sat back during the course of this diet and went to my classes. I saw people struggle on the Optifast diet. I am convinced that one of two things kept them from success, either they cheated outright and never DID the diet, or they did not exercise and coped with the diet. In both cases, they did not achieve results that helped them reach their ultimate goal OR they reached the goal and were miserable doing it.

If you follow the Optifast diet and exercise daily the way that I did, you will lose weight. They have to, for legal reasons, say that my weight loss is not typical. I will say that if you do what I did, and it wasn't miraculous, you WILL lose weight. No one and I mean NO ONE runs a 1500 calorie per day deficit and does not lose weight. It is impossible. Bill, a friend of mine, started on the diet 6 weeks ago. He follows the diet. He walks every day. He emailed me yesterday that he is at 38 lbs lost. That is better than 6 lbs per week.

"Exertisize". You will feel better and your dieting will be a rewarding experience.

Next: What should I be drinking?