... Then Just Stay Fat. (9 page)

This paradox, that you have to spend energy to get energy
—
especially when it feels like you have no energy, is one of the main reasons sedentary
people quit exercise programs.
 
They cannot fathom a futur
e version of themselves in which
jogging for two minutes
and
then lifting that
weight 12 times is no big deal, much less pleasurable.
 
In their minds, physical activity is freakishly difficult and unbearable
—
something to be avoided.

As a trainer, I sometimes wish I could magically plant thoughts into my clients' minds
—
give them a li
ttle taste of what's possible.
 
Once someone feels what it is like to spring up a flight of stairs, hop up off the floor, snatch a heavy box from a shelf, or make a quick jog to the mailbox, she'll push through what feels so hard today
for that better feeling later.
 
She'd know that just because she's deconditioned now doesn't mean
she has to always be that way. It does get easier.
 
But you
gotta
spend energy (even the stuff you swear isn't there) to get energy.

Beginning a fitness program, and then maintaining it
, is hard for a lot of people.
 
But why?
 
Seriously, why is it so hard?

I realize that might sound like a stupid question
,
but
have you stopped to ponder it?
 
Of all the activities that fill your day, why is fitness so diffic
ult to integrate and maintain?

People who have been exercising and eating healthy their whole lives probably find this line of thought strange or funny
.
 
They have n
ever known anything different.
 
But that's not most Americans
—
seeing how 66 percent
of us are overweight or obese.
 
Two-thirds o
f us need to make some changes,
KNO
W we need to make some changes, talk about it,
think about it... and don't.
I can't tell you how many conversations I've had with intelligent, rational people who work hard at their jobs, take good care of
their families, pay their bills
a
nd even water the dang plants.
 
They admit to health problems or desires to look and feel better.
 
They state they KNOW they n
eed to eat better and exercise…
and they don't.
 
It's hugely ir
rational and hugely fascinating
all at the same time.

Why would a grown, intelligent, well-intentioned person avoid the very lifestyle he stated he needs and supp
osedly wants?

Pain avoidance.
 
The perceived pain/discomfort of the "change" outweighs the perceived pain/di
scomfort of the current state.

All of us have heard growth only comes through pain
—
when you are happy and content, there is no growth or even a
reason to grow (change).
 
A plant will grow toward the sun and keep going in a single direction unless some outside force causes
it to bend
in
another direction:
 
maybe a tree limb blocks its path, a wind partial
ly snaps it, or a hiking nature-
lover steps on it.

Humans aren't much different.
 
If everything in our lives is A-OK
, we'll just keep going in the sam
e direction we've been headed.
 
It's usually only when negative, external forces act upon
us that we respond and change.
 
And the negative force has to be larger and nastier than our current state of contentm
ent, or we still won't change.

We usually sum
up this whole notion
into "No pain, no gain"
—
right?
 
Who hasn't heard that barked from a trainer or a coach a
s he or she
eeked
out a final rep, shaking so ba
dly collapse felt imminent?
 
Or recited it in his or her head as he or she
walk
into a gym for the first time?
 
Tri
ed hard to ignore cake cravings
and enjoy a carrot stick, while everyone else in the office sang "Happy Birthday" and cut off an icing
-
co
vered slab of sugary goodness?

We'
ve all heard it or recited it.
 
But hearing it or saying it is nothing compared to
actually experiencing it
,
and it often causes people to put forth so little effort that hardly any "growth" occur
s
—
or worse, people just quit.
 
And I already hear you say
ing
,
"
B
ut if I'm hurting myself,
that can't be goo
d!"

So let's talk about that:
 
pain vs. discomfort.
 
One is a warning that something is going wrong and the other is an indicator that you are in uncharted territory and aren't acclimated to i
t yet.
 
True pain means stop the thing causing the pain
—
damage is being done.
 
Discomfort means just that
—
y
ou aren't comfortable anymore.

Here are truly painful things:
 
breaks, sprains, strains, tears, rips, dislocations, overuse, inflammations, impi
ngements, etc.
 
Obviously the list isn't exh
austive, but you get the idea.
 
Discomfort is more of an overwhelming desire to return to easier activities (or attitudes) usually due to burning muscles, poor aerobic capacity, sweat, heat, perceived fatigue, or lack of coordination
—
and sometimes it's because we feel conspicuous and want to go hide.
 

It is extremely important to understand that your body will not chang
e anything without discomfort.
 
Your body likes to
keep things just like they are;
it is v
ery conse
rvative.
 
Think of your body as
a D
epression-era grandparent
—
using te
a bags multiple times, washing Z
iplocs
and hanging them on the clothes
line, saving three bites of leftover mashed potatoes, and refusing to pay for cable TV channels when the roof antenna g
ets a few local ones for free.
 
Depression-era grandparents only crack
open
the coin purse and spend a few dollars when it is absolutely necessary, and even then it's under duress.

Your body acts the same way.
 
It won't build anything new or crack open some fat cells unless there's a really good reason to do it
—
and that r
eason is usually "discomfort."
 
It
is a signal to your body that, "H
ey, we nee
d some new stuff around here!"
 
Your body responds to the signals and makes some new muscles cells, lays down some new bone, extends the cardiovascular ne
twork to feed all the new stuff
and installs some new nerves connecting everything into t
he body's information network.
 
If you stop
exercising, your body
kinda
shrugs its shoulders and says
,
"
E
ehhh
, guess we don't need all that extra stuff anymore" and tear
s it all back down.

Get that?
 
Your body will only create and maintain what is absolutely necessary to mee
t the current level of demands,
and it knows what's need
ed by the signals you send it.
 
Discomfor
t is one of those huge signals.

So that's a new thought, huh?
 
"Discomfort" is a strongly
-
worded message to your body inste
ad of a reason to go sit down.
 
It's real
ly powerful to think this way.

Imagine you've screwed up your courage and you're heading into the gym
for the first time in forever.
 
You are hiding your 40 extra
pounds with your husband's XL T-shirt and baggy sweat pants.
 
You feel eyes on you and are c
onvinced you are being judged.
 
All you want to do is turn around and head back to the mini
van.
 
That moment is hugely uncomfortable and instead of acting on your urges, you're
gonna
tell yourself
,
"I'm sending my body a strongly
-
worded message" and step up on that treadmill or climb on that piece of circuit equip
ment (even if it's backwards).

You've been thinking about a 5K
,
but have never even j
ogged to the mailbox and back?
 
Get out there and start adding a few sec
onds of jogging to your walks.
 
Sucking air is no longer a reason to go home
—
it's a s
ignal to your body to step up!

Obsessing over the appetizers in the middle of the restaurant table while you wait on your
reasonable salad to come out?
 
Remember that discomfort will pass and your body is learning
that
deep fried onion blobs aren't needed around here a
nd you won't die without them.
 
Eventually, moments
like that won't even
phase
you. Y
ou'll be as cool as a cucumber (and munching on one
,
too).

Merely viewing pain/discomfort differently might help get
you moving or keep you going.
 
Most of what trips
us up in life is a head game.

"No pain, no gain" really ought to be "no discomfort, no gain"
—
but that really doesn't rhyme
,
now does it?
 
Oh well...

Learning the differe
nce between pain and discomfort
and developing a tolerance for the latter will help you secure ongoing success, not only in fitness/health
,
but in life.

Besides, if you don't change something
,
then you'll keep doing what you did and keep getting what you got.

For everyone out there struggling to lose weight, complaining
about
how hard it is, and raging against the wind at the injustice of it all
—
I agree with you.
 
That's right.
 
I agree.

Feel better n
ow?

What, you don't trust me?
 
Well rest assured, I really do agree
—
weight loss is hard.
 
I'll even give you some reasons why it's so hard.
The rate of weight loss/gain is infinite in one direction,
but
not the other

Your body's ability to gain or lose weight is rate-limited in one direction
,
but theore
tically infinite in the other.
 
There is a physical limit to how many calories you can bu
rn in a day. E
ven if you
ran full-tilt, 24 hours a day,
there's a limit.
 
Yet, there is almost no limit to ho
w much food you can poke down.
 
About the only thing putting any constraint on your intake is how much your stomach can hold
,
and people have been kn
own to stretch that out.
 
Add to it that our food optio
ns are unbelievably calorically-
dense
—
and you get an almost in
finite ability to gain weight.