Weight vs Fitness - 10 miles this morning.

I participated in an interesting on-line forum this morning about weight loss and dealing with plateaus.   Seeking a healthy weight is certainly a worthwhile goal.  Anyone who reads a newspaper or watches the televised news or follows current events on-line cannot help but be well aware of the obesity problem in this country.

The issue of maintaining a healthy weight for someone who has gone through a weight loss program (using a healthy approach I would hope) does present challenges.   If you doubt it, you've been asleep.  Yo-yo dieting is a big problem for lots of people.

I believe that one solution, the one that works for me, is to focus on fitness rather than weight loss.   Fitness is a lifestyle.  Weight loss, by definition, has to be temporary.  It cannot go on forever.  You can, however, continue to improve your fitness, if not forever (we all age), at least for a very long time. If you do it for a very long time, your lifestyle change will be permanent.   I speak from personal experience.

I retired 6 years ago.  Being out of shape ( I used the lame excuse of being too busy) but with history of good habits prior to starting a business which I used as my excuse for the relapse, I knew what needed to be done.  I promised myself that I would remedy the situation when I retired.  

I reached my healthy BMI about year after I started my program.  However, while I still weigh myself everyday.  My focus has always been on fitness.  I think it is important to weigh-in everyday because it is one (only one) indicator of overall fitness.   There are other that are equally important.

Fitness is a more important issue than weight.  You can be at a seemingly healthy weight and be unfit.  Some smokers are a good example of this phenomenon.  How do measure fitness?   One way is by how fast or far you can run, walk, bike or do your eliptical. Another, is by improving your physical strength.  How many push-ups or pull-ups can you do.  The list goes on.  You'll find your own measurements if you think about it. Fitness requires exercise.  In fact, you can actually be relatively fit(if you exercise regularly) and be overweight.

By focusing on fitness through exercise and proper nutrition, your weight will take care of itself.  It's pretty easy to make small adjustments to your caloric intake to if you're exercising regularly.  I've been doing it for 5 years now.  I'm fitter than ever.  It's surprising to me that although I'm 60 years old, I'm still getting stronger and faster.  Yes, I know it can't go on forever.  But, I race.  I can compare myself to others my age to determine how I'm doing fitness wise as time goes by.   I'm not worried about weight plateaus.  I want to keep up with those other racers my age!    As long as I'm doing well in races and still fitting in my 30" waist jeans, the scale is a lesser worry.

Focus on fitness. I do.  I ran 10 miles this morning. I walked 18 holes this afternoon.   No bad for a man my age!   Fitness is its own reward.