Why Exercise Might Be Hindering Your Weight Loss

Exercise is one of the hottest topics on the internet right now.  All of the sculpted bodies, all the youthful smiles and chiseled abs.  But let’s not be drawn into something that may not be in the best interest of weight loss… at least initially. P90X, Tae Bo, Body Beast, Abs of Steel, and on and on…!  First of all, when a person is 75 pounds’ overweight, their body is not ready for this type of stress.  Most of us are already under stress to begin with and have cortisone, a stress hormone, that is through the roof. Increased cortisone causes the body to retain higher amounts of water and increases insulin levels. Rising insulin levels run-1342617_1920increase the pro-inflammatory response in the body and while we initially feel energized right after the workout, we then feel overly sore and stiff.  Worse, you may get on the scale to find you’ve actually gained half a pound of weight within 6 hours of the workout. This happens a lot to those of us who are obese to morbidly obese.   The final step to quitting because of pain, stiffness or exhaustion or any combination of the three and the lack of results. ‘I’ve never seen anyone exercise their way to a new body while being obese or morbidly obese!’ -Dr. Kenna Venekamp

Most of us don’t realize that 80% of weight loss is diet related and 10-20% of weight loss is accomplished through exercise.

Yeah!  I just said that!  This is unimaginable to current thought or declaration in our modern thinking but it is inarguable. ‘Get within 15-20lbs of your target weight, then increase the intensity of your exercise component’ I’ve had patients that ‘tried to get in shape yesterday. They get their new DVD exercise series and start in.  They look at the guy or gal on the front cover and day dream about that body and what theirs will soon look like.  Then the cycle begins: workout, become stiff and sore, swell up, take Motrin, try another workout and repeat until you quit.  Worse yet, you have to visit your doctor because of strain or sprain issues suffered as a result of the exercise.  I had a woman in the other day that paid for one month of ‘crossfit’ and made it through one exercise class and hasn’t been able to return! If you look back to the days of “Father Knows Best’ or ‘Leave it to Beaver’ (circa; 1960’s), you’ll notice the adults in those days were thin.  They didn’t exercise at all.  Most of the food that was consumed was made in the home and there was no access to soft drinks (except at the Drug Store), there were no six-packs of Coke from Walmart that were stored in our fridge, very little purchased candy or cookies…fairly straight forward existence.  Or like in the movie: ‘Anchorman’, Ron Burgandy speaks about this new concept known as ‘jogging’ or ‘yogging’: silent ‘J’ maybe.  Running for no reason was foreign to people just a few decades ago and they were all thin for the most part.  It was the diet then and it still is today. Remember, exercise is good when you’re close enough to your ideal weight that you don’t have to strain yourself to conduct the exercises.  When the proper weight loss has happened and the body doesn’t have to support the extra weight while exercising, then a miracle happens.  The body becomes more sculpted and stays more sculpted and finally memorizes that shape. Finally, exercise is not the enemy here.  It is just used in the wrong order and therefore, the wrong way.  Extremely heavy people injure themselves every day reaching for the ‘brass ring’ when it comes to beautiful bodies.   Be looking forward to the next exercise blog. I’ll talk more about the effects of adding exercise at the right time to enhance your weight loss and lock it in for good.  Those that begin or increase to higher intensity exercise once they’ve reached or are close to reaching an appropriate target weight are more likely to remain there permanently.   Diet is the key to reaching the weight and exercise is the key to maintaining that weight.   About the Author Dr. Kenna Venekamp is a practicing chiropractor with 28 years experience. He has worked with thousands of patients with all types of physical and nutritional needs.

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