"Normal" Eating by Karen R. Koenig

Exercise and Weight Gain Prevention

I don’t focus much on weight in therapy sessions because I believe that learning how to eat “normally” is more crucial than any number on the scale. In fact, I shy away from weight discussions with clients except when the subject comes up naturally, and hesitate to write much on weight because zeroing in on it, per se, doesn’t generally pay off but does get people anxious and upset. However, recognizing that folks who don’t want to put back the pounds need insights, information, and incentives, I (sigh) write this blog.

Hunger and Exercise

The last thing I want to do is deter anyone from exercising. In one form or another, I  engage in it daily and strongly believe that activity is an integral part of mental and physical health. So the conclusions of an article in the May 2009 issue of the Nutrition Action Healthletter came as a surprise and were, I confess, a bit of a downer.

Body Image and Workouts

Research says that the exercise women select may contribute to attitudes about their bodies. Although I encourage you to do whatever exercises you enjoy, it’s interesting to consider which of those might—and might not—help improve your body image.

 

Barriers to Exercise

Not a week goes by without someone I know commenting on disliking exercise. Although it’s likely that certain folks are born with more of an inclination to move their bodies, that's not the whole story. What’s important is to understand your story, you know, the one you tell yourself (and others) about why you don’t exercise.

 

Exercise

A report in Prevention magazine (5/10/08, page 10) has got me going—“Research shows that typically half of all women drop out of exercise programs within the first 6 weeks of starting one. Most women say having little free time, a lack of confidence when exercising, and supportive friends and family are the main reasons they stop short of achieving their goals.” Superficially reasonable answers, sure, but based on my years of professional experience, researchers need to dig deeper to get at the real issues.

Move Your Body

An article in the April issue of the Nutrition Action Health Letter on the correlation between moving your body more and weight loss intrigued me. James Levin, professor and researcher in the Division of Endocrinology at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, heads something called the NEAT lab which studies the effect of body movement and expending energy on weight. NEAT stands for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis, which is any movement that is not exertion for the sake of physical fitness.