The only thing worth repeating is that repeating is the enemy. Let me say it again: The only thing worth repeating is repeating is the enemy.
One day a woman about ten years younger than I approached me at the organic deli section of the supermarket. I recognized her immediately even though she was wearing a tie-dyed mask. “I do not understand it, “ she said, “I walk three miles a day, take 30 flights of stairs, do 50 sit-ups every day. Everyday! I don’t lose weight. I gain a pound!”
She then told me about her strict diet, which was so boring I am not going to bore you with the details.
She was burning more calories than she was taking in, but she was performing a fitness routine that she was already well capable of doing from the onset. She could already walk three uninterrupted miles, climb 30 flights of steps, push out 50 sit-ups. Her motor units, neurons, cardio-pulmonary system, muscle fibers, mitochondria stores were already established to do her routine. She was in decent shape already. She did burn more calories initially, but her metabolism soon reset itself to maintain her current body weight.
And a pound of bodyweight could well be a pound of water, nothing to be concerned about.
She wanted to improve and I applaud her goal.
Losing weight in the long run is about reducing calorie intake while increasing your metabolism. Metabolism, simply put, is the amount of energy you burn while at rest. I’m not going to bore you with the details. It’s about as boring as plain yogurt.
To increase your metabolism, you need to stress your fitness levels. One of the seven granddaddy laws of fitness is the Principle of Overcompensation, which basically states that if you stress any system on your body, that system will adapt. If you work mechanical tools with your hands, stress them with friction, your palms will adapt by forming callouses.
Speaking of which, when I first met my future wife’s grandmother in the heart of West Virginia, she immediately inspected my hands and saw hands so calloused they could have rivaled Odd Job’s gold-ball-crushers. See, Meemaw held high esteem for a hard-working man. Little did she suspect I grew that Blue-Ribbon crop of callouses from stressing them with pullups and weight lifting. Meemaw also valued a dude who had a farmer’s appetite. First impressions, right?
So, when Meemaw offered me what I thought were yams, I replied, “Love them, give me a plate full!” Moments later she set out a farmer’s platter full of these bulb looking things you put off planting until late fall. Turned out they were about five pounds of ramps.
They weren’t boring. I spend half the night awake with heart burn, praying with folded calloused hands, for God to spare me and that I would never make another hillbilly joke again.
I couldn’t imagine ingesting one more single ramp any more than I would doing the same exercise routine every day. It would be equivalent to listening to the same song all the time, say “Sweet Caroline” as you pace out three miles circling the same scenery on a track. I once saw Neil Diamond wail “Sweet Caroline” for approximately 33 and 1/3 minutes and I left that concert hall wishing I had stuffed my ears with ramps.
If you want to ramp up your exercise to increase your metabolism to lose weight and keep off weight you won’t accomplish these goals by eating celery, drinking green tea, or taking any other supplement, no matter what bullshit adds you read on Facebook. Maybe eating ramps will do it. Let me know how that works out for you. Pretty sure you won’t find them at Whole Foods.
The quick advice I gave the tie-dye model was simple: pick up your pace, walk backward some, jog some, take two steps at a time, do 31 flights, then more, do 60 sit-ups for time, do ab exercise variations, stress the body. Guess what, she lost five pounds in a month.
In another blog, I am going to show you ways to vary your walking routine. I am even going to prove not all dudes put on their pants the same way. I may even share my favorite ramps recipe.
