Friday Reading Report: When Nutrition Talks About Exercise...

Among the many factors that contribute to the large number of us who are overweight or obese, one of the most striking is that we don’t move much.  My text informs me that in 2009, according to the CDC, 55 percent of adults never participated in any vigorous leisure time activities.  That’s more than half of us. 

In a striking moment of clarity, the text goes on to say, “In a society of food abundance, the modern, computer-dependent, sleep-deprived, physically inactive human lives a chronically stressed life.  In other words, weight gain is a sign of our contemporary way of living and can be considered collateral damage…”

Exercise is not the whole picture, of course.  The good news is that exercise, in addition, apparently, to being countercultural, helps with several of the problems outlined above.  It reduces stress, improves sleep, and helps our brains cope better with whatever cognitive issues come along.

Nutrition, at its best, is holistic.  We want fuel for bodies that do things.

Lots of Nope

Many people assume that exercise has to be painful, that I’m in it to torture people, and that gyms and studios are dungeons in disguise.  Nope, nope, and nope.  If exercise is painful, we are doing it wrong; at worst it should be uncomfortable the way growth is uncomfortable.  I do my job because I want people to have more joy in their lives and fitness opens up so many more paths to joy than we have available without it.  While it is true that many gyms and studios have a dark and gloomy look and while Pilates equipment at first glance looks like it has been borrowed from Torquemada, I strive to make my studio a place of happiness and laughter as well as hard work.

Fitness is not an end in itself.  It is an opportunity cost for all the other things we want to do in our lives.  It makes our brains work better and our bodies last longer.  We get to see more amazing views, take more exciting adventures, and play with more enthusiasm when we are fitter.

Eyes on the prize, dear ones!

You want my spine to do what?

Pilates can be a difficult practice to love.  Loving it anyway does bring rewards, though.  Because of the nature of Pilates exercises, we can’t hide from our bodies’ quirks.  Pilates exposes the tight places, the joints that would rather not move smoothly, the muscles that have been relying on outside help all this time.

The good news, and there is some, lies in those same exercises and in our minds.  The Pilates repertoire helps us strengthen the weak places, move the stuck spots, and smooth out the rough edges.  Our minds get to build new pathways of movement and new levels of acceptance for the miraculous, unique bodies we each possess.

Breathing brings it all together.  In.  Out.  Repeat.