Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Jon's analogy is a good one.  It works.  When I decided to "get healthy" (note:  not "lose weight"), I set up a hypothetical caloric bank account.  I started out each morning with a balance of 1,400 calories.  Knowing my budget for the day made the eating decisions very clear, and I quickly found that vegetables, fruits, and lean meat withdrew far fewer calories.  It became a game--how much nutritious food could be consumed for the day, draw against my balance and reduce caloric funds to zero for the day (without going deficit!), and still have energy to work out to increase flexibility, balance, and strength (for riding, of course!).  When people asked how I was able to stay on a "diet," and I told them I wasn't on one, they were aghast--they wanted a trick or a tool or a gimmick.  My system wasn't faddy or glamorous.  Sadly we seem to have lost the ability to count calories and know which foods to eat.

 

Focus on "losing weight" becomes a negative process--Focus on getting healthy and fitter to ride!  Finding a positive motivation such as extending your riding years or developing the endurance for a multi-day ride (so you can ride your horse correctly!) becomes the dynamic that is much more motivating over time.

 

Beth

Texas

Jon.Linderman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> Bodyweight is an energy storage like a checkbook is a cash storage: deposits and withdrawls.  Sure there are modifying factors: genetics, hormone changes, etc., but how do we take weight off our horses if need be: decrease their energy intake (grazing muzzle, less grain, reduced hay, etc) and work them more (inreased energy expenditure), and low and behold they
>  lose weight.  How simple.  I'l be the first to admit my withdrawls (calories burned) aren't what they were in 1998 when I was racing my bike.  Life, illness, and a disease called horses cut into the 15-20+ hours I spent training each week.  I eat more, drink beer that I never drank, so I'm not 168 pounds these days. But then "Wellness" is not simply your fatness/leaness.  I've seen some very lean people who were not "well" at all. Ask my wife if she'd prefer the lean K2 factory model husband of 1998 or the NE HW endurance rider hubby whos shed his pony tail and gained a few pound and she'll tell you hands down the later.  You want to lose weight, eat less than you need, and continue to be active.   But humans want it NOW and the video exercise/diet moguls prey upon that with get thin quick schemes.  Deposit less, withdraw more.  For that matter, if we all spent the sum total of the time we spend reading RC and simply went for a
>  walk, we'd increase energy expenditure, not alot, but over the course of months, years, it helps.    My apologies to all the fad diet, fad exercise, fad supplement people in the world, didn't mean to put a crimp in your income. 
>
> Hmmm, anyone want to de velop a human grazing muzzle with me?  On sale for $19.95, free video included, testimonials available upon request. 
>
> Jon K. Linderman, Ph.D., FACSM
> Associate Professor of Health and Sport Science
> University of Dayton
> 300 College Park
> Dayton, OH 45469-1210
> Voice:(937) 229-4207
> FAX: (937) 229-4244
> http://homepages.udayton.edu/~lindermj/

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