Gryphon Strength & Conditioning

National Association for the Advancement of Fat Acceptance

http://jim-gourley.blogspot.com/2011/01/lard-wars-fat-people-unite.html

This is a well-written article. 

I'm inclined to side with Nerusskaya and the NAAFA on the point that weight loss is a Bad Thing. Weight loss is a sign that something went wrong, that some form of starvation is occurring, and your body is built to treat any form of starvation as a Bad Time In Your Life. It will act accordingly. Bragging that your body is in a current state of starvation (weight loss) is a sign that you've lost sight of the real goal. Brag to me that you've kept 20 lbs. off for 5 years instead of bragging that you've just lost 100 in the past 6 months.

The obesity crisis is not measured in weight loss. Obesity is not a measure of the delta -- the change -- in weight. It is not a crisis of our inability to lose weight. It is a crisis in the weight as measured from day to day. The obesity problem won't be corrected by improving how fast weight is lost; it will only be fixed when the focus is properly placed on sustaining healthy weight. (Where I tend to disagree with the NAAFA and other similar organizations is in the definition of healthy weight.)

The irony is that by focusing on weight maintenance instead of weight loss, diets will be forced to be more successful at weight loss than they are today. The NAAFA is correct, 98% of all diets are abject failures. By changing the target to sustainable healthy weight maintenance, the success rate of keeping unhealthy weight off will have to go up. 

The DIY Kettlebell

Maintaining a healthy weight should be the goal

Losing weight should be part of the process, never the goal. The goal should be to maintain a healthy weight.

Think about the difference between these two goals for a 300 lb. guy:

Goal: lose 75 pounds
vs.
Goal: stay under 250 for five years in a row

Picking the latter as a goal does not preclude achieving the former. But picking weight loss as a goal drastically reduces the chances of achieving the latter. Most people who pick weight loss as a goal usually gain it right back, especially if they pick a big weight loss.

It's like racing the Indy 500; you don't pick finishing the first lap as a goal unless you're a terrible driver. The goal is to finish in the top 25 or the top 10 or to win. The first lap is just something you get through on the way to the finish line. WHERE IS THE FINISH LINE HERE??? It's not losing weight, it's maintaining a healthy weight over an extended period of time.

Obesity should be treated the same as cancer. Cancer patients don't throw parties right after their surgery, even it their doctor says "we got it all". The field of oncology has learned to wait to celebrate until the patient has been cancer-free for 5 years. THAT is how long it takes before it's likely the cancer probably won't come back. Overweight people should treat their weight loss the same way -- watchful waiting to see if it comes back. The field of nutrition hasn't gotten that smart -- yet. There is way too much emphasis placed on simply losing the weight. 

The Hyperextended Elbow

It's a girl thing.

2011 Dariotis Memorial

Kelly learns the Brigham Warmup For The Clean: