It's wrong to resist resistance (training, that is)

I don't do cardio. Really. I've lost more than 145 pounds without doing more than 15 minutes total on a treadmill, stationary bike or eliptical machine. Now, I do sometimes ride my bike for pleasure. And a few times a month I rollerblade. But in the gym, it's all about resistance training for me.

I don't plan on ramping up the cardio anytime in the near future, either. The reasons for this are simple: 1) I hate cardio, 2) I've read a lot about how resistance helps build muscle which in turn burns fat, and 3) I have consistantly been losing weight without focusing on cardio, so why should I start now?

Well, to be honest, I'm open to cardio and will do it vigorously if and when I need to. I have changed up my routine constantly in order to keep my body guessing as to what physical challenge is coming next. And I know as I'm now nearing my goal there will most definitely be new challenges for me in the coming months.

But for now I'm going to continue to do my resistance training at the gym. I'll be sharing more about my workouts in the future. And certainly if I get any requests from my readers I'll get to this more quickly than I otherwise might. But for now, let me just say that for those of you who dread spending hours and hours each week doing cardio, let me free you and say that you will probably get much better results from your weight loss efforts if you switch your focus from cardio to resistance training with weights.

And don't worry if you don't really know what you're doing in the gym; it's not as complicated as it seems. This book can get you started: Men's Health, The Big Book of Exercises. It's full of illustrations and descriptions of all sorts of exercises for all parts of the body, and there's a version for men and one just for women. So check it out, and good luck!

Dealing with destructive doubt

I'm an optimistic person by nature. And I'm a kind person. But I've often failed to be kind to myself. And when it comes to my weight, and self-image in general, I've often failed to extend to myself the same optimistic attitude I share so freely with others.

Sometimes, when I say something to others in an optimistic way, there are undercurrents of doubt just below the surface. These undercurrents remain just under the skin and are well hidden from casual observers. But if you come in close, and get a careful look, you can see them. They're not pretty. And they can be downright destructive, which is why I keep them hidden, especially from myself.

Reading back through my blog, which I started in December 2008, I can see those undercurrents in my writing. I can read between the lines of my own writing. And that's why I'm so amazed that I've made it this far in my effort to halve my weight in two years' time.

I was so optimistic in those early posts. But in short order the blog posts stopped, and the 30 initial pounds I'd lost came right back on. Then toward the end of 2009, optimism rebounded. And I finally was able to back my optimism with real strategies that would help me deal with those troublesome undercurrents that have time and time again bridled the otherwise wild, passionate man who longed to be victorious over lethargy, pessimism and addiction to comfort.

I'll be talking more about some of the strategies I've used to overcome destructive doubt. But for now, I'll leave you with a book title: Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman. This book was key in helping me change my inner dialog from one of pessimism to one of hope. And I think without it my current story would not be as hopeful as it is.