by roundcoconut » Thu Oct 20, 2016 1:40 pm
Yeah, it is interesting, because it really depends on what kinds of results are expected, and what kinds of other behaviors become possible from that first learned behavior of getting the ball rolling with their exercise.
Like, while exercise alone has limited power to beget weight loss, i think it may have a substantial amount of power to combat depression, to combat boredom and to combat anxiety. (I mean, I have no direct experience with clinical levels of depression or anxiety, but I think that exercise MAY have these powers.).
I remember reading Tom Peters saying that the only thing that cured his chronic depression was five miles of brisk walking, every single day. Somehow, the chemical changes that happen in the body when one moves briskly can help to change the mindset from one of hopelessness and helplessness, to one of pathways and opportunities. So I would not discourage anyone from starting with an exercise program.
Also, when I look at people who start with exercise, I think that can snowball. So, maybe for the first two months, one is just walking, and trying to get one's pace from 3.0 MPH to 3.4 MPG. And maybe that leads to saying, "What would it take to get me to 3.8 MPH?" And maybe that leads to saying, "How do I get a light jog to happen?" So, there is always the possibility that someone who begins with exercise will take it and run with it, even if other people miss the boat.
The other thing that occurs to me, is that exercise is an excellent alternate activity that can take the place of previous self-destructive activities. Like, say I am someone who likes to get up in the morning and drink a pot of coffee. And then, over time, I begin to say to myself, "Self, if you need something to help you wake up, you can go for a walk." So my 4-mile walk every morning may be JUST the thing to help me break bad patterns of glugging coffee in the AM, and then "crashing" at work, and then glugging more coffee, and then "crashing" again in the late afternoon.
So maybe exercise has its place? I actually think exercise is a really effective modality for improving health, although if all you see is weight, then it would be easy to say, "Exercise is stupid." But it's not! People's health improves by exercising, and I think there are probably thousands of data points indicating same! It just depends what you mean by something "working."