To Exercise or Not To Exercise ... That is the Question

I'm diabetic.  I was diagnosed when I was 28 years old.  At one point in my life, I was considered by doctors to be "brittle diabetic."  For me, this meant that I was on several medications, plus I had to inject the maximum allowed dose of insulin twice a day.  It was that bad.  And it wasn't fun.

It was suggested that I look into gastric bypass surgery as a metabolic "cure" for the disease.  Long story short - I had the surgery in October 2009.  I feel that it saved my life, or certainly bought me time.  I left the hospital requiring NO DIABETIC MEDICATION.  Fast forward to last year and it was discovered that my diabetes was no longer in remission.  I was crushed, but what can I do but continue to fight.  For me this means diet and exercise.

In February, I made the decision (kicking and screaming all the way) to get back to my bariatric diet because I had gotten off-track big time.  I just hate the term "diet," so I'm trying to make a lifestyle change I can stick with.  I've lost 15 pounds since then.  Yes, that's great, but I find myself slouching off.

For the past week, I've had a severe case of the "don't wants" when it comes to exercise.

I've decided to blog about this because this week there has been much talk about how if you want to lose weight, you shouldn't exercise ... or it would at least hinder your efforts.  Or so they say.  Click here to read the Huffington Post article.

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I think it's a dangerous message to send.  Even if it's true (which, honestly, I simply don't accept), most people who are allergic to exercise don't need much incentive to stop.  

Almost every single winner of The Biggest Loser has gained the weight back; every single one fights hunger and weight gain.  The New York Times published an article about this on Monday.  And they're not the only ones.  There was a Buzz Feed article and a Mental Floss article where scientists try to explain why fat people are destined to be fat.

But then I found an article that suggests most of the Biggest Losers are keeping the weight off.

I still say that everything counts.  You need to burn more calories than you take in to lose the weight. This is a balance of your diet and exercise.  Period.

So I guess that means I need to listen to myself and get back to my exercise routine!