I was listening to a podcast the other day where the host, who coaches from a non-diet perspective, was talking about how we tend to link every goal or struggle back to weight.
She shared an example of a client who said she wanted to lose weight so she could walk up the stairs without getting out of breath.
And she asked her, “Is it weight loss you want, or do you want to be able to walk up the stairs more easily?”
Because those are two different things.
Losing weight on its own doesn’t always mean your cardiovascular health will improve. What actually helps with that is doing things that strengthen your heart, like movement that gets your heart rate up.
We’ve all heard the same advice for just about everything:
Tired? Lose weight.
Knees ache? Lose weight.
Out of breath? Lose weight.
Feeling tired can be caused by various things, including poor sleep, low iron, stress, dehydration, or not eating enough.
Aches and pains can improve with stronger muscles and better mobility, sometimes more effectively than focusing on the scale.
And being out of breath? That’s about cardiovascular fitness, which you can build at any size.
We wouldn’t expect stronger arms without lifting something, so why do we expect a stronger heart without challenging it a little?
Maybe it’s time to look at health a little differently, beyond what the scale tells us.
Our hearts, our energy, and our strength respond to how we move, rest and care for ourselves, not just what we weigh.
Anyway, just some food for thought (pun intended).
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